Pickup Height on Stingray Classic

[Dr. Doom]

Hi,

I've got a 4 string Stingray Classic that is a great bass. The pickup is the most powerful I've ever encountered and it's not a 'normal' pickup.

The E string is VERY LOUD unless I lower the upper portion of the pickup considerably. I've got the pickup at a fairly radical angle. ("Radical" in that I've never had a bass with a pickup at that angle or even close.)

The pickup is hot enough so that I've had to adjust my playing style to prevent it from distorting.

I just lowered the pickup and now it sounds much better. It's very low though. The portion under the E string is about 1/4 under the string.

Has anyone encountered this?

Thanks!

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Try this setup: In the play position (bass on lap while seated), depress the E string at the last fret & measure the distance from the bottom of that string to the top of the pickup magnet for that string. Aim for a distance of 4/32 inches. Do the same with the G string but aim for a distance of 3/32 inches. Finer adjustment may have to be made to the G side so that the volume is even across all strings.

 

[Dr. Doom]

I appreciate the advice. It won't work though. 4/32 inches from the E string would cause distortion if I plucked the string in a normal fashion. The pickup is very hot. Now that I've lowered the pickup height it doesn't distort but I'm not sure about the quality of the sound. I think it's fine. I'll take it to a gig this Friday and put it to the test. Thanks...

 

[mouth]

Stingray Classic, or any 2 band Stingray, is not super hot. Not even close to it. Unless you crank the preamp all the way. Then it's has a pretty hot signal I guess. But a standard eq usage (knobs at noon, or bass slightly boosted as a popular choice) does not yield anything super hot. In fact, both my Stingrays (2 band and a 3 band) are very close in output to my passive P basses, if not even slightly less hot.

Are you sure your battery isn't dying and that's the distortion you're hearing? What are you plugging in? What are you comparing it to? I don't even distort the preamp (or my sound card) when I crank up the preamps all the way.

Something's not right here man.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Hi,

I'm sure that the pickup is very hot. It's hot with a brand new battery.

I have another Stingray. (It's an 'HH.) The pickups are perfectly normal. I've not had to adjust them and they've never distorted.

It's the pickup. Even with the volume knob down and the amp at low volume it distorts when I hit the E string with my usual attack.

I should point out that I play with the bass knob all the way up. I do that with my other Stingray and, as I said, it doesn't distort.

I've owned about 15 basses over the years and I currently have 4 basses. I've never had the problem that I have with this pickup. Hopefully it will sound great now that I've lowered the pickup again.

Thanks for your response.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Dr. Are you the original owner or second hand? If the latter then the electronics have been messed with.

 

[Dr. Doom]

I am the original owner. I'm not, by any stretch, trying to malign the fine basses that Music Man makes. I have 3 Music Man basses (2 Stingrays and a Cutlass) and they are really nice basses. I love my Music Man basses.

So the pickup on the Stingray Classic isn't supposed to be very hot? This one clearly is.

 

[Daniel]

The StingRay Classic pickup should measure 6/32's from the bottom of the G and E strings. If you feel like your bass isn't working as it should, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll help you out.

 

[danny-79]

The StingRay Classic pickup should measure 6/32's from the bottom of the G and E strings. If you feel like your bass isn't working as it should, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll help you out.

That’s a huge difference compared to the regular setting

 

[Dr. Doom]

What is the regular setting? Until this situation I've done little with the pickup height on any of the basses I've owned.

 

[Daniel]

That’s a huge difference compared to the regular setting

That is the factory specification. We don't fret the strings at the last fret. We set the string action to 3/32s above the 12th fret and then measure the pickup height to the bottom of the G and E strings at 6/32s.

 

[mouth]

I am the original owner. I'm not, by any stretch, trying to malign the fine basses that Music Man makes. I have 3 Music Man basses (2 Stingrays and a Cutlass) and they are really nice basses. I love my Music Man basses.

So the pickup on the Stingray Classic isn't supposed to be very hot? This one clearly is.

No it should not be that hot. Mine is pretty much on par with my 3 bander, and I've had several 2 band and 3 band Stingrays. None of them distorted. In fact, if you crank everything on the 3 bander and everything on the 2 bander, 3 bander is hotter (due to mids). Perhaps your battery connection from the compartment is faulty, that could cause distortion problems.

 

[danny-79]

That is the factory specification. We don't fret the strings at the last fret. We set the string action to 3/32s above the 12th fret and then measure the pickup height to the bottom of the G and E strings at 6/32s.

That makes sense now

 

[Dr. Doom]

Thanks for the information.

The distortion is due to the pickup being too close to the strings. Now that I've lowered the pickup considerably it doesn't distort.

 

[mouth]

Something must be off, the pickup should simply not distort.

My pickup height is (measured from the pole pieces to the bottom of the string) approx:

G - 2.5 mm
D - 3.5 mm
A - 4.0 mm
E - 4.0 mm

This is slightly lower than the factory specs (6/32). My action is also lower than factory specs (3/32) at the 12th fret with it being 1.5 mm E to 1.0 mm G. This is for both my 2 bander and my 3 bander, very similar measurements.

Zero distortion, and my touch is not light. I really dig in at times. It should not distort, period.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Thanks. It sounds like you did what I did. I've got the pickup slanted away from the E string.

I took the bass on a gig a couple of days ago with the pickup lowered and it sounded great. I guess the pickup will live happily at a lower height than the factory recommends. I'm fine with that given that the bass sounds great.

 

[mouth]

Thanks. It sounds like you did what I did. I've got the pickup slanted away from the E string.

I took the bass on a gig a couple of days ago with the pickup lowered and it sounded great. I guess the pickup will live happily at a lower height than the factory recommends. I'm fine with that given that the bass sounds great.

I always slant it towards the G a bit, but it's only slightly slanted, looks almost straight visually. My G string is also lower than the E, so that affects the distance from the pole pieces as well. It certainly isn't at a radical angle like you mention yours being. I do that to balance the tone of my strings (I never have weak G issues with my setups), not to avoid distortion.

I could put the strings as close to the pickup as it goes and it would not distort, I tried that. Something is wrong with your preamp or with the connections to the battery, I highly doubt it's the pickup. Either that or someone modded it. Sounds like the issue that the previous version of Sterling SUB preamp (also a 2 bander) had. It distorted easily and was too hot unless the pickup was lowered considerably. That should NOT happen with the OG preamp/pickup.

But if you're happy, alright. I certainly wouldn't be, and would check the insides ASAP.

 

[jb90]

And what exactly is the relief gap? Do you measure it? How you setup neck reliefs in basses Sir?

 

[strummer]

It's the distance between string and fret 7 or so (can't actually remember which fret, but it's the fret that is the longest distance away from the string). Capo at 1:st fret, then fret string at last fret or fret 12 (i use fret 12) then measure the distance. Normally yo want just a little relief, a businesscard is often used as a guide, or a thin pick

 

[DrMatthewCross]

On both my Caprice and StingRay Special, E and G strings are equidistant from the bridge pickups. I've made some tests and they sound better in this way.
The Caprice has a neck P pickup which I set like a regular Fender P pickup. The bridge pickup is already "C" shaped so it doesn't need to be angled.
About the StingRay special, its bridge pickup isn't angled but somehow it sounds better if set equidistant on both sides. I tried to angle it to be closer to the G string and that string was too loud.