drTStingray

I thought Low End Lobster’s Joe Dart 11 had to be returned for rectification of the pick up output (I must say I haven’t followed this tbh so didn’t hear the outcome). In terms of the value of basses, I believe the Joe Dart signature basses have some level of higher quality materials and given the manner of Musicman production probably exceed the standard of a Fender team-built Custom Shop instrument - such as the Pino Precision - a very standard instrument with an upgraded neck which retails for significantly more than a JD signature. I hear all the wails of derision, Pino v JD but remember, as stated earlier in this thread, it all depends on the age group - and as this forum is reasonably heavily slanted in the direction of the geriatric, some of whom have never heard of JD. Many youngsters won’t have heard of Pino, Jack Bruce etc etc for that matter!! However some of us ‘getting towards geriatrics’ have heard of and admire all of them. I love Joe Dart’s playing - certainly aspire to the MSG concert tone, it’s superb (and entirely achievable I’ve found, using a passive Tim Commerford signature or standard 3 band Stingray).

You’d be surprised who young people have heard of - I was talking to a young guitarist after a jam session where I provided the bass gear (he also plays bass and played my standard, natural Stingray). I told him about my Bongo basses and he asked if those were the ones with half of the fretboard in rosewood and half maple (which the current John Myung signature has) - the band I play in also uses a dep drummer who loves Dream Theatre - when he plays I always use one of my Bongos - which he gets very enthusiastic about!! For those wanting a peach coloured Stingray 5 (as per Tony Levin), they are in the wild however very very rare - a member of this forum has several Musicman basses in the ‘custom’ colour, peach - including a hen’s teeth Sabre - the colour was available to order only for about 12 months, in 1988/9. It wouldn’t surprise me if EBMM doesn’t issue more ‘artist series’ basses in due course - after all there was the Cliff Williams Stingray also. I agree a Tony Levin one would be good - however the post 1992 ceramic pick up SR5 with phantom coil provides a better sound (and especially the single coil setting, which was a little noisy in the initial version with alnico pick up (though such issues don’t appear to have hurt Fender Jazz sales over the decades!!)

I managed to get the VU meter on an Ashdown ABM permanently at the top of red with my Stingray 5HH Special earlier in the week - with the EQ boosted and the active/passive button not engaged - don’t think I’ve ever had that happen before.

Id sincerely hope not - the shape control is incredibly scooped on an ABM. The last thing you need with a Stingray! (I think you press it in to engage it??!!) I’ve found with the 3 band Ray pictured further back in this thread, having bass and treble very slightly boosted and mid cut about 80% (amp EQ all flat - filters off) creates an excellent all round tone - when guitars get low and crunchy and I need to hear the higher notes better (eg G string), I bring back the mids more - works perfectly - the more scooped the sound the less audible (next to the amp) higher notes are. The same is true if you’re using a fretless or playing harmonics.

I had my current favourite out at an outdoor gig yesterday - shock, horror it’s a 2003 3 band (and I have three 2 band Musicman basses 😏). Cut mids, slightly boosted bass and treble - used the mid control to tighten the sound slightly when the guitars got low and muddy. My perfect Bernard Edwards sound when required - boost the treble a bit to get more into Mark King slap sound - much of the set was 60s pop and rock and roll so I played towards the neck joint for much of it - sounded excellent. Such a versatile bass (and it has standard EB slinky roundwounds). Did I say it was sunny??!!

Good - glad you made it work. Having attended quite a lot of jam sessions recently and played through lots of different amps/combos etc I’m reminded how much some equipment colours the sound - notably Ashdown and Fender Rumble can have horrendously cut mids (vast scoop) - I’ve found the trick is to turn off all the pre sets and boost the mids - the Fender Rumble is still too cut for me. The mid control on the bass is very useful to overcome the problem as well. My favourite tone is the Bernard Edwards sound - I can achieve that with a 3 band Musicman set as above and a Markbass Little Mark 3 and 2 x 10 (tweeter on) - even gets the right pop/slap sound. On a Stingray Special the mids are voiced differently - I start with them on centre with those basses for the same sound.

😂 then of course there’s the PJ. However I haven’t worn PJs for years 😀👍😂

Yeah I tend to use mine with the mids cut - gives a great sound and pretty close to a 2 band Musicman EQ sound. You can bring the mids back up if you need more clarity in the mix as well - depends what music you’re playing - the mid range gives the impression of loudness but it’s not really - it’s just enhancing certain frequencies which make the bass more audible (I find it helps me hear myself in a thick on stage mix where other instruments are playing in the same frequency range as me). Note that these controls actually cut below centre detent - I tend to boost my bass and sometimes treble a little (above centre) whilst having the mid range cut. I don’t subscribe to the view that there’s less bass than a P bass though - the 3 band does have a high pass filter which avoids some of the mushy and boomy low frequencies - not a bad thing, and tightens up the sound. However by boosting the bass there’s a ton more available. You’ve clearly got a lot more variation available also, and that’s before you consider the area you pluck the strings and the intensity you pluck them. If you want more thump you could think of changing to flatwound strings and/or use a piece of foam rubber under the strings (a piece of kitchen sponge cut to size works very well).

