drTStingray

[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1402692280' post='2476099'] Do you need a stingray?.....only if you don't need a G string....great 3 string though. [/quote] You must have been misusing it - I never have this problem and I've got four of them. If anything my HH has slightly too much on the G string. This problem is just as possible on any bass, and more likely on a two pick up bass like a jazz if too scooped a sound is dialled in. This will lose ( to the player) the sound of the higher strings. The Stingray can be over-scooped through amp and EQ settings ( just as any other bass) but I guarantee the audience will never have a problem hearing the notes being played on it - whatever the string in use. Everyone needs a Stingray..............and a Bongo!

Congrats - nice bass - remember the blade switch position at the bridge end is parallel wiring and classic Stingray sound - and towards the neck is series which is a fattened up tone with more mids. Centre is series with filter (to replicate single coil).

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1402062200' post='2469679'] I remember that. The first time round! [/quote] Me too - strange ad IIRC. However I played my Bongo 5HHp again at a gig this week - blues band in a small pub blues club environment - all I can say is stunning - absolutely stunning. No one gets near the headstock - could have your eye out - great interest in the bass guitar again from members of the audience! First point is always the sound - second the stunning looks. Attracts admiration on every gig it seems.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1402089622' post='2470056'] Hi foiks, Looking for suggestions so I'm wondering what tunes you like playing on a fretless? (I've had a peek and I can't see a thread that's similar to this one - please direct me though if I'm just repeating one!). Cheers! [/quote] I Feel like making love and I can't get enough of your love - Bad Company A Pastorius one which springs to mind is The Dry Cleaner from Des Mois (Joni Mitchell) - the live one is fretless at least I think.

I used my Bongo 5HHp at a pub gig (posh country one) Saturday night. The Sound was great and for a jazzy song with a walking bass line id dialled in 70% piezo 30% magnetic. And the icing on the cake - on their way out a group of the audience came up to me enthusing about the Bongo and asking what make it is. They said it looked fabulous - a modern take on a classic shape. I think it's only other bass players who don't like them.......and maybe even they are mellowing!! ;-)

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1401553992' post='2464709'] Singles have the better chance of character in the sound whilst the thicker humbuckers are fuller and louder which is not always what you want, IMO. It tends to be the same re active and passive. The extra oomph can often be required and appreciated but in an ideal world the best chance of the better tone lies with the thinner sound of singles and when you get to a gig where you need to make the very least amount of compromises you go passive and single for this reason. IMO. [/quote] I see where you're coming from but the idea that humbuckers can only be brash and loud is a huge over-simplification. Take a Gibson Les Paul - it doesn't have to always be Paul Kossof or jimmy page style sound - how about Les Paul himself - very smooth and jazzy sounding. It's the same with bass - it doesn't have to be Flea sound with a humbucker. Similarly with active/passive. I used my bongo at a gig last night (twin H) - yes very powerful if required but quite tameable with playing technique - and for those jazz songs simply dialled in a higher level of piezzo/lower level of magnetic. Piezzo is well worth having. Whilst bass guitar tone can obviously be heard in a band format by the audience, the level and nuance is far less than, say a lead guitar. It's more an issue of what level is heard rather than the nuances of tone (far more than us bass players would like to think it is!!). Bass guitar is fairly inaudible (in comparison with 70s, 80s, 90s and early 00s) in many modern music mixes.

Some interesting posts in this thread, which seem to be almost entirely Fender orientated. Probably the most famous humbuckers on basses are the Gibson (sometimes called mud bucker owing to bridge position - I don't know whether this is justified or not having no experience of them - two of the great players of all time used them.....) and Musicman, originally Leo Fender's company (starting with the Stingray in 1976). The humbucker(s) on 4 string Stingrays are wired in parallel and combined with the active pre amp create a crystal clear, and probably one of the best slap sounds, similar for pick style and a low mid heavy finger style bass sound. They totally sink any preconception that humbuckers create a muddy sound. The neck H on 2 pick up versions of these basses fattens up the bass response and with the coil selection provided enables the pick ups to be selected in single coil mode. Musicman's revered reputation in the bass world is built around humbuckers (SR5, Sterling, Bongo). More recently they have perfected a noiseless single coil which is offered on most models at neck position (and in a 3 single coil Strat style on the big al). So when you say single coil I think of Fender, humbucker as Musicman (with due deference to all the other bass makes not mentioned here such as Rickenbacker, hofner, G and L, Lakland etc etc etc all of which have as much if not more validity dependent on your outlook). The humbucker tends to be more powerful and fatter sounding in most applications.

[quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1401009865' post='2458956'] Are modern Rays the same as the classic Rays? [/quote] The standard modern Ray in 2 band EQ single H form is electronically similar to a 79 onwards pre EB. It has body contours and an improved 6 bolt neck joint, oil and wax finished neck , 11 in radius neck, plastic battery box flip top, and excellent thumb wheel truss rod adjuster all of which differ from a pre EB. They are top load bridge (which pre EBs went to in about 1980). The Classic 2 band Ray model has the slab body, strings through bridge, mute loaded bridge, chrome battery box cover and finished neck of the pre EB, and a number of other nice cosmetic enhancements like heavily figured maple necks. They also have a 7.5 in radius neck - not sure what the radius of pre EB necks was. There are umpteen other models including 3 band EQ, HS or HH pick up variants, a massive variety of colours and three fingerboard variants. I can tell you I've compared recordings made 'back in the day' with my pre EB Ray and some made recently with my EBMM Classic Ray and they're very similar indeed. For anyone who's thinking whether or not they need a Ray, the simple answer is go and try some. The HH compared to the H alone is like trying to compare a jazz to a precision in Fender speak. There is tons of variation available in sound, and for a skilled player able to vary playing style they can be a Swiss Army knife of basses - even in H form. The Ed Friedland video shows this to good effect.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1400857886' post='2457654'] Looks like it will be a super rare bass! Classic Sabre PDN! [/quote] Yes indeed - it is said by many people that the 30th Anniversary Ray with mahogany body is the best ever - so the Sabre with mahogany should be pretty good. Can't wait!!

