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Stringray for country?
- Thread starter Shinbone
- Start date
You can play anything on any bass.
That said, the Waylon and Band/Levon Helm clips are using a 2 band EQ Stingray, as is Alabama in that photo. In my experience, it is far easier to get a fat, country-friendly bass sound with the 2 band EQ. If you know you want a Stingray, and you will be playing country primarily with it, get the 2 band.
That said, the Waylon and Band/Levon Helm clips are using a 2 band EQ Stingray, as is Alabama in that photo. In my experience, it is far easier to get a fat, country-friendly bass sound with the 2 band EQ. If you know you want a Stingray, and you will be playing country primarily with it, get the 2 band.
rockstarbassist
Inactive
i wish stuff like this would get you banned...
people read it, are ignorant or don't get that it's completely and flat out wrong, regurgitate it in another thread, more stupidity ensues. sad.
You lurked for almost five years before posting. Impressive. Come on in, the water's fine.
^ right here agree 100% I play the same style music and use a P bass w/ flats. As long as you EQ right almost any bass will work.
I'm sure you could use a DB on a metal gig with enough EQ and talent, but why would you WANT to?!
Why make it harder for yourself? Yeah you could set the pickups just right, put your hand in just the right place, and put all your effort into putting the square peg in the round hole... But wouldn't it be better if you got the right tool for the job and enjoyed yourself?
Why make it harder for yourself? Yeah you could set the pickups just right, put your hand in just the right place, and put all your effort into putting the square peg in the round hole... But wouldn't it be better if you got the right tool for the job and enjoyed yourself?
Within the extremes there are an awful lot of appropriate tools. I need a hammer for driving nails and pulling them out occasionally. Well of course my tinner's hammer isn't the right choice. But I also don't need to have the Estwing 16" framing hammer for some things and a rip hammer for others, etc. Perhaps it would make my life easier and at some point it would make economic sense to have several variations of claw hammers. But that's not the same as saying you can't use that framing hammer to do some simple around the house repairs.
That whole bit about "... set the pickups just right, put your hand in just the right place..." is critical to playing no matter the instrument. It's the preconception that StingRays are primarily seen in some sort of funk oriented band now so they can't be used easily in some other genre, or that the Hofner would be a better choice (don't think I've EVER seen a Hofner in a country gig) because the 'Ray is "too growly" that I find so wrong headed. Bottom line is that it depends so much on the individual player, the way that person naturally approaches the instrument, and what the band leader, producer, etc. want that makes these kinds of questions and the attendant misleading answers to be annoying.
I have a friend who used to play country gigs (back before Garth Brooks' success ruined country music) with a Rick 4001, stainless rounds, and Traynor 5x10 cabinet. It sounded great for those gigs when Mike played it. He also used a '63 Precision with dead flats for a rock 'n' roll gig he had, sometimes with the same Traynor rig, sometimes with a home-made box with eight 6x9 car speakers driven by a solid-state Peavey amp.
Yeah, you can EASILY use a StingRay for country gigs. Or a Lakland, or a Precision, or a Jazz, or a Hofner- if you know what you want the bass to do and you know how to get it to do it.
John
Absolutely, so we're in agreement you need the right tool for the job? A screwdriver would not suffice in those situations?
This is true, but my point is that while on a Stingray you might be looking for that one sweet spot, on a P-bass with flats you might have 4 or 5 sweet spots that sound good on that gig.
I guess you can use everything for everything and it depends on what sort of player you are, but if that's the case then also all advice given on this forum is useless because it's not intensely personal, therefore we should stop talking and close the site?
There's a middle ground. I think the question should be, 'IN GENERAL should you use a Stingray for country?'. My answer would be no.
Played some country this weekend on a fretless Stingray 5. Notched off the treble and mid just a little. Bumped up the bass just a little. Sounded freakin' awesome. FAT.
EBMM basses sound great in just about any Genre. I particularly like their agressive tone in more modern sounding country music. However, they are so versitile, you can get close to just about any tone you like out of them.
Truly spoken like someone who's only experience with Music Man basses and Country music comes from reading magazines and internet posts written by other people who's only experience comes from magazines and internet posts!
I'd put my (former) EBMM SR5 up against just about any bass guitar* in any genre. It's all in the player, not the bass.
*certainly wouldn't put it up against an URB in certain URB genres, though...
I've used a Stingray, Sterling, Precision, Jazz, PV T-20, Danelectro, Jerry Jones, Jack Casady Sig, Epiphone Rumblekat, Reverend Rumblefish, and yes even the Hofner Icon Club and 500/1 for country. They all worked well.
Oops, almost forgot about using the G&L L1K and L2K...they're good for country too.
Oops, almost forgot about using the G&L L1K and L2K...they're good for country too.
Havent seen funk around for decades? Better get a shovel. There a TON of funk bands out there. Look up Lettuce and Orgone.
I think Miranda Lamberts bass player plays a ray from time to time. Also, sports a mohawk.
DylanB said:
To me the StingRay, Precision, Jazz, Tobias, Rick, Sadowsky all fall into the claw hammer category. The URB would be a geologist's hammer, and a glockenspiel would be the screwdriver.
John
That is just stupid. Why go with "the norm" when you set yourself apart from every other band doing the same thing?
