Stingray pickup in a Sterling?

[eric B]

i have a lead on an older Stingray pickup from what i think is an 80 or 81 Ray (he is switching it out for an EMG or Bart ..... ).

If I tossed the ray pickup in my Sterling, would it work ok with the stock Sterling preamp? the reason i would be doing this is because i prefer the sound of Stingrays, but the feel and playability of the Sterling....

 

[Duarte]

It could be done, but the single coil mode on the selector switch would hum without the sterlings phantom coil. Also the sterling preamp IS voiced to go with ceramic magnets as opposed to the stingray's alnico. But yes it could be done if you can work out wiring (you would have to break a connection in the stingray pickup to allow for series/parallel)

Or...buy a ray and keep the sterling sound as an option too.

 

[eric B]

It could be done, but the single coil mode on the selector switch would hum without the sterlings phantom coil. Also the sterling preamp IS voiced to go with ceramic magnets as opposed to the stingray's alnico. But yes it could be done if you can work out wiring (you would have to break a connection in the stingray pickup to allow for series/parallel)

Or...buy a ray and keep the sterling sound as an option too.

ah i see. so if i REALLY wanted the Stingray sound, I'd have to get a ray preamp too. I'll have to think about that...

 

[oli@bass]

ah i see. so if i REALLY wanted the Stingray sound, I'd have to get a ray preamp too. I'll have to think about that...

It took me a long and winding road over many years, and many basses, to finally give in and simply play the bass which sound I love most. There's nothing like a real StingRay. And that slightly thick (yet comfortable) neck is part of the package.


My Tip: Go to your favorite dealer and try one of those new HH 'Rays. Pure. Sonic. Bliss.


(Oh, yeah, I'm the resident SR fanboy here)

 

[eric B]

IAlso the sterling preamp IS voiced to go with ceramic magnets as opposed to the stingray's alnico.

pardon my lack of knowledge on the subject...but what sort of difference should i expect? would it be a bad combo?

 

[Duarte]

I'm not sure on the actual science behind it or the technicalities of the preamp but you can't go wrong with a music man electronics package. It will sound a bit different to a stingray and a bit different to a sterling. Essentially it is a tweaked version of a 3 band stingray preamp, I am led to believe. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you shouldn't run into any problems (ie it won't sound bad and won't blow up) if you do really want to change the pickup out. At east you're considering a real MM one instead of some kinda bart malarky.

And stingray pickups are hard to come by, so buy it anyway.

 

[Rano Bass]

It will work ok, don't worry.
I would just bypass the switch and plug the pickup straight to the preamp (like on a real Stingray)
The preamps are not that different, they are constructed different to work with the wiring options and the switch.

 

[Duarte]

Then you'll have a switch that does nothing...I would just look at the Sterling pickup and modify the stingray one to look like it, i.e changing the wiring so it resembles the sterling. Thats what I did (I know it's not quite the same) wiring my P-bass series/parallel. I then realised it was a P bass and wired it back...it was a P bass and not a Jazz.

 

[Musicman Nut]

i have a lead on an older Stingray pickup from what i think is an 80 or 81 Ray (he is switching it out for an EMG or Bart ..... ).

If I tossed the ray pickup in my Sterling, would it work ok with the stock Sterling preamp? the reason i would be doing this is because i prefer the sound of Stingrays, but the feel and playability of the Sterling....

NO IT WILL NOT WORK, or should i say it will not sound right, the Sterling Pre-Amp is slightly different then a Stingray due to the ceramic pickup in the sterling. So Don't do it because you'll switch back in about 2 minutes.

 

[cb3000]

i put an alnico nordstrand mm 4.3 in a sterling and then a duncan mm alnico pup and then a stingray preamp. it was ok but i realized that the sterling sounds pretty darn awesome stock when i put it back. i ended up keeping it stock and experimenting with strings to get sound i loved on it. daddario chromes in my case.