Stingray sound on G&L

[lousybassplayer]

Ok are we talking about "Im not in a band, this is just for fooling around by myself at home and all I have for reference is youtube clips" MM tone? Or are you trying to get a certain tone in the mix of your band and the G&L isnt cutting it? Like someone else said, if you bought the G&L only because you thought it could cop a MM tone, you should have saved your money for when you could afford a real MM.

There's only a couple hunj difference in the price anyway.

 

[GBassNorth]

heck the EBMM SUB5 is cheaper than the G&L 2500 Tribute. Or was before they discontinued them, but still a bargain used for about $500. The SUB is an exact tone match to my vintage stingray.

 

[j.kernodle]

Ironically, I always felt like I got the best ray tone out of my L2000 by using the Neck pickup in parallel with the active treble boost on (at least the stingray with a pick sound). Its not exact, but it sounds closer than the bridge pickup with is too close to the bridge to get the tone exactly right.

 

[Emanuel Apascaritei]

I really don´t understand why people try to buy a bass that sounds like other bass, just by the other bass!

I like the Stingray fretless tone and hate the Stingray fretted (almost always has trouble to be heard in the mix). Cannot say the same thing with the L2500, it can be heard no matter what.
Lately I recorded with the L2500 with a piano player that overused the left hand, the L2500 dealt with that with definition and without problem. The same situation with the stingray fretted = mud!

 

[TonyP-]

my duncan alnico 2 coil smb4-a sounds exactly like a stock ray pickup. the ceramic ones do sound more aggressive though.
nordstrand's MM4.2 is also very close. (it's not hotter either).

+1 to this...
The Nordstand pickups sounds great as one would expect.

This subject comes up a lot lately.

Pickup placement
Pickup itself
Preamp

Are the 3 main factors.
Personally people have different options of what is most important, I think that placement is #1 but just placement alone will not give you that by itself.

Wide exposed police humbucker is needed along with the most elusive part of the tone the preamp.

John East makes a good MM style preamp.

 

[chadhargis]

I've got an L-2500 and that sucker is like the mockingbird of basses. It can sound very close to a lot of different basses. The key here is "close". Remember that 99% of people who hear you play wouldn't know the difference between a Fender P bass and an Lightwave Sabre.

I have an Ibanez BTB 5 string that I bought as my first bass. I've considered selling it a 1000 times and buying something different until I hear someone who really knows how to play work magic on the thing. It sounds beautiful when the likes of Adam Nitti or Roy Vogt play it.

That alone tells me the magic isn't in the bass, it's in the hands of the player. I think professional players could make a good living charging a small fee to play other people's basses to show them how good they sound. Would keep lots of people from GASing themselves into bankruptcy.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

... And also the unique design of the 'Ray allows you to blend between the two coils of the MM humbucker while a G&L only gives you a parallel connection (or single coil if modded like mine). It's just not the same. ...

Are you talking about the Stingray HH? Single pickup Ray's don't do this.
I think the OP is looking to nail the standard single-pup 'Ray tone.

I have an L2500, and it absolutely WILL NOT do a Stingray tone. Maybe close to a Sterling, but not a 'Ray.

Want the Stingray tone? get a Stingray.

 

[Rebmo]

I bought a 83 G&L SB-2 a while back and when it arrived and I was checking it out it had a great punchy tone that reminded my of my stingrays? Seemed strange because my other 2 SB-2s were punchy but didn't have that Stingray sound, and it is not an active bass. Although the SB-2 has the turbo charged MFD SC pickups on it that rival actives in output. So I liked the tone a lot, and wrote the orignal owner to confirm that the nearly new strings were the SIT Nickels in case I replaced them (they had the unwrapped ends like the SITs), and to my surprise they were the EBMM Medium Slinky's. So, that said, I'm wondering if the slinky's help get you to a Stingray sound? I would have never thought so, but........ I have always been certain that the Pre-amps were the main part of the Stingray sound, and I'm sure they play a part, but this SB-2 with Slinky's is as close as I have heard another bass come to Stingray sound IMHO anyway. And the last bass I thought would get that tone would be a dual MFD SC G&L SB-2. I now wonder what one of my 81 L-1000s would sound like with Slinky's on it? I hear hints of the SR low end on the L1K with the SIT nickels, but not quite.

 

[IotaNet]

... Remember that 99% of people who hear you play wouldn't know the difference between a Fender P bass and an Lightwave Sabre ...

^ This. Especially if you're playing live.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

heck the EBMM SUB5 is cheaper than the G&L 2500 Tribute. Or was before they discontinued them, but still a bargain used for about $500. The SUB is an exact tone match to my vintage stingray.

haha, I just sold my EBMM Sub in the hopes of getting a L-2000 or L-2500

I have a couple in sight, but nothing that is exactly what I'm looking for.

What are your thoughts on a L-2500 with Seymour Duncan Basslines Preamp (designed for the EBMM with the stacked bass/treble pot, mid pot, and volume pot with push/pull slap contour)?

 

[mcnach]

Hi there. I'm asking you guys if you like the classic Stingray slap tone. I think a lot of people find it very aggressive and punchy, which you couldn't mimic by just any other basses.....

or you would say G&L l2000...

Ok, before I got my l2000 USA I was always dreaming tp own a Stingway. Then I came across this nice L2000 in amber. The deal is a stealth, so I brought it home. Here is a video of me playing it.



