Clickie ness

[spencer]

I really do love owning a stingray, and I love the stingray sound, but I seem to be having trouble...

Stingrays do have a lot of highs... And I know how to remove them..

Here is the problem, I can't get a smooth not overly bassy sound,

I play weekly or bi weekly with a worship band at my church, I have been told you couldn't "hear" me as well as when a friend of mine who uses his MIM jazz with bertoli[something like that] pickups.

The person who runs sound, which is usually me unless Im playing bass, says she has to turn me up ALOT to hear me, I thought that the stingray would be hotter than a passive jazz. But what I think she meant was actually "hearing" me, when I heard him play it seems like you can "HEAR" him, and there is not too much bass.. I blamed it on me usually cutting my treble out most of the way so that you don't get the click.. I also need to cut mids just a sqeek on the bass because the click is there too. I try to boost the mids but it brings out the click and makes my tone a little too agressive. And when I tried everything flat, im not sure how it sounded in the audience [well I was told you couldn't hear the click]
here is a sound file
http://files-upload.com/files/533260/02 Track 02.m4a

My playing technique? Well it doesn't sound like that on every recording that night, or if I use a diffrent bass... I was just playing hard that night and you really can't hear it all in the P.A. however the problem is, it didn't fix my problem with you hearing me... I want to boost the mids, thats what it seems like I should do, but then it sounds too agressive.. I might get a squire jazz or precision and see how it sounds.. I LOVE MY STINGRAY!!! But its just not cutting it... Maby a I should try a Stingray H/S.. anyways.. Any help?

 

[theosd]

Try flatwounds.

 

[spencer]

tried them...

And believe me guys I really love stingrays.. I really want a SR5 next I love the sound of them when other people use them and when im playing alone.. However I can't get it to work..

 

[theosd]

Maybe you got a bad apple? Perhaps it's the D.I. or whatever you use?

 

[sandman@midlife]

Stingrays are a lot hotter than a passive jazz. I used to A/B my SR against my jazz, and the SR was a lot more present in the mix. Not just to me, but out front.

No, it's not a bad apple.

It's an EQ thing.

One of the scariest people in music..."The person who runs sound"

 

[spencer]

I usually run sound, she doesn't know much however I heard what she was talking about.. You could just HEAR the jazz..

 

[bovinehost]

There are too many variables in this equation for anyone to diagnose it over the internet.

Strings? Technique? DI? Amp? Speaker cabs? EQ at the board? PA speakers?

Really, who the hell knows?

But I know that I've never ONCE been lost in any mix with a Stingray. And I've had a lot of Stingrays. I'd look very carefully at the signal chain and what's happening to the EQ along the way.

 

[sloshep]

1. What are your settings on the stingray bass, mid - treble boost and cut ?

2. How are you running it into the soundboard - DI box, preamp , miked?

 

[Musicman Nut]

I really do love owning a stingray, and I love the stingray sound, but I seem to be having trouble...

Stingrays do have a lot of highs... And I know how to remove them..

Here is the problem, I can't get a smooth not overly bassy sound,

I play weekly or bi weekly with a worship band at my church, I have been told you couldn't "hear" me as well as when a friend of mine who uses his MIM jazz with bertoli[something like that] pickups.

The person who runs sound, which is usually me unless Im playing bass, says she has to turn me up ALOT to hear me, I thought that the stingray would be hotter than a passive jazz. But what I think she meant was actually "hearing" me, when I heard him play it seems like you can "HEAR" him, and there is not too much bass.. I blamed it on me usually cutting my treble out most of the way so that you don't get the click.. I also need to cut mids just a sqeek on the bass because the click is there too. I try to boost the mids but it brings out the click and makes my tone a little too agressive. And when I tried everything flat, im not sure how it sounded in the audience [well I was told you couldn't hear the click]
here is a sound file
Free file hosting - Files upload - Max 1 GB per file via FTP, 300 MB via HTTP, Subdomain, FTP access, the fastest 1-click free file-hoster Track 02.m4a

My playing technique? Well it doesn't sound like that on every recording that night, or if I use a diffrent bass... I was just playing hard that night and you really can't hear it all in the P.A. however the problem is, it didn't fix my problem with you hearing me... I want to boost the mids, thats what it seems like I should do, but then it sounds too agressive.. I might get a squire jazz or precision and see how it sounds.. I LOVE MY STINGRAY!!! But its just not cutting it... Maby a I should try a Stingray H/S.. anyways.. Any help?

