Perfomed with my 79 Sabre last night and not totally satisfied

[rhythmCity944]

Last night I was performing with my band and decided to bust out the '79 Sabre I own. Anyways, the bass just didn't seem to have the cut through or the punch of my Stingray in the situation no mattered how I eq-ed the bass. The tone seemed dried out and dull even with a new set of strings. Could this be an electronic problem with old capsiters that have deteriated or the pick ups just being old and the magnets deteriating. The bass is 26/27 years old and shows it. My Sabre isn't as loud as my Stingray either but does have a lot more snap and is much brighter sounding.

I normally play this bass in a worship church band where my roll is to hold the bottom end and help carry the songs for the vocalist and lead instruments. I never really noticed the major difference between the two basses until last night.

If there is a way to bring out the a similar character to my Sabre as my Stingray has, I'd like to know.

 

[Caca de Kick]

First thing I did with my Sabre is sit down with my StingRays and an amp, and with the selector switch on rear pickup only, I adjusted the pickup height until I got the same volume and resutling sound as the Rays. With that set, I adjusted the neck pickup to my liking without ruining the overall volume level between neck/rear/both. It's there you just have to tweak to find it...the neck pickup will sit quite a bit lower than the bridge pickup, much like a Jazz bass.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

Checked the betteries and strings? A dieng battery or dead strings can be the difference between a bass that sounds perfect, and a dull lifeless one

David

 

[mrpackerguy]

I have never had a problem getting my '79 Sabre to cut through. My normal settings are bridge pup, no treble boost, no reverse phase and bass rolled down and treble slightly up. The mid controls on my Ray seem to give the Ray the mid cut through, but the Sabre can keep up when I boost the mids on my Kern pre.

 

[rhythmCity944]

strings and battery were brand new...that was not the issue...still, the tone sounds real dried out and dull...i don't have a mid control on either my stingray or sabre

 

[Rano Bass]

They're just different, no need to worry.
Maybe that's why it was discontinued?

 

[rhythmCity944]

well, i take the statment back about the bass cutting through...i saw the video from the show last night and my Sabre really bites in the mix...from the video, the Sabre sounds just like my Stingray with only the bridge pickup on...the output between the 2 is different though

After seeing the video from the show, i'm much happier with the bass in a hard rock situation...

 

[adouglas]

Is that video online?

I haven't checked your links, just asking.

I'm asking because of the notable difference between stage sound and what gets heard out in the audience. It's the reason I went to the Bose system...I was tired of warming the back of my knees and not hearing what the audience was hearing.

 

[rhythmCity944]

No, the video from the show last weekend is not online yet...only video from a show a couple weeks ago where I used my Stingray the entire night

yeah, i hear ya on the stage sound...very few places in atlanta have any decent stage mixes. The best stage sound I've heard was at the Vinyl @ Center Stage in Atlanta where everything seems perfect.