stingrays..pre ernie ball or not

[Dingus]

If I had to put it into words ( not easy ) , I would say the treble control on the pre - EBMM Rays gives" slice" , whereas the recent EBMM ones give a bit more " clang ". (I told you it wasn't going to be easy ! ) I personally love the four band preamp designed for the Bongo and think that the treble frequency ( and all the others , for that matter , ) on that little widgett is very well -chosen .

Edited July 21, 2013 by Dingus

[stingrayPete1977]

I get what your saying Dingus, how or why makes little sense though unless the new 2 eq is different to the ones from the 80s up until the modern pcb ones went in?

[Lynottfan]

I would go for a new classic and effectively have the best of both worlds, pre ebmm styling and bridge, a tad thinner neck, 2band eq but improved build quality, thats my humble.....

[Musicman20]

Agreed that the Bongo EQ is perfect.

[Dingus]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1374427208' post='2148604']
I get what your saying Dingus, how or why makes little sense though unless the new 2 eq is different to the ones from the 80s up until the modern pcb ones went in?
[/quote]

I am not a Stingray buff by any means Pete ( I hand that mantle to yours truly ) , but I think the sound of the treble on a 'Ray is really important because it is such a big part of what makes those basses sound how they do . It would be interesting to do a direct comparison to see if the early EBMM's sound different to the current ones . What I do know is that it doesn't take much to change the sound of a preamp . Change a transistor or capacitor here or there because the manufacturer has used a different supplier for whatever reason and the overall complexion of the sound can be altered .

Edited July 21, 2013 by Dingus

[Dingus]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1374427725' post='2148610']
Agreed that the Bongo EQ is perfect.
[/quote]

To my taste , Gareth , the Bongo is pretty close to being perfect . I would love to try a single H and compare it to a 'Ray . I wonder what their reason was for making the single H Bongo a three band EQ ?

Edited July 21, 2013 by Dingus

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Lynottfan' timestamp='1374427295' post='2148605']
I would go for a new classic and effectively have the best of both worlds, pre ebmm styling and bridge, a tad thinner neck, 2band eq but improved build quality, thats my humble.....
[/quote]
This is what I had to do to get what is in effect a 5 string pre EB Stingray, the Ray 5 should have looked like that in '87 anyway IMO, I have a Silohuette guitar (OLP copy I must admit) and my normal SR5s should really have been called Silohuette basses but I guess people knew the name Stingray and most probably still are not aware of the Silohuette at all?

[alanbass1]

I've got a '79 (bought it in 1980) and it is the best 'Ray I have played (and I've played many over the years). My 'Ray is especially light, weighing in at a under 8.5 lbs, which is unusual and possibly why I like the feel and sound over the others I've tried.

[4000]

The last pre-EB I played weighed as much as a house. The heaviest bass I've ever worn (and having owned a few 13lb basses in my time that's saying something), bar none. As soon as the weight hit my shoulders I had to take it off. What did it sound like? I never got that far!

[Dingus]

[quote name='alanbass1' timestamp='1374430531' post='2148647']
I've got a '79 (bought it in 1980) and it is the best 'Ray I have played (and I've played many over the years). My 'Ray is especially light, weighing in at a under 8.5 lbs, which is unusual and possibly why I like the feel and sound over the others I've tried.
[/quote]

That is the lightest pre - EBMM I have ever heard of ! No wonder it's a keeper . Mine was light , but I doubt it was that light .

[Old Horse Murphy]

I reckon my 82 Stingray is only just over 8lbs in weight. It's a lovely bass to play and feels incredibly comfortable with a lovely narrow neck too.

In many respects, its quite difficult to believe that the pre-EB's are related to the post EB's as they are completely different beasts.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' timestamp='1374431881' post='2148669']
I reckon my 82 Stingray is only just over 8lbs in weight. It's a lovely bass to play and feels incredibly comfortable with a lovely narrow neck too.

In many respects, its quite difficult to believe that the pre-EB's are related to the post EB's as they are completely different beasts.
[/quote]

I agree with this because here is a list of bass parts that are not the same as a new Ray, some of which are nearer to a modern P bass than a new Stingray (especially before the Classic was released).

