Except that EBMM makes a Stingray HH so all that, "I don't use/like a bridge pu" is beside the point now days.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Stingray-the most divisive bass sound?
- Thread starter Vanheusen77
- Start date
And Musicman made the Sabre way back in 78 til 91. So HH Musicmans have been around forever.
Not sure that timeline makes sense to me.
I think Rotosound Swing 66 stainless roundwound strings became available in 1966.
Paul McCartney could have been using them or many other string choices on his Ric.
I think you can produce a wide range of tones on many basses...Precision, Jazz, StingRay, Ric can all do a lot of different sounds with knob adjustments, string choice, amplifier model and it's adjustments, and various playing tricks/techniques.
There are a few basses like a Gibson EBO or a Hofner Violin Beatle bass that are more limited in their range.
Last edited:
Id probably put the Gibson TBird and Rickenbackers in the running as well.
I started playing in 1967 and never even heard of round wound strings until about 1972-73. If they were available in 1966 it was a VERY well kept secret, I know Entwistle worked with Rotosound around that time to develop them but I never saw a set until years later. McCartney always used flats. Most basses can definitely sound different depending on player, strings, amps etc but most basses have a characteristic sound. Most new basses were still coming with flats until sometime late 70's.
Last edited:
I listened, could definitely tell them apart; as to which was what, I had theories, but they're probably wrong.
The thing about what we're calling the "Ray" sound in this thread (which is, to me, more the EBMM humbucker sound) is that you don't really know what you're lacking with it until you're in the mix. And there are a lot of variables. I'm sure I've shared here in the past that when I picked up my EBMM Sterling H to play with a band a few years back, I was suddenly disappointed with it. Maybe it was the bass, maybe it was the gear I was playing through but I absolutely could not find tone I liked in the mix, and I got very shouty about anyone touching my tone settings (was sharing my gear in a rehearsal space and wouldn't let anyone else adjust my tone). Eventually I replaced everything: first the bass, then the head and cabinet. Went from being super picky about people touching my gear to the exact opposite; found it hard to get a sound I didn't like from that setup.
How much of it was the bass? Probably a lot. I did ok just replacing the bass and I replaced the head and cab for different reasons (weight). But I'll always wonder if the EBMM would have sounded better through the new setup.
However, the EBMM sounded just fine to me playing in a quiet combo without a drummer. The drummer in the mix is a big part of what ate the sound. Just could not get it to cut.
My favorite Country song sounds great on a Stingray!
I know Entwistle worked with Rotosound in 1966 on the development of round wounds strings but were you using them in 1966?
But that's it, really. Of all the basses I've played in bands over the years, the StingRay is the only one that I feel isn't lacking in a mix. Hence my earlier comment that I wish I had 'discovered' them 35+ years ago. Of course variety is the spice of life...
I was 8 years old in 1966. Should I guess you were 13 years old in 1966? Born in 1953?
I would guess they were not sold in every music store worldwide until 1972-73 but they were on basses that made popular recordings starting in 1966 and onward.
They were definitely a gleam in their daddy's eye in 1966, a big fat gleam.
Sources for the 1966 production date:
The fascinating story of Great Britain's Rotosound Music Strings
RotoSound - Wikipedia
The dates don't really matter...my point was that a Ric and a StingRay don't have to sound abrasive or whatever other negative term gets thrown around about the sound of those basses, they have both been proven beyond a shadow of doubt that they can produce great sounds all across the bass guitar sound spectrum.
Bass-y, treble-y, mid-ey, soft, hard, mellow, aggressive, woody, wooly, punchy, aggro, powerful, mwah, warm, sterile, etc, etc.
Last edited:
You might be right about the normalizing effect. But I played rounds or SS pressures from 1985 to 2018. Eventually I got fed up with what I felt was a lack of character and switched to Chromes and, more recently, EB Cobalt Flats, which are superb strings, IMHO. I don't think I could ever go for the full thumpy dead flat, and I still use SS rounds on my fretted bass.
