Music Man StingRay Newbie

[midopa]

Hi,

I got my StingRay a month or so back. I've tweaked with the saddles, truss rod, and action many times already and I'm still having a problem with tense strings.

My bass history is Ibanez SR300 DX -> ESP B205 -> MM SR4. I've spent the most time on the ESP and have grown to like the slightly loose strings. However, on the Music Man, the strings are bit too tense to suit my style and slapping technique.

Can anyone offer tips to get the strings looser?

Also, I was watching a video of Les Claypool playing "The Awakening" (ori. by "The Reddings") live. Mr. Claypool sure is the man. I've tried playing this song myself but have problems when I start to slap the higher strings (D & G). I have to put in a lot of energy to get at least a sound from the higher strings, while I can easily get loud and thumping sounds from the lower strings with little effort.

Is there a certain way to setup the higher strings as to get a better sound from them? I've tried higher action, lower action, pushing the saddle back and forth, etc. but to no avail.

By the way, here's a pic of my bass.
I took the pic without flash (I think flash ruins pictures) so you really can't see the Blue Sparkle paint on the body.

Thanks,
midopa

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

>>>>>I took the pic without flash (I think flash ruins pictures) so you really can't see the Blue Sparkle paint on the body.

Looks good to me.....Got a serial# and date?....nice for my pic gallery.

Other quieries...Bovie...Masamax...Duckie...others....they know about those type of thingys.

 

[Luckydog]

my guess for looser string feel you would need to use lighter guage strings. Maybe adjust pup on treble side closer than bass side for more even volume.

 

[Masamax]

What is a better sound? Better is a subjective description, not the adjective I need.

 

[midopa]

Hey Rod. The serial for mine is: E30940. I'm afraid I'm not quite sure about the date. It may be June 2003, but I looked at your site and the two StingRays with the closest serial to mine were both made in 2002. Isn't there someone on this board that can look up that kinda of info with just the serial number?

Masamax: When I say better sound, I'm actually saying that I'm trying to get a louder sound. Popping the higher strings is not a problem, but slapping them produces only a weak sound. I was wondering if anyone knows any techniques or setup methods to get louder slap sounds on the higher strings.

Luckydog: Yeah. I heard Les Claypool uses a lighter gauge than the standard. If I were to go for a lighter gauge set, would I need to make any significant adjustments to the setup of my bass?

 

[Psychicpet]

Hi Midopa, the only suggs I've got is to go with a slightly lighter gauge of string and lower the action. Try some light gauge Foderas or something, Victor Wooten uses them and usually has low action but still gets a good volume. As for techniques, look to Victor and/or Alain Caron... amazing slap guys.
Nice bass BTW.

cheers!

 

[Masamax]

If you need to get a string louder, putting it closer to the pup helps.

Oh, and as for slapping the higher strings, normally when I slap them the sound I get is quiet too. So when I slap them I use the tip of my thumb/nail to get that louder sound.

 

[midopa]

Hey Masamax and Psychicpet,

Thanks for the tips. I'm starting to build a callous on the side on my slapping thumb, that is, only after a lot of painful slapping. Haha...

Things seem to be going well now. With that extra callous, I can now slap harder with less pain. I also tilted the pickup on the bass, so the pickup is close to the higher strings and further away from the lower strings.

Once my current strings (Ernie Ball Super Slinky, I think) wear out, I'll try a lighter gauge and see how that works.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

By the way, can one of the guys who actually work for Ernieball/MusicMan check out the info for my bass? The serial number is E30940. I'm curious myself as to what kind of info, woods, date, etc. is logged for my bass.

 

[hands 5]

When I had my SR5 I used the 4"string D'addario XL SuperSofts and for the B string I would use a GHS Boomer.
I think the Supersofts will give you close to the feel that you're after.Other than that,there's not a whole lot that you can do with the "tautness" of the way the strings feel on the SR4/5 and I called just about everybody from "Hipshot,Wilkerson,Badass and Gotoh to see if they made a replacement bridge for the SR5 and none of them made a bridge at that bass at the time.

 

[jongitarz]

midopa..DOB is 5/23/02

Jon

 

[midopa]

Thanks for the tip, Hands. I'm getting used to the SR4 feel and my callouses are building up.

So I'm gonna keep the bass the way it is right now and then I'll take it to luthier or some guitar shop guy to level the frets, make neck flat, lower neck, etc. - the whole setup deal. Then I'll try out a lighter gauge, like Luckydog suggested.

Thanks for the DOB, jon.

 

[bovinehost]

Probably the lowest tension roundwound out there is the Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Rounds. These are wonderfully musical and have simply astounding response string to string.

If you want lower tension in a roundwound that still has plenty of punch and bite, I recommend these.

Be aware, though, that the lower tension will probably require you to tighten your truss rod a bit.

TI makes the best string out there, AFAIC. The Powerbass on my Bongo are also killer, but much higher tension.