Single Pick Up Bass ONLY!

[danny-79]

Hi Forum, its been a while
Been doing a lot of playing, I've got three main basses Two StingRay SR4's and another quality branded bass beginning with 7' with two pickups in neck and bridge position 18v pre.
Im currently using the same Genz-Benz amp ive had for a while (M-Line 200 1x15 combo) but have just ordered another G-B amp, Shuttle 6.2 with 1x15 & 4x10 and im like a kid waiting for that cold time of year (love the summer) anyway... The two Stingrays are the same, both 3band rosewood, completely stock, very important that !! (sorry only thing to ever go wrong with them is the battery compartment, had to replace the boxes on both at some point, just ware an tare, its plastic on the back of a bass that's loved every day so its going to get knocked about, if it happens again, its a battery snap and metal plate for the both of them ! ) they both sound very different so...

Back to the point of this post (sorry missed you all ) is I have concluded that any bass I ever buy in the future has to be single H pick up...... ONLY...... (would love a Bongo, Single H 4String, if anybody selling, will look around seriously when sold the 7.J I just cant get on with pick up blend. At all. sad really cause the 2xPu bass mentioned earlier is a nice bass, sounds nice through the Benz in any setting thinkable cause I've been through them all with my ears as my guide
But the StingRay's sound ...? cant find a word ... something around Amazing?
I've found my sound and am sticking to it! I've always had it, change for the sake of change I suppose
So that's it for me, Stingrays SR4. OR... any new variation of it that comes along from E.B as long as its single H I'm interested, Bongo, 25th etc keep me posted oh and of cause Genz-Benz amps. the one I've got is amazing at the size and volume of it, retaining quality at volume (played in a barn with it a few weeks back, bit tinny in there but bass was heard and felt by all) (cream Stingray by the way) so why the new order ? Why not !!! Will let you all know how it goes when I get it

If you have read this far then thanks just happy to feel settled on the deciding feature of what I have and what I might have in the future "Single H ONLY Please "

Dan.

 

[KevinM]

I haven't tried the single H Bongo but those here that have really like 'em.

 

[keko]

Bongo single H is "The secret weapon" ...trust me, ...I got one!!!

 

[Gravesend Black]

I'm a fan of single H SR5 but like inner coils sound on my SR5 HH very much aswell

 

[nurnay]

Love my single H Ray (prefer it over HH config on that model, anyway), but my HH Bongo... well, let's just say it has something special.

 

[Holdsg]

single H bongo = sweetness + a bit of sassy, just right by me.

 

[five7]

My sterling 5 H is getting alot of play time. Love it! Glad to hear you still got my old sunburst ray. That was the first MM I owned. sunburst goodness

 

[MudvilleStomper]

Reflex crushes all. Didn't BP say that the humbucker in the 25th/Reflex was the best he'd made?

 

[kn38ms]

Bongo single H is "The secret weapon" ...trust me, ...I got one!!!

I've never heard one in person, but 4 a band EQ on Basswood has got to be bad to the bone....

 

[Aussie Mark]

A single pickup Stingray with the pickup in the P bass sweet spot would be super cool.

 

[Golem]

`

I happen to prefer multi-PU basses if we mean multi
*magnetic* PUs. OTOH my fave is a SINGLE mag PU
plus a piezo bridge.

Now that fave does involve a PU blender, which I do
realize you don't favor ..... buttttt ! The PU blender
that bugs you is not a simple blender. It's also like a
moving PU, moving the mag PU system's "center of
gravity" back and forth. Thaz just NOT the same job
as the PU blender on a 1H-plus-piezo configuration.

With a 1H plus piezo, the COG of the sole mag PU
obviously never moves. It's tone is related to its one
fixed location. A piezo bridge is NOT a "bridge PU" in
the sense that a rear PU of a twin mag PU bass is a
bridge PU. A piezo bridge essentially has NO location
tonewise. It matters not where the harmonics of the
string occur since a piezo always listens to the whole
string at once.

