• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

donkelley

Well-known member
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
56
Right, so can you be more specific about which part of a setup you are talking about here?

I already did. Any combination of what i and others said.

Sent from my SGH-I717D using Tapatalk 2
 

uOpt

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
377
Location
Boston, MA, USA
I already did. Any combination of what i and others said.

Sent from my SGH-I717D using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, that. The magic setup. Setup will fix all your problems, whatever they might have been. As long as it is a "good setup" by a "professional".

And people are surprised that I react allergic to it.

Hey OP, how about answering some of the questions from people who want to help you?
 

JNRYJD

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
9
Well the OP clearly isn't interested in fixing this but let's theorize.

Low pickups make for less volume and less distortions. They don't make it sound dull.

Strings too low cannot make it sound dull without lots of fret snarl.

I am really not a friend of all these "magic" things attributed to a "good setup". If the thing sounds like a turd and the strings swing freely it is not a setup problem.

Of course the OP isn't even interested enough to answer basic questions such as whether this bass sounded better in the past.

No mate - The OP doesnt always have computer access so kindly pull your head in a bit... I appreciate the help but not the attitude ;-).

To answer the questions:
The bass was bought used from the first owner and since then it has been set up and serviced twice. The second time with a full refret and neck shave etc at which point it sounded brilliant but it has gone down hill since then. I also went from Nickle strings to stainless which improved it a bit but not by a lot. Especially after the strings lost that new string twang.
The action is pretty good - Better than my jazz bass and there aren't any string mutes on it.
I hadn't thought to check the pickup height but I cant imagine it could adjust itself from the last set up. I'll check it anyway. Also the neck is pretty straight.
The only big change it's had is that it hasn't been getting played much for the last 6 months but thats it.

When I compare it to the Jazz, the musicman has a LOT more output. More than I would usually attribute to an active bass. I always have to turn the bass's vol down a few notches to avoid distortion. But that actually makes the bass sound even duller... It seems to be bipolar in that respect. It's either running hot as hell which makes for a spectacular hard rock sound or its running cold and flat which is useless for everything else.

SO now Im sorry for not getting back within a millisecond of your questions and I do apprciate the help but do have some respect for folks that arent blessed with as much spare time as you :)

Cheers!
 

sanderhermans

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Joined
Nov 5, 2013
Messages
1,091
Location
belgium
What i wouldn't do is turn your volume down on a stingray. The output is normally not that high! If it distorts your amp because of the high output, check your amp. I always run mine at full volume... and never had problems with overloading or distorting annything.
but if you do turn volume down i would suppose you loose some twang and aggresiveness too.. not too sure about that.
 

JNRYJD

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
9
What i wouldn't do is turn your volume down on a stingray. The output is normally not that high! If it distorts your amp because of the high output, check your amp. I always run mine at full volume... and never had problems with overloading or distorting annything.
but if you do turn volume down i would suppose you loose some twang and aggresiveness too.. not too sure about that.

Yeah I've found that the output distorts or at least pushes to the limit, any amp I put it through. Same with DI recording. I always have to just take it down a few notches - Tis rather frustrating.
 

JNRYJD

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
9
Prolly not the technical term. Before re-fretting they cleaned the neck up by sanding/shaving out the damage and restoring the fretboard to a nice new flat strip etc...
 

donkelley

Well-known member
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
56
Maybe a short in the preamp or in one of the potentiometers making it behave incorrectly

Sent from my SGH-I717D using Tapatalk 2
 

uOpt

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
377
Location
Boston, MA, USA
I think you should home in on the high output thing. With the EQ even a Stingray should not cause more clipping than -say- a Precision bass.

Maybe you bass pot is stuck or otherwise broken?

Prolly not the technical term. Before re-fretting they cleaned the neck up by sanding/shaving out the damage and restoring the fretboard to a nice new flat strip etc...

OK, that's called a fretboard re-radius (sometimes fretboard level, but that term is too close to fret level for my taste).
 

sanderhermans

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Joined
Nov 5, 2013
Messages
1,091
Location
belgium
We could be talkin about this forever. You should just take it to a tech. We can just guess but he will know if something is wrong... or mayebe nothing is erong and you just have a crappy amp.
 

JNRYJD

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
9
We could be talkin about this forever. You should just take it to a tech. We can just guess but he will know if something is wrong... or mayebe nothing is erong and you just have a crappy amp.

There's nothing wrong with the amp.
I think the tech idea might be my only course...

Cheers y'all!
 
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