There were not many recordings done with round wounds until the early to mid 70's., certain genres had them yes, prog rock etc but popular music no. I don't remember why we started discussing this topic but I do know that Entwistle brought in some Danelectro Long Horns for the My Generation session in late 1965 which had round strings which kept snapping so he then did the song on a Jazz with tapewounds and then later went to James Howe at the Rotosound company and consulted with them for round wounds he liked and they gradually became the string of choice all over the world which took a good long time. The first famous tune I ever noticed them on was Roundabout but the sound was so dirty and this was on AM radio that I didn't realize they were round wound strings. The first time I distinctly heard the difference was on a James Taylor album called One Man Dog on which he used a 1962 Jazz bass with Rotos released in 1972. I'm not saying this was the first as it wasn't but it was the first time I realized there was a new thing in town. Rotosound RS-66 Swingbass maybe have been available in 1966 but were an exotic string that very few people used. I was 13 in 1966 and had already started playing guitar and switched to bass my first love in 1967. Round wound strings were pretty much unheard of here at that time. For example I bought a brand new Rickenbacker 4001 bass in 1977 and it came with flatwounds, now round wounds were very common by this time but basses still didn't come with them. For some reason people want to rewrite the history of round vs flats, flats were very common until the late 70's. I played round wounds exclusively for about 30 years, from about 1972 until the early 2000's when I started experimented with flats again. I bought my first good bass, a new 1970 Fender Precision bass in 1970, it came with Fender Flats, covers with a mute under the bridge cover, sunburst, rosewood neck and a tort pickguard. The changeover was very gradual.
We are way off on a tangent talking Ric basses and the history of stainless roundwound bass strings but...
According to this article - The RotoSound Swing Bass Strings came out and were available for sale in 1962.
The Birth of the Roundwound Bass String
"In 1962 they brought out the first roundwound bass strings; they called them the 'Swing Bass' set, and the sound of the electric bass changed.
Entwistle was soon a convert to the new roundwound bass strings, but after using them for a few years he thought that they could be developed further.
He contacted James Howe at the newly re-christened 'Rotosound' string company and helped to develop a new set of strings."
"British bass players loved the brighter, more defined sound that these strings made, and it helped create the sound of the 'beat groups' such as The Kinks and The Who, and later bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin."
According to this article - The RotoSound Swing Bass Strings came out and were available for sale in 1962.
The Birth of the Roundwound Bass String
"In 1962 they brought out the first roundwound bass strings; they called them the 'Swing Bass' set, and the sound of the electric bass changed.
Entwistle was soon a convert to the new roundwound bass strings, but after using them for a few years he thought that they could be developed further.
He contacted James Howe at the newly re-christened 'Rotosound' string company and helped to develop a new set of strings."
"British bass players loved the brighter, more defined sound that these strings made, and it helped create the sound of the 'beat groups' such as The Kinks and The Who, and later bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin."
Yes and you are the one who keeps talking about them and bringing them up over and over again, I will repeat and this is for the last time, they were not widely known nor widely available until the early 70's.
Easy, easy Mr. Bob...not trying to ruffle your feathers. Have a cool drink and a chill pill.
Easy, easy Mr. Bob...not trying to ruffle your feathers. Have a cool drink and a chill pill.
You've made your point over and over and over again, thanks, noted. I was playing when they came on the scene.
If you want to keep debating dates that are on record....
If they were released in the years described by the noted article, you were not playing bass in 1962 when they came on the scene ..or in 1966 for that matter.
I would take a solid guess that in 1970, when you were 17 years old ,you had no way of knowing how available (or unavailable) RotoSound Swing Bass strings were in music stores other than your local.
You are welcome, noted.
Last edited:
If you want to keep debating dates that are on record....
If they came on the scene as described by the noted article, you were not playing bass in 1962 or 1966 for that matter.
I would take a solid guess that in 1970, when you were 17 years old, you had no way of knowing how widely available or unavailable RotoSound Swing Bass strings were in music stores worldwide. Unless you were traveling around the world buying bass strings.
You are welcome, noted.
OK well be seeya' now, have a nice day.
