Help! Help me restore this poor abused Stingray... need electronics!

[armybass]

I just acquired a great 2002 Stingray with the piezo. Some dumbass replaced the original pup and preamp with a non original setup and have made a mess of it. The bass feels and plays great and I’d love to get it back to original condition. Also the G tuning key needs to be replaced.

I know I can’t purchase replacement electronics from EBMM but am curious if any of you guys might know of where I might look to more easily find OEM parts. If not can you suggest good replacement electronics that could get me close to the original Vibe without altering the bass in anyway.

Thanks!

 

[armybass]

FYI, that’s not my nasty couch. My nasty couch has been chewed up by my 4 hounds but doesn’t have those nasty stains. ��

 

[danny-79]

I’ve got an original pup and pre amp but not willing to part with it for obvious reasons so sorry can’t help you there.
In the meantime keep an eye on eBay , parts do crop up every now and again.
And also check out, John East and Nordstrand. I’ve heard very good things about them

 

[Samoht]

Popping in to recommend Nordstrand and John East as well! I put a Nordstrand MM.5 & a John East MMSR with mid in my SR5 and it nails the old Ray tone that I love. You could grab the 2 band 3 knob version of the East MMSR preamp and it would be a dead ringer for the original.

 

[armybass]

Thanks folks. Would the East preamp work with the piezo too?

 

[Samoht]

Thanks folks. Would the East preamp work with the piezo too?

I would try emailing John at [email protected] and give him your scenario and he can probably recommend a solution. Great chap.

 

[danny-79]

Depending on the tone you are looking for there is something for everyone here.

4 String Music Man Bass Pickups - Nordstrand Audio

(I highly recommend the BigMan)
send them a message. Carey is great to deal with

 

[armybass]

Yeah Carey is great and his pickups are awesome. I guess the preamp handles the piezo and the new pickup just needs to be wired into the stock preamp.

 

[danny-79]

Yeah Carey is great and his pickups are awesome. I guess the preamp handles the piezo and the new pickup just needs to be wired into the stock preamp.

Can’t help you with that one as never had a piezo. I’ve got East pre amps and Nordstrand pups. Shoot either an email (I know J.E has off the peg preamps and will if need be taylor make you anything you need)

 

[tbonesullivan]

I never understand why people do this to instruments, and don't even seem to bother to keep the original electronics. You don't get much better than EBMM electronics, IMHO. I'll take my EBMM electronics over any aftermarket any day of the week and twice on sunday.

 

[danny-79]

That’s the name of the game ! Keep all original parts

 

[armybass]

Well unfortunately I had no control over that. Someone did this to it and I am trying to make the best out of it. It appears the preamp is all good so the easiest way is to put a replacement pickup in it. I have a brand new Bartolini MM pup that I am gonna put in it because I want to play it an don't let it sit while I search endlessly for an original replacement. Just have to wait till my repair guy can get to it.

 

[danny-79]

That’s how you received it, no original parts to hand so it’s the perfect excuse to try out new things with it. You might not make it better than it originally was (but then again you might!) but it will definitely be different so it’s all good.
I changed parts out of necessity on one then brought the exact same replacement parts for another stingray cause I was super happy with the accidental results from the first one. I’m lucky enough to be able to hold on to original parts just in case.
Five mins with a soldering iron and you would never know it’s been touched lol

 

[armybass]

Well it looks like we are going with Nordstrand instead of Bartolini and I’m super happy. Will update after surgery.

 

[danny-79]

Well it looks like we are going with Nordstrand instead of Bartolini and I’m super happy. Will update after surgery.

100% right move ! You will not be disappointed with what ever pup you went with

Also, depending on the pickup you chose adding a mini toggle switch for series/single/parallel is a very easy job that will work with any preamp

 

[Golem]

I'd get a custom PG to cover over
the humbucker hole, and just use
the piezos possibly with Fishman
electronics. But then I'd also yank
the frets ;-)

There's also a trick of using the
humbucker to buffer the piezos
with no battery power required.
Google "Mag Pi" and "Wendler".

Neither of these solutions is likely
to approximate the original voice
of a 2002 SR ... but, if thaz what
you want, get a 2002 SR. They're
not exactly a rare beast. Maybe a
project-loving non-purist will take
yours in partial trade against one
thaz already ready to rock ?

 

[armybass]

Installed the Nordstrand and the bass is amazing. Sounds great and is back to life and you can’t even tell it’s not the stock pickup.

 

[Samoht]

Installed the Nordstrand and the bass is amazing. Sounds great and is back to life and you can’t even tell it’s not the stock pickup.

Awesome!!! I had the same experience with Nordstrand while looking for an old Stingray tone on a newer SR5. It blew me away when I first plugged in, and it still does! The bass is heavy, 10.5 pounds or so, but since I changed the pickup to the Nordstrand MM5.2 and the preamp to the John East MMSR 3-band, the bass literally feels lighter and plays easier (neither of which are true, but just shows how much getting your perfect bass tone will do!). If I ever get my hands on a Stingray 5 Classic, I'll probably put the original pickup and preamp back in, but for now I'm 100% satisfied.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

.
Definitely Nordstrand (I have one in the tool box)

 

[danny-79]

Installed the Nordstrand and the bass is amazing. Sounds great and is back to life and you can’t even tell it’s not the stock pickup.

What pickup did you go for in the end ? (You won’t go far wrong with what ever you chose)

.
Definitely Nordstrand (I have one in the tool box)

What did you go for ?
Have you tried his Blade pickups ?