clean sound for stingray5?

[tbonepete]

.

Edited June 7, 2012 by tbonepete

[mcnach]

[quote name='tbonepete' post='1308400' date='Jul 18 2011, 08:45 PM']Hi all
I'm a newbie here, and was wondering if anyone has tried to fit a mec twin j pickup into a mm stingray5? I quite like the feel of my ray, but want a cleaner sound, such as the one on my sadly departed fortress masterman 5. If any out there has alternatives to the mec I'd love to hear.
Many thanks[/quote]


what do you mean by "cleaner"? There's a volume knob that will allow you to do that if you are saturating an input I'm clearly not understanding the question, right?

[JTUK]

I think a typical MM sound can be pretty peaky, even harsh. If you just wanted to clean that up a tad..I'd back off the boosts on the pre..that is a lot of DB at your fingertips.
I deactivated a MM at one point..but that is getting away from the clasic MM sound..

Is that what you want to do..?

[mcnach]

[quote name='tbonepete' post='1309341' date='Jul 19 2011, 04:43 PM']Hi,
By Cleaner, I mean just that. Not the Stingray growl, grit ,grind, thud, clank,wool,etc. I'm after a more Hi Fi sound, such as the Fortress Masterman5. In hindsight the Stingray was a mistaken purchase, and I've never bonded with it's distinctive sound. I'm just trying to get another pickup/preamp to fit so that the ray doesnt spend most of the next nine years in the case. I use my Skyline 55 02 deluxe for everything at the moment, as it's my only other bass, and its lovely, if a little POLITE!.
If any out there in Bass land has changed their Stingray pre/ pickup to get a different sound palette, please tell all, and why you did it, and if the results were good.
Many thanks Pete[/quote]


Ah, I understand better now.
Yup, it seems you have the wrong bass. Wouldn't it be simpler to find another bass you like? Unless you really like how it plays, of course. Hey, I have a Squier Jazz V that I love how it plays and because of that I'm doing extensive surgery on it
(Skyline 55-02, yum! )

I can't suggest anything, I'm afraid... I have tried to make other basses sound more "Stingray", but not to "destingrayfy" a Stingray...

The pickup is a big part of the sound/growl... so anything you do may involve removing that. Bartolini make some very unstringrayish pickups that may be more what you're after... but I don't have personal experience of them. I would feel tempted to try that first, and if that does the trick, I'd think about the preamp later, but I think the pickup would give you the largest change in character.

[JTUK]

I took out a MM pickup and electrics and put in a custom made KA pickup which made the bass passive.
All KA needed was a MM pup cover and put in his own wind with 4 taps on it.

It was a good player but I got away from the MM sound and used it for years until I sold it.
Worked out fine and the buyer put the original stuff back in and all was well as I haven't modded anything

[BB3000S]

There's a lot to be had just from playing style, choice of strings and tweaking the eq on a Stingray, just rolling off the treble slightly will take away the Stingay'ish aggressiveness in the top end. That said, +1 on trying out a Bartolini MM pickup, or a Nordstrand for that matter. Both have a warmer sound than the ceramic (assuming you have a post 91'ish pre 08 SR5) pickup of the Stingray5.

Just to further my first point, I'm off to do a blues rehearsal this evening with my 30th anni SR4 - nothing but a warm full bass sound goes in that setting. I do however run it with flats and roll off the treble ever so slightly.

[lee650]

Thats the thing! check if your pickup is ceramic and get a alnico one, nordstrand and seyour duncan do respectable versions and the bartolini is very warm, i had a Nordy in my old sterling and loved it, it does sound like you just need to get a diffrent bass

[stingrayPete1977]

This is why I love bass chat, Last week we had to try and spot the stingray which resulted in some harsh but fair comments that once in the mix it was quite hard to recognise the 'Stingray' sound yet here we are trying to get rid of it!

Sell it and get a bass you want would be the best bet or even try for a trade on here?

