drTStingray

I always rated Dave Peacock's bass playing (and Chas Hodges for that matter - he's on a Jerry Lee Lewis album I have - and pretty fine bass playing as well) - of their sessions stuff, I only found out fairly recently they are both on this (memorable bit starts at 2 mins 10 secs - Dave on bass, Chas on guitar. http://youtu.be/xKISdd2mKzU

I think he means Bb? I tend to use Ernie Ball strings on my SR5, having tried lots of other types - I have had the Super Slinky pink pack 5 string set on for about 6 months and have been very impressed - gauge is 125 to 40. The low B sounds very tight and focussed (including recorded) and the whole bass sounds excellent - very well balanced sound.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1505381642' post='3371432'] Mine was in front of the bridge so killed the sound. Everyone I knew removed the foam, even if they didn't take the ash trays off. [/quote] Sorry to pick on your quote chris_b - but would you guys (and Carol Kaye) be intimating ........ that Leo got this element of the P bass wrong? Blimey... Mind you I've heard Carol Kaye describe P basses generally in less than glowing terms in the past. And he did fix it on the Mustang as I understand so was happy to improve on designs.

I think the following is correct:- All Sterling H (4 or 5 strings) have ceramic and series - with series/parallel/some form of single coil switching. The Sterling with multi pickups are also ceramic - with series wiring (coil selection but no parallel) - as previously observed the multi pick up Sterling wouldn't do the classic Stingray parallel sound - the ceramic magnets make a more punchy and warm version of the Stingray parallel sound on H versions. Stingray 5H has similar electronics and pick up spec to the Sterling from 1992 to 2008 - after which the SR5H has alnico magnets which is the only difference as I understand. The early SR5s also had alnico but the single coil switch selection was not as silent as in the later post 1992 models. If you really want clarity on this, email EBMM customer services and they will confirm the specs - the one area I'm not clear about is whether the current SR5 HS and HH has parallel or series wiring but I suspect may be parallel - the H definitely has series still - not that I need to know as I'm not planning buying a multi pick up SR5 - maybe an SR5 H though.......

My basses are more modern than that ash tray laden thing people are referring to - if you can call designed 40 odd years ago more modern - I suppose it represents an improvement on 60 yrs old - say Escort RS1600 compared to Ford Popular. Anyhoooo - these basses, be they the 1993 fretted or Fretless, 2010, 2014 or 2016 built ones all have a custom designed individual string muting system - which Leo and mates brought over from the 60s Mustang bass - doesn't affect intonation at all from my experience no matter how much you wind them on - being able to do this means you can vary the intensity of muting by individual string or across the whole bass - and neither did stuffing a nice think sponge and scourer pad up by the bridge on a 2007 version of one of these modern basses which similarly had no effect on intonation. Lots of other famous bassists have been filmed or pictured using a similar system with a chunk of sponge or foam rubber - Bob Babbitt, George Porter Jnr etc etc (they were using Precisions). What sort of bass and what sort of mute equipment were you guys using to get this intonation problem - seems astonishing to me.

I didn't even bother to cut the one I used on a Stingray a few years back - it was one of those scourers with sponge one side and a thin scourer layer on the top - worked a treat stuffed between the pick up and bridge - and it was blue (rather than the yellow and green ones you often see on the supermarket shelves!!) - matched the colour of the bass.... Great for playing early Elvis stuff like My Baby Left Me and Blue Moon of Kentucky.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1504468467' post='3365119'] And why do they play Green Onions at that speed these days? [/quote] I'd tend to agree with you but I saw a video of Booker T and the MGs doing it live in the late 60s and they did it at that speed - I was astonished how hard Duck Dunn played on it as well. The version they did on the Prom was true to the live version I've heard (I suspect some of the other songs were as well - probably the influence of Booker T and Steve Cropper). Jools was very laid back and only played one piano solo in the whole set, and that one was perfectly in genre. I really don't know why people have such a downer on such an excellent musician and band.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1504459629' post='3365011'] There'd been 5 days of rehearsals (between interviews) for the JH guys and the Stax originals. That's not a hell of a lot between guys who hadn't met before, and considering their ages. Cropper and Booker are such seasoned veterans and session men that they can pretty much drop in with most bands, but the vocalists I thought did really well considering. I was three rows back almost directly behind JH and the sound was pretty good from there, once Cropper's amp got fired up properly. [/quote] Sounded great on my tele as well - the bass needs to be prominent in that sort of music and credit to the guys mixing, it was good. I watched some of the earlier big band Prom as well and that sounded good - double basses nicely in the mix.

