Here's My Problem...

[Wasabi]

My SR5 honestly has the best live sound I've used so far. Cuts through amazingly. G string a little thin, but overall, incredible.

I've run into this because I just received a great custom bass that I waited for a long time, but it doesn't cut thru the mix nearly enough for me to use it as a primary gigging bass. I've gone thru so many custom high end basses and keep finding the SR being overall my live sound. Its slap sound doesn't seem to work for me, but for fingers, it's the bomb. I imagine, especially with the 20th coming out, if I do an HH, I'd be able to get a similar slap sound to a jazz.

The main problem is this...The tight string spacing and overall feel of the neck keeps the bass, for me, from being a sort of "chops monster" type of bass. I really want it all here...A bass that has wider spacing, and an overall flatter fingerboard, but one that other than that has the StingRay 5's guts and mojo. I don't see many super speedy bassists using SRs, and for me, the necks just aren't super fast and flat for the quick slapping, tapping, etc. that I also want to do. And I really want to have one "go to" bass for everything.

Am I just being a wimp and need to shed more to get the bass to do what I want, or is this a legitimate issue that other SR players are facing?

 

[phatduckk]

to me it all sounds like a "getting used to" kindof thing. how long have u had the sr5?

 

[Wasabi]

Several years. I've owned two other high end boutique basses, and just received a third. Those other basses were/are just faster and more comfortable, due to the flatness of the fingerboard and the string spacing, but none had the live punch that the SR5 has.

I always find myself using the SR5 on my gigs. It's something I can trust, whether going direct or using my rig.

Plus, I guess due to the pickup location, I can't really get that traditional type slap sound I'm used to hearing (the Marcus kind of thing). I assume I can get much closer with a double pickup SR5, but again, there's the spacing issue that seems to slow me down with that kind of stuff..

 

[NoFrets80]

Several years. I've owned two other high end boutique basses, and just received a third. Those other basses were/are just faster and more comfortable, due to the flatness of the fingerboard and the string spacing, but none had the live punch that the SR5 has.

I always find myself using the SR5 on my gigs. It's something I can trust, whether going direct or using my rig.

Plus, I guess due to the pickup location, I can't really get that traditional type slap sound I'm used to hearing (the Marcus kind of thing). I assume I can get much closer with a double pickup SR5, but again, there's the spacing issue that seems to slow me down with that kind of stuff..

Setup has a lot to do with that as well. I recently had to do a complete overhaul of the setup on my fretless W@rwick because it just wasn't cutting through the way I knew it should... My EBMMs still kick its butt overall for presence, but I knew the potential for the bass, and it wasn't reaching it. I really had to tweak the neck/bridge relationship and raise the pickups to get it to really sing. Now, with my EBMMs, I have a super low action on both the fretless and fretted, with virtually no buzz, and can fly across the fingerboard if I want. To my hands, the fingerboards on my EBMMs are much flatter than most basses I've ever played... I assume this differs with SR5's? I've never played one, so I can't form an opinion or offer advice either way with one. I do know that EBMMs can be "speed machines" if set up correctly. Maybe explore that option before dumping the SR5?

Your situation sounds similar to mine when I first started playing upright bass. I asked around about the best bass, strings, etc. to allow me to play the way I wanted, which at the time was fast and chopsy. The most sage advice I got was to buy the bass that sounds the way you want to sound, set it up so it sounds its best, and then practice until your technique allows you to make that bass do what you want. It's a 2-way street with the bass setup and your technique.

Cheers...

 

[MingusBASS]

...but seriously, I think it all comes down to being realistic. You have all these "high end boutique" basses that don't give you the sound in the mix that you are looking for. You have a SR5 that apparently gives you that sound, but you find it isn't as easy to slap/tap/whatever because of the string spacing/pickup placement. Do you practice these techniques on the SR5? Surely, you would say it is far from impossible to slap/tap..etc on a Ray5. Then it is simply a matter of getting comfortable with the Ray5. You have yet to find a bass that cuts like the Ray5 and as far as I know, there are no plans to come out with a wide spaced version of the Ray5. So it seems the only option is to deal with it and practice.

