artisan

[quote name='iconic' post='751745' date='Feb 20 2010, 02:11 PM']I have Ernine Ball Group III flatties on RBX-374 and simply adore them...[i]they feel like silk on the fingers[/i] and boy do they make that bass growl...so much that if I just been playing my VMJ and plug the RBX, in I have to turn the bass down on the amp to stop the room singing along too...PC, printer, tables, other guitar strings etc and they all sing better than me


"Flat chrome plated steel wire wrapped around a hex shaped tin plated steel wire. Provides a smooth feel and mellow sound."....[b]mellow [/b]really would be the last word to describe them![/quote]


+1 i absolutley love EB flats,my stingray is has group II's on it & it really kicks arse.
they have a very nice smooth non sticky feel,sound fantastic & are a joy to play,they're very good for slap playing too.
i've tried many brands & imho these are by far the best & only string i'll use.
i've never strung through body with them though but i have a feeling they may not like it though.

[quote name='danweb22' post='760900' date='Mar 1 2010, 06:34 PM']so is the G string more in the centre of the pole piece now with the Nordy pickup? Thinking of getting one myself![/quote]

mine was pretty central on the stock pickup to be fair,i think the main difference is that it's made propperly.
i'd reccomend you to buy it mate you won't regret it.

[quote name='green' post='760884' date='Mar 1 2010, 06:20 PM']how much did the nordstrand cost by the way ?[/quote]


it was £100.00 & worth every penny of it.
i can't get over how much better is is.

[quote name='green' post='760338' date='Mar 1 2010, 02:32 AM']artisan, why not an passive/serial push/pull pot ?
i have the switch on my sterling, and it's very helpful.
you could have the classic stingray sound everytime you need it (parallel), but also have the even more aggressive serial wiring if you want.
and it still would look original.

did you think of that ?[/quote]

I've already disscused this with my tech & i will probably get this done at some point,but i have to say it sounds way beefier in series.

[quote name='Duarte' post='758560' date='Feb 26 2010, 09:41 PM']If there is fret buzz and a 'noisy string tree' you clearly just need it set up properly.

I personally wouldn't dream of selling a Ray HH for a Fender Deluxe. The pre-amps in those things are not good at all.[/quote]


this man speeketh the truth.

i had an american deluxe precision & whilst it looked & played nice is sounded absolute site.

once you've had your ray set up i'm shure you'll love it.

[quote name='dub' post='758966' date='Feb 27 2010, 01:19 PM']Remember you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying the pole piece adjustment first. If it works then you keep the bass in its original condition and retain it's value. You can always return the nordstand or flog it on ebay.

If you haven't soldered before I would do a good bit of practice on some spare wires that aren't connected to anything.

The thing to watch out for when soldering, is not to hold the soldering iron on to the wires for any length of time. You may have to trim the length of the pickup wires. Use a good wire stripper. Cut off any old solder and strip the ends of the wire.
Get a soldering frame with clips to hold the wires. Twist the ends of the new wire and apply a tiny bit of fresh solder to each end before you join them. You just need to touch the soldering iron and solder to them for a moment. If too much heat is transferred to the coil when soldering you could damage the pickup. Put of bit of shrink sleeve (before soldering) to insulate the join once it is soldered.

If you're really worried about it, get an experienced tech to do it.[/quote]

ok i wimped out & got my tech to do the job for me--coward eh ?

Nordstrand now installed & i got him to wire it in series rather then parrallel (as mentioned on the fitting instructions) & now it sounds awesome-even through a 15watt practice amp,i'll have to wait until tuesdays rehersal to hear it in anger though,i can't wait.

my g string now has plenty of punch & in fact the volume accross all 4 strings is very even,my tech had never heard of Nordstrand before but he was mighty impressed with this pick up.
my bass now rocks accross all 4 strings


EBMM pickup anybody ?

just a thought,are the connections in the battery compartment in good clean condition,a bit of corrosion could be the problem.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='758622' date='Feb 26 2010, 09:54 PM']I've played Higgie's Stingray with the Nordstrand replacement pickup and that sounded immense...

My Ray has the original MM pickup (2000 model with piezo bridge as well) but it seems to have variable height polepieces, so I use a lot of curvature between the strings & have the pickup pretty close to the strings - About 4mm off between the D & A polepieces which are the highest. I don't suffer the loss of volume on the G string at all and with the pickup set much higher than usual my Stingray seems to have a lot more punch than most 3eq's. Strangely, there's no distortion either, which I was expecting with the pickup so close to the strings.

I don't know if you'll be able to see from the pictures, but the pickup is up pretty high now on mine. Then again, I do play in a very gentle and tactile manner usually.


[/quote]

that's one sweet bass,very Bernard Edwards

sounds like the Nordy may cure my problem then,here's hoping.

damn good idea that funkgod
maybee i could have saved £100.00 but let's not worry,just don't tell my missus.
the Nordy should be getting fitted tomorrow--as i have never soldered anything before & so am scared sh*t less to do it myself--so i'll give a sit' rep' as soon as i;ve tested it.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='757365' date='Feb 25 2010, 06:56 PM']My Sabre special suffered from this quite badly when I first got it. I adjusted the bass and sorted the string heights, and after a tweak and set up by myself, the G string is back in action! Now it sounds full and punchy, whereas before it sounded as flat as a fart!

It also has one of those lovely SD MM pickups in it...sounds absolutely incredible!

[/quote]


bugger me that bass is gorgeous.