The bass has a lot of sounds, most are very useful. But I simply can't dial in a stingray sound. I soloed the brifge pickup, in paraelle mode, with active treble boost on. But the sound just didn't come out.

After watching several demos of both basses on youtube I believe it is related to the preamp frequency. I think the G&L bass boost has a wider basis, combines more mid freq. I figured it out when I dialed in some bass, the sound get a bit muddy at the low end freq, in contrast to the 'scooped' sound of a Stingray.

Maybe it's just me. And the G&L surely sounds great. But we all want a lot of sounds on our gear right? Anyone in the same boat? Or any suggestion? Thanks!

You've found that the G&L pickups are *very* different to the MM ones, then add the preamp differences and... you've got two very nice but very different basses.

I have a 4-string MM Stingray, a 5-string MM SUB5, and a 5-String G&L L2500...

SUB5 & Stingray are in the same territory, whilst the G&L is a fantastic bass... but in another territory entirely. Not worse, nor better. Just different.

 

[mcnach]

Ironically, I always felt like I got the best ray tone out of my L2000 by using the Neck pickup in parallel with the active treble boost on (at least the stingray with a pick sound). Its not exact, but it sounds closer than the bridge pickup with is too close to the bridge to get the tone exactly right.

That combo doesn't sound very Stingray-ish to me
The minute I switch the neck pickup, we are in P-bass territory (with vaying numbers of years of bodybuilding and steroids)

 

[mcnach]

haha, I just sold my EBMM Sub in the hopes of getting a L-2000 or L-2500

I have a couple in sight, but nothing that is exactly what I'm looking for.

What are your thoughts on a L-2500 with Seymour Duncan Basslines Preamp (designed for the EBMM with the stacked bass/treble pot, mid pot, and volume pot with push/pull slap contour)?

I have that preamp on an OLP MM2 (with a SMB4A pickup).
I think the L2500 will sound great with it. But wait until you have the L2500 to decide.
I got my L2500 and I was amazed at the range of sounds and punch and everything about it. I did toy with the idea of removing its entrails and putting a conventional preamp in there (probably a John East Stingray type)... but I love it as it is.

I was today re-recording the bassline (trying a new bassline) for a track on our band's CD (been about 7 months working on it... but when I think about Chinese Democracy I stop worrying )...
Originally I had used a Stingray, and today by mistake I brought the L2500. Rather than trying to emulate the Stingray tone, I simply went for something that sounded good. Bridge pickup alone, in parallel mode, passive... growly, hot, fat, great definition and presence.

Give the L2500 a chance in stock form, before you think of preamps. That would be my advice.

 

[Billy Low]

Give the L2500 a chance in stock form, before you think of preamps. That would be my advice.

+ 1,000,000

While it doesn't nail the tone, it does come close enough to get the job done...especially if you know how to eq a decent rig. It's more versatile than a MM SR as well. Surely a Swiss Army Knife of basses.

 

[jfh2424]

When you take into consideration that some Stingrays don't get the Stingray sound, you know that it is foolish to try to copy a signature sound on another instrument.

Really, all Rays don't sound the same at all. That is a model that can be voiced very differently based on different instruments.

Another example of that is Jazz basses. Man, those things can all sound very different. Even with the same materials, etc.

John

 

[Billy Low]

When you take into consideration that some Stingrays don't get the Stingray sound, you know that it is foolish to try to copy a signature sound on another instrument.

Really, all Rays don't sound the same at all. That is a model that can be voiced very differently based on different instruments.

Another example of that is Jazz basses. Man, those things can all sound very different. Even with the same materials, etc.

John

A few years ago, I was with a fellow bassist and we had gone to 3 locations and tested around 9 different Fender Jazz basses...not one of them had the typical Fender J-bass sound! The furthest from the lot was the American Hot Rod; I had a hard time believing it had a Fender logo on it!

In most cases, bases are purchased for their branding, and not much else. I saw a guy in a fairly popular metal band playing a Lakland 55-94 with a quilted maple top and Cherry Sunburst finish KILLING the tunes and had an extremely massive tone...a few in the crowd were complaining about how the bass player had a cheap bass "he shoulda had a Fender or an Ibanez for those tunes".

Go figure.

 

[digiman]

This video of a L2500 actually sounds more like a "vintage" Stingray than a newer Stingray itself, in terms of the signature slap tones. can this slap tone be dialed up in all stock L2500's, or is this one modded in some kind of way? It actually sounds very similar to a vintage Sabre when slapped:



Also, does anyone know of any other basses that will yield similar slap tones. The Stingray sounds itself it too one dimensional for me. I'd like something that can do Jazz(or P) tones and also be able to dial up this kind of slap tone. Basically a 5 string Music Man Sabre. I tried the Stingray HH and that didn't do it for me.

 

[Dominic D]

I've replaced the preamp in my L2500 Tribute with a 2-band Sting Ray preamp. While it's still a different sound, it's definitely a lot closer to the Sting Ray sound.

 

[madmatt]

I accidentally found the Stingray tone in my souped up American Deluxe P.
I have my P wired so I can plug one cable each into my P PuP and my Humbucker. I send the two signals to two different amps. After playing with that for a while I happened upon that Stingray sound.
This, IMO, is the way to get a TRUE P/J sound.