Linus27

[quote name='51m0n' post='1341124' date='Aug 15 2011, 08:36 PM']Was this in a mix at war volume, or just at home in tthe practice room at sane levels? All that annoying honk will translate to presence in a mix you see. Or rather a lot of it will! Stingrays can be tricky, I've always found a decent jazz with new strings a doddle to get to sound nice. You can do worse than listen to some Bernard and hear how he got Stingrays to be fat and punchy as hell, thats where they really sound the beans for me. Still cant play one though - too heavy and the pickup is the wrong place after all the years spent playing basses with a jazz pup config. Keep fiddling about, a little upper mid may be just the ticket in a mix to get some of that clarity back, careful though![/quote] At first it was at home solo. However, I then played in the mix and it all turned on its head. The Ray cut through to the front of the mix like a dream with each note cutting through to the front. The Jazz on the other hand which sounded better solo was sitting in the middle totally just there and not really cutting through at all. It was quite shocking the difference. I then turned the VPF down to 12 O clock for the Ray and boosted the treble a little more on the dial on the Ray and it sounded better still. I also dropped the Bass (Low) on the MB combo to 11 O'Clock as the E string was string a bit boomy and bass heavy. Again, its still not perfect but getting there.

So, I plugged the Stingray into the MB combo and turned the bass and treble dials to off or flat. I then set all the EQ on the MB combo to flat and I must say, it sounded horrible. Dull, muddy, flt, lifeless and really middy or nasaly as I call it The first thing I did was dial the Mid Low down to about 10 O Clock and this really helped but it still sounded dull and flat. So I dialed about 1/5 of treble on the Stingray dial and it added a bit of sparkle. I continued to try different settings on the combo and I finally settled with the following, MB Combo Bass: 12 o' Clock (FLAT) Mid Low: 10 o' Clock Mid High: 12 o' Clock (FLAT) Treble: 12 o' Clock (FLAT) VLE Filter: OFF VPF Filter: 2 o' Clock Stingray Volume: Full Treble: 1/5th on Bass: Off (FLAT) This gave me a smooth warm sound with a bit of sparkle. Its still not perfect and lacks a bit of character and energy but its a start I guess. What I did notice is that when I plugged my Jazz in with these settings but turned the VPF Filter down to around 11 o'Clock then it sounded totally amazing. Lots of punch and growl. Very annoying as I am trying to force myself to use the Stingray rather than the Jazz but with the Jazz sounding this good, its making it very hard to play the Stingray

[quote name='51m0n' post='1340616' date='Aug 15 2011, 01:13 PM']Low Mid, mate, its the hardest to get 'right'. Definitely figure out where 0 is on the ray, see if you can go from there, if it is boost only then turning it off is going to leave you feeling all empty inside for a while, dont worry, the amps eq is more than powerful enough to work around that, dont feel the urge to go straight back to halfway on both. If it is a boost only circuit then I think that bass & treble set at half with some VPF would be a real thudding clankfest with no discernable pitch very quickly in a mix! <Yoda>Powerful is the eq you use......</Yoda>[/quote] This is exactly what I have noticed when using the Bass and Treble dials on the Ray. It's been really big and muddy and the top end very clanky with not much else. As a general rule, I like to run most things flat so if I can run the Ray flat then thats great for me as I can hopefully just make minor adjustments on the amp which I suspect will be turning the Low Mid's to 10 O Clock. So its now a case of finding out where flat is on the 2EQ Ray

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1340494' date='Aug 15 2011, 11:28 AM']The 2EQ is apparently boost/cut, Ed F mentions this on the Classic review. Id say half way ish is flat, so basically only roll the treble on 1/3.[/quote] Gareth, you sure about that? Been doing some reading and those on TalkBass seem to think that its boost only. JTUK also seems to think its boost only. Is the classic different to a standard 2EQ perhaps?

