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Stringray for country?

#43
Shinbone said:
Hello. Don't think I've ever posted here before but I've been lurking for quite a while. Anyway, my question is for the EB Stingray players in the group.
I don't know much about these basses (I've only played Fender and Peavey.) Are they very versatile? Seems to me that the funk players like them a lot but I don't see many country players using them these days. I remember Teddy Gentry of Alabama played them back in the 80s. Any of you guys do country gigs with an EB?

teddy2.jpg
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I don't "do" a lot of country, but I love that picture of Alabama. There's something super down home about it, that warms my heart :D

I know the OPs question was with regards to country, but just my 2 cents...I've been playing a Stringray for the past 15 years (my only axe) in a ska/reggae band. Honestly, I've often wondered if it's more of a "rock" guitar. I've dialed it in the best I can, but it still presents quite a bit of high end string "noise" (granted part/much of that is my technique), which I'm always fighting to avoid.

When people (especially those who know) see my guitar, they go nuts. It really is a beautiful specimen with some of the greatest looking bird's eye ever. With that said, I bet I'll eventually be happier with something that has a phater low end "out of the box". Even so, I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of this first child of mine :)
 
#45
Personally, I prefer using a Precision with flats over a Stingray for country but that is just me. Stingrays are great for most music, but I like P basses for country more.

I have used Stingray 4 and 5's (and even a Bongo 5) for country and country/southern rock (Eagles, etc.), but I really prefer a P with the tone rolled off.

I agree with a previous poster about the 2 band SR. I like the 2 band SR over the 3 for country for some strange reason.

To each their own, I guess.
 
#46
Nev375 said:
Exactly.

Play a Gene Simmon$ "axe" bass in a country band. Wear flannel and look like a lumberjack. People will dig it.

Originality is easy.... just do the opposite of what everyone else is doing and combine it with something familiar.
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The axe cuts it in any setting. It becomes a wood chopping axe.
 
#48
I've seen many Stingray5s in use, in Country, on concert stages. They can be made to sound full and fat as any bass. The EQ and where you have your plucking hand make a difference. I think some of the "too aggressive/growly..." comments might come from players with their thumbs securely anchored on the bridge pickup. I'd play my SR5 for any gig.

I know a local guy who gets one of the fattest, most beautiful tones I've ever heard from his single H SR5. He rolls the three band EQ wide open all the way. He plays a lot of blues and classic rock and uses GHS Boomers. Just plain wonderful tone out of that one.
 
#49
I played for the better part of five years in a cowpunk-ish sort of outfit here in Texas. We slaughtered and chopped Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Gloria Gaynor, ABBA - most of it working in a fast (sometimes TOO fast) country shuffle in which I found myself Mister Root Five. It certainly wasn't hard rock or jazz or bop or waltz, although I think we sometimes gave polka a drive-by. It was country.

I played Sterlings, Stingrays, Stingray 5s and Bongos. If ever I thought something wasn't working, it was sure not the bass.

The new Lady Antebellum album? All Music Man basses. The radio cut of that Jewel song, "I Was Meant for You" or whatever it's called? A Stingray.

I don't even know why this question comes up anymore.
 
#51
I concur, Stingray 5s are staple basses (along with Laklands and Sadowskys) for a lot of touring Nashville players, especially New Country. Dave Pomeroy has a favorite 5 he's used for years.
I've replaced many a track that was originally cut with a P-Bass and Flats because the Producer wanted a more Modern Sound. It's not 1965 any more.....
But I always have a Fender with really old Flats hanging around just in case. Never assume what someone may want. ;)
 
#53
christoph h. said:
Hey Roy!

Do the Nashville guys use their Rays with flatwound strings?
I own a Stingray5 and love it, but for some styles I found that I have to roll off a lot of treble when using rounds...
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Rounds for the most part, but you have to remember that the goal for some of these guys is to get some "cut" and projection through large PAs in large venues. What can sound like a nice rounded tone right next to your bass amp can sound like mush by the time it gets to the back of the arena.
On a practical side, I've always found it's easier to roll off treble than to try to manufacture it when it's not there.
 
#56
JTE said:
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
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Indeed. I have seen several country bands where the bass dude is playing a Ric. Hell, I've even see bass players using Horner's and Aria Pros.....it's the player, NOT the name on the instrument. Cheers!!
 
#59
Lots of pro country acts I see their bassists using Stingray 5s for sure. Kenny Chesney being a recent one, at the Houston Rodeo. Sounded killer.

Hell, I used to use a hot rodded Modulus Q5 for a country cover band lol. Sounded insane through my Eden WT800 and AccuGroove El Whappo Jr.
 

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