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1504459241' post='3365006'] Conversely, both of mine exhibit the quiet G. [/quote] Do you mean recorded or when heard whilst stood a couple of feet in front of your amp? If they are 3 band instruments have you tried altering the mid range? That usually has a major impact (you can hear the change by playing G string harmonics also). If 2 band boost the mid range on your amp or drop the tone controls back a bit to introduce more mid range.

[quote name='petetexas' timestamp='1504429115' post='3364720'] The one issue I still have , is that the top G seems quieter than the rest of the strings , even though the pup is tilted ( .190" gap from pup top to bottom of G string , and .250" gap pup top to bottom of E string . [/quote] Firstly try and check the front of house sound as it may not be producing the same effect as you're hearing. If still an issue, if you drop the bass boost back a little you will find more mid range will appear in the sound which may even it out. Failing all that, boost the mid range on the amp a little. I have never felt the need to mess around with the pick up poles on a Stingray (I have 9 of them) - and have found them to produce an even FOH sound and record evenly also, across the strings - I'm not even convinced it makes any difference at all (other than lowering the resale value!!).

I really enjoyed it and how wonderful to be able to hear the bass well - was that a white Ibanez Musician or similar Dave Swift was using? Beverley Knight is really excellent.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1503914225' post='3361462'] No more routing since the EMGs went in. Here is the weight of a 40DC and the MM5CS. The 2 pickups together weigh 0.8 lb ! [/quote] Crikey that's a lot!!

[quote name='Misdee' timestamp='1503917738' post='3361501'] Don't be surprised if EBMM steal your idea and start marketing this adaptation. They have already committed heresy by introducing a passive Fender- style P and PJ, so what do they have to lose? [/quote] They already did create basses with a decent Precision sound (amongst others) - the Classic Sabre has a neck pick up single coil selection which sounds like a Precision (I have one - the setting is quite useful for occasional use) - the Big Al does a passive P sound really well. As one of the early Stingray prototypes had a P type pick up and more than one modified Stingrays with a P pick up have been featured on here it's hardly a new idea - interesting on a five string though.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1503909348' post='3361403'] I'm getting tons of clank from mine. Depending on how hard I play. Gentle = round full tone. Hard = proper clank. [/quote] That is because the sound of a Stingray and especially a Stingray 5 is contributed to heavily by the construction - the bridge especially with those deep seated bolts as well as screws and heavy mass, along with the body resonance (especially if it's an ash body). So you've got all of that as well as your vintage sounding P pickup. If you look at the bridges on the MM passive basses (Cutlass and Caprice - P and PJ) you'll see the bolts aren't included - when asked about this MM said it was deliberate and is part of the design to get a more vintage sound. Btw the weight loss may be to do with you having two defunct pick up routs and the pre amp/ multi switch rout - quite a lot of wood missing under that scratch plate now?

