Which records more easily: Precision or Stingray?

[Brad Johnson]

And all the snide passive-aggressive shots at people who use Precisions by others in this thread are just a figment of my imagination? And I still don't get what's so hard about making other basses work in the studio.

That's the puzzling part to me too. Other instruments can work but many act like you'd better have a P bass. How about going into the studio knowing how to get the performance you need?

 

[DWBass]

I don't recall any anti- P Bass sentiments in this thread. And while I've never recorded using a P Bass, I just bought one to have in the arsenal. No P Bass hate here......unless it doesn't work out for me. LOL

 

[Brad Johnson]

I like what I consider P bass tone and I think I get that out of several basses.

 

[Pbassmanca]

I think that you can get a great recorded sound with almost any bass. I happen to LOVE the sound of P basses of all pedigrees both live and on "tape". To speak to the original post, I don't think that a Precision or a Stingray are any easier or more difficult to record. They're both bass guitars but with different inherent sonic footprints. Any engineer worth his salt can record a half-decent player on a P or a Ray, and it will sound as good as the signal that passes through the various pieces of gear in the chain on its way to the mix. I was playing a sweet arse Maple FB Ray today at the local music store, and I guarantee that anyone who was moderately proficient at recording bass would have had just an easy a time recording that instrument as the American Pro Precision that I was plucking just before it........

 

[hombass]

I started thinking about this the other day when my teacher mentioned a country/rock artist for which he recently did session work. My teacher is a Lakland endorser, and LOVES his 44-60, but seems to be using his Precision often in the studio. This got me thinking about Leo Fender’s other single humbucker creation, the Stingray. I want to hear from guys with serious studio time about which is easier to get a good tone out of for recording and why.

Jeez youve got some nice basses!!! Leo is the godfather of electric bass. He got so much of it right in 1953 that everybody especially lakland just copies it. Id buy an american fender long before i ponied up a billion$ for an after market like a lakland, but by far and away Leos best gift to the bass world was the Musicman humbucker pickup for bass. I disagree with active preamps as theyre just a 278,000 position confusing tone control, but Seymour Duncans MM humbuckers just have THAT tone when used passive. I wont build or own a bass without a Seymour MM humbucker, either an alnico, or a ceramic magnet MM at the bridge and a lighter Bartolini or other pickup at the neck. If you are ever in a position where you really REALLY love bass, dump your wood neck an get a MOSES GRAPHITE neck. You will play like poopie for a month or two until you realize you have been slamming some frets and pulling way back on others because of the dead spots on every wood neck youve ever played. Steve Moser is on facebook and im not kidding the man knows how to make a bass neck that will hit every fret with equal volume, totally eliminate humidity bummers and give you what you never knew you needed until you try one necks. Cant say enough about em. Dont have to fuss and shag around with adjustments all the time and the 5-7 frets youve been bashing the poopie out of to get even volume will be smooth as silk!

 

[hombass]

That sounds like you think there's only one kind of "good tone". There are lots of different great electric bass guitar tones on classic records. If what you're after is, say, good Rickenbacker tone, then using a Fender won't do you any good. As for "easy", seriously, who cares? What matters is the end result. If a recording engineer suggests that I switch from a Rickenbacker to a Precision because he doesn't know how to record a Ric well, I'd rather switch to a better engineer.

With regard specifically to the difference between a Precision and a Stingray (and a G&L L1000, another Leo-designed single-humbucker bass), I doubt it makes much difference. They're in the same ballpark. Your choice of amplifier would probably be more significant.

The tone is in your fingers. If you need 7 guitars for 7 tones youre not smacking the strings right.

 

[hombass]

I don’t understand how you come to the conclusion I only think there is one type of good tone. When it comes to recording, some basses simply work more easily in the studio than others. Both the Stingray and Precision are known as basses that can be recorded with minimal tweaking or none at all. As someone who owned a Rickenbacker for seven plus years, and who loved its tone, I know from personal experience, it is not a easy bass to record.

I recorded straight to the board with my homebuilt precision/MM humbucker bass and the recording guy said it was the best bass hed ever worked with. Your tone is in your hands not in the guitar!!!!!!

 

[hombass]

What I mean is a bass that has no noise or distortion, and gets a clean tone. All sorts of basses can be used if the project demands it. I am talking about basses that sound good in a simple plug and play situation.

I agree. When i build i shield everything!!! I mount the pickups on 1/8" aluminum plate, use shielded wire, and adhesive backed aluminum foil to shield the cavity, and a star ground system. Everything is grounded to one point connecting all grounds before going out of the jack. You havent lived until youve built a bass that has absolutely no noise at all. Lol even better is the bass with ZERO circuitry between the pickup and the jack. No noise, no capacitor, no resistors, nothing but pure tone all the way through. Dont blame me, i stole this idea from Eddie Van Halen. The stripey guitar he blew everybody away on was one he mad himself and since he didnt understand tone circuitry, he just wired a volume pot on it. Enough said. Tone is the pureat when theres less junk in the way and your fingers mak up the rest! Thanks Eddie!!!!