First Fire the sound guy, Second, It sounds like your bass is down by your knees, raise it up and it'll clean up your Technique up and you won't hear the fret smacking as bad.

 

[MingusBASS]

Take up bag pipes?

 

[spencer]

There are too many variables in this equation for anyone to diagnose it over the internet.

Strings? Technique? DI? Amp? Speaker cabs? EQ at the board? PA speakers?

Really, who the hell knows?

But I know that I've never ONCE been lost in any mix with a Stingray. And I've had a lot of Stingrays. I'd look very carefully at the signal chain and what's happening to the EQ along the way.

Rotosounds 45-.105
Ampeg b2 - head out [I normally use my gk 1001 head]
Ampeg 1x15 cab [unless I use my ampeg 8x10]
Eq at the board is pretty flat a little cut at 80hz, and I didn't check till after but someone had the 12k boosted a little on my channel. Thats probably why it had so much click, but you couldn't hear it in the house.

I was playing hard I know thats the reason I for the clicks however I didn't hear any clicking in the house or out of my cab.. But either way thats not the problem.. Problem is im not cutting through.. I thought it was because I had my treble cut but, after playing with my eq flat I can tell thats not it..

 

[spencer]

1. What are your settings on the stingray bass, mid - treble boost and cut ?

2. How are you running it into the soundboard - DI box, preamp , miked?

1 For this recording its flat.

2. For this recording Out through the D.I. in the amp..

 

[spencer]

First Fire the sound guy, Second, It sounds like your bass is down by your knees, raise it up and it'll clean up your Technique up and you won't hear the fret smacking as bad.

The recording was just there for to have something sure it has sounded better, but the girl had to run sound in the house recording and put the words up on the the projectors at the same time.. Its good enough for me..

My bass is not down by my knees, its pretty high and I usually have a clean sound, I just played a little hard for that song [the rest don't have the click problem] and I didn't hear it in the house or out of my rig so I didn't play softer..

 

[spencer]

Take up bag pipes?

....

Altho the title of the thread is about the click [which I can solve] the problem is Im not cutting through..

I actually want an little more growl [or mids] but it also really needs balls. They like it to have punch and I am usually asked to play higher up on the neck to get the punch..

 

[spencer]

this is another song we did that night, it was fast so I did play a little hard but the click wasn't near as bad..

http://files-upload.com/files/533468/01 Pour Me.m4a

 

[sloshep]

1 For this recording its flat.

2. For this recording Out through the D.I. in the amp..

It sounds like then you are going post eq from the amp. That could be causing the lack of presence. If you are running pre eq than boost the mids a little on the bass. I had to plug into the board with a DI box to get my sub5 to sound right. That was after I took the bass to the soundboard with the DI and eq'd it myself.

 

[oli@bass]

IMO drop the Rotosound strings, and get some Super Slinky Roundwounds... they will sound much smoother than the Rotos while still producing a nice growl. Also, like with all nickel strings, if they click, the click is less harsh then that from stainless steel strings.

 

[oli@bass]

The first recording does not sound like a StingRay 4 single H with the EQ set flat should sound. Where's all you midrange gone? Probably the D.I. in the amp is after the preamp and the amp's equalizer?

Also, do you dime the volume on the bass? If so, try to turn the volume down a third... that way the preamp in the bass isn't getting out of headroom, and it won't drive your amps input so hard.

Judging from listening both recordings, my guess would be that the D.I. is after the equalizer of the preamp, plus the bass is driving the preamp too hard. I have the impression that there's some unwanted compression going on in the lows.

Also, just to be sure, replace the battery in the bass with a fresh one...

 

[SLUGGO]

Sounds like you have "fret slap." Try adjusting your string height and work on pulling your strings "upward" verses pushing them down toward the pickups. I had the same issue.....this worked for me. Good Luck!

 

[tkarter]

Quit diming the gain.

tk