So, you may find the PU blender on a 1H + piezo is
something you can use. Kinda like the blade switch
on a 1H SR5 or a Sterling, it alters PU tone, but does
not choose nor alter WHERE along the string to hear
the harmonics. IOW, it's a very special tone control
but very different from dialing between two mag PUs.

 

[JayDawg]

I concur with what is being said here. I have a BFR Roasted neck Bongo 4 H that is my number one bass. My number two is a Bongo 4 Hp. I went with the piezo to see how I would like it. I do! But with that being said, I also really like my 4 HH Bongo and my 4 HHp Bongo. With the Stingray's and Sterlings, I do prefer just the single H configuration on them but on the Reflexx I like the HSS and on the Big Al I like the SSS.

 

[danny-79]

My sterling 5 H is getting alot of play time. Love it! Glad to hear you still got my old sunburst ray. That was the first MM I owned. sunburst goodness

Wow I was not aware that the sunburst Ray was your first MM Its the exact same set up as my cream Ray but they both sound worlds apart, the cream Ray has a tight punchy tone to it, ware the sunburst is a lot more mellow an laid back, both keepers, just depends on mood what gets used that day !

`
SINGLE mag PU
plus a piezo bridge.

Now that fave does involve a PU blender, which I do
realize you don't favor ..... buttttt ! The PU blender
that bugs you is not a simple blender. It's also like a
moving PU, moving the mag PU system's "center of
gravity" back and forth.

Thanks for that interesting review, very helpful thank you, that sounds of something that I would be interested in, still in theory got the single H but half of it is adjustable, adding dynamics to the tone rather that altering it. Thats if my summing up is correct and I read your review correctly, please correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds good.
There is room for twin PU basses in my collection, just not the one I have and not at the present, idea in head now .

 

[keko]

Reflex crushes all. Didn't BP say that the humbucker in the 25th/Reflex was the best he'd made?

Yes he did, ...I believe!

However, ...I always wanted to order a single H reflex from beginning, ...but 'cause dual H model got bridge H pickup at Musicman's "sweetspot" position like single H, ...I decided finally for a HH model. Neck H is, ...let's say, a bonus pickup!

Anyway, ...it's hard to compare reflex with Bongo, ...both sounds like Musicman, but in whole new, I'd say, modern dimension!

 

[Chris C]

I agree with the single pickup thing. The Stingray H has "that sound in my head." It does everything I need and want it to do. It's "my" sound and for all the hundreds of basses (no matter how many pickups and bells and whistles they've had) I've had over the years, I've always returned to the Stingray, after I got my first taste years ago. For me, there is no improvement. It just sounds "right" and is always clear, yet as ballzy/thumpin' as I need it to be--anything from soul, country, motown, oldies, to rock, funk and whatever else. At one time, I'd minus some points for playability, but now that there is the "SLO" option, I'd doubt I'll ever play anything except the Stingray H as my main bass. Anything else I get seems to collect dust.

 

[Chuck B]

To me every pup more than one is too much. I might get a good sound out of a twin pups bass but I won't touch the pan pot.

 

[Mabongohogany]

To me every pup more than one is too much. I might get a good sound out of a twin pups bass but I won't touch the pan pot.

Yeah, right.

 

[five7]

The pan pot on my bongo HH is amazing. Almost don't need the tone knobs.

 

[danny-79]

I agree with the single pickup thing. The Stingray H has "that sound in my head." It does everything I need and want it to do. It's "my" sound and for all the hundreds of basses (no matter how many pickups and bells and whistles they've had) I've had over the years, I've always returned to the Stingray, after I got my first taste years ago. For me, there is no improvement. It just sounds "right" and is always clear, yet as ballzy/thumpin' as I need it to be--anything from soul, country, motown, oldies, to rock, funk and whatever else. At one time, I'd minus some points for playability, but now that there is the "SLO" option, I'd doubt I'll ever play anything except the Stingray H as my main bass. Anything else I get seems to collect dust.

Well put !

 

[Mabongohogany]

The pan pot on my bongo HH is amazing. Almost don't need the tone knobs.

Well put !