 

[Randracula]

With my SR4HH in the #3 position(both pickups on full)I can totally get the Marcus Miller thing if i want it....

 

[82Daion]

Why not get a Ray 5HH or a Bongo 5HH? You won't lose anything in the tone department, and the neck pickup would probably help get you a more traditional slap tone.

 

[PocketGroove82]

If you are accustomed to an SR5 H, and find all that extra slap/plucking space comfortable, then I would say an SR5 HH might be hard for you to pluck on. I'm looking at mine right now and I'd estimate there is about 1inch of plucking space between the pup and end of the fretboard. when an SR5 H has like 7-8 inches of room.
As for playing fast and doing the musical-masturbation/"tapping" thing, I find that with a good setup it's no harder to tap/wank on an ray than it is on some 24fretted boutique bass.
But really, that kind of thing ain't my bag, cause I like to get gigs and stuff.

 

[Wasabi]

If you are accustomed to an SR5 H, and find all that extra slap/plucking space comfortable, then I would say an SR5 HH might be hard for you to pluck on. I'm looking at mine right now and I'd estimate there is about 1inch of plucking space between the pup and end of the fretboard. when an SR5 H has like 7-8 inches of room.
As for playing fast and doing the musical-masturbation/"tapping" thing, I find that with a good setup it's no harder to tap/wank on an ray than it is on some 24fretted boutique bass.
But really, that kind of thing ain't my bag, cause I like to get gigs and stuff.

Ha! Don't misunderstand...I like to get gigs, too, and do. It's just another part of playing I enjoy exploring, plus, honestly, so many of my students are into it, and they want me to teach them, no matter how much I emphasize what you did so eloquently. So that stuff is the little carrot I dangle in front of them for preparing the important stuff.

My slap is right at the fingerboard, although the Bongo WAS too tight for me. I think overall it's a combo of the string spacing and the G being so close to the fingerboard's edge that slows things down a little for me.

Maybe the most important thing I can do is not allow myself any more boutique basses ;-)

 

[strummer]

Wasabi, I think the main "problem" for you is that you want a bass with 19 mm string spacing at the bridge and a 20" (or even flatter) radius on the fret board, and since most bassists find that spacing on a 5 too wide, and a flattish fretboard a little uncomfortable, te SR5 does not have it.
The SR5 is built to fit a lot of players, ant thet is one reason boutiqe basses can exist. Some people just want something different.

Having said that, you can get around one part of the problem pretty easy by reshaping the fret board. Ripping the frets out, having a new raduis sanded and then new frets is real easy for a lutiher.
Then you'd only have to get used to the spacing.

 

[strummer]

I Just got a kick ass idea
Wait a little, get a Bongo 6, resand the fret board, cut a new nut for 5 strings and modify the bridge for only 5 strings. Pick ups shouldn´t be a problem (claim it's a 2007 version of "old smoothie" ), you'll get plenty wide spacing, a fret board like you like it and including all the modifications it'll still be like half a boutique bass in price.

 

[PocketGroove82]

so many of my students are into it, and they want me to teach them, no matter how much I emphasize what you did so eloquently. So that stuff is the little carrot I dangle in front of them for preparing the important stuff.

I fear the day one of my beginner students asks me to teach him tapping!
I think I'll say something like, "you can't tap unless you know your 3 note voicings for maj/min/dom 7th chords." Then go off on a theory tangent for 2 months.

I learned to tap without knowing what I was doing harmonically, so yeah...
I was a hardcore pentatonic wanker

 

[screaminhugger]

I am actually having the same issues right now. I love the tone of the SR, but after playing nothing but Fender Jazz basses for 20 + years, I am having trouble making it "sing". I have discovered that I am going to need to continue to "learn" to play this bass, but the tone and punch will be well worth the effort. I needed to be humbled a bit anyway! I am looking at it as a new challenge. I pick my jazz up when i need to feel good about my playing abilities, otherwise, i haven't put the SR down and continue to get compliments from my bandmates on tone, instead of technique...

