drTStingray

[quote name='matski' timestamp='1453810047' post='2962908'] Quick cheaty way to ascertain where the centre points are: when I first got my StingRay, I loosened the knobs and repositioned them so that the screw hole is directly on top when the EQ is in the middle (flat) position - makes it very easy to see what you are doing [/quote] That's a good tip - however as stated above, you need to remember that the 'flat' is not at the centre of travel of either the bass (lower than centre) or treble (higher than centre IIRC) - it's useful to know where you are in terms of the travel of each control, but my own view is that the advice to adjust according to what you hear is probably the best on this.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1453886354' post='2963699'] As it has been bumped... My Sr5 now has the EMG MM type in it, and also an EMG DC40 at the neck. Vol / Vol / Tone. It sounds great and it's more versatile than before. The neck pickup does a good P impression when needed, but there is still plenty of clank from the bridge. I'm very happy with it. [/quote] You should try a Musicman piezo in the bridge as well - I have one in my Bongo 5 - adds a whole new dimension if you're after flexibility.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1450943484' post='2937149'] [b] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=4]Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon is the book.[/size][/font][/b] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=4]I haven't read it yet, it's an early Christmas present.[/size][/font] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=4]Oh and as Muscle Shoals has been mentioned, dare I add Chess Records, too?[/size][/font] [/quote] I think you may - but hey what about James Brown - not a mention in this thread but surely the coolest of all soul singers (phenomena in Brown's case) and bands from the 50s until they morphed into funk in the 70s - and I love all the post 70s stuff as well - neither Motown, Stax, Atlantic or Chess. Now that band could groove!!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1453729232' post='2962163'] I've just realised that the title of this thread may actually have been a request .. [/quote] Surely not .....

[quote name='obi 2 kenobi' timestamp='1453722564' post='2962057'] Yes, the link I sent (on page 2 with graphs) mentions both bass and treble are cut & boost but the cut on the bass is very small - "And looking at the T=0, B=0 curve at the top of your post, I see the evidence for the claim that although the bass pot is supposed to be boost only, it actually has a cut (very small, like -2dB) when set to zero." Personally I find that setting bass to 50% is not flat - its a definite boost. But then again I have a '78 model when there was little consistency. [/quote] Yes I agree. I tend to run mine at full with the treble backed off a little, and then adjust back if I want to bring the mid range up. I also agree with the significant sound variation available from moving the plucking hand and also from the intensity of plucking the strings. One thing I hadn't appreciated but I picked up from watching a Bernard Edwards/Chic performance is the sound variation by plucking between the pick up and bridge. The range of sound available from a 2 band MM bass is excellent. Even before you start adding in the mutes etc.

Regrettably, we all will one day ........... There have been some notable expulsions in the past and departures in sympathy on occasion - this seems to happen on most forums.

[quote name='obi 2 kenobi' timestamp='1453714250' post='2961945'] This is correct. Link below explains it all. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/instruments-amps/226943-understanding-music-man-stingray-2-band-preamp.html Note I have a 2eq and a 3eq. With a 2eq, I find it better to go easy on bass boost as it quickly becomes overpowering. [/quote] I agree with this - except for the boost and cut - see attached clarification - also clarified in the thread by Rod Trussbroken (owner of the website Musicman.org). http://forums.ernieball.com/music-man-basses/52008-cut-boost-2-band-eq.html

[quote name='Greg.Bassman' timestamp='1453668276' post='2961634'] The quote that I have sent off for was to Musicman themselves; 100% uncompromised Ernie Ball. Do you think [i]that bass[/i] would be the same, or feature detents? [/quote] All of the 2 bands, be they in USA Sub, standard Stingray 2 bands or Classic Rays (or pre Ernie Ball for that matter) do not have centre detent controls so yours won't have them. The only minor differences around, but rare, are the gilded white LE Stingray (produced a few years back as a PDN model) on which one of the three controls is a push-pull pot which activates/deactivates the active electronics and changes to a passive tone control. To make matters more complicated, EBMM supplied a limited number of regular Rays (and possibly Classic Rays) to Guitar Centre in the same time period with this same feature, which crop up on classifieds (usually Talkbass) occasionally. Some USA Subs were built as passive basses and thus do not have active electronics. The 133 basses were IIRC standard red, white or blue coloured 2 band Stingrays, as stated provided with a gig bag instead of a hard case, and were part of a celebration of 50 years of Strings and Things distributing in the Uk for EB. They were originally £999 new. 133 is part of the build code.

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1453634876' post='2961176'] On the 2-band the bass is boost only, the treble is cut and boost. [/quote] I think it's been quoted by EBMM that the bass and treble controls on the 2 band EQ are both cut and boost. I agree entirely that these are very much adjust according to what your ears tell you - also as you cut/boost, the mid range is more/less audible. The high pass filter on the EBMM 3 band EQ is designed to adjust out boomy bass frequencies.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1453592765' post='2960964'] Meh-yow, surely? [/quote] Autocorrect problem??

[quote name='Greg.Bassman' timestamp='1453603632' post='2961006'] Unlike the 3-band, which features centre detents to indicate the 'flat' point of the bass, I believe the 2-band controls are boosts only; does this mean that the 'flat' point on the 2-band is when both controls are rolled off to 0? or am I off? Cheers. [/quote] Correct they don't have a centre decent but they are boost and cut. The 3 band EQ has more mid range at centre detent so you have to cut it a little (and boost bass and treble slightly) to get a comparable sound. The 2 band does sound excellent though and is a good choice.

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1453574743' post='2960738'] [/quote] Shouldn't that be miowww?

Really liking that 40th Anniversary Ray - other pictures on the net show the burst as being quite a stunner.