Along with a wire brush and some elbow grease - not sure about the pg screws though 😀 “Hello, Mr Maude. Have you tried keeping your bass inside rather than in a garden or shed 😲?”

For that sort of money you should be able to get a nice used Sterling by Musicman Ray 34 (or the 5 string Ray 35) - these are import versions of the full fat US versions, or if you can find one, a USA Sub (not to be confused with the SBMM ones) - they were a more cheaply finished US Stingray. Or a decent Fender Jazz or PJ, or Yamaha, Ibanez etc etc. As has been suggested earlier, it would be worth going and trying some of these basses out if possible (whilst noting most music shops have dreadfully limited ranges of basses on display these days (whilst seemingly full of largely Fender and Gibson guitars). Andersons had a good selection of basses last time I went there.

If you want to learn to play slap, then the Precision is not the most appropriate bass to do it on, owing to its lack of high end and fidelity. Yes I hear that they have been used here and there on famous recordings using slap bass but the vast majority of famous slap bass players do not use Precisions, and I’d wager most people on here who play slap don’t either. If it’s to be a Fender then a two pick up variant like a Jazz would be more appropriate. Alternatively look for a cheap variant of a bass associated with slap, such as the lower priced versions of Stingrays (Ray 4 or 5), or Ibanez or Yamaha, or a Squier Jazz.

Yet another example of what happens if you never change your strings (other than a generally muffled, auto muted sound) 🤪😀🥴

Each to their their own - I have both 2 and 3 bands - I generally follow the Levin approach with the 3 band - mid cut significantly and bass and treble boosted a bit. This gives a good approximation of a 2 band tone - the mid range can be increased if needed. The major difference between the 3 and 2 band is the high pass filter (which restricts the boomier frequencies - which the 2 band can produce on full bass), and the mid range control - the centre detent does not equal the 2 band mid range - needs cutting to do that - but having it available to boost can really help in some mixes and live rooms. I love those two later 80s Stingrays. That 2 band fretless in trans red very likely has an alder body, and the black possibly a poplar body - both of which will probably contribute to quite warm sounds.

Possibly combination of alder or poplar body and rosewood board. I have a mahogany bodied Sabre - makes quite a difference to the detailed sound in my view.

As we all know from the countless threads on the subject, wood type makes no difference on electric instruments…. Except it does - the sound of an ash bodied Precision with a maple neck, or a Stingray with a rosewood board are subtly different, compared with the tone of an alder/rosewood Precision of an ash/maple Stingray. Lively rounds is another thing - I’m afraid I absolutely love them (having dallied with dead sounding stuff both in the early 70s and recently).

Are you relenting and selling your P basses - I suspect not 😀😉

It was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek 😀 apparently Nashville had been known to be a zone where they must be played (although even that has changed from time to time) - for all I know the bass de rigeur may now be a fan fret Dingwall - I think the Stingray 5 has been at times (where 5 strings are required).

Im surprised you haven’t gone the whole hog and reverted to upright bass - there were plenty of people (especially in jazz) in the 60s who took that view. The real issue with Precision basses for many people is their lack of range - so if you’re going anywhere near fusion, for instance, it’s highly unlikely you’d consider one acceptable - Jaco moaned about their sound (which is why he used a Jazz) and could you imagine Level 42 with one?? 😂😂 They’re fine for C and W and 8th root note rock (although arguably there are often equally good or better choices) particularly if you don’t want to alter the sound with effects/EQ remote from playing the instrument - even Jamerson played via a specially designed studio interface. I view them as being adequate for many things but personally, to get the best out of them, I have to play them harder than I’d like (and no, turning up doesn’t do it - it’s the plucking of the bass which does). I find a Stingray can do much the same with less effort - and the advantage of a broader range of tones and styles available in an excellent way. My favourite P is when I reach the service area on the motorway after being stuck in traffic for ages 😀😂