Well I certainly did - I've placed an order for a Classic Sabre in this series. Now the 4 to 5 month wait................

I am about to order a PDN 2014 Sabre :-) mahogany bodied Sabre with roasted maple neck should be awesome!!

Agreed - I have 4 Stingrays and a Bongo 5HHp - the Bongo has a completely different sound but retains that Musicman DNA within it. The EQ on the Bongo is marvellous - especially the low mid.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1399835021' post='2448189']As a result of that, there is less of a tendency to anglicize the pronunciation of certain words [/quote] At the risk of sounding jingoistic, there is somehow something perverse about the concept of anglicising the English language!! A contradiction in terms perhaps? In the case of the word status which is in general use for a different meaning other than the name of a bass guitar it's generally pronounced state us in GB - now there are regional differences - for instance where I grew up in England it would be pronounced sty tuus with a certain tuneful inflection. Regional pronunciation (even in This country) has variation - worldwide there are vast differences in pronunciation. No doubt stah tus and various other pronunciations are in use elsewhere in the world or Somerset, Essex etc.

[quote name='Arron_Brown' timestamp='1399491312' post='2444804'] I am having all of the electronics and pickup fully reinstalled with new parts and I just have no clue why this happened? Any thoughts? [/quote] How are you doing this? The only way you can replace with Musicman parts is to return the faulty ones to them - they don't sell these parts any other way. It's very unusual for the major parts to go wrong - much more likely a faulty connection. McNach's solution is the likely problem.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1399830531' post='2448116'] Earlier today I unscrewed the battery compartment, and pushed the bent metal contacts that act as springs in, to push better against the battery (they were nearly flat!). Took two minutes. The battery makes better contact now and it seems it's done the trick. I hope the OP's is the same. [/quote] This is a standard fix after relaxing the battery and checking it's not the Jack socket. Glad it worked.

Now come on folks we're not Californicans surely? There was a long running thread on Talkbass about the pronunciation of the name Rickenbacker - apparently there is a group of people from a certain geographical area who think it's pronounced Rickenbocker!! But Stahtus - havin a larf surely!!!???

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1399645161' post='2446262'] We could always ask Jerry Scheff - he's a BC Member. [/quote] Now he is one awesome bass player!

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1399763575' post='2447509'] I happily disagree [/quote] Me too

[quote name='drewboy' timestamp='1399711480' post='2446835'] I hope nobody minds me posting this. Please let me know if you do. Merchant CIty Music are doing the new 2014 Music Man PDN in Neptune Blue. Happy to give you a quote and any more information. More info here: https://www.guitar.co.uk/community/music-man-pdn-neptune-blue-2014/ [/quote] Thanks and will be in touch.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1399025650' post='2440066'] Back in the day when I was quite a fan of MM stuff, and I was still a member of their forum, I suggested to their design team ( BP that is) that perhaps having a Stingray with a switchable passive option would be a useful alternative to those who find their pre-amp too nasal and often too overpowering at the expenses of feel and individual nuances. It all went downhill from there with BP thinking I needed my head checked. But hey-ho 5 years later here he is designing the very thing. [/quote] Are you sure you didn't ask for an active/passive switch on a Bongo?? But you are right he did used to steam from the ears at such suggestions. Now the real holy grail are the standard Stingrays they made in a limited run for Guitar Centre with the same electronics as the white/gold hardware PDN around the same time.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1399647512' post='2446293'] Nice! I'd love to try a Sabre. Can you PM me or put on thread what the 'upcharge' is for the fact its a PDN bass? Cheers [/quote] I've PMd you. No specific info as yet but via S and T and probably Andertons I'm looking to order on Monday - EBMM CS gave me a link to UK Premier Dealer Network list (there aren't many) - plus a contact if any problems. Anyone else likely to order one of these? The Bongo looks great.

I'm afraid I've succumbed to the GAS and am sorting out a Classic Sabre in this configuration as we speak!! Blue burst is one of my favourite colours. A mahogany bodied Sabre with a gunstock oil and wax finished figured roasted maple neck sounds fabulous to me. The single H Bongo is also rather appealing.

Sub Ray - white one looks great as does the walnut one. They sound superb.

Congratulations - lovely bass.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1398896043' post='2438906'] Does the dep represent the band well enough? I'd rather lose a gig for the band that have a band member for the night to do the gig, and do a lacklustre gig as a result [/quote] +1 and to add to this, damage the bands reputation enough to lose future gigs. Accepting gigs and needing deps is ok so long as people understand the contribution to the whole band sound the depped musician makes. If they don't (as is sometimes the case in semi pro set ups where, say the contribution of the rythmn section is underestimated) then it can be a problem. Depping is fine so long as you are competent to cover the ground. I've been in bands where dates have been negotiable as bookers are trying to fill several slots - and the band member/leader doing the organisation accepts the first date offered in the full knowledge that, say the whole rythmn section is not available. This is poor organisation and shouldn't be accepted - I have known the result to verge on catastrophic and lose repeat work!