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Sterling SUB ray4 changes

#121
FWIW I think the pickup on he Ray4 is ceramic not alnico and I believe it's wired is series not parallel. EBMM Stingrays are parallel so half the output but more defined lows and highs. Series has more mids.
 
#122
BasEd said:
BTW I'm looking at the East 2 or 3 band MMSR preamp and Aguilar AG 4M pickups. Any thoughts on these?
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Had both of these and they’re great if you want that classic Stingray 2 band tone. Check out Nordstrand MM4.2 pup and MM preamp too. That will give you a 70s Stingray tone. I currently have the original 2 band ray preamp and Nordy pup in my ray. No issues with too much treble or sizzle. Just a great classic old school stingray tone. Aguilar AG4M was great too though (had it in my USA SUB with a 2 band preamp).
 
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#123
mouthmw said:
Had both of these and they’re great if you want that classic Stingray 2 band tone. Check out Nordstrand MM4.2 pup and MM preamp too. That will give you a 70s Stingray tone. I currently have the original 2 band ray preamp and Nordy pup in my ray. No issues with too much treble or sizzle. Just a great classic old school stingray tone. Aguilar AG4M was great too though (had it in my USA SUB with a 2 band preamp).
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Thanks. I have an East preamp in a Jazz and love it. I went for the Ray4 as it has a 38mm nut and 9.5inch radius. The US Stingray is too wide for me coming from Jazz basses.
 
#127
Had a bit more time playing the Ray4. It has good mid presence but no sizzle. I've ordered an East MMSR 2 preamp, Nordstrand MM4.2 pickup and a DPDT ON ON switch so I can use the pickup in parallel or series. In parallel there will be more top end (something to do with lower impedance so any capacitance has a proportionately lower effect therefore more "sizzle"). Will need to drill a hole in the control plate for the switch.

So far I've replaced the pickguard with a black one and sanded the back of the neck (fine sandpaper) and waxed it. It feels fantastic now. The tuners aren't too good and make a grating sounds so I've greased them and they are much better.

All in all the Ray4 is not as good construction-wise or sound-wise as my Sire bass which only cost a bit more. I think it needs the mods IMHO. The basswood body is good but as it's soft you don't want to be repeatedly removing screws as it can wear the screw holes.

Hopefully the Ray4 will come to life with the new preamp and pickup. Otherwise this could be a costly lesson to learn!
 
#129
Just played the Ray4 again and the tone was better for me when the treble is full and bass cut by a quarter turn. There's also a huge difference between playing the strings near the neck and near the bridge. I think I'm just not used the so much mid frequency as I usually play a Jazz that has that two single coil scooped sound. So the stock preamp and pickup are not so bad after all but I still think the mods will make a big difference.
 
#134
BasEd said:
Got the East MMSR 2 and Nordstrand MM4.2 in the Ray4. Way better than stock electrics!
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I've got a Nordstrand 4.2 on order for my Sub4. Since I usually leave my bass preamp settings flat, I'm going to try something different install the 4.2 in passive mode. I spoke with the tech support guys at Nordstrand about the idea, and they were telling me a couple of them had done it and loved the results. If I decide I don't like it, I'll drop my EMG pre-amp back into it.

Really looking forward to see how this works out.
 
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#135
The MM4.2 has no pole grounding. Apparently Nordstrand removed it as the original Stingray pickup doesn't have it. This means it buzzes if you touch the pole pieces. I'm thinking of adding a grounding strip to the back. Anyone tried this?
 
#137
BasEd said:
The MM4.2 has no pole grounding. Apparently Nordstrand removed it as the original Stingray pickup doesn't have it. This means it buzzes if you touch the pole pieces. I'm thinking of adding a grounding strip to the back. Anyone tried this?
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Why you would ever touch the pole pieces? For normal play it shouldn't be a problem, unless it is buzzing all of the time.
 
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