[quote name='JTUK' post='1340481' date='Aug 15 2011, 11:22 AM']IIRC correctly.... bass control on a MM 2 band is ALL boost....so flat would be all the way off. Treble is +-12bd..I think.[/quote] Ah cool, thank you, now this I did not know. Thats a big starting point for me tonight then. When I did get the 2EQ Ray, at first I used the dials like a Precision and wound then both up to full. Now I know why the bass was coming through the roof and it sounded subsonic

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1340444' date='Aug 15 2011, 11:07 AM']With my Rays, to get less clank, I leave the bass/mids as they are, and drop the treble.[/quote] Yes but on a 2EQ what is leaving it as they are in terms of settings? The 2EQ only has a treble and bass dial so where do you set them on your 2EQ?

51m0n, thanks that was certainly not tedious but very helpful. One point that I find interesting is the part about dropping the low mid to reduce the boom. I find I have to do this with pretty much all basses on my MarkBass to get a tone I am happy with. My ears really do not like this dial set to flat. The other point is you say set the EQ on the Stingray flat. However, what is flat on a 2EQ Ray as it just has a tone and bass dial and no indent like a 3EQ Ray has? Is flat on a 2EQ Ray with both dial turned half way?

I have a Stingray 2EQ and a MarkBass CMD112H combo which I believe is a Little Mark head. Generally, it sounds very good but I am suffering a little with the bass being too bassy or the treble being too clanky. Finding a happy medium does seem to be a bit of a struggle at times, especially trying to balance the bass and treble dials on the Stingray. Could those who use a Stingray and a MarkBass head/combo care to share their settings, on the amp head as well as on the Stingray. Thank you.

I'm in a similar boat to you. My band is an acoustic setup which plays a mix of Motown, folk, 60's, soul, jazz type of music. I have a Jazz, Stingray and a Precision strung with flats and I really can't decide what to play and what works best. Each bass has its plus and minus points. The Stingray cuts through really nice and works perfect for the more articulate bass lines but does sound quite clanky and aggresive. The Jazz is punchy but not as cutting and seems to sit more in the mix, so not really standing out. The precision with flats is warm and smooth and sounds great with some of the Motown sounding tracks but also sounds dull on and lifeless on the more high played articulate bass lines. Hope you get your choice sorted out. What i do know is my MarkBass CMD121H combo works a treat

I also recommend a MarkBass combo, something like a CMD112H, especially as you are planning on using a Stingray as they match really well. Top quality combo that you will never ever need to change and you will even be able to gig with it.

Hi, my band, Cow will be playing at Jagz in Ascot on Saturday 20th August with support from Natalie and the Longway Home who sound very good. The address is Station Hill, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 9EQ. Really hope to see some of you there and if any of you do make it then please come and say hi. I will be the one playing bass

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1334330' date='Aug 9 2011, 10:45 PM']There is also the Club 102, which apparently has a fuller sound cf to the TRV102P, and a nice new tolex effect. Plus, it can be tilted like a monitor.[/quote] The club looks great but I would be worried about tilting it back as the amp head would slide off the back

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1334163' date='Aug 9 2011, 08:49 PM']See, most forum members seem to love or hate Markbass cabinets. Its weird. Then you see Markbass win awards, (see their website, the TRV 210P won an award recently). Something must be good about them because theyve been fairly popular since they came out quite a few years back. I know you cant have loud/light/small, and loud isnt what im after. I dont want aggressive/tons of volume, I just want my Musicman basses to come through how they are. To be fair, the TC cabs I have are great, so I could just be gassing for something I dont need. Linus - what about the NY122?[/quote] Hey Gareth, yes the NY122 does look great and would be on my list to consider for sure. For the record I just had my first rehearsal with my 2EQ Stingray and my Markbass CMD121H combo. Oh my god, my perfect setup. It sounds stunning. I have tried a MIA Jazz and Precision which have sounded good but with the Stingray, utterly amazing.

Gareth, I was looking at this cab but wondering if a better option would be two 112 Travellers.