I have to accept it... the Sterling is the best bass

[tunaman4u2]

Thanks Golem! My review is on hold until I get my cleaner for the neck & then string her up

 

[Aragorn35016]

Conversation about the Sterling HH neck only pickup position

I've never really loved it... it was always the least used and dare I say most disappointing pickup position. I guess it was always my pre conceived hope that it would be the tone of a P bass. Warm, round upper mids, not a lot of bite, super punchy tone. Its surely NOT that... so I just ignored it

Until recently. Lately I've been very happy with the neck only position... when I approach it from a different perspective of being the singled bridge pickup tone with more bottom & less upper mid grind. There are sometimes when a song just begs for the singled bridge tone & others where that tone is just a bit too much, thats when I move to the neck pickup. It cuts down on the edge of the singled bridge just enough to fit inbetween that & the other pickup selector positions which are much further from the singled bridge tone than the neck pickup to my ears.

If I try to use the neck pickup for warm round songs, I'm disappointed. There are better pickup positions for that by far (the one down from the neck & the center position). If I use the neck pickup for grindy songs that still need a good amount of bottom I've been THRILLED using the neck only now.

I love the neck H, when I solo it I usually roll the treble way back, and while as Ive never played an EBO at least in my head I imagine myself sounding like an untalented Jack Bruce!

 

[tunaman4u2]

Allowing that descriptive terms can be kinda subjective, I'll just accept
your "warm" and "aggressive" vocabulary ... and then point out to you
that you gotta be ready for a sooprize ! Your HS is gonna provide you
with 3 aggressive, 1 SOOPER aggressive, and 1 warm setting. SOOPER
aggressive refers to soloing the bridge single. You'll find out That
bridge SC is in a class of its own !

Had to come back to review my HS on this thread & say Golem was DEAD right. The bridge SC is clearly in a class of its own. And here I was thinking the Bridge H on a HH was as aggressive as it gets.... NOPE. The bridge SC makes the bridge H sound warm! I love it way more than the bridge H. Sure theres a volume drop but its worth it... I'll just dime the others OR just the DUAL channel of my 9.2 shuttlemax which increases the volume. My neck SC doesn't get used as much, that volume drop is outrageous but it sounds great... still like the neck H on my PDN 5 SHH better.

In the end versus the 5HH the 5HS trades the inner SC for a bridge SC. To me I'd rather have the bridge SC on the 5HS. On the 5HH the inner & outer SC are fairly close, the bridge SC is a unique experience & to me the clarity makes it the best of all for slap.

I have my Sterling 5HS for sale in the Boston area... now that I know I like it I'll be lurking for a PDN HS in the future if it sells... ash body & maple neck all the way!!

 

[Golem]

`

My own simple approach to the volume drop using the
bridge SC is to twist the bass knob. The bass boost is
also a huge volume boost, and since I'm not slapping,
the bass boost brings the tone of the bridge SC into a
fairly normal place while keeping all the growl derived
from location-location-location.

Both of my Sterling 4 HS are FL, one of which has a
graphite neck, which adds considerable briteness. My
other HS is a fretted alnico SR5. Even in that context
the bridge SC is in a class of its own. My own default,
or general purpose, setting on all my HS is position 2
[from the neck] which mutes the bridge SC ... so, for
me, soloing the bridge SC is an extreeeme change-up
in tone. Kinda funny that adding the middle coil to the
bridge SC really tames it down so much ... funny cuz
a Sterling H, the original Sterling, is considered to be
pretty damnt hot running its [complete] humbugger !

------------------------------------------------------------

If you reeeeeally get hooked on the bridge SC, mebbe
you'll want an original version [single PU] Sterling. It
has the bridge SC option, plus you can choose parallel
or series for the complete humbugger. My own single
PU Sterlings [I include my ceramic SR5's here] are not
actually the pure "original version" cuz all 3 are piezo
bridge FL versions. Switch on that bridge SC, with the
piezos, but WITHOUT fret noise [!] and it's all aboard
for the Bass Nirvana Express !!!

 

[mmbassplayer]

Something like this...

 

[tunaman4u2]

Golem- I think the lack of bass is what makes that SC so awesome, I'm going to try to boost the volume with the amp. I couldn't go just a H... I REALLY need the warm setting of parallel with all coils. Thats MOST of the dance music we play

MM- Beauty!!!

 

[tunaman4u2]

HS today at practice... just a beast & made a muddy Peavey TNT actually sound good... a think the Sterling 5HH PDN can't do. Single coil bridge... my new favorite tone and a WORLD different than all coils in parallel. SUPER versatile, crazy.

 

[petch]

Sterling HS - fantastic instrument!

 

[tunaman4u2]

How what a combo...

I gotta be honest... I'm leaning towards moving the 5HS to my lead bass, I'll gig it a few times first. I had a hard time slapping the 5HH last night (Not that I'm good at it anyway). I didn't realize that I've been practicing so much with the HS that I wasn't prepped for the HH.

If the HS takes the lead I plan on selling it to buy the next BIG PDN release.

I got a TON of compliments on the PDN 5HH yesterday

 

[laneline]

Sterling HS - fantastic instrument!

Het petch, that is one stunner, great pic. Is that Sapphire Black ?

 

[petch]

Thanks Laneline! Carbon blue pearl with moonstone PG named "Orion". A fantastic instrument that can do it all.

 

[DirtyHippie]

Reflex 5 HH is the best for me, ...I'm only tired of cleaning unfinished maple fret board!

Body construction (ash/mahogany/maple), neck shape, ceramic humbackers, bridge H at the sweetspot...lots of coil switching options, active/passive, brutal 18V preamp with 4 band EQ, LW tuners, ...no neck dive/perfect balance...etc.

Reflex rule for me!

+1

 

[Meypelnek]

Let me pick up this topic with a question to all you Sterling lovers! I have had to trade in a Sterling HS with a maple fretboard in order to afford my Stingray HH. Later I grabbed a Sterling HH with a rosewood fretboard, cause I missed the series wiring of the PUs so much.

Considering only the bridge H, would you agree that there is a significant difference in aggressiveness between the maple- and the rosewood board Sterling basses (in particular)? To my understanding the rosewood board Sterling sounds more defined and a little bit tamer in comparison.

Thanks for your feedback and Servus!

 

[tunaman4u2]

IMO: I could probably tell the difference with strings & EQ being the same. It would be fairly significant to me... but probably not very significant in the mix... again IMO

 

[kn38ms]

Sterling HS - fantastic instrument!

I'll be in my bunk....wow!

 

[Golem]

IMO: I could probably tell the difference with strings & EQ
being the same. It would be fairly significant to me... but
probably not very significant in the mix... again IMO

+1 .... IMO, acoarst, as well.

 

[tunaman4u2]

Total beast last night

Just used 3 settings...
All coils parallel, warm
Neck & bridge SC- punch
Bridge H, aggressive

Didn't touch the neck or bridge SC due to volume drop when having my sound controlled by the house.

MUCH easier for me to slap than my HH.