pickup + preamp customization for stingray?

[mike jungle]

before all of you chop my balls off and say that i shouldn't have bought the bass if i don't like everything on it, can you guys tell me if any of guys have experimented with different pickups or preamps for the stingray?

i'm not satisfied with the sound it produces out of my swr workingman 4004. i can't say i like the amp...but it was a gift, not a purchase i made. for some reason, the bass lacks a lot of punch on the amp.

i sort of want to try out one of the setups that modulus uses on their flea basses.

anyway...let me know what you guys think. hopefully i will get enough money sometime soon so that i can buy the amp i want, but i'm sorta looking for a sound similar to flea's on the by the way album. particularly on the song "this is the place". i know i know i know it's my amp that needs changing first, but still, i want to know what setup will help me get close to that with the amp i have right now, and help me nail it when i finally do.

anyway, thanks a bunch.

 

[Disquieter]

hmmm....

nothing...

get a better amp, don't fugg around with what is perfect already.

If you've got noodles and fetucinni alfredo, you don't add marinara sauce do you?

so if you've got the perfect bass for that sound, why would you rip out it's guts only to sound like ****e when you finally get a new amp, all the while wasting 200 bucks.


better give me your stingray.
i think that would be best.

 

[todd4ta]

I had an SWR WM 2004 or 4004 about five years ago, and I will also agree that what you are disatisfied with is the tone from your amp, not the bass. For one thing, how do you have your tone controls on the amp (and bass) set. Try starting with everything set flat, and use minor adjustments so you can keep the volume cranked more. If you start boosting the bass too much, you have to compensate by backing off on the volume. Nothing will sound good at that point.

I strongly doubt you could find a pickup and/or preamp that would suddenly make it sound better. For the price of the upgrade, you could snag a nice used GK head (400RB or 800RB) and most likely get a lot closer to the tone you're looking for. I've had dozens of Stingrays, and half a dozen Flea basses (with the same LP pickup and preamp as Flea), and my goal was to get my Flea bass to sound like my Stingray, not the other way around.


I would like my 98 cents change back from that dollar....

 

[JB1]

I'm not going to chop ya nuts off or berate you for wanting to try out different kit, but I will reiterate that you should try a different amp first, then see what you think.

 

[smallequestrian]

The main thing you should consider, when you take the cost of a an SR5 and a new pickup and preamp, you could easily afford a used Flea bass.

 

[strummer]

Here is my take on this subject:
You want your SR to sound like Flea does, and flea plays a Modulus Flea. Ok.
But the Flea bass was designed to give that Flea sound, which originally came form a SR. And since the Modulus is a very different bass from the SR, at least neckwise, the electronics should also be different.
So when you change the electronics/pickup on the SR, you are moving away from the Flea sound.
That's what I think.

Get a new amp

 

[Jazzbassman23]

While I've heard various complaints about Stingrays; too heavy, neck too chunky, pole pieces too sharp, I've never heard anyone complain a Stingray lacked punch. YMMV, but my money would say that your amp is the problem. I've got a bass w/a Seymour Duncan MM pickup and SD preamp. The punch it delivers isn't in the same league w/an EBMM Ray.

 

[82Daion]

I strongly doubt you could find a pickup and/or preamp that would suddenly make it sound better. For the price of the upgrade, you could snag a nice used GK head (400RB or 800RB) and most likely get a lot closer to the tone you're looking for.

I would like my 98 cents change back from that dollar....

+1

For good prices on those heads, all you have to do is look.

 

[TheDirtyMoocher]

my 4004 is sitting next to my brand spankin' used hd-500 which i bought here on the forum and i'm pretty sure i saw another one go up for sale a few weeks ago for like $500 so i would check that out, because it is definetly the amp

 

[Psychicpet]

My best recommendation to you is go try out an Aguil DB-924 outboard pre-amp box ($199 US??) and set the eq on the SR flat(all in the center detents) and then boost a little bass, 11 o'clock, and about 9 o'clock on the Aguilar and I think what ever amp you're going into will then sound as good as what's going into them
seriously though, do yourself a favour and try out the Aguilar... it's an amazing little box.

and then you'll not get the scorn of putting a Subaru engine into a Ferrari

hehehehehehehe

 

[prickly_pete]

I have never heard a workingman 4004, but my Rays sound great through my Super Redhead. Ken "Moondog" has one too, and I'm pretty sure he likes his also.

 

[Moondog]

I have never heard a workingman 4004, but my Rays sound great through my Super Redhead. Ken "Moondog" has one too, and I'm pretty sure he likes his also.

Yes I do, I use it for most gigs and it's great.
small, powerful, compact, w/ cover & casters!

 

[mike jungle]

While I've heard various complaints about Stingrays; too heavy, neck too chunky, pole pieces too sharp, I've never heard anyone complain a Stingray lacked punch. YMMV, but my money would say that your amp is the problem. I've got a bass w/a Seymour Duncan MM pickup and SD preamp. The punch it delivers isn't in the same league w/an EBMM Ray.

i really think it's the amp...

i'm just also really curious about pickups and preamps, that's all.

thanks for the input thus far.

