Sterling Stingray too hot for Rumble 800

[MaxSpinrun]

I have a Sub Ray 4 I bought used, as mentioned the pre is very hot, the stock pup is ok. I had problems with the pre, so, out it went as well as the pup. John East MM 3 band pre and Nordstrand 4.2 dual coil MM pup. This thing has Ray tones for days! Lobster has extensive info on this very subject.

 

[Mastermold]

That’s the problem though. It’s hard to find a sweet spot on my volume knob every practice/show. That seems like a finicky solution to me. I wish there was a way to play my bass at full volume and not explode my preamp. If there was a way to control the signal somewhere between my bass and my amp i would be interested.

You can try lowering the pickup height.

 

[Stevorebob]

This may provide some insight. See posts 332 and 339 here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/st...ub-ray4-and-ray5.871370/page-17#post-13351594

 

[Dbassmon]

At the risk of asking the obvious, when was the last time you changed the battery in the bass?

A dying battery will distort and add noise.

A working Rumble 800 will handle a Stingray Preamp.

 

[AncientNoob]

These are known for being a really hot signal bass, and pretty much everything that's been posted here has some merit. My advice for things to try that cost you nothing but a few minutes time; lower your pickup first. There will be some trial and error with this, but adjust the height a little at a time. Down just until you get a slight but noticeable drop. Next, start with your preamp controls rolled all the way down, then just add a little at a time to get the sound you want. When your ready to play, open your volume all the way, and then roll it back to about 8/10. This should take the edge off but leave you with plenty of volume. Last thing, if you're comfortable with soldering, and have the 4 wire pickup, wire it for parallel instead of series. If those measures don't work for you, look up @LowEndLobster on the tubes of you, and check out the series he did on modding the Sub series basses. A wealth of info there. Best of luck!

 

[Ryan Kohler]

These are known for being a really hot signal bass, and pretty much everything that's been posted here has some merit. My advice for things to try that cost you nothing but a few minutes time; lower your pickup first. There will be some trial and error with this, but adjust the height a little at a time. Down just until you get a slight but noticeable drop. Next, start with your preamp controls rolled all the way down, then just add a little at a time to get the sound you want. When your ready to play, open your volume all the way, and then roll it back to about 8/10. This should take the edge off but leave you with plenty of volume. Last thing, if you're comfortable with soldering, and have the 4 wire pickup, wire it for parallel instead of series. If those measures don't work for you, look up @LowEndLobster on the tubes of you, and check out the series he did on modding the Sub series basses. A wealth of info there. Best of luck!

Oh sweet! Thanks dude!

 

[-Stingray]

Not trying to be rude but i did address this idea in my post.

My bad. I missed that in your original post.

I had a 2016’ish SUB4 that had this issue. Nothing short of a pickup and preamp changed (EMG) resolved it.

The problem appears to have been addressed in the past few years by the manufacturer…. At least according to the SUB thread up here on TB.

 

[G-Dog]

So, I have a rumble 800 combo with matching 210 cabinet. I recently picked up a cheap sterling stingray bass with active electronics. ... ... when i went to turn up the volume i got a NASTY cracking/popping/farting gross sound. Everything was set to 12 o’clock on my amp. Gain at 9 oclock and volume at only 9 oclock too and still it happened. I turned the gain all the way down completely and it still happened. The treble and bass on my amp were set neutral as well. The tone was not overly bassy at all. I thought it might be a dying battery so i replaced it with a fresh one and still had the same results. ... ...thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I had an active bass that behaved precisely that way when the battery was on the way out. Lower volume on the bass was fine, but full on would distort and make nasty sounds. My 2 cents.

I replaced the battery, so its brand new!

Battery, battery, battery.

Yea thats another one. I hear you get distortion when the battery is dying. Check your battery

Not trying to be rude but i did address this idea in my post.

At the risk of asking the obvious, when was the last time you changed the battery in the bass?

A dying battery will distort and add noise.

A working Rumble 800 will handle a Stingray Preamp.

Anyone else think it could be the battery?

 

[Seth DuSith]

Anyone else think it could be the battery?

I'm starting to think it could be the power source

 

[Ryan Kohler]

At the risk of asking the obvious, when was the last time you changed the battery in the bass?

A dying battery will distort and add noise.

A working Rumble 800 will handle a Stingray Preamp.

Yes i mentioned that in the original post.

 

[Ryan Kohler]

Anyone else think it could be the battery?

In my original post i said i put a fresh one in, so i dont think it’s that. Im wondering if theres something wrong with my rumble

 

[Ryan Kohler]

My bad. I missed that in your original post.

I had a 2016’ish SUB4 that had this issue. Nothing short of a pickup and preamp changed (EMG) resolved it.

The problem appears to have been addressed in the past few years by the manufacturer…. At least according to the SUB thread up here on TB.

Ok cool that’s good to know. I’ve always liked emg’s. Did you still like the tone after the pup swap?

 

[drumvsbass]

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I have a Sub Ray 4 I bought used, as mentioned the pre is very hot, the stock pup is ok. I had problems with the pre, so, out it went as well as the pup. John East MM 3 band pre and Nordstrand 4.2 dual coil MM pup. This thing has Ray tones for days! Lobster has extensive info on this very subject.

Oohh finally the right answer; the bass can sound nicely although being cheap, but if one can’t use it fully it’s design has got flaws that need to be addressed.

 

[cataract]

Cut the Bass EQ on your bass down to 2-4 and see if that helps. Stingrays are BASS HEAVY. Even the 2 band EQ with Alnico 2 pickups are heavy lol

 

[Super Bass]

Really the best thing I did to my Sterling Ray was change out the poopy pickup...

 

[Super Bass]

Really the best thing I did to my Sterling Ray was change out the poopy pickup...View attachment 5228870

Guess I should have said crappy!

 

[Mike Vee]

Yeah, if pickup height and settings don't fix it, a trick is that some Sterling SUBs have the pickup wired in series. Wiring it parallel not only lowers the output, but can result in a more authentic Stingray tone.

this!

 

[AaronBass4]

For me and my Ray4, lowering the pickup was not enough. Re-wiring the pickup to parallel completely solved this for me. In my testing, it was the preamp in the bass itself that was clipping and distorting before I re-wired (so outboard solutions won't do any good). Not all Ray4 stock pickups are 4-wire (can be re-wired). IMO, once wired correctly in parallel, the stock pickup and pre is fine . . . sounds like a Ray.

 

[iiipopes]

You've heard the old joke, which is really not a joke: "Doctor, it hurts when I do (this, demonstrating)." "Well, then, don't do that." Does the Rumble amp have a second buffered input? If not, simply turn the volume knob on the bass down to where it does not fart out the front end of the amp. Problem solved. I had to do that yesterday for a church gig that I had to use a really small amp for a small congregation, and which is also prone to farting out, with a Jaguar H bass and the stock pickup. (rewired otherwise, see my post in the Funk Machine thread.)