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1503853527' post='3361187'] Absolutely bang on. A bit of kick through the pa with a boost at 60hz really hits you in the chest and mixing that with the bass gives you the basis of a great gig. After all its live music and should be something you can feel as well as hear. Problem is many people don't know where to boost and cut. [/quote] I don't disagree with this - up to a point - but it requires restraint on the part of the drummer. Kick drum is an oft misused thing. It also depends on the genre - If you have a drummer with one of those double bass drum pedal thingys who likes to show off with the occasional roll on it, it can be a nightmare - the drummer equivalent of having a guitarist who plays like full on Slash on everything - including Ed Sheeran songs. Last night at our gig (a large pub) I must confess to getting a little peeved with our (new) drummer and sound person at sound check - the bass drum PA sound was boomy (in fact it was a large and boomy bass drum anyway so needed cut), and he was also in the monitors (inexplicably). This plays havoc in trying to play groove based funk music as it tends to drown out any intricacies of the groove construction between different instruments. I'd played an outdoor gig earlier with a different band where the sound was excellent - anyway we sorted it out but I confess to having pointed out that unless I was mistaken, 76 Trombones hadn't been added to our set list and we weren't planning to do marching music as a part of the set so what's with the loud sub sonic boom in the kick? It was remixed to a thud and deleted from the monitors (which meant everyone else in the band could hear what they were playing without it being over powered by subsonic boom mush). Anyway it was sorted amicably to everyone's satisfaction and a good gig was had by all.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1503818715' post='3360985'] It's called a conversation. This is what happens [/quote] Or a thread hijack - dependent on one's perspective 😏 The OP has said his query was answered in the first few replies. That tends to colour my view.

[quote name='petetexas' timestamp='1503595621' post='3359560'] Hi Guys, Tilted the pup (nearer the G string , and further away on the E) for tonights gig . I WILL TAKE A SCREWDRIVER WITH ME - JUST IN CASE ! . If there is no improvement , I will then move the pole pieces , or try a compressor to even out . Must go , the van is outside for me . Pete [/quote] Other than getting the pick up orientation correct (there are factory settings), you may find that injudicious boosting of the bass EQ may appear to create this effect when stood in front of your amp, especially if you scoop the sound on the amp as well - even more so if you play in a band where the stage sound is awash with low end keyboard or guitar chords - however Stingrays don't create this effect when recorded, or even at FOH which leads to a conclusion that the problem some people find is to do with EQ choices on amp and/or bass. As the pole pieces on a single humbucker Stingray follow the contours of the neck (and thus string height from that end of the bass), the only way I could think that levelling the pole pieces would alter anything would be if someone has set the bass up, for instance with low and completely even saddle heights thus making the D and A strings closer to the pole pieces. Another thing to consider is string guage - Stingrays come fitted with 100 to 45 stings - put a 105 on and it may change the balance towards biasing the E string. Anyway I hope you get it sorted.

Blimey this thread's gone all grumpy old fella suddenly ........ The bass is devised around a one off prototype from 1976 - i wasn't aware anyone was suggesting all Stingrays should have been like this - it's a limited edition that's been issued in a couple of additional colours.

Congratulations - that looks great, especially in the butterscotch. I agree with you regarding the slightly less aggressive sound - mine has quite an old school thump to the sound - however I find it still has the trademark Stingray slap sound - perhaps a little less aggressive, as you say than a 3 band. How do you find the slap sound?

I've been asked to play a solo in a blues before now (normally the 12 bar format). One of the best examples I can think of a blues song (albeit a jazz one) with solo bass is Goodbye Pork Pie Hat - the Marcus Miller version is nice and the bass solo towards the end has some killer phrases. http://youtu.be/iAeeKDTPEw0

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1503177970' post='3356303'] Also one of the first players I remember seeing with a MM Stingray ( and matching MM rig!) [/quote] I've seen footage of the whole band using MM rigs, and the rhythm guitarist using a Stingray guitar also - I think Carl Radle was one of the first bassists using the Stingray and continued to for a long period.

I used to use one (an Aphex one) I haven't used one for about 5 years. Mind you I generally play Stingrays, which can produce a slightly compressed sound naturally. I don't have problems with consistency of sound so don't feel the need to use it - the reason I did previously was to have the ability to get a very squashed sound when required. I think they can be useful to even your sound intensity.

