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mantaraya

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
29
Hi There EB community¡¡ I am looking for either having a EB MM sterling 4. The point is to get either H or HH ( i was considering the HS but heard of sound discrepancis when switching¡¡¡ Maybe not cool) But the point is ¡¡I CANT TRY THEM SO IM BLIND ORDERING. i have a EB MM stingray 4. Has been my workhouse for several years. But the neck and body turns to be a little big, so goes for sterling. Now the difficult part: wheter H or HH.

Speaking of what i know, the Rays sound is defineted, specific, fat, crispy. But somehow i kind of miss the old vibe of my passive bass. I m not returning to that, is just that i would really like to have a little more of lets say "headroom, opening, dull sound". So guys what do you think should be my option: just the H (stickyng to classic) or the HH (losing the parallel setting). Any advice would be apreciated¡¡Thanks¡¡¡
 

five7

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
4,295
How about a big al or reflex so you can go active or passive.
 

bdgotoh

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
970
Location
Pacific NW
HH is my favorite, for both Sterling and Stingray. Great tones you can't get from a single H. If you want the simplest, go for a Sterling Classic - it's single H and no coil switching.
 

Double Agent

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Messages
99
Location
Lakeland, FL
If you get the HH, you can get the standard Sterling H sound and quite a few others. I guess you have to ask yourself how much your like the single H parallel setting and if that would be worth missing out on the coil-splitting options available in the HH. You lose almost nothing (except for simplicity) by going with the HH, but you gain quite a bit.

Also, if you want a thumpier, less "active" sound, throw some flats on your bass. EBMM basses are bright enough that they don't sound dead with flats on them, but it tames the "zing" quite a bit and sounds really good IMO. EBMM flats are not expensive, so it won't kill you if you try them and hate them, but it is worth the experiment because you might love them.
 

OldSchool Noob

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
224
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Hi There EB community¡¡ I am looking for either having a EB MM sterling 4. The point is to get either H or HH ( i was considering the HS but heard of sound discrepancis when switching¡¡¡ Maybe not cool) But the point is ¡¡I CANT TRY THEM SO IM BLIND ORDERING. i have a EB MM stingray 4. Has been my workhouse for several years. But the neck and body turns to be a little big, so goes for sterling. Now the difficult part: wheter H or HH.

Speaking of what i know, the Rays sound is defineted, specific, fat, crispy. But somehow i kind of miss the old vibe of my passive bass. I m not returning to that, is just that i would really like to have a little more of lets say "headroom, opening, dull sound". So guys what do you think should be my option: just the H (stickyng to classic) or the HH (losing the parallel setting). Any advice would be apreciated¡¡Thanks¡¡¡
For what it's worth, I played my new Sterling HS in church tonight (the bass bass flat-out smoked!) and I think the talk of "sound discrepancies when switching" is WAY overblown. I certainly don't think it's a reason to pass on this configuration of the Sterling. As a matter I think it's the best choice in your situation. If you switch to the neck pickup and roll off the treble, you'll get what you're trying to find, tone-wise.

Based on what i heard tonight, Its an excellent sounding, powerful, flexible bass. I went looking for the "sound discrepancies when switching" and what I found wasn't significant enough for me to pay attention to. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:

Powman

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
1,086
Location
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
My Sterling H is awesome and still my favorite of the 3 I own. But this thing has got balls and does NOT sound like a passive P-bass.

If you want a "smoother" sound, roll off the highs and move your hand closer to the neck. Quite dramatic difference.

The HH can give you a smoother tone if you focus on the neck PUP.

Flats will also work as this bass has lots of highs. (I would not recommend stainless steel strings for that same reason, but I am sure someone has tried it and loved it).

Lastly, the Big Al might actually be the best choice. Big Al has the Sterling neck, but it is a Swiss Army Knife of tones. (can you guess what I am GASing for).
 

keko

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
2,702
Location
Zagreb, Croatia, EU
If we look at the past (only 4 bangers), the meaning of Sterlings was always ceramic pup/bridge single coil split/series switching, ...and that was main difference between older bro Stingray!

So, my personal opinion for buying a Sterling is: single H, or HS! If 4 banger than I'd go for Hp model!

Of course, I have nothing against the HH model!

Cheers! ;)
 

mantaraya

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
29
Flats will also work as this bass has lots of highs. (I would not recommend stainless steel strings for that same reason, but I am sure someone has tried it and loved it).

Lastly, the Big Al might actually be the best choice. Big Al has the Sterling neck, but it is a Swiss Army Knife of tones. (can you guess what I am GASing for).[/QUOTE]

At this very moment im using flats. Grat thum sound¡¡¡ But i thinh kyou lose something.. quite dont know what.. although to my main pourposes (rock) th flat just kills at live settings¡¡¡

¡¡¡¡ I thought big al has a Ray neck¡¡¡ Are you sure big al has sterling neck??? If so this beast comes in handy¡¡¡
 

mantaraya

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
29
For what it's worth, I played my new Sterling HS in church tonight (the bass bass flat-out smoked!) and I think the talk of "sound discrepancies when switching" is WAY overblown. I certainly don't think it's a reason to pass on this configuration of the Sterling. As a matter I think it's the best choice in your situation. If you switch to the neck pickup and roll off the treble, you'll get what you're trying to find, tone-wise.

Based on what i heard tonight, Its an excellent sounding, powerful, flexible bass. I went looking for the "sound discrepancies when switching" and what I found wasn't significant enough for me to pay attention to. :rolleyes:

Thats what i tought¡¡¡ I dont think this company is goin to release a roller/coster sound meachine but who knows.. actually this config (HS) was my 1 choise. Thanks for the iNfo¡¡¡
 
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