[quote name='NJE' timestamp='1453405160' post='2959296'] Both all kinds of fugly! What on earth are they thinking? I love music man stuff, I thought the new Sabres in the cool colours were amazing, but these just look a bit naff. I got all excited thinking they had released a graphite neck stingray/sabre again. To be honest I would look at the new Sandberg VM5 HH now that the Sabre has gone. Great colours and it even looks similar with the new body shape. [/quote] The Stingray can still be had in HH form - I'm glad I got a Classic Sabre but having been and tried a number out, I felt they were too similar to my Ray HH to justify buying one.......... until the Neptune blue package appeared with mahogany body and roasted oil and wax finish neck - basically the Sabre has never sold well in any of its three incarnations.

As for the Caprice and Cutlass basses, it will be very interesting to hear how these sound and feel to play. I like the look of the split P type pick up with large exposed poles - reminiscent of one of the earliest Stingray prototypes. If they are as good as the Big Al then that will be excellent. I'm not sure about people saying meh on the basis of one or two pictures - oh I almost forgot - it's a bass forum where such things are de rigeur.....

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1453392066' post='2959096'] The 10 pole piece pickup has been engineered from the original - same with the preamp. They should sound quite different. [/quote] Also has an alder body according to the spec list.

[quote name='keefbaker' timestamp='1453208679' post='2957372'] Not seen another thread about this so I thought I'd start one. Managed to watch the first half last night (busy day) and it's really good so far. Anybody else got this yet? [/quote] My son has it and I watched it with him. I thought it was very good. We both thought it inspired picking up a bass and playing - especially the excerpts from the instructional video with Jerry Jemmott.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1452951186' post='2954986'] the groove is sacrificed for the fluff in that example... IMO [/quote] Yeah possibly - but this really is more towards the pop end of the soul/R and B spectrum - however it's a pretty good copy of the original (with a few fluffs), which does have that extended 16th note groove at the end - the timing and accents of the original sound a bit unusual - this was one of a number of Chic/Sister Sledge/Sheila B Devotion/Diane Ross Edwards/Rogers produced covers which I played in a touring covers band at the end of the 70s and that song certainly got people up dancing - I think the bass 16th note groove just adds to the intensity - quite clever the way it's restricted only to one bar every twelve until the end when it cuts loose. Very clever guys as writers, arrangers and musicians.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1452889402' post='2954562'] Curious, I had never seen the MM humbucker in that shape (long ear, rather than two individual ears on the bass side)... I guess I haven't been paying attention! That blue looks lovely with the maple neck! Yum! [/quote] They appear on all of the multi pick-up Stingray and Sterling 4 strings which started in 2005 ish - like a Bongo pick up case. Also don't have the raised A and D pole pieces like the single H versions (of the 4 string). Blue Dawn is an awesome colour - the sparkle is subtle in normal light but can be outrageous in bright lighting.

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1452837225' post='2953900'] Spent all of yesterday afternoon focusing on this one, that chucking technique really is hard to begin with, especially as you're skipping a string to play the 7th and the octave! But I'm getting there, I'm not at tempo yet but should be by later today! [/quote] As I said, I've played this since 1978 and always finger style - it sounds fine like that and is fairly typical of disco pop bass parts of the time although possibly one of the best. Bernard Edwards once described his own playing as basically an extension of Jamerson. Unless you find it easy to do I wouldn't worry too much about the chucking style - as I said finger style is fine on this and part of the line is most likely played like that anyway. The key is keeping the groove going and also that octave jumping.

Ha ha!! And in answer to the original question, you can never have too many basses......

Ha ha!! And in answer to the original question, you can never have too many basses......

Disco era - no 70s or 80s clubber would fail to recognise this - it's also a monstrous bass groove (and quite difficult to play and make it as funky as this let alone song as well)!! Video has the world's most disinterested miming from the drummer. http://youtu.be/8MmRJCpVPwo

That's a very nice comparison. The 3 band MM EQ does seem to have more upper mid at centre detent. The EQ controls on both versions interact in that for instance boosting bass may affect the sound of the mids. I have a 4 string classic and a 5 string USA Sub. They sound fairly similar to me but I think the poplar (used on the Sub) sounds slightly mellower. The classic has the strings through bridge which certainly increases sustain but also has all the cool high quality materials and finishes, as well as the adjustable mutes which give an additional sound available. However my Sub is very cool IMO in the textured white colour and retains the diamond check aluminium scratch plate which I think is great. The neck has a painted finish (on the back) - similar to my Bongo, which is fine by me. You won't get a maple finger board on a Sub (unless someone has modified it). The Sub sounds great to me, but so does the Classic.

I think you've got a great deal - I paid £1600 for my 2007LE Stingray new (and ordered via the distributor) in - you guessed it - 2007. As for the '2nd hand ones represent better value', no they don't if you want a brand new instrument in a brand new case, in the exact colour spec, neck spec and pick up spec you want. It's rather like the argument about new and used cars - as soon as you drive your new car away it loses a shed load of money in depreciation. But that is not the point, there is nothing like a brand new car (or bass) in my opinion. So going back to my 2007LE Stingray, the only way to get one was to order it - and I wanted that specific model and colour. So for me it represented good value and did exactly what I wanted. As someone has already said, if nobody bought new items there would never be any used ones to buy...... I can understand there being people around who would only buy used, but come on, give the OP a break - there has never been any realistic comparison between used and new prices (except vintage, which is a whole different kettle of fish!) The OP wants an SLO neck profile which is even rarer!! Going back to used ones, im quite interested in getting a late 80s/early 90s Ray in one or two colours (including vintage sunburst) - I've seen one vintage sunburst in about five years of looking and that was sold within hours - it all depends what spec you want - stingrays are common on the used market but is such a range of spec that waiting for exactly what you want can take years!!