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Stealth string retainer on Stingray5?
- Thread starter Benag
- Start date
They aren't made by other companies. They fit under the post nut, there is no reason they shouldn't fit your Stingray.
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While I do think the stealth string retainer has its uses, I just looked at my SR5 (the B string tuner) and I can’t see where it would benefit from such a retainer.
However, it’s your bass and you know its needs better than anyone, so have at it.
If it works out well for you, please report back with details...
However, it’s your bass and you know its needs better than anyone, so have at it.
If it works out well for you, please report back with details...
There’s no way a stingray would need anything like that unless the strings were wound incorrectly
Thank you all for the replies. Actually the floppy B string is fairly common complaint on the Stringray5. I've used a multitude of different string brands and as many different gauges as I can find, and played quite a few other 5 string Musicman basses. Using a lighter gauge on the B is a marginal improvement. I like the MM so much that I put up with the B, the way it is. But it's a bit frustrating the MM won't offer a 35 scale.
i think the 'ray has one of the better B strings out there for regular 34" scale basses but yeah, 34" is just too short for a B in general.
the hold down thing has nothing to do with any of that though
I’m asking this as an inquiry and not at all a challenge, but have you been playing 5-string Stingrays for a while? Just wondering.
I have a 35” 5-string Mike Lull bass and a Stingray 5-string, which is 34” scale, as you mentioned. I use the same type of strings on both basses - Ernie Ball Power Slinkies, which are 50, 70, 85, 105, 135. With this set-up, my SR5’s B string sound is as big and fat as the Lull. Neither bass has any kind of string retainer on the B string. Look into setting the witness point of the strings, particularly the B string, if you aren’t already. That’s the single best thing, in my opinion, that one can do to improve the B string sound.
Please take this response as comparing notes, not a challenge at all. We may be expecting different things from our B strings, which is fine, of course.
I must add that I’ve been playing SR5s off and on for several years (and hopefully “ on” from now on) and I’ve never heard the comment that the SR5 B string was floppy, or anything but solid.
Having said all of this, I think a 35”-scale Stingray 5-string would be awesome.
Good luck!
Thank you everyone for the comments! I appreciate all of them. Geri O, to answer your first question, I've been playing my Stingray5 since 1993. I totally agree with you that 35 scale is not the end all be all, or single answer to my initial question about the retainer. I have, more times than I could ever count, spent great effort and attention to how I wind the string. Anyway. I've been playing the thing forever so it's safe to say that I like the bass a lot. I guess, to my ear, there is a uniformity in tone and timbre between the EADG strings, that the B string has always lacked. For the most part, I hear that lack of tonal uniformity on the majority of 5 strings I've ever played. In my experience, the 35 scale 5 strings that I've played, in general, have better sounding B strings. Not always. The string retainer seemed like in may be worth a try because, it's relatively inexpensive, and doesn't require and permanent modification to the bass.
Thanks everybody!
I agree, it’s definitely worth a try, given how cheap it will be to do.
And I also agree, timbrally, I haven’t heard a B string that sounds like a perfect extension of the E string. But I always thought that the Stingray was as close as any.
If you go the stealth retainer route, please report back with your thoughts on its success or not.
My comment about the witness point wasn’t directed toward the windings on the tuner post. It’s about making sure all the strings cross the bridge piece at a sharp straight angle with no bends in the speaking
length of the strings. Again, you may be aware of this, just thought it was worth mentioning.
Good luck! And thanks for not treating my comments like a challenge.
me too, which is one reason i don't wanna play a 5 string. that pitch is just too low for the scale length, no matter how thin or thick the string its harmonics are just sour compared to the other strings. a good 35" scale bass is better but it's still not as good as the other strings, and now the extra scale length is starting to make the G sound harsh and twangy because it's so tight.
if i really really wanted low B i'd consider some kind of boutique 36" scale 4-string tuned BEAD, but i don't so i don't
either way, string trees and retainers and stuff outside the actual vibrating scale length are no help one way or the other, that's got nothing to do with anything.
I wouldn't think the stealth retainer could help the B string sound more uniform with the rest of the strings. It could help the E string have a steeper break angle at the nut. However, my Ray 5 has no issues with break angles as it sits.
I do have stealths on many an A string on my Peavey and Fender 4s and a couple Es on the 5s.
I do have stealths on many an A string on my Peavey and Fender 4s and a couple Es on the 5s.
The Fender stealth retainer is basically a 'replacement washer' that is held in place by the top part of a screw down tuner bushing.
Musicman don't use screw down bushings -theirs (like vintage Fenders) are just held in place by friction -having been pressed into the tuner holes in the headstock wood.
Unless you intend to change the actual tuner unit(s) you can't fit one as there won't be enough downward pressure to stop the thing popping off under string tension.
Musicman don't use screw down bushings -theirs (like vintage Fenders) are just held in place by friction -having been pressed into the tuner holes in the headstock wood.
Unless you intend to change the actual tuner unit(s) you can't fit one as there won't be enough downward pressure to stop the thing popping off under string tension.
Turnaround
Commercial User
The stealth string retainer is used to prevent the string from rattling in the nut by improving the break angle. It won't do anything if the break angle is fine without it. It does not increase string tension nor do anything else to change the sound except eliminate the rattle if it's there.
I’ll disagree with this. I have directly A/Bed two substantially identical basses (a pair of P5s), and even flipped them around as a control. In all cases that I’ve tried a stealth on the low B it most certainly affected feel and tone.
Turnaround
Commercial User
Well your experience certainly differs from mine. I found no difference. The spectral analysis showed no difference. Felt the same to me. But I know that the B string on my bass had a good break angle and the nut was well cut, so perhaps there was nothing to improve upon. I did have some trouble with the retainer on the B string - it created a rather severe angle from the nut resulting in a bit of an extended crown over the nut that wouldn't straighten out because of the string stiffness. That gave intonation problems at the first fret. And I had to open up the retainer a bit because it was too narrow to accept a .128" B string. For me the retainer had no value at all and only negative effects. I guess it all comes down to the particular bass and its setup.
