StingRay Sound Examples

[oli@bass]

Since the question about the difference in sounds of the StingRay models came up every now and then, I recorded some sound examples (of which some of you might recognize the bass line).

All recording, drum programming, mixing and mp3 conversion was done in Logic Studio 9. The bass is recorded directly via Stealth Plug (not really a high quality interface, but sufficient). The drums are EXS24 software sampler instruments using high quality samples from several different sources (mainly Platinum 24 Drums and Natural Studio). The mix is compressed with the Adaptive Limiter using 3dB gain.

StingRay 4 H, 2EQ, rosewood board (E13738, DOB 2000-04-04)
Neck: Maple with rosewood board, oil & wax finish
Body: Ash or poplar (could be poplar)
Weight: 3,88 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set with about 2 hours of playing time on them
Signal: The recording of the bass is completely unaltered.

• bass / treble about 50% (roughly at center)
• bass / treble at 0% (no boost at all)
• bass / treble at 100% (dimed)

StingRay 4 H, 3EQ, Dargie Delight (E58536, DOB 2007-03-13)
Neck: Maple with rosewood board, oil & wax finish
Body: Ash
Weight: 4,4 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set with about 2 hours of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• bass / treble at +100% (full boost)

StingRay 4 HH, 3EQ (E66912, DOB 2008-08-21)
Neck: Maple with rosewood board, oil & wax finish
Body: Ash
Weight: 4,34 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set with about 6 hours of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 50% (at center detent): This is a demo to show the different sounds of the HH configuration. Switching through the 5 positions of the pickup selector for the 5 sections of the demo, starting at position 1 (classic single bridge humbucker). The loudness between parts recorded with differenc pickups is not levelled and reflects switching without adapting volume on the bass.

StingRay H, 3EQ, 100th Anniversary NAMM (B015498, DOB 2001-01-31)
Neck: Graphite by Status Graphite, high gloss polyester finish
Body: Ash, Alder or Poplar
Weight: 4,48 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set (about 1 year old) with about 6 hours of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• bass / treble at +100% (full boost)
• mid at +100% (full boost)
• mid at -100% (full cut)

StingRay H, 3EQ, 30th Anniversary (E55186, DOB 2006-06-19)
Neck: Birdseye maple with rosewood board, high gloss polyester finish
Body: Mahogany, string through body bridge
Weight: 4,71 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set (about 18 month) with about 1 hour of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• bass / treble at +100% (full boost)
• mid at +100% (full boost)
• mid at -100% (full cut)
• passive (no Battery inserted)

StingRay H, 3EQ, 20th Anniversary (A01140, DOB 1996-05-23)
Neck: Birdseye maple with maple board, oil & wax finish
Body: Ash with quilted maple top
Weight: 3,97 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set (about 12 month) with about 1 hour of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• bass / treble at +100% (full boost)
• mid at +100% (full boost)
• mid at -100% (full cut)
• passive (no Battery inserted)

StingRay HH, 3EQ, Ebony Edition (E72066, DOB 2009-03-12)
Neck: Maple with ebony board, oil & wax finish
Body: Mahogany, string through body bridge
Weight: ca. 4,43 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set (about 12 month) with about 10 hours of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• bass / treble at +100% (full boost)
• mid at +100% (full boost)
• mid at -100% (full cut)

StingRay 5 H, 3EQ, 20th Anniversary (F20712, DOB 2007-10-03)
Neck: Maple with rosewood board, oil & wax finish
Body: Ash with mahogany tone block and quilted maple top
Weight: 4,83 kg
Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinky set (about 1 month) with about 3 hours of playing time on them
Signal: Light compression (2.8:1 @ -6dB) used for mixdown to compensate loudness difference to 2EQ StingRay.

