Chiliwailer

This 1995 Stingray had many mods since I first got it in 1996; it's not the best Ray I've ever had, but we have history and it feels like nothing else in my hand. It sounded great with ceramic pickups earlier in the year, but I think I've finally cracked the right mod for me this time (see Sabre comment below) - 2 x Nordstrand MM4.2 pickups and an Aguilar OBP-1 preamp. Each pickup has a 3-way series/single/parallel switch, and there's a 3-way pickup selector switch. I may add an active/passive push/pull volume switch at some point, but the cavity is pretty tight with wires so not too sure yet. 2 x 9v batteries are under the pickguard, in between the pickups. The neck pickup in single coil mode is real oid school, and almost like an old P Bass, so that was a nice surprise. Each pickup has the rear coil engaged when in single mode, which I prefer to the regular Stingray HH single settings of either both outer or inner coils; it just sounds better and makes more sense for me. I'm haunted by a '78 Sabre I sold in 2007, and keep hearing it on old recordings, but this bass now finally gets into that territory with the neck pickup in series with the bridge pickup in parallel - such a great tone So it's now wearing a new 90s style matt black pickguard and a fresh set of Tis. Happy days.

Genius 👌 I'd have actually paid attention to science in school if they taught it that way.

Domnington 1994 - Biohazard, then Pantera, then Sepultura - was nuts… …and then bizarrely followed by Extreme 😂 Enjoyed the YT vid, cheers for posting.

.. and to add, I finally realised I was keeping the P (and therefore nearly sold my J) just out of habit and thinking I ‘should’, like it’s an expectation, so I’m glad that changed looking back now 😂

That’s really good to read, it is a great Jazz, I remember how the balance and feel are amazing, and the stacked Fralins sounded great in it 👌 I ended up with another Jazz, finally found a CS relic with a neck and balance that actually feels just like my old original 64, and it sounds lovely - and same as you, after all these years I’m not using a P anymore, which I never would have believed if someone told me it’d happen. Strange days… 😊

Oh, just saw the Neutrik link above, good brand too 👍

One of these will do it Gus, needs to be a stereo one for the active power to be on. Barrel jacks often fail, so worth getting a name brand over a cheapie I think - you may find a cheaper Switchcraft elsewhere if you look? https://allparts.uk.com/collections/barrel-jack/products/1-4-inch-long-threaded-barrel-input-jack-switchcraft-152b-stereo

Always a pleasure to interact with Pete, thanks for an easy transaction pal 👍😊

...maybe 'passive preamp' is just a flash way of saying passive circuit?

Your post got me curious - in a good way - as that's not been my experience with various Stingrays modded for passive, I can always notice a difference in the fundamental of the note. So, I took a look at the specs for the Reflex, seems the passive side has a separate volume and tone pot value to the active side which makes sense, but more interestingly Ernie Ball call it a 'passive pre-amp' - never heard of that before! I wonder if that helps 'balance' the volumes (which I always needed a pedal for), or if the passive pre-amp adds some colour? I'm lost now

Only issue here is that the pickup is going straight to the jack, which will sound quite different as it has no load from the vol tone. An issue with using a regular Stingray volume pot is that the value is meant for the preamp going into it, so it’s not like a passive bass’s value. I have a Aguilar pre amp in mine, whereby the pup goes to the volume pot before the preamp, so it helps the passive mode as it’s a Fender type value pot. But I still use a volume boost via a pedal to help match the signals. With the volumes matched, the passive tone is surprisingly still big sounding.

I added a passive switch in mine - to me it sounds less compressed, and with more ‘air’ in the notes like a passive Fender if you catch my drift. Not better or worse, just different - but a Stingray for sure.

Been years since I entered this comp, but just had a week off work and tentatively felt like dipping my toe in the waters here again after a 6 month break in making any music - so hoping to keep it up monthly now all being well 🤞 The tune started as an acoustic thing I was playing last weekend, of which one part is heard in the middle eight type section, but it took a turn after seeing the competition thread and then recording it....I really liked the photo, it made me think of the intensity of chaos caused by GICs and how that'd be spot on for a new pedal I'd got recently - so in this tune the GIC attack starts at around 35 seconds!