stingray missing that thump

[jeff62217]

I bought a used ebmm stingray 4 H recently, trans blue, black pg, natural maple neck. Looks great, only a few small scratches on the pickguard.

I noticed after a week or so, it seems like this bass is missing that classic musicman bass sound. The pop, growl, you know, that signature sound. I have the 2 band eq version.

I went through everything I could think of except for a new set of strings. Sighted the neck, it was slightly bowed, adjusted the truss until it was straight. Raised the pickup height a little, adjusted the intonation. Still seems flat. My next step will be to throw on a new set of strings and see if that brightens it up.

Just want this bass to sound like the stingrays in GC.

Any advice welcomed.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Did you replace the battery?

 

[jeff62217]

Did you replace the battery?

No, not yet. I will give that a try.

 

[nurnay]

Welcome to the forum. New battery and then strings would be my first things to try.

 

[njhammer]

New battery and then strings would be my first things to try.

+1

 

[jeff62217]

Welcome to the forum. New battery and then strings would be my first things to try.

Ok, gave the battery a try first.. no real change in sound/tone. I don't have any new strings on hand at the moment, so I'm boiling an old pair. Hopefully this will solve the issue

 

[JayDawg]

What kind of amp are you playing through and what is you eq settings? Also, what are your eq settings on your bass?

 

[five7]

boiling won't do much, buy a set of slinkys or better yet a set of coated slinkys.

 

[jeff62217]

What kind of amp are you playing through and what is you eq settings? Also, what are your eq settings on your bass?

playing through a madison 210 combo, eq and compression are off as the eq hisses and compression will sometimes cut out.
I also have a johnson 30watt combo, sounds a little better but not as much bass obviously. The settings on the johnson are treb:4 mids:7 bass:4, (1-10)


Settings on the guitar are bass: 20-25% treb: 50% When I turn the bass past 50% it gets muddy on the 210. I also use headphones when playing past 8:00pm (live in an apt.)

 

[mmbassplayer]

Jeff... Most of us on this forum are firm believers in a little bit goes a long way. Try setting your eq on your amp and your bass flat. Dial in your sound from there. Let us know how it goes. JOSH

 

[ivbenaplayin]

boiling won't do much, buy a set of slinkys or better yet a set of coated slinkys.

or even more betterer - get a set of cobalts...

 

[jeff62217]

Jeff... Most of us on this forum are firm believers in a little bit goes a long way. Try setting your eq on your amp and your bass flat. Dial in your sound from there. Let us know how it goes. JOSH

I've come to the conclusion that it's the 210 combo I'm playing through.. After messing around with both amps, the single 10 will give me more of the tone I'm after.

Oh well, I'm not playing in a band and in an apartment I can't turn the smaller combo up past 6 or 7 without pissing off my neighbors...

I appreciate all the good advice and thank you all for taking time to help out a fellow bass player in need.

 

[JayDawg]

Jeff, also try a single 15" combo amp. I have a GK MB115 that I use for practicing around my house and it does great. It also gives me a good true Music Man tone from it. Another good one is the Mesa Scout. I played one at Guitar Center last week and fell in love. A lot of people on here also use Markbass amps as they too have some really good gear. When you do get a new amp or even on your current stuff, set everything flat on both bass and amp eq's and then make subtle adjustments from there.

 

[Movielife]

New strings (even flats could be the answer), new battery, and fiddle (but dont max out) the EQ.

2 Band is VERY easy to get a traditional tone.