stingray or sabre? differences?

[sanderhermans]

Hi all,

Im looking into trading my 94 sr4 to a early 90's sabre bass.
I allready have alot of stingrays and would love another dual pickup musicman bass.

My main questions are: can you get a stingray tone from the sabre bridge pickup? What is the main difference in sounds between sr4 HH and sabre? And for sabre users, why would you recomend a sabre?

 

[Golem]

I had an old Sabre, pre-EB but I spoze the later Sabres still
hafta fit the "Sabre Genre". Anywho, it was soooper hot and
way bright vs an SR. On a "hotness scale" [open ended like
the earthquake scale ... ], if an SR 3-band is at "1", and the
Sterling is at "2" then the Sabre is easily at "3" and possibly
at "3 plus". If I need another dual PU SR/Sterling type bass,
for me it's the HS setup. I have 2 Sterling HS4 and I think of
them as the improved [for my needs] version of my old hot
Sabre ... more controllable, and just "hot enuf" !


`

 

[drTStingray]

I have both a 2014 Classic Sabre and a 2007 Stingray HH.

I did go round trying Sabres in shops and tried various late 80s and early 90s ones plus some used newish ones. Apart from a trans red one (alder body, rw fretboard - sounded v smooth indeed) I found they were all rather similar to the HH Ray although had different switch settings.

The latest Sabres have 16 pole piece neck pick ups and I think the neck pick up and settings associated with it are stronger than the HH Ray. They also have a silent circuit single coil which is good. So with the Classic Sabre you have bridge H in the first switch position; bridge H and inside single coil neck H for position 2; both Hs at position 3; a killer P bass sound (single inner coil neck) at position 4 and the neck H at position 5. Of those positions 2 and 4 are not available on the SR4HH. The other difference is the 2 band EQ compared with 3 band of the SR4HH.

My Sabre is sufficiently different from my SR4HH to get used very regularly - however having a mahogany body and roasted maple neck and board adds to this.

I have heard the old 80s and 90s Sabres have different switch positions from the latest ones but I found they did similar sounds to my SR4HH - which is why I didn't pick one up at the time. You'll need to try some to see what you think.

And btw the body is slightly different - the cutaway is slightly bigger giving easier access to the upper frets across all the strings than on the Stingray.

 

[sanderhermans]

If all goes well my sr4 should be sold tomorow.

Im going back and forth between 2 basses to buy with those funds.
One is a black 90s sabre, downside to that is that its got some wear and tear on the finish and its just plain black wich is pretty stock to me. Also it has the older style bridge with the strings pulled to one side, and it weighs 10 pounds.

The other option is a 1994 sr4. Pro's on that one is that its in good shape, 2 bd eq wich i love and its only 8 pounds! And its natural finish wich looks verry nice. Only thing bothering me is that i still wont have a sabre but it seems the smart choice is the sr4

Im checking out the sr4 first. If i fall in love with it, then ill take it home otherwise ill be giving the sabre a spin.

 

[Oldtoe]

I played a new Clasiic Sabre last weekend. I was very impressed with the tones and playability. The bridge humbucker didn't seem overly bright to me, and had major Stingray goodness in spades. There were seriously good "old school" tones to be had from the switching if that's your thing. Of course, the Stingray HH and HS float my boat, too with the SLO Special neck. The Classic Sabre neck seemed just a tiny bit slimmer to my hands. The regular Stingray necks have always been a little big for me.

 

[liverbird]

The other option is a 1994 sr4. Pro's on that one is that its in good shape, 2 bd eq wich i love and its only 8 pounds! And its natural finish wich looks verry nice.

8 lbs Stingray - that's a no-brainer... Go for it!

 

[Golem]

8 lbs Stingray -
that's a no-brainer... Go for it!

....... or at least tell us where
to find it if you give it a pass.

`

 

[sanderhermans]

....... or at least tell us where
to find it if you give it a pass.

`

bought it!

 

[Golem]

bought it!

Happy ending .... roll credits !

`