Neck- Different profile/finish/and truss method.
Body- Different with no contours.
Pickup- Wound differently longer pole pieces.
Preamp- Meant to be the same as the last MM one but I am not so sure and different to an earlier pre EB anyway.
Bridge- Muted and strung through with more mass.
Frets- Different gauge.
Neck bolts 3 or 4 vs 6.
Scratchplate has no notch for the truss wheel (cosmetic only)

So what are we left with? Tuners. I fail to see how people can say they are the same other than the year they were built.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1374427725' post='2148610']
Agreed that the Bongo EQ is perfect.
[/quote]
Certainly is.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1374263291' post='2147079']
G&L... pre BBE or not?

Obviously as a proud owner of one of the very first L-1000's I'm gonna say pre.... (even my home made main player is largely based on one)

Let's face it, anything directly Leo Fender (pre CBS, pre EB, pre BBE) roolz.


edit : I love my '97 'ray btw
[/quote] I bought a guitar off a fella on here and he had one of those early L1000 - I got to play it and.... one of the best basses ever designed - bar none
[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1374427850' post='2148611']
I am not a Stingray buff by any means Pete ( I hand that mantle to yours truly ) , but I think the sound of the treble on a 'Ray is really important because it is such a big part of what makes those basses sound how they do . It would be interesting to do a direct comparison to see if the early EBMM's sound different to the current ones . What I do know is that it doesn't take much to change the sound of a preamp . Change a transistor or capacitor here or there because the manufacturer has used a different supplier for whatever reason and the overall complexion of the sound can be altered .
[/quote] I found years back the schematics for the preEB stingray preamp - they are easily available on the net, and have long had a vague goal of building my own musicman copy. anyway - one of the interesting things is that the early ray preamps used tantalum caps and the later (but still pre EB) used normal electrolytic caps - the main difference (they said) was it changed how the treble sounded....

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1374427938' post='2148613']


To my taste , Gareth , the Bongo is pretty close to being perfect . I would love to try a single H and compare it to a 'Ray . I wonder what their reason was for making the single H Bongo a three band EQ ?
[/quote]

Me too. Not sure in the EQ...maybe to make it more Ray like?

I'd like one at some point.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1374444892' post='2148920']
Me too. Not sure in the EQ...maybe to make it more Ray like?

I'd like one at some point.
[/quote]

I thought the same , but the single H Reflex has got the four band EQ . You would have thought that they would have applied the same logic to both single H models . I'm sure someone out there ( Probably Dr T Stingray ) knows the answer why .

[miles'tone]

Easy this one...

If you have the funds and the time, be open to owning any Stingray from any time period.

Get out there and try out as many as you possibly can, having lots of fun doing so.

Buy the first one that you really can't imagine being without.

Own an amazing bass with no regrets.

[bassmachine2112]

Save cash and get a SUB the ebmm one.
I tried a classic when buying amp and cabinet and took my SUB along and the guy in the shop was shocked how identical they sounded.
Close enough for me and I,ve had for 10 years.
Bargain

[patrikmarky]

Yep had one ...and there's a fiver on eBay at moment....£750.00 though....

[Musicman20]

Bongo

[Cairobill]

I recently went back to a Ray as my main stage bass after using a 94 for a couple of years in the nineties.

I chose the classic as the two band eq is killer, it was very light (make sure you get a light one as it is possible to find them out there) and it looks great. Another big factor in favour of the classic was the neck profile. The 1994 i had (which had a three band, VERY clangy) had a flat radius board and a chunky neck. Not comfortable for my hand. The classic neck profile (7.25 radius, less girth) is honestly one of the great necks around at the moment.

If you can't get a classic, get an 80s Ray with the slimmer profile unless you want to go the whole hog and get a pre EB, but then you could run into cost/construction/weight issues. I've seen 88/89 Rays go for 8-900 in the gallery so they are a genuine alternative to a new standard Ray and IMHO are better than the new rays. I tried a number of new standard Rays and honestly think they are not in the same league, quality wise, as the mid nineties bass I had, which is a shame.

[aende]

My Stingray is ~1999. It has a fatneck, but is very light. I was taken with it as it has a birdseye maple neck, but i is not over the top.....

I can't see why there would be huge differences in sound quality, but I am sure that feel and weight could be the difference between the pre EB and post EB models.

[stingrayPete1977]

The neck profiles are chalk and cheese.

[neepheid]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1374575855' post='2150251']
The neck profiles are chalk and cheese.
[/quote]

Neither of these materials fill me with confidence with regard to structural integrity

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1374579707' post='2150352']


Neither of these materials fill me with confidence with regard to structural integrity
[/quote]

Although once they warm up the cheese ones can play like butter.