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StingRay Not Cutting It... Am I Crazy?

#2
I would march my little fanny into several music stores. I would play every bass that interested me, and fit my budget. I would choose the one with the neck I loved, and the tone I lusted for. I would then seek that same bass used. Easy.
 
#6
If it's the neck you don't like, and I'm with you on that, brother, try the Music Man SLO Special. It's a Stingray body and electronics with a Sterling neck, which IMO is the finest, most comfortable neck out there. If you like the SR sound but want a slim neck, this might be the ticket.
 
#8
snyderz said:
I would march my little fanny into several music stores. I would play every bass that interested me, and fit my budget. I would choose the one with the neck I loved, and the tone I lusted for. I would then seek that same bass used. Easy.
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I'm with you on this one snyderz but I do think he's crazy. The jazz bass has always been my go to bass & I've owned 100's of othe basses but I just bought a 1988 Musicman SR4 because of the tone & the way it played. It played better than most of my jazz basses. Bottom line is Just get what you like not what other people like.
 
#9
Eric Scholz said:
idk man... I like the sound of my G&L. I played a used Jaguar that I liked for $500, but that's long gone. I'm not really looking for an upgrade, just a side step.
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Well, in the EBMM realm, pretty much every bass they produce other than the 'Ray has a slimmer neck, and if you like the deeper sound of that SB-2 and Jaguar and such, maybe give one of the HH or HS Sterlings or Bongos a try, or the SSS Big Al (presuming you haven't already tried all of them to your dislike, that is). Or, for non-EBMM basses, pretty much every other manufacturer has a take on the Jazz bass format.
 
#11
Stingray's are their own unique sound. The bridge positioned humbucker gives them a very unique voice. They can cut through just about any mix but they can sound a little honky.. especially with nickel strings. I like them for Rock and Contemporary Christian applications but if I was playing smooth jazz or gospel I'd probably opt for something else.
 
#16
rojo412 said:
+1. Jazzes can do anything.
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They can't do what my Carvin does. In fact, the Stingray can't either, tho it's a lot closer to the Carvin than the J is.

So depending on the type of sound he needs, I don't think the OP is nuts at all.

I.e. I like a clean, sits-in-the-mix "paw paw paw" sound and with as little hammering with the right hand as possible. The Carvin is the only bass I've ever played that does this right out of the box with no EQ and no matter what strings I put on it.

If you're into the "flub flub clack flub" cardboardy sound, the Precision is the way to go. If you want "plink plink plink plack plack plack" the Jazz will do that pretty good.

The Stingray is kind of in between the flub flub flub and clop clop clop sound, tho if you do away with the frets, that calms it down quite a bit. But it's still a pretty honky sound....

So I also really tried to love the Stingray/Sterling but just couldn't make myself do it. When I discovered the Carvin, it was like coming home or something (and you can get the other sounds out of the Carvin too with the pickup pan pot if you need them).

But again it'll depend on the type of sound you want and how strong your right arm is....

LS
 
#18
Eric Scholz said:
I work at a music store, and I don't like anything haha
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Hmmm... herein lies a clue.

Me thinks that your asking here for what you should buys seems kind of pointless. Almost trollish.

Lets see, how about trying...

A Fender
A Warwick
A Sadowski
An Ibanez
A G&L
A Dingwall
A Cort
maybe and SX will work for you
A Rouge
A Gibson
A Fodera
An Esh
A Peavey
how bout ordering a bass from Carvin
A Guild
A Modulus
A Schecter
A Squier
A Yamaha
A Tobias
A Lakland
An Alembic
A Dan Electro
A Pedulla
A Ken Smith
An Eastwood
A Kinal
A Warrier
A Jackson
A Washburn
A kingston
An Epiphone

maybe you'd like one of them???
 
#19
Yep, you ARE crazy! But then, we all are...

I LOVED the sound of my SR-5 but just could not get past the spacing at the nut. So I sold it for more money than I spent on it.

Find something you love! I've found my hands feel most comfortable on a 5'er with a nut width of 1 7/8" and a bridge spacing of 3/4" - the contour of the neck does not matter as much to me as long as those widths are there. Yep, I AM crazy!

Dan K.
 

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