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='tbonepete' post='1309872' date='Jul 20 2011, 12:40 AM']I'd love to swap for a Warwick fortress masterman5, in good condition (mine's mint as I just couldn't get on with it), but have never seen one come up for sale/trade, and believe me, I've been looking pretty much since I foolishly sold mine, and got the ray! Just one of lifes mistakes I guess,I'm sure it wont be my last!!! LOL
Thanks Pete[/quote]

i was going to say, just sell the ray and buy a warwick.... or at current prices two...

[Brave Sir Robin]

Paul Denman don't seem to have any problem getting a clean sound out of his.





bit more middy and cutting...

Edited July 20, 2011 by Brave Sir Robin

[Musicman20]

Id sell it. Personally, I hate modding basses Ive spent a lot on. But thats me and I tend to want things to be right stock, or I dont bother.

Bear in mind no matter what magnet it is (ceramic/alnico) a Stingray 5/Sterling 5 can sound very mellow and warm if you drop the treble and boost the bass. Flats will also get you closer.

[krispn]

+1

I'll echo what a couple of others have said in that try EQ and flats. Much cheaper than a whole new pick up! If you think of the wide range of players who use a Stingray they have very different versions of one core sound. It's either big and fat like Mr Edwards of up in your grill like Mr Flea. The strings will play a part along with technique plus there are some good comparison videos on youtube with round wounds and flats. comparetheflatwound.com

[chris_b]

[quote name='tbonepete' post='1309341' date='Jul 19 2011, 04:43 PM']....By Cleaner, I mean just that. Not the Stingray growl, grit ,grind, thud, clank,wool,etc. I'm after a more Hi Fi sound, such as the Fortress Masterman5. In hindsight the Stingray was a mistaken purchase, and I've never bonded with it's distinctive sound. I'm just trying to get another pickup/preamp to fit so that the ray doesnt spend most of the next nine years in the case. I use my Skyline 55 02 deluxe for everything at the moment, as it's my only other bass, and its lovely, if a little POLITE!.[/quote]
If you haven't bonded with the Stingray I'd sell it. You are planning to make expensive mods which may not work because the new pickups will be in the wrong place for the standard 2 pickup config, and if you want to sell your Stingray you'll also find that buyers usually want one because they want [i]that[/i] sound.

I had the same problem with my SR5. Nice bass but I didn't want the SR sound, so I bought my Lakland. If I was going to mod a bass I'd upgrade the pickups or preamp on your Lakland.

[dub]

Before you go pulling the bass apart, try one of the "piano" style sets of strings, perhaps a lighter gauge and use the single coil setting on your selector switch (the brightest tone) and experiment with the eq.
Buy some duracell procell bartteries. They keep a good voltage for a long time.

Edited July 20, 2011 by dub

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='tbonepete' post='1309341' date='Jul 19 2011, 04:43 PM']Hi,
By Cleaner, I mean just that. Not the Stingray growl, grit ,grind, thud, clank,wool,etc. I'm after a more Hi Fi sound, such as the Fortress Masterman5. In hindsight the Stingray was a mistaken purchase, and I've never bonded with it's distinctive sound. I'm just trying to get another pickup/preamp to fit so that the ray doesnt spend most of the next nine years in the case. I use my Skyline 55 02 deluxe for everything at the moment, as it's my only other bass, and its lovely, if a little POLITE!.
If any out there in Bass land has changed their Stingray pre/ pickup to get a different sound palette, please tell all, and why you did it, and if the results were good.
Many thanks Pete[/quote]
I've gone the other way. Sold my Stingray 5 fretless. It wasn't getting much use. Bought a Fortress MM5.
I think I know what you're looking for.
I don't think the MEC twinjazz will fit in the SR5 pick-up rout. To my eyes, it's too slim. (runs off to measure...)
The TwinJazz is about 95mm x 44mm (long x wide) I don't have an SR5 to measure.... and it has lugs for the mounting screws whereas the SR5 has them built into the housing.
That said, it's not impossible.
Just consider that you'd not get much re-sale value on a modded SR5.
Worse still, I'd wager that more than a little of the Fortresses appeal is due to its twin EQ and pan pot, which the modded SR5 would still lack.
In short, sell the SR5 and buy another Fortress Masterman, if that's the sound you're after. I paid just over £500 for mine on this very forum. They're still around from time to time...