• Pickup selector at position 1 (parallel), bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• Pickup selector at position 2 (single coil / filter), bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• Pickup selector at position 3 (serial), bass / treble at 0% (at center detent)
• parallel, bass / treble at -100% (full cut)
• parallel, bass / treble at +100% (full boost)
• parallel, mid at +100% (full boost)
• parallel, mid at -100% (full cut)

Analysis

• According to the frequency analyser in Logic, the 2 and 3 band preamps have the same center frequency (50 Hz) for the bass band. But the 2 band preamp boosts low frequencies from 100 Hz right down to 20 Hz (like a shelving filter), while the 3 band preamp has the maximum boost around 50 Hz and does not boost the ultra low frequencies.
• Judging from the recorded levels and dynamics, it seems that the 2 band preamp is less dynamic and compresses the signal. However, it could be that I for some unknown reason I played with a lighter touch on the 2 band bass or that pickup height has some impact.
• Both of the aforementioned characteristics lead to the aural impression of the 2 band preamp sounding more "warm", "punchy", "fat".
• By properly adjusting the 3 band preamp, it can come very close to the sound of the 2 band preamp, but will never push out the massive ultra low bass frequencies. (This isn't a bad thing as such, because those ultra low frequencies will not be heard but need huge amounts of power to be reproduced and can cause damage to speakers).
• The sound of the bridge humbucker on the HH sounds very close to the original single H. It's hard to tell whether any of the differences are due to string age, setup, differences in wood or really in the electronics.
• The mid cut/boost with keeping the bass and treble at center detent (found in the examples of the NAMM Anniversary StingRay) shows to be very similar in sound to the complementary bass & treble cut/boost while keeping the mids at center. This is a very interesting option, e.g. if you tend to play always with a light treble and bass boost, cut the mids instead and up the volume a bit. It sounds even nicer to my ears.
• The 30th Anniversary StingRay sounds awesome, even without a battery.
• Interestingly the 20th Anniversary StingRay is not as bright as the maple neck and maple top on ash body suggests and sounds astonishingly similar to the 30th with a little less strengh in the mids and a lightly more aggressive top end when the treble is boosted.
• Surprisingly, the Ebony Edition StingRay is not brighter as the ebony fretboard might suggest. To me, it sounds as if there are less upper mids and more upper hights.

In the future, I'll try to add new recordings with different EBMM instruments, probably add more details on the settings used for recording and the analysis.

[shakinbacon]

very cool oli

thanks

[ekb16b]

Crap, now that bassline is gonna be in my head until i remember where its from.

Thats awesome, thanks oli

[1kinal]

That confirms me that I want a 2EQ...

[chilix]

love it!

[Rano Bass]

Crap, now that bassline is gonna be in my head until i remember where its from.

Me too!
They all sound like a Ray to me

[fly]

nice playin' oli...........thanks for the clips.

[Duarte]

Great demo Oli, I'm sure this will help a lot of people out. Damn that 2EQ sounds good. It makes me want one of those Classic Sterlings.

[Kirby]

Oli, what a great service you have done for those with questions. Right on my friend and great playing too!

[ReB87]

That is some very interesting stuff Oli. Thanks a lot for researching this! In my opinion, the 2EQ sounds nicer. I have been wondering this for quite some time now, but never found a good side by side comparison. Hmm, need to go and look for a 2EQ Ray!

[kevins]

Awesome that you did this for everybody! but im still not a believer that the 2eq is more or less "warm" than the 3eq! good playing too!

i noticed both at +100 sounded nearly identical, with the only real difference in sounds coming from what seemed to be very slight different variables(attack and what not). however i have heard that on the 3 eq the center position is not necessarily perfect +/- 0. knowing this i think that adding a minimal ammount of bass to it would have put it sounding exactly like the 2eq in the 0 position. but thats my opinion!


hilariously enough though for my own needs here, if i did buy a 2eq id have to bump the 500 frequency on my amplifier to get that mid from the 3eq i like and if the 3eq doesnt get the underneath 50hz bass i have to bump the 33hz frequency(which id do) on my amp to give it a little more oomph the 2eq gets.

[CElton]

Crap, now that bassline is gonna be in my head until i remember where its from.

Thats awesome, thanks oli

It's the Lakland demo lick...only none of them sound as good as these.

[danny-79]

Thanks for the post, good stuff an nice playing man!

[Subscript]

Definitely something I've wanted to hear!

[oli@bass]

New examples for the 100th NAMM Anniversary StingRay, with additional clips for the mid control. Hear the sound of graphite!



The mid cut/boost with keeping the bass and treble at center detent (found in the examples of the NAMM Anniversary StingRay) shows to be very similar in sound to the complementary bass & treble cut/boost while keeping the mids at center. This is a very interesting option, e.g. if you tend to play always with a light treble and bass boost, cut the mids instead and up the volume a bit. It sounds even nicer to my ears