 

[Golem]

before all of you chop my balls off and say that i shouldn't have bought the bass if i don't like everything on it, can you guys tell me if any of guys have experimented with different pickups or preamps for the stingray?

i'm not satisfied with the sound it produces out of my swr workingman 4004. i can't say i like the amp...but it was a gift, not a purchase i made. for some reason, the bass lacks a lot of punch on the amp. ..............

I've got modded MMs, an SR4FL and a Sabre. I'm awaiting BPs advice about mentioning the exact setup, but who can say that you would prefer the particualr brand I use anyway?

But I can say that I'm quite happy with my SR4FL which is a total conversion, guts and PU. The Sabre sounds, shall we say, 'Unique', or perhaps 'Interesting'. It's an oldie ['79] and perhaps the 3rd party PU is engineered for the newer EB MM electronics pkg and sounds a little punky with the old Leo&Co. preamp? OTOH, it sounded weird before the PU transplant [neck PU only] b/c the neck PU had a severed winding in one coil [so it played as a single coil].

Assuming you choose [or is it 'dare'?] to mod your Ray, your willingness to consider a whole package, PU plus innards, bodes well, better than going for just the PU. Of course, you will carefully store the original parts, as they are unreplaceable at retail. EB sell only *replacement* parts, and requires that you surrender same-for-same, no upgrades or mods.

 

[Golem]

I had an SWR WM 2004 or 4004 about five years ago, and I will also agree that what you are disatisfied with is the tone from your amp, not the bass. .....................................

Altho I did post about my modded MM basses, and really I have no regrets, I'll still chime in about the SWR 4004. I have to agree. It's not a great sounding amp. Go plug into a G-K or an Ampeg before you mod your ax.

On some amps, you get lotsa knobs and as you move them around you get lotsa various good sounds, regardless of your ax. On other amps with lotsa knobs, you have to master the voodoo of all those dials just to find a good sound for a particular ax, then diddle them all again for a different ax, and some axes just refuse to sound decent on such amps, period. The SWR 4004 seems to be the second type of amp.

If you might be buying a new cab, I can at least say that my 4004 sounds pretty decent thru an Ampeg 112H PortaBass cab [and the cab weighs only about 25lb or 11kg]. Such a cab will remain a great asset even when you finally part with the 4004.

 

[roballanson]

I have a Status graphite neck going cheap if you want it......should help with the tone....after all the Flea bass is a graphite neck

 

[Golem]

My best recommendation to you is go try out an Aguil DB-924 outboard pre-amp box ($199 US??) and set the eq on the SR flat(all in the center detents) and then boost a little bass, 11 o'clock, and about 9 o'clock on the Aguilar and I think what ever amp you're going into will then sound as good as what's going into them
seriously though, do yourself a favour and try out the Aguilar... it's an amazing little box. .........

2X the +1 on the 924. You can use the 4004 just as a power amp, or you can run the preamps in tandem.

OTOH, I didn't specifically buy my 924 to fix my 4004. Never would have. The price of a 924, if it's sole purpose is a fix for the 4004, is best put directly toward replacing the 4004. In my world, if the 924 is a 'fix' for anything, it's *the* fix for Jazz type PUs, especially Bart's.

 

[LowDownDave]

I'm glad to hear some "kind" words about the SWR workingman's 4004. I just bought one to upgrade from my combo amp because it seemed to have the most power for a decent price I could afford on evilbay here in the UK. After buying it, I then found a LOT of reviews on various forums saying "not so good" things about this amp (and a few who loved it) and I have to say after getting it and plugging it in, I thought it sounded GREAT with my SR4. But then again that is just MY opinion.

From reading other forum posts I get the idea it could also be possible that the cabinet itself could be to blame for sounding somewhat different than how you'd like (though obviously it could be the amp as well, or the bass). I seem to read a lot of posts about how the matching of various cabinets to various amps can have a considerable effect on sound produced, so this could also be something to think about (or someone can correct me if I'm wrong).

But I guess it's all relative, and you just have to try as many combinations of different things possible until you find that sound you're looking for (but I would think gutting your bass would be the LAST thing to try).

 

[Golem]

I'm glad to hear some "kind" words about the SWR workingman's 4004. I just bought one to upgrade from my combo amp because it seemed to have the most power for a decent price ...........

That's pretty much how I wound up with mine. Not that it's really bad, I just find it not very flexible, since I use up a lot of EQ just getting a basic tone. With Ampeg, Eden, or G-K heads I find that basic tone is the default so that most twiddling of controls is mainly to please your subjective aesthetic whims of the moment, or the week.

One thing that made the 4004 much better than my earliest impressions of it was figuring out that a proper tug-o-war between the input gain and the limiter is as much a tone control as anything else on the front panel. Who'd a thunk it?

Also in its favor is the blender for the FX loop. I don't use it for FX. In a small ensemble with no PA, therefore no monitors, the FX return blender gets me one other player that I can pipe into my amp & cab [via the line-out from the other player]. I can blend just a bit of that other player into my sound to help me hear what's going on.

I don't hate my 4004, but it's my last choice among several heads of similar output. It's completely subjective.