Question: Newbie Question - Hello and Pickup Height?

[faceman]

Hey Everyone

Thought I'd say hello first - my first post on these forums! Yesterday, I picked up my StingRay4 2EQ from its previous owner and have started playing and never really put it down since. I'm just loving the tone, the feel, the look - everything really! My backup bass is Fender Geddy Lee Jazz so getting used to the P-ish neck of the StingRay is taking time but it's still great.

My first question is - the pickup height. The pickup on my StingRay is very low down, so low you can barely rest your fingers on it. How far off the body should the pickup be and how does one go about adjusting it? Untighten the screws?

Thanks, and a happy christmas too all!

[koogie2k]

Welcome to the Addiction!

There is a FAQ section at the Musicman site. So, I cut and pasted the answer here for you. But, check out the site as well....it will make you want more...lol

Welcome to the Ernie Ball Music Man Company

Q: Could you tell me Music Man's StingRay factory settings for relief, string height, and pickup height?
A: First of all - almost all of the adjustments to string height can be made with the truss rod. Turn clockwise to raise the fretboard (resulting in lower action), counter clockwise to lower it. The factory string height for our basses is 3/32" or 2.4mm between the bottom of the string to the top of the fret on both the E and G strings at the 12th fret. The G string can be slightly lower due to the fact that it is the smallest string. Of course, tightening or loosening the trussrod affects the bow of the neck, which is how desired action is generally best achieved.
The factory specifications for the pickup height is 6/32" or 4.76mm from the top of the plastic between the pickup covers to the bottom of the G string. The angle of the pickup is set fairly level, so the larger strings are naturally a bit closer. If you haven't already adjusted the pickup or changed to a very heavy gauge string set, you shouldn't have to do any adjustments on the pickup.

On the new 2-pickup basses, the measurements are virtually the same on the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is further away, about 8/32" or 6.35mm from the string to the pickup.

Hope this helps.

[faceman]

Thanks! I will do some measuring and seeing what happens. One thing I have noticed is that the D and G strings seem quieter than the others, could this be related to the pickup height? Could it be the EQ battery running low?

With my Jazz and previous basses, this hasn't been a problem.

[Rano Bass]

Welcome to the forum, the quieter D and G strings are "almost" a normal thing with Stingrays, to my ears it helps the slapping to be even and not as prominent as with a jazz bass for example, where the pops are very loud sometimes.
Congrats on the bass, two band Rays are my favorite.

[oli@bass]

If it bothers you, slant the pickup to be slightly closer to the G string than to the E string (height by itself is irrelevant, distance to string is relevant). Also check if perhaps your D and G strings have more action than the E and A strings.

[five7]

So when you are playing up high and the strings are sticking to the pickups and doubling each note, that's not a good thing. More notes the merrier,right? No seriously, I just traded for a sub5 with wore out medium gauge strings on it set up high. I put on a new set of strings, lowered the action, started playing, working my way up the neck and all of sudden I am hearing double the notes. Now it has been a while since I have experienced this problem, so I had to set there for awhile pondering life. The pickup was so close that the magnets were pulling the strings down and holding them until I removed my finger from the fret. I had to break out a phillips and lower the pickup.