I have made several attempts over the last 40 something years to learn to sight read notation fluently. I suspect the lack of a requirement to do so virtually ever for my bass playing has contributed to the fact that I still can't - other reasons being laziness etc. The vast majority of my requirements have been fulfilled by learning material from recorded work. It's only in more recent years that notated (or tab) bass parts have become readily available - many years ago the closest you would get is a piano left hand part which often did not reflect the bass part - more it provided pianists with an ability to play the piece unaccompanied rather than reflecting any part of the artist's recording. I don't think tab is evil - it has helped me to learn quite complex things I could never have worked out by ear - and would probably have struggled with from the notation - but by using reference books or magazine transcriptions which show both notation and tab, it has given me a speedier reference to the notes and has also helped me to recognise notated rythmn and rest patterns thus helping my ability to sight read (I struggle less with the notes than with the rythmn when sight reading). I have learned (from notation) examples like the entire piano part and trumpet part for Cantaloupe Island - to both supplement my understanding of the piece and also allow me to concoct a solo bass piece. This is purely for personal interest and development - I've only ever played in one project where the song was played and I was required to play the bass part (and a short solo). If I'm depping I might download tabs as a quick reference to speed up the learning process - I'm far more likely to write my own chord charts for reference on the gig. I'm quite in awe of people who can read fluently - several brass players I know turn up for dep gigs with their own hand written notation and play standards (I'm talking things like Pick Up the Pieces, Watermelon Man, Autumn Leaves) accurately - I guess the brass parts do need to be spot on. So I think it has its place, and has its limitations, but can be a quick reference to play at least the notes accurately....... the question of incorrect transcription affects notation as well as tab - the fact there is (possibly) more tab available may result in more inaccuracy (certainly I've seen tab from web sites which is completely wrong - simply using your ear and playing along will clarify if something is wrong!!). This is probably anathema to purists but it works for me and I think has helped my reading of notation. I think a significant proportion of what I play is about feel and even notation is limited in its ability to convey that - I think that's something the player provides.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1502781407' post='3353399'] File compression and audio compression are not the same thing. The A has always meant Address. [/quote] I meant the compression effect on modern music created on digital platforms, creating a lower standard of audio quality. I think most of us know A in PA = address. I was referring to the joke earlier in the thread that the A appears to mean amplification (as opposed to broadening) the sound of some instruments - notably the bass drum.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1502711539' post='3352991'] It's an inheritance from the dark days of disco, I think, which has skewed their hearing and expectations of what constitutes 'good sound'. [/quote] The wierd thing is that if you went clubbing in the late 70s/early 80s you'd get great sounding bass guitar and bass drum (the latter 4 to the floor) - the sound would be properly separated on the 12" single and the DJ would not be boosting sub sonic mush. Now if you went to one of the pubs in Handsworth playing dub reggae, the bass would be extremely prominent - using 18" speakers - enough to rattle your small intenstines - but still appropriate to the genre, with all the usual elements perfectly audible. Sub sonic mush is a much more recent mainstream creation IMHO - partially to do with modern equipment allowing you to do it (give many people a means of boosting the bass and they'll turn it to 11), ludicrously compressed music being acceptable through digital media and becoming the norm, and also people thinking anything 'vintage' is great when in many cases it is and always was complete rubbish - I'm thinking overly scooped mixing techniques; mixing the bass drum at the same volume and sonic space as the bass guitar and other notorious ideas eminating from the 60s and no doubt great for some music of that era, but capable of ruining music from any genre or era with different ideas - to me an analogy would be someone inventing a gadget called 'Phil Spector sound' and every DJ and sound mixer pressing the button for every song they play. I recently was a wedding guest and was rather amused to hear the DJ provide such a scooped and sub prominent sound that songs by Chic and other disco era acts had far less middle than appropriate - so you could only hear the low notes on the bass, and the bass drum prominently - so you'd lose half the bass line - and complete instruments such as piano. Singing, hi hat and symbols, low notes and bass drum was the basic offering - made for some quite strange sounding songs although the more modern stuff seemed to fare better. Rant over - I do like the idea of the A in PA meaning address rather than amplifier!!