 

[5StringBlues]

 

[mouthmw]

I used my old 2 band USA MM SUB on this recording, but was told it sounds like a P bass here (maybe because I used it in the video lol?).
Anyways, I like recording with both P and Ray, for different tonal goals.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Jeez youve got some nice basses!!! Leo is the godfather of electric bass. He got so much of it right in 1953 that everybody especially lakland just copies it. Id buy an american fender long before i ponied up a billion$ for an after market like a lakland, but by far and away Leos best gift to the bass world was the Musicman humbucker pickup for bass. I disagree with active preamps as theyre just a 278,000 position confusing tone control, but Seymour Duncans MM humbuckers just have THAT tone when used passive. I wont build or own a bass without a Seymour MM humbucker, either an alnico, or a ceramic magnet MM at the bridge and a lighter Bartolini or other pickup at the neck. If you are ever in a position where you really REALLY love bass, dump your wood neck an get a MOSES GRAPHITE neck. You will play like poopie for a month or two until you realize you have been slamming some frets and pulling way back on others because of the dead spots on every wood neck youve ever played. Steve Moser is on facebook and im not kidding the man knows how to make a bass neck that will hit every fret with equal volume, totally eliminate humidity bummers and give you what you never knew you needed until you try one necks. Cant say enough about em. Dont have to fuss and shag around with adjustments all the time and the 5-7 frets youve been bashing the poopie out of to get even volume will be smooth as silk!

You need to post a picture. I was talking about my teacher’s basses.

 

[Craig4003]

The tone is in your fingers. If you need 7 guitars for 7 tones youre not smacking the strings right.

Then you should be able to make an unmodified Gibson EB-0 with La Bella DTB flats sound like a Ric 4001 on its bridge pickup with new Rotosound 66's, through the same amp with the same settings. Go ahead. I'll wait.

 

[hombass]

Then you should be able to make an unmodified Gibson EB-0 with La Bella DTB flats sound like a Ric 4001 on its bridge pickup with new Rotosound 66's, through the same amp with the same settings. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Now your just trying to pick a fight. I think you and i need to not speak anymore.

 

[Craig4003]

Now your just trying to pick a fight. I think you and i need to not speak anymore.

No, I'm just trying to figure out how literally you mean what you said. I meant to be playful rather than mocking; sorry if it didn't seem that way.

I don't think anyone here disagrees that the sound of any bass can be varied within a certain range according to how you play it. There isn't just one P-bass tone. But that doesn't mean tone is just in the fingers or that you don't need multiple basses for the different sounds they make.

 

[hombass]

No, I'm just trying to figure out how literally you mean what you said. I meant to be playful rather than mocking; sorry if it didn't seem that way.

I don't think anyone here disagrees that the sound of any bass can be varied within a certain range according to how you play it. There isn't just one P-bass tone. But that doesn't mean tone is just in the fingers or that you don't need multiple basses for the different sounds they make.

Ok man! Lol i know i could get some treble out of that ebo. My first bass i played for 28 years exclusively was a 30" scale hollow ibanez i used flatwounds on and i could get treble out of it but i played with a pick back then too. I play fingers only now but fingernails are treble producing picks too, i play also by whacking the string percussively against the upper frets which produces a pick effect and trebly harmonics. This last method will put your soul in outer space with some chorus and reverb on it.loool! So, its cool. For the record several years ago i had the great privelege of playing a mapleglow ric through an acoustic amp, the one with the folded horn 1X18 refrigerator bottom. Voice of god.

 

[hombass]

Ok man! Lol i know i could get some treble out of that ebo. My first bass i played for 28 years exclusively was a 30" scale hollow ibanez i used flatwounds on and i could get treble out of it but i played with a pick back then too. I play fingers only now but fingernails are treble producing picks too, i play also by whacking the string percussively against the upper frets which produces a pick effect and trebly harmonics. This last method will put your soul in outer space with some chorus and reverb on it.loool! So, its cool. For the record several years ago i had the great privelege of playing a mapleglow ric through an acoustic amp, the one with the folded horn 1X18 refrigerator bottom. Voice of god.

 

[hombass]

I put several design features i stole from ric neck through construction, long upper horn, and frets clear of the body! Loool so im a ric lover too.

 

[Figjam]

I used my old 2 band USA MM SUB on this recording, but was told it sounds like a P bass here (maybe because I used it in the video lol?).
Anyways, I like recording with both P and Ray, for different tonal goals.

Nice tone. Doesnt sound like a P to me. Sounds like a 2 band stingray.

 

[Omega Monkey]

I showed up to a gig once without any equipment. I said to my bandmates I says, "guys, tone is in your fingers". Well, they looked at me weird and got really mad for some reason, even though I played my ass off that night. But I think the sound guy had the subs off or something, because the sound was a little thin that night. Couldn't hear myself at all, but boy were my fingers flying!

Anyway, we should be having our next rehearsal any day now since it's been about 8 months. I'm sure the guys have just been busy with the holidays and stuff.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I used my old 2 band USA MM SUB on this recording, but was told it sounds like a P bass here (maybe because I used it in the video lol?).
Anyways, I like recording with both P and Ray, for different tonal goals.

The sound is a bit more scooped than a P, but it is a great tone for the song.