 

[bass&cookies]

personaly, i find that i can play faster on my sr5 than anything i've ever tried, slap tap & finger. it seems all a matter of technique/practice

 

[iandmcelroy]

Stingray 5 Setup

Hey Wasabi,

Yes I too have had the same problem but I've seem to have licked, terrible pun, the problem. I loved my SR5 right out of the box but being a post Victor player I like to try to do all fancy that stuff as well. I took my bass down to my local luthier and had it set-up the way it felt good for all the slappin and the poppin and the bippin and tthe boppin but I started to get a bit quacky when play the ole pizzo. First of all I had the nut lowered. It was way to high too be able to tap in the lower frets so down she went. Then I straightened out the neck, arrow straight, then lowered the action. It was too low and I was getting a bunch of buzz and had some fret work done to make up for it. I can now plumb a wall with my neck and frets but that's beside the point. It was still a little quacky so I raised then action back up a touch and put on lighter strings. I suggest DR Sunbeam 5 40 - 120 if you want to be able to really get going. They have a round core so they are very flexible but still have a terrific tone. You don't really need to do all this, and I'm sure most of it wasn't needed, but I'm a bit of a tone/action freak.

My action as it stands now is: (be prepared to be shocked, it freaks everyone out)

5th string (Low B)
First fret - 1mm
12th Fret - 4mm
22nd fret - 4mm

1st String (G)
First Fret - 1mm
12th Fret - 2mm
22nd Fret - 2mm

There is a slight slope downward towards the higher strings because of the tension. The lower strings were tending to wobble around much more than the top so I just brought them up a touch more than the higher strings. This has given the best action for both Slap/Tap and Finger style playing. Most of the stuff I did myself but for the frets I had to take it to a pro.

 

[brooklynfall]

Lighter strings. Then a new setup. Maybe not a Stingray? Look at Lakland and G&L for something approximating an SR tone.

Sorry, I don't mean to push competing companies, just want to help a guy out! I love my 'ray!

 

[prickly_pete]

Lighter strings. Then a new setup. Maybe not a Stingray? Look at Lakland and G&L for something approximating an SR tone.

Sorry, I don't mean to push competing companies, just want to help a guy out! I love my 'ray!

As for G&L, I sold these for several years in the late 80s/early90s. They consistently had the worst fretwork of any bass in their price range. Every single bass required a fret leveling for low/medium action with no fret buzz. I was never impressed by them. I used to send my friends down the road to the EBMM dealer when my boss wasn't listening YMMV!

 

[KennethB]

Well, the way I see it; Stingrays aren't really speedmachines. They're tonemachines. Mine are 4-strings and I can play them pretty fast but it does not sound so good. But it has more to do with sound than anything else. The Stingray has such a huge sound. It's very "wide" and moves a ton of air. The Jazz is better suited for fast playing with a more transparent sound and that low-midrange "burp". Of course playing a 5er makes things harder because of the tight stringspacing. They're different tools for different purposes. I tolerate the Stingray's "limitations" because if something about it was changed, something would also be lost, right? If I need to play extremely fast I'll go to the Jazz. If I'm gonna play BASS, I use the Ray. The SR gets the most time. I just love the way it makes a track sound. Also for live playing it is unparalleled. The audience can actually hear the bass clearly. That's the EBMM character I think.

 

[tkarter]

The way I see it. I think I heard BP say it once. When you get a new bass and want to get it going your way. Play it don't pick up the old ones.

The Bongo didn't ring my bell to the same extent the SR5 did until I played it enough to get used to it. Now I can play either and enjoy either.

What we already know we don't forget. Learning what we don't is worth investing in IMHO.

And I don't know how high your metronome goes but, I can hang with mine all the way to the top on my SR5 or Bongo 5. Of course I practice against it.

tk

 

[4metta]

I actually PREFER basses that don't have wide string spacing. And I slap & pop.

I don't like the 4 banger Stingray's spacing compared to the Sterling's.