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That MM string ray sound, I why don't I like it?

#103
HeavyHand said:
Ok, Not trying to start a String Ray hate thread or anything like that, but I have recently been in the market for a new bass and have been out perusing guitar stores and have had the chance play a classic and modern String Ray couple of separate occasions. I was pumped because, I've never played one before. But, as it turns out I didn't really like the tone I was getting. I was boosting and cutting the bass, treble, and mids (in one case). And couldn't really get something I liked.

I was mostly okay with the E and A strings, but when I got up to the D and G, especially the G, I just felt like the tone was to treble-y or bright or...something? And the closest thing I got to liking the sound was pretty much rolling the treble the whole way off, but even then it was like it was too much still.

Anyone else have this experience?

In an (un)related note, I think I dislike that bass tone usually found in a lot of jazz music (from an electric bass at least). If you have ever checked out Scott's bass lessons, the intro to many of his videos has the tone I'm talking about. I think people refer to this as a "woody" tone? This tone may be great stylistically for jazz music, and I'm not trying to say this tone is "bad," but I just don't enjoy it.

So, I feel like I may be lacking the vocabulary to describe my tone preferences. Is there any kind of commonality between that typical electric jazz bass sound and the string sound? Or how would you describe those tones? Just for an example of what I do like, I've always been happy with a P-Bass.
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There's certainly no need to apologize for not liking a Stingray and/or for preferring other basses over them. My current Stingray is by far my favorite bass of the 15 or so I've owned but I'd rather celebrate that we have the wide range of choices we have than pee on someone's preferences because they're different from mine.
 
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#104
jd56hawk said:
Some people think Leo got it right the first time with the P bass.
Then the Sting Ray came along, an entirely different animal.
Of course, there is a lot to the old adage, the third time is the charm.

The foundation of the L-2000 is a pair of G&L Magnetic Field Design™ humbuckers backed by the flexible Tri-Tone™ control system, providing the sort of versatility that’ll let you find your tone no matter what kind of bass line you’re laying down. The Tri-Tone system features a trio of mini toggles for pickup selection, series/parallel signal routing and active/passive operation, as well as a trio of knobs for volume, treble and bass. With all that under the hood, Leo gave the L-2000 the kind of chops that’ll fit in any situation, from classic R&B to power-packed rock to poppin’ funk. What’s more, the L-2000 features an innovative Leo Fender-designed Saddle-Lock™ bridge to transfer string energy right into the body end-grain for an incredibly resonant instrument.

6hj0xf.jpg

I tried one out a few weeks ago and was very impressed with the quality of the instrument and versatility of this bass. If you can't get the tone you want out of this thing, you might as well stop searching.
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Conceptually an amazing bass, but what if you have 1000 tones, yet none of them is yours? Regrettably that was my experience - and I had several of these, and wanted to love them so very, very much. I hear you now can get retrofit MFD pickups with alnico magnets, and if so, I'd be tempted to try one of these yet again.

Otherwise, gonna join the amen corner for stingray with flats and 2-band eq. My fretless is a Lakland prototype with 1 MM pickup (now a nordstrand) and the bartolini 3-band eq, and the bass is armed with sadowsky flats. It rules. It probably could rule even more with a 2-band eq, but I don't want to mess with success… Also a huzzah for the SR HH configuration. But what is with the peaky, thin sound on the G string of so many Stingrays?
 
#105
The OP is not alone. I own a Stingray 5 and recently sold a Stingray 4. Have kept them around for years in hopes the tone would grow on me, but it has not (each one very different, and not for me). Always go back to my German Warwick Streamer 5 and Thumb 5. My Pbass 5 has also taken a back seat to the Warwick's. Give one of the German made Warwicks a try, if you can find one to demo. Good luck.
 
#106
HeavyHand said:
Ok, Not trying to start a String Ray hate thread or anything like that, but I have recently been in the market for a new bass and have been out perusing guitar stores and have had the chance play a classic and modern String Ray couple of separate occasions. I was pumped because, I've never played one before. But, as it turns out I didn't really like the tone I was getting. I was boosting and cutting the bass, treble, and mids (in one case). And couldn't really get something I liked.

I was mostly okay with the E and A strings, but when I got up to the D and G, especially the G, I just felt like the tone was to treble-y or bright or...something? And the closest thing I got to liking the sound was pretty much rolling the treble the whole way off, but even then it was like it was too much still.

Anyone else have this experience?

In an (un)related note, I think I dislike that bass tone usually found in a lot of jazz music (from an electric bass at least). If you have ever checked out Scott's bass lessons, the intro to many of his videos has the tone I'm talking about. I think people refer to this as a "woody" tone? This tone may be great stylistically for jazz music, and I'm not trying to say this tone is "bad," but I just don't enjoy it.

So, I feel like I may be lacking the vocabulary to describe my tone preferences. Is there any kind of commonality between that typical electric jazz bass sound and the string sound? Or how would you describe those tones? Just for an example of what I do like, I've always been happy with a P-Bass.
Click to expand...

It's "STINGRAY", not STRINGray, please... it hurts my eyes and ears :smug:

The Stingray preamp can sometimes be too strong at boosting the treble, especially with new strings. If you're not used to it, I can see how it can give you a bad impression. But look around, there are lots of examples of records where a Stingray was used that do not have that trebly sound. You can get quite a variety of sounds out of that bass... but it does have a "Stingray flavour", and you just may not like it, nothing wrong with that. If you favour the Precision, maybe you find the Stingray does not have enough oomph for you. I personally love both Precision and Stingray, and I use the Stingray often in a reggae/ska band, where it does not lack lows and the sound is not trebly at all... I love the definition you get in the low end. Plus the neck and everything just fits perfectly for me. But we're all different.
 
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#109
To you admonishing the OP for his topic...

Who died and made you guys the arbiters of what's postworthy or not? That kind of post accomplishes nothing but your sour opinion of the topic.

Besides, that's what the mods are for and thankfully, they are a lot less heavy-handed than they probably should be.
 
#113
I have owned 4 Stingrays. I love the way they play although these days I would probably love the Sterling even more. I don't like the way they sound but when I hear other people playing them I always think they sound great. I just have never been able to get a good tone out of one. When I went in to record with one that was the last straw. I hated the recorded tone and I actually went back in and paid with my own money to rerecord my bass part with a P bass. I couldn't have lived with that recording.
 

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