[quote name='green' post='757197' date='Feb 25 2010, 06:00 PM']i guess i found out what's wrong with the g-string:

the distance of the pole pieces should follow the curvature of the neck, and then bring the strings closer, the thinner they get, right?

now look at the pickup of the stingray
.
the pole pieces on the g-string are even lower than the pole pieces of the e-string.
the opposite should be the case.

now, if you bring the one side of the pickup closer to the g-string, it will be ok, but then the d-string would be too loud.

i guess, the problem is in the pole pieces of the g-string.
is there any way to adjust their height ?[/quote]

no unfortunately not mate,it's a sh*te design for shure.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='756718' date='Feb 25 2010, 09:17 AM']I sorted this problem out by angling the pup a bit, going a gauge higher on the G string and using compression to even things out. It's annoyin' innit?[/quote]

cheers Al'
indeed it is annoying,shouldn't need to mess with a 1K plus bass.

i've already done all possible adjustments inc' messing with my amp + compression + a set of fantastic EB group 2 flats (which sound & play amazing ),i've got the string about as loud as the other 3 but whatever i do it just sounds poxy,but my nordy's just arrived so here's hoping.

[quote name='green' post='756449' date='Feb 24 2010, 09:20 PM']cool

how about recording an A/B with a few soundclips ?

you could still do that now that the original pickup is still in the bass...[/quote]


i'd love to but i don't have anything to record it on

[quote name='OldGit' post='756191' date='Feb 24 2010, 05:55 PM']Did it play differently after that? John Dankworth used to tell a tale of lending his sax to Charlie Parker who had turned up to play wthout his as he'd hocked it ... he said it was totally different ever after...[/quote]

not in the slightest,i just had to spend a couple of hours cleaning & restringing it but it was worth it just to watch Norm playing it.

[quote name='green' post='756174' date='Feb 24 2010, 04:38 PM']artisan, let us know if the nordstrand helps.

i have the same "problem"...[/quote]

will do mate,it should arrive tomorrow so i'll get it fitted asap & let you know.

Bass5 cheers for the info mate,much appreciated but i've already ordered the Nordstrand
impulsive me ?
never

dub cheers mate,if i'm still not happy with it i'll give that a try.

[quote name='martthebass' post='756064' date='Feb 24 2010, 03:43 PM']I don't have a problem with my current Ray4 but have had the problem in the past (particularly on a Sterling 4 I once had). The pup on mine is set 4mm higher on the G side than the E, I think that is the main reason for the decent balance - worth a try?[/quote]

cheers,i have been fiddling with the pickup height for a few months now to no avail,i have got the volume pretty even but the g string just lacks balls,is really does sound weak.
but i love this bass ti bits & won't ever be parted from it so i'm going to try the Nordy & hope that sorts it + going by the sound clips i've heard it'll sound better too.

[quote name='firmo' post='754833' date='Feb 23 2010, 01:30 PM']Once at a gig my bass was on it's stand right at the back of the stage (behind the curtain) when the support bands bassist bust a string. I was stood there and saw him put his bass down and disappear somewhere, I assumed he'd gone to grab his spare only to find him come back out from behind the curtain with my bass! Cheeky little f***er[/quote]


LOL that exact thing happened to me a few years ago but the cheeky little f***er was none other than Norman Watt Roy
we were supporting Wilco Johnson at Fibbers in York when Norman broke a string & sent the big ugly mofo guarding the dressing room to fetch my P bass.
it was a laugh to watch his first couple on notes though as we were tuned down a half step
mind he played like a demon all night without retuning my bass & i got a nice big thank you from him & Wilco over the p.a. plus a good chat afterwards,bloody nice blokes the pair of them.
my bass was a real sweaty mess when i got it back though,ive never seen anyone sweat so much.

thanks for the replies guys

after much thought & searching i'm going to order a Nordstrand today,so i'll let you know the outcome.
even if it doesn't cure it, after listening to the sound clips i much prefer the Nordy's tone anyways & it's only money.
i'm pretty shure it's not the pre-amp, but if the pickup doesn't cure it that will be my next move.
i'm not going to give up on this bass as it is a beauty.
cheers.

i recently bought a new 2 band 'ray ,which i love to bits btw.
the only slight niggle i have with it is the g string is weaker sounding than the other strings although not as bad as my old 3 band model which had a totally inaudible g string & hence got flogged on.
volume wise it is just a loud as the other strings but lacks the "balls" or "punch" if you like & no amount of adjustment makes a difference.
i.ve strung it with some fairly heavy EB group 2 flats which sound amazing,well on 3 strings & give the exact tone i want.
i have read up on the 'net about this fairly common problem, which only affects the 4 string Stingrays & people have suggested it could be an e.q. problem-i can confirm it is not.
the only people who seem to have cured this seem to have fitted a different pickup,the pickup of choice seems to be one of the following -

either a Seymor Duncan SMB4a or a Nordstrand 4.2

has anyone tried either of these & did it work?
cheers.

what a nice guy Tom is,just met him this morning to sold him my Gibson SG bass & had a rite good natter.
top bloke.

this little beauty has now gone to live with its new daddy

thanks for all the interest & trade offers,
cheers.

looks like this may be on its way this week so now on hold.
thanks for all the interest

[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='715947' date='Jan 17 2010, 09:51 PM']How about a trade for a fretless Guild B302?[/quote]

many thanks for the offer,i'm not a fretless player really but i wouldn't mind a photo or two to browse.
i'll not make any promises though

bump

funky trade offers welcome.