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Grand Wazoo

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Oct 20, 2008
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Planet Remulak :)
middle position on the switch with a little bass boost, mid set on flat and 50% dimed out treble but then again the treble depends a lot on the fresh vs old strings i.e. if my strings are nice and bright I'll dime the treble if they are old and tired I'll boost the treble.

You can never have enough bass so I will always boost the bass a quart
 

Gordon of Eden

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Aug 20, 2008
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Portland Oregon
When playing slap on your SR5 where do you guys generally have your switch set and what eq settings do you go for on either the Bass or on your amp?

Cheers

1st position (closest to bridge) bass up 1/3 midrange flat and treble up a little bit or flat depending on the room.
I run my amp basically flat with a little bump in the low mids. I adjust treble and bass to the room if needed
 

Basspro

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Mar 21, 2009
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Las Vegas
Thanks for all your posts guys. I need to be clear here - I understand these 2 basses will never sound identical, for a start one is alder the other ash. but currently I feel they are poles apart sonically. if you get a Fender Jazz 4 and 5 or a warwick Streamer 4 and 5 they do sound very similar. I just don't feel this is the case with my SR4 and SR5.

When playing slap on your SR5 where do you guys generally have your switch set and what eq settings do you go for on either the Bass or on your amp?

Cheers

Well, i would have to disagree about 4 and 5 string fenders and warwicks sounding the same. Each peice of wood presents a different tone depending
on grain, density,shape,thickness,ect. that go's for the whole guitar, body and neck.
Ive personaly owned a s$%^ load of guitars and basses and very rarely
do they ever sound quite the same.
If you ever go to a big music store say guitar center, and tried a handful of
the same brand of basses you might find that one that stands out from the others, It just has that special sound/tone about it, it's the wood.
I would suggest you keep the SR5 and find you another older SR4 for that tone you want.
 

R Upsomegrub

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Mar 7, 2006
Messages
35
When playing slap on your SR5 where do you guys generally have your switch set and what eq settings do you go for on either the Bass or on your amp?

Cheers

Switch in parallel setting, a little bass boost, mids flat and treble flat or slightly boosted, depending on the condition of my strings.

I own 2 fretted SR5's: an '88 (ash/maple) which would have alnico pole pieces, and a late '92 (alder/rosewood) that I'm guessing has the ceramic.
Overall I prefer the ceramic, but not by a wide margin; however, the slap-tone of the alnico cuts through the mix better. But what I hear might also be due to the difference in body & fingerboard woods as well. ???
 

rizzo9247

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Nov 2, 2007
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NYC, NY, USA
I have two EBMM's with ceramic pickups (Sterling5 and Stingray5 below) and when played in the "classic" pickup position they sound different. Maybe that has to do more with the maple/rosewood circular debate....carry on... ;) :D
 

oli@bass

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Jul 23, 2007
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Switzerland
IMO nothing sounds like an SR4.

And even among this model there are huge differences: The type of body wood, rosewood or maple board, 3 band or 2 band EQ, and most of all the individual pieces of wood. The downside is: You'll never find two instruments sounding exactly the same. The upside is: It's a great excuse for yet another bass in the stable ;-)
 

Grand Wazoo

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Planet Remulak :)
FYI- since I doubt you use dimes much, you may not know that to "dime" the bass is to crank the knob all the way up to 10. Don't you mean you turn the treble down?

Oh I see the confusion here in my statement, by "dime" I meant... back off or take off some. Not boost. In other words if the strings are nice and fresh I will roll off the treble and if they are old and dead sounding I will boost it a little. Capish? :D
 

Russel

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Jun 6, 2008
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MS
Back on the subject, what I would have to say, and what everybody else seems to be saying is that by replacing the pickup in your sr5 with one from a third party, such as a duncan or dimarzio etc, MIGHT, and this is a big, big maybe, give you the alnico sound you're craving. But you're gonna lose most of the rest of the tones you love, and it's not gonna be the same alnico sound you've got in your 'ray 4.

In short, it's not a good idea at all, in my opinion. If you love most of the stock pup, keep it, because too much of what you love is going away in the replacement.

On top of that, the pickup in your sr5 is designed(along with everything else on the bass) to be used with that bass. Maybe not worth much, but the factory seemed to like that one. :D
 

Gordon of Eden

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Portland Oregon
Back on the subject, what I would have to say, and what everybody else seems to be saying is that by replacing the pickup in your sr5 with one from a third party, such as a duncan or dimarzio etc, MIGHT, and this is a big, big maybe, give you the alnico sound you're craving. But you're gonna lose most of the rest of the tones you love, and it's not gonna be the same alnico sound you've got in your 'ray 4.

In short, it's not a good idea at all, in my opinion. If you love most of the stock pup, keep it, because too much of what you love is going away in the replacement.

On top of that, the pickup in your sr5 is designed(along with everything else on the bass) to be used with that bass. Maybe not worth much, but the factory seemed to like that one. :D

So not to be a wise guy or cause trouble but the question needs asking (at least by me) If the factory liked the ceramic, why did they go back to alnico?
I will admit I really like the tone of older models (and newer) with the alnico. pickup.
 

ekb16b

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Dec 15, 2006
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Sydney
So not to be a wise guy or cause trouble but the question needs asking (at least by me) If the factory liked the ceramic, why did they go back to alnico?
I will admit I really like the tone of older models (and newer) with the alnico. pickup.

sterling 5
 

Big Poppa

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Coachella & SLO, California
Because we like to offer as many choices as possible. It seemed logical to make the Stingrays Alnico and the sterlings ceramic.

Funny but the 25th that everybody is raving about assumes it is alnico...it is ceramic....

It is a bongo bobbin and cover and ceramic magnet wound to a stingray 4 spec

I think that if I blindfolded most players them could not tell me the sonic difference but who cares? When we did the 25th we started with Alnico and neo dynium and others and the blind test came back 100% for the ceramic one. 1005 and there were top pros involved.

Its all about choices and catering to bias. SOmetimes you cant fight it But I get to tell you that bias is funny and Im not talking about your amp.
 

Rocksolid

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May 25, 2009
Messages
14
Have had three gigs this weekend and have used both the SR4 and SR5 - both sounded mighty.

I have started trying to move some gear so I can reacquire an SR4.

Sooner or later my local shop will get a 2008 or later SR5 and I am looking forward to hearing it. regardless of the fact that there are heap of other things that will influence tone, such as Body wood etc.

I wouldn't say I have an expert set of ears for picking tonal nuances etc, and I am certainly a person that may be not be able to hear a difference in a blind test.

The fact is, I heard a difference in tone and set out to find the reason for it. It was only after surfing the net that I made the discovery about the pole piece material differences, for the 3 years I have owned my SR5 I assume they were the same as my old SR4. Why wouldn't I make that assumption? They are both after all Stingrays!!

This whole scenario would not exist if it were possible to buy Genuine MM Pups for your MM. But unfortunately this is not the case.
 

Russel

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Jun 6, 2008
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MS
This whole scenario would not exist if it were possible to buy Genuine MM Pups for your MM. But unfortunately this is not the case.



With good reason. MM Does not sell OEM parts because they want to maintain some brand integrity.

A search will yield many explanations for this that are much better than one I could provide, a few of which will be from the man himself.
 
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