NBD: 1995 Stingray + mods reversal + blender strangeness!

[HeadlessBassist]

Hey SSG's (sweet, sweet guys!), 

 

I'm in the middle of doing a deal for a rather nice  1995 Stingray (which I think a couple of BC members have previously owned.) Only thing is, it's been modded/monkied with and I want to get it as close to stock as I can.

 

It's had an Aguilar OBP 2-band preamp added, a blend control (is it's now four knob, as opposed to three on the control plate), a side jack socket added, and it's previously had Aguilar pickups added, including a rout for an "HS" configuration. The current owner has removed the single coil pickup and replaced the Aguilar humbucker with the proper MM one which was kindly sent by the original 'modder', so it looks fine now (or will do) with a new black scratch plate (on order as we speak), but it has four controls, one of which doesn't work, being as the single coil has been excised. 

 

Here's what I'm thinking - add a new jack socket to the four-hole control plate and maybe turn the side jack into an XLR? Or maybe leave it as is and just have a fourth control that does nothing. Any other options you can think of?

 

With mods... (photo credit SweenyRod)

 

 

... and currently

 

Edited 6 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[BassApprentice]

My first reaction would be to keep the side jack and change the now redundant knob for a "talent switch" or "producer switch" a la Lee Sklar. Does nothing, but won't draw as much attention as an extra control knob.

 

 

[HeadlessBassist]

Oddly enough, I was chatting with Lee Sklar on Brooke's Bass Corner live chat the other week. That's an interesting bit of lateral thinking  

[pineweasel]

John East 4-knob pre amp? Supposed to give you the original MM 2 band tones plus a sweepable mid.

https://www.east-uk.com/product/mmsr-4-knob-3-band/?v=7885444af42e

[Jack]

6 minutes ago, pineweasel said:

John East 4-knob pre amp? Supposed to give you the original MM 2 band tones plus a sweepable mid.

https://www.east-uk.com/product/mmsr-4-knob-3-band/?v=7885444af42e

Yeah, this is what I think. The side jack isn't too egregious, plenty of Rays have side jacks so just get the controls sorted.

[miles'tone]

Was that always a natural finish? It looks like a 'Ray I had modded in the 90s but mine was a translucent red 2 band, side jack added when the J pup was installed.  Considering how often I look online at basses, it kind of surprises me that I've never seen it again. Great bass t'was...

[HeadlessBassist]

As far as I know, yes. It's the satin finish - Natural Velvet finish. I'll be able to tell you if it's ever been refinished when I pick it up tomorrow...

 

Edited Tuesday at 14:40 by HeadlessBassist

[Dazm66]

Is it just me or are the mutes on the wrong way round on the bridge?

[HeadlessBassist]

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you! I noticed that too - the mute springs appear to have been put on back to front. One of the first jobs I'll be sorting, as well as the new black scratch guard which has now arrived. 

[Dazm66]

7 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you! I noticed that too - the mute springs appear to have been put on back to front. One of the first jobs I'll be sorting, as well as the new black scratch guard which has now arrived. 

Be nice to find a set of the correct knurled bolts too so the mutes are easily adjustable mid-gig.

[HeadlessBassist]

40 minutes ago, Dazm66 said:

Be nice to find a set of the correct knurled bolts too so the mutes are easily adjustable mid-gig.

 

The mute kit is on it's way from Bass Direct as we speak...  

[HeadlessBassist]

Okay, so I picked the bass up this afternoon. First jobs already done. Flats gone. Elixir 40-95s added. Black Scratch Guard added (and former single coil rout inspected). Mute kit turned the correct way around and general setup completed. 

 

So what we have here is a really light weight Natural Velvet 1995 Stingray 2EQ with an OBP-2 Preamp, but the HS Aguilar pickups have been replaced with the original MM humbucker. Sounds huge and plays wonderfully, barring some small extra adjustments.

 

 Oddly enough, the second control, which I presume was the blender still has an effect, despite the Single Coil pickup having been removed. It gives three distinct sounds between the centre detent and the two extremes of travel in the rotary control. It's almost as if the 'blender' is splitting between the two banks of the humbucker, and the central point makes them cancel each other out very slightly. Is this possible?!

(I didn't do the rewiring. It was done by my mate's tech who previously owned the bass.)

 

Anyway, the obligatory pictures now it's home... 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[Lozz196]

Nice

[Jack]

Not beyond the realm of possibility I suppose. The blend control will be first in the circuit and have two wires coming out of it going to the pickups. The pickup might be wired per coil and the tech just connected the wires up either without thinking or without caring. 

[HeadlessBassist]

24 minutes ago, Jack said:

Not beyond the realm of possibility I suppose. The blend control will be first in the circuit and have two wires coming out of it going to the pickups. The pickup might be wired per coil and the tech just connected the wires up either without thinking or without caring. 

 

Ah well, it has three distinctly different sounds now. 🤔

 

With the blender set to the centre detent, it's like the two banks of polepieces very slightly cancel each other out, sort of like a PJ setup does.

 

Fully clockwise, it's like it's running the rear coil closest to the bridge. Fully anti-clockwise, it's much more bassy, like it's running the front coil.

Edited 3 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[borntohang]

If I was installing a J pickup into a Stingray with the aim of getting both MM and J tones I might consider a blend control that blended between the neck coil of the MM and the J pickup, wired in parallel with the always active bridge coil. That would give you:

 

1. Traditional MM with both coils in parallel.

2. J pickup and a single coil close to the bridge J position in parallel for the Jazz sound.

3. All three at once for something else. And of course any combo in between the two extremes. 

 

Not sure how accurate it would be but pretty sure I could get something useful out of it (I would actually put it on a switch because I don't like blends). When the tech reinstalled the new pickup they might have just wired each coil of the MM to either side of the blend pot assuming that was what it was for. Looks like a cool piece anyway! 

[HeadlessBassist]

1 minute ago, borntohang said:

If I was installing a J pickup into a Stingray with the aim of getting both MM and J tones I might consider a blend control that blended between the neck coil of the MM and the J pickup, wired in parallel with the always active bridge coil. That would give you:

 

1. Traditional MM with both coils in parallel.

2. J pickup and a single coil close to the bridge J position in parallel for the Jazz sound.

3. All three at once for something else. And of course any combo in between the two extremes. 

 

Not sure how accurate it would be but pretty sure I could get something useful out of it (I would actually put it on a switch because I don't like blends). When the tech reinstalled the new pickup they might have just wired each coil of the MM to either side of the blend pot assuming that was what it was for. Looks like a cool piece anyway! 

 

Thanks, BTH. Yes, the bass sounds fantastic anyway, so I'm not worried about its weird blend control. You had the same idea as Jack and the three slightly different flavoured sounds do seem to be splitting between the coils.