The Stingray in Jazz Fusion

[Bass Invader]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me some good jazz fusion (old or new!) featuring the Stingray?

I've recently acquired my first Stingray, and having strung it with flats I'm now convinced that this is a perfect tone for jazz fusion. Everywhere I look though, it's either Fodera, Fender, or some brand.. anything but Stingray! What's the deal?!

 

[martin shane]

man i don't understand why anyone ever plays anything other than a stingray !!!

 

[RocketRalf]

Nothing against the company, but I just don't buy the passive bass sound. Every good sounding Fender I've come across has been heavily EQd on a ridiculously expensive amp.

 

[bradfordws]

Here's one - old pop jazz though - Chuck Mangione / Feels So Good - and others with Charles Meeks on bass. This was the first song I ever learned on bass back in 1978 when I was 14! And when I saw Chuck live at the Hollywood Bowl that year, I knew I had to get a Stingray, which I did finally in 1980! Check out the link - it starts out showing Charles with his natural SR with maple board.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hi22Tp-uBg&feature=related"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]

I wish I had some newer stuff to give you. A lot of the fusion stuff I grew up with was recorded with those multi-lam coffee table basses. The deal is that after Alembic became popular with cats like Stanley Clarke, then you had guys like Anthony Jackson showing up with basses by Smith and Fodera. And they were usually more than 4 or 5 strings. MM wasn't making anything except 4 string basses. I think the fusion guys were looking for extended range basses, so they went where they could get them custom made. Since the introduction of the Stingray 5 by EB, you'll notice that a LOT of players use them. Now, with the intro of the Bongo 6, my guess is that you'll see a lot of fusion guys using them.

Just my observations, but anyway, the SR is a great bass for any situation, no? It cuts through any mix - or you can dial down the treble and midrange if you have a midrange control and get a more mellow tone.

Check out stuff with Tony Levin, since he's been a long-time MM user.

 

[Elad_E]

I second the Chuck Mangione recomendation and I'm adding the early 80s stuff by Quincey Jones with Louis Johnson on bass.
not really fusion but it's not pure funk either.

also check out Sade's Diamond Life which has some jazz influence and a killer bassist playing a killer Stingray.

 

[r goldsmith]

Fusion

man i don't understand why anyone ever plays anything other than a stingray !!!

man i don't understand why anyone ever plays fusion !!!

 

[Bass Invader]

Thanks for the recommendations... just checking out Chuck Mangione right now. This video is a great example of the Ray tone in context.

man i don't understand why anyone ever plays fusion !!!

It's masochism, Goldy... good heathy masochism.

 

[Son of Fuzz]

Check out John Scofield's "Blue Matter" and "Loud Jazz" CDs featuring Gary Grainger on bass. These are two of my favorite jazz-fusion recordings, and Gary Grainger plays a StingRay on both. You probably won't find these CDs in a store but they're available from Amazon and other internet retailers.

Here's a YouTube video of the same John Scofield lineup that recorded the "Blue Matter" and "Loud Jazz" CDs (with Dennis Chambers on drums...one of my favorites!)...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q6BVlXiKOA"]YouTube - John Scofield, July '87 : So You Say[/ame]

 

[paranoid70]

Slightly OT: I saw Return To Forever last week and Stanley Clarke absolutely blew me away. That guy plays the bass (electric and acoustic) like no one else. Definitely a must see tour!

 

[TheBassGuy]

Here's one - old pop jazz though - Chuck Mangione / Feels So Good - and others with Charles Meeks on bass. This was the first song I ever learned on bass back in 1978 when I was 14! And when I saw Chuck live at the Hollywood Bowl that year, I knew I had to get a Stingray, which I did finally in 1980! Check out the link - it starts out showing Charles with his natural SR with maple board.

YouTube - Feel So Good

That song is so cool! Thanks for sharing. I love the bass sound. Does anyone know what amp he's using?

