Is a Sterling Brighter Sounding than a Stingray?

[Baird]

I A/B-ed by new Stering and also new 2007 SR4 LE last night and can swear that the Sterling is brighter sounding. Both were played with the treble and mid at 5 (or flat... in the middle) and the bass on full.

Am I nuts?

The SR has new Slinkys on it and the Sterling same with Elixers (not bad. Kinda greasy feeling, but I will try them for a while as it is my first set ever and they came on the bass).

 

[LowMoJo]

Sterling certainly sounds more middy to me. Like comparing a Pbass to a Jazz. I've never found a correlation as to which MM basses sound bright or not. Some do and some just don't. can't explain it.

 

[mynan]

I tried to do a search, but didn't come up with much. Surprising since the question "What is the difference between a Stingray and a Sterling?" is such a common one.

From what I recall (anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), The Stingray, with it's alnico pickups, has a smoother tone with more accentuated lows than the Sterling. The Sterling, with its ceramic pickups, has a more aggressive, edgy tone than the Stingray.

 

[oddjob]

Paging Arin.... you are the resident Sterling expert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[the unrepentant]

Considering eveyr bass is different as every tree is different it could well be brighter sounding.... But the sterlings do have a smaller body, that could be a contributing factor maybe?

 

[TSanders]

I find the Sterlings ceramic pickup (as opposed to the alnico in the SR) to have a bit more midrange going on, more so really in the high mids. That makes the Sterling have a bit more cut, IMO, which could be described as brighter.

Just my experience on the above.

 

[bdgotoh]

Set flat, I think a Sterling is a bit brighter and has noticeably more bite than a Stingray set flat.
The odd thing is that the Sterling preamp has relatively little high end on tap and tons of low end. The Stingray preamp on the other hand has a lot of high end and will be really bright if you crank the treble knob with roundwounds on the bass. The low end on the Stingray is more subdued and has much less on tap than the Sterling preamp.

 

[kompressaur]

+1 ^^^^

after 5 years away from a Sterling and a couple of rays and a SUB bass during that time I was taken back at just how much the Sterling H can be fattened up.I can hear the Sr4 in my sterlings but I always liked them for the J profile neck and hotter mids. the Sterling H in single coil mode with the mids boosted has grown on me more and more and I now love that s/c sound on the Sterling

 

[rhythmCity944]

I should have pulled the trigger on a fabulous natural sterling at GC about a year ago...it was super fast...there was a sterling at a local dealer near me for a long time back when i was younger, a trans teal one that no one seem to want. That was at least 10 years ago...I loved jamming on that bass

 

[backagain1]

I tried to do a search, but didn't come up with much. Surprising since the question "What is the difference between a Stingray and a Sterling?" is such a common one.

From what I recall (anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), The Stingray, with it's alnico pickups, has a smoother tone than the Sterling with more accentuated lows. The Sterling, with its ceramic pickups, has a more aggressive, edgy tone than the Stingray.

Please clarify, which one did you say has the more accentuated lows?

backagain1

 

[mynan]

Please clarify, which one did you say has the more accentuated lows?

backagain1

Sorry, I'll fix it. With the eq set flat...the Stingray.

 

[phatduckk]

"the sterling is brighter" is not a statement id make when comparing an sr4 to a sterling. I agree with the guys: my general statement is that the sterling has more bite... or put another way - the sterling can sound like its pretty pissed off

maybe my "bite" is your "bright" but i really don't think the sterling has that much more "zing" than an sr4. yup, again like the guys said, there's more mid presence in the sterling which really cuts thru but "bright" wouldn't be the first adjective that id use.

IMO you gotta put the same strings on both before you A/B their tones. you mentioned that the 2 basses are wearing different strings and that plays a HUGE factor. id try comparing 'em unplugged real quick. set 'em next to eachother and pop the G or D. If the sterling is way brighter unplugged then i'd chalk up a big part of the brightness to the Elixir's. ive never used Elixirs so i dunno if theyre generally brighter than slinkys.

for example - you could put stainless slinkys on the sr4 and nickel slinkys on the sterling and with that i bet most folks would say the sr4 is brighter. so, when u get a chance try outfitting both with your string of choice. FWIW Hybrid stainless slinkys are my current fav.

youve got 2 awesome basses buddy! enjoy em

-arin

 

[oli@bass]

IMO you gotta put the same strings on both before you A/B their tones.

+1

 

[philthygeezer]

Set flat, I think a Sterling is a bit brighter and has noticeably more bite than a Stingray set flat.
The odd thing is that the Sterling preamp has relatively little high end on tap and tons of low end. The Stingray preamp on the other hand has a lot of high end and will be really bright if you crank the treble knob with roundwounds on the bass. The low end on the Stingray is more subdued and has much less on tap than the Sterling preamp.

I find the Sterlings ceramic pickup (as opposed to the alnico in the SR) to have a bit more midrange going on, more so really in the high mids. That makes the Sterling have a bit more cut, IMO, which could be described as brighter.

Just my experience on the above.

+1 ^^^^

after 5 years away from a Sterling and a couple of rays and a SUB bass during that time I was taken back at just how much the Sterling H can be fattened up.I can hear the Sr4 in my sterlings but I always liked them for the J profile neck and hotter mids. the Sterling H in single coil mode with the mids boosted has grown on me more and more and I now love that s/c sound on the Sterling

+1

 

[b-unit]

My SR4 and SR5 are both single H models and I use Slinkys so they are an interesting pair to compare tone.

My SR5 has slightly less output then the SR4. It sounds more midrange centered when set flat and seems to have a little less overall thump when compared to my SR4 set flat.

The SR4 midrange control gives a very fat warm and in my opinion useable mid boost while the SR5 mid control is not as sweet sounding. This could be because the SR5 preamp is voiced differently to my ear and just doesn't need the mids boosted any more.

The SR4 bass knob does not have the same huge booty as the SR5 when boosted past flat.

To this day, i cant decide which one I like better. They are different sounding basses but are clearly from the same tonal family. I can switch from one to another without making any adjustments on my amp and the only difference is the SR4 sounds ever so slightly louder.

An SR5 with an Alinco pickup would be an even closer comparison!!

 

[backagain1]

Comparison of SR5 and Bongo 5

My SR4 and SR5 are both single H models and I use Slinkys so they are an interesting pair to compare tone.

My SR5 has slightly less output then the SR4. It sounds more midrange centered when set flat and seems to have a little less overall thump when compared to my SR4 set flat.

The SR4 midrange control gives a very fat warm and in my opinion useable mid boost while the SR5 mid control is not as sweet sounding. This could be because the SR5 preamp is voiced differently to my ear and just doesn't need the mids boosted any more.

The SR4 bass knob does not have the same huge booty as the SR5 when boosted past flat.

To this day, i cant decide which one I like better. They are different sounding basses but are clearly from the same tonal family. I can switch from one to another without making any adjustments on my amp and the only difference is the SR4 sounds ever so slightly louder.

An SR5 with an Alinco pickup would be an even closer comparison!!

Very nice comparison, b-unit! Could someone compare a SR5 to a Bongo 5?

Thanks,

backagain1