I’ll second that - I’ve been out providing bass in a jam session tonight and had my pedals with me - not intending to use them on the likes of Eagles songs etc etc but someone wanted to play Word Up - and later a medley of Superstition and Play That Funky Music - so I thought what the heck and set up my octaver and EBS Bass IQ (the latter set to quack at will)!! Great fun and the EBS pedal was orgasmic!! Coupled with the EH octaver was delicious!! I’ve found the key to getting the Flea sound with envelope filter (as per his instructional DVD) is to play quite hard giving a very pronounced quack!! Im going through a use every bass you own phase currently so am pulling out some less likely basses - I took this Stingray H (3 band) - I have barely used it for three or four years and only once at a gig - tweaked the action, tuned it and cleaned it before going out - played through my Markbass LM3 and Traveller 2 x 10 (with the tweeter on full) on around 1/4 to 1/3 input and output volume. Amp set largely flat, bass set with the mid range almost fully cut, bass and treble boosted a tad (largely aping a 2 band sound). Brilliant sound all night - and able to boost the mid range to get more presence in the upper register at will if required at times. The bass worked for every genre played - including some quite loud rock and bog standard country and western. No call for a P bass here, folks 😉😀😀

Which forum are the Sleaford Mods from (Farming Chat??) 😂😂👍 I’ll collect me coat (PS I quite like ska and stuff, really). Last night I watched the Paul McCartney show - I was completely captivated and blown away by it - quite a moving experience for me and others I’ve spoken to who have grown from teenage to elderly alongside his music since the late 60s - fantastic band - particularly liked Abe Laboriel Jnr’s drumming but singing also. The whole band was great to be fair and even the guesting from Dave Groll and Bruce Forsyth was dealt with v tastefully - including the guitar battle (5 guitarists) in the last number (the wonderful medley from Abbey Road). I could forgive the occasional lapse from sound (vocal volumes not being there for the first phrase sometimes - I presume they were turning off mikes to avoid back line bleed). Macca’s voice was suffering tour rigours a little I thought but these are nit picking - it was effin brilliant and the look of elation on the faces in the audience was equally moving. National treasure or what!!! I loved the Ashdown/60s P bass sound which was quite high in the mix at times as well as Macca’s Höfner (also quite audible). It’s good the sound people have recognised that not all band’s bass players just play root 8th notes the whole time and are thus mixed somewhere alongside the kick drum - McCartney (and also noticeable with Noel Gallagher), the bass parts often form a fundamental counter melody/harmony and thus mixing alongside the kick drum either results in that part of the performance being insufficiently audible (thus ruining the whole thing) or the kick drum being miles too loud (similarly ruining it - though at least you might hear the bass part well). I dread to think what would happen if some of these sound guys got anywhere near an orchestra!! Whilst recognising they have a majorly difficult job in such a huge outdoor arena. The bass is, of course, one of the most important parts in many types of music (and not sub boom!! It ain’t drum n bass 😀😀😀 unless, of course, it is….😂😂)

Yeah often a problem for 4 string players of all persuasions (though I got a Stingray early on and always anchored my thumb at the pick up - much as P bass players do - I was playing disco/soul/funk so this suited the sound (through an Acoustic 371 set up). However as soon as I played 5 string I was forced to change my technique to avoid the low B droning when I wasn’t playing it (much like a set of bag pipes do, as a natural characteristic). So I always anchor my thumb against the lowest string whether it be a 4 or 5 er - I found I could then vary where I’m plucking the strings for a huge variation in the sound and soon learned the floating thumb technique as well - almost naturally. So my advice @Steve Browning is to use the E string to rest your thumb - not the pick up (except when plucking the E). Also, take a look at Bernard Edwards playing live - he plucked his Stingray almost at the bridge, and very hard - Louis Johnson always smacked hell out of his Stingray as well!! Mr Jameson didn’t rest his thumb on the pick up either - most pics I’ve seen have him playing near the neck joint!!

It’s been quite up and down for the bass mix - however it’s been very audible for the Oasis numbers - noticeably earlier on in the set the bass drum was way loud compared with the bass. Seems to be a perennial problem with mixes!!

Yeah they’re good - he’s playing a Rick 4003 currently though - must have changed at some point. Sounds good as well. And back to the sunburst Precision!

Me too - having heard her singles on the radio I’m surprised how ‘rock’ it is - quite pleasant though, with some nice guitar playing, whilst I’m waiting for the headline ‘heritage’ act - no doubt the audience will change a bit for him. I suppose the middle aged men (and older) with beards are possibly the same as the largely young male beard stroking audience I encountered at ‘prog’ concerts in the early 70s like Yes and Jethro Tull - it’s only when I experienced a Level 42 gig that I realised lots of ladies like them a lot - in fact I was astonished how many middle aged women went to their gigs when I went to one at Eastbourne around 2010!!

I was sorry I missed them - used to love their stuff - must look at the iplayer!!