 

[Lucas G]

how about the dixie dregs? i don't know what andy west played (maybe alembics?), but i DO know what dave larue plays.

 

[bradfordws]

That song is so cool! Thanks for sharing. I love the bass sound. Does anyone know what amp he's using?

I'm pretty sure he was using an Acoustic rig - the ones made in Van Nuys, CA - not to be confused with the new Acoustic line that is currently made overseas and sold at GC. Jaco used these amps too, which is why my first big rig was an Acoustic 220 head with the 2 x 15 cab (model 406). See this link and go to 1981 page 3:

Unofficial Acoustic Control Corporation Homepage -- Catalogs

There's a whole forum going on with this site - guys talking about the "new" Acoustic line of amps - in my opinion - "it 'aint Acoustic anymore" - just another guy who bought the rights to the name and now he's having them made overseas. Kinda like what happened to Rogers drums - Yamaha bought the rights to the name Rogers and is making Yamaha drums with the Rogers logo. Huh? But, I've gotten off topic.

 

[paranoid70]

how about the dixie dregs? i don't know what andy west played (maybe alembics?), but i DO know what dave larue plays.

I thought Andy West played F Bass.

I much prefer Dave's playing though.

 

[r goldsmith]

That Chuck clip is very nice, even if a bit MOR for my tastes. The playing just burns it up, the Stingray sounds cool of course and the geetar is hip.

 

[Bass Invader]

Here's a YouTube video of the same John Scofield lineup that recorded the "Blue Matter" and "Loud Jazz" CDs (with Dennis Chambers on drums...one of my favorites!)...

YouTube - John Scofield, July '87 : So You Say

Now we're talking! Although I don't know about this mixing.. the bass seems a bit low and thin in the mix. And is that a P-pickup Grainger has on his Ray there?

 

[Hellboy]

I'm pretty sure he was using an Acoustic rig - the ones made in Van Nuys, CA - not to be confused with the new Acoustic line that is currently made overseas and sold at GC. Jaco used these amps too, which is why my first big rig was an Acoustic 220 head with the 2 x 15 cab (model 406). See this link and go to 1981 page 3:

Unofficial Acoustic Control Corporation Homepage -- Catalogs

There's a whole forum going on with this site - guys talking about the "new" Acoustic line of amps - in my opinion - "it 'aint Acoustic anymore" - just another guy who bought the rights to the name and now he's having them made overseas. Kinda like what happened to Rogers drums - Yamaha bought the rights to the name Rogers and is making Yamaha drums with the Rogers logo. Huh? But, I've gotten off topic.

I´ve been told that the new Acoustic amps that are sold now and built outside USA are a cheaper and less powerfull line of amps. There will be bigger amps ahead that will be made in USA.

//Jan

 

[bob atherton]

Oh boy the tone on that Chuck Mangione track is too die for. That in my mind is one of the best live bass tones I've heard. Sits well in the mix , really FAT with just a bit of growl, bite and funk, Mmmmmmm nice!

 

[Bass Invader]

Oh boy the tone on that Chuck Mangione track is too die for. That in my mind is one of the best live bass tones I've heard. Sits well in the mix , really FAT with just a bit of growl, bite and funk, Mmmmmmm nice!

Agreed! (A world of difference compared to the Gary Grainger track.) It's tone like that Chuck Mangione track which made me ask the question in my first post - why don't/didn't we see more of the Ray in this kind of music?!

 

[bob atherton]

Just a thought.... I'm in a new band for the past 6 months after over 6 years with my last jazz/fusion band. I now use a Stingray 4, it's a blues rock band and the Ray suits the music well, also the neck is a bit wider and thicker than my last bass and that keeps me more in the pocket.

There are noises that my old band may reform and I think I would find the Stingray feel just too rocky for that. The Sterling, and I have yet to play one, has a nut width of 1 1/2", just like an A neck Fender, this would be my choice of neck size for fusion stuff.

I'm really hooked on the MM tone so if we do get back together I will try a Sterling.