Tone: Not what I expected!

[sjl2725]

I just bought a Stingray 5, brand new. After adjusting the truss rod and bridge, it plays pretty well. Here is the problem...

I didn't have a chance to set up my rig at home, so I just went into last Saturday's gig clueless. First, I plugged in my trusty '95 Tobias Basic 5 to get a starting point. The Toby was retro-fitted with an 18V bartolini system because the original 9V system (pre-gibson) took a crap. SO it sounds pretty awesome. ..I then plugged in my brand-spankin'-new Stingray, and to my surprise, the tone just wasn't there. I usually run my Toby with Treble, Mid, and Bass wide open, with the mid shift on the lowest (Hz) setting, which I think is 400Hz. So, out of habit, I cranked the tone controls on the Stingray. THIN!!! and I mean REALLY thin! I switched the pickup selector and couldn't find any setting I really liked. I guess I really don't know the characteristics of the different settings... I settled on 1st position with the treble halfway. My rig: I use an old rear-ported David Eden 410 with a WT-600 head and the eq is ALMOST flat.

So my question- How do yin's guys (pittsburgh-ese) run your tone and pickup selections? I like a fat , warm bottom, with some snap in it for thumbing/popping. I know that Music Man's are known for big bottom, and I just didn't hear that with this new bass. I know I have some experimenting to do yet, with the rig and what-not... But some outside input might help.
Thanks

 

[TSanders]

With the StingRay 5, you may find a more effective approach would be to start with the bass eq flat, and make adjustments as you go. Ive never found a need to run any of the 3 bands of eq wide open, well maybe once or twice, but IMO that EQ is just too powerful for everything to be dimed.

 

[TSanders]

And Im not sure how much slappin and poppin you do, but if its not much, Ill tell ya that I found my best tone when I put a set of flatwounds on my StingRay 5.

 

[adouglas]

Since I own a Bongo, not an SR5, I can't speak directly...but if the Bongo is any indication, mr. 83 is right. Don't run anything wide open. When I do that on the Bongo, there's WAYTOOMUCHOFEVERYTHINGGOINGONATONETIME!!!!!!

A little goes a long, long way.

Starting flat is good advice for any piece of gear. Unless your name is Nigel Tufnel.

If you were checking out a new car stereo, would you dime EVERYTHING immediately and use that as your baseline?

 

[Oldtoe]

If you run your bass preamp dimed, then your amp settings are probably set to deal with that hot signal. You need to set the SR5 EQ flat, then adjust your amp EQ, gain, and volume to taste; then tweak the SR5 EQ. The tone is in there, I promise. Did you check the battery on your new bass, BTW?

 

[BigBallz]

Interesting. There is a big difference between my Bongo M/M and my Ray in bottom also. Could it be the 18 volt vs 9 volt preamp? 18 volt more powerfull? Makes sense, also the Ray is eq'ed (voiced) differently than the Bongo as i'm sure your Bartolini is. I replaced a Ric with the Ray and the M/M has so much more low end. But that's passive against active. Go for the eq on your amp to boost the lows....?

 

[Figjam]

Interesting. There is a big difference between my Bongo M/M and my Ray in bottom also. Could it be the 18 volt vs 9 volt preamp? 18 volt more powerfull? Makes sense, also the Ray is eq'ed (voiced) differently than the Bongo as i'm sure your Bartolini is. I replaced a Ric with the Ray and the M/M has so much more low end. But that's passive against active. Go for the eq on your amp to boost the lows....?

Or perhaps the Neck pickup in the bongo? Thatd make sense as well.

 

[BigBallz]

Or perhaps the Neck pickup in the bongo? Thatd make sense as well.

A good point as well.

 

[todd4ta]

I recently picked up a used '89 Stingray to add to my Stingray room. Since I'm very familiar with how great Stingrays sound, and I can dial in exactly my tone in under 10 seconds, I was able to quickly dianose that something was not right. I could get a halfway decent tone with the bass fully boosted, but then the good tone would soon transition into an unusable, overly bright, very tinny tone. After double-checking the new battery I just put in, and a few other things I came to the conclusion that I must either have a bad preamp or bad pots. I called MusicMan customer service yesterday and got an RA to send the bass in for repair.

So, in addition to trying all the EQ recommendations already mentioned, keep in mind that there could be something wrong. If you're not get the tone you want out of your Stingray 5, then something is wrong - it's just a matter of figuring out what that is.

I strongly follow the 'less is more' philosophy of bass EQ. I favor using slight EQ adjustments, and boosting the overall signal to a higher level to get the amount of solid bass you need.

Good luck!

 

[Psychicpet]

Is your Toby a dual p/u model or a single p/u Killer B? If it's a 2 p/u then here are the apples to oranges in comparing your tone... the Toby now has an 18volt pre-amp = HUGE difference from the sound of any 9 volt system, and the placement of a 2 pick up bass is going to give you yet again a radically different sound, think of a J bass and a P bass. You've got 2 great basses on your hands but they are gonna give ya an expanded palette of tone to work with so just remember, different doesn't mean worse just more options


have fun with yer basses eh!

 

[copperbass]

I like a fat , warm bottom, with some snap in it for thumbing/popping.

I don't know anything about SR5s, but I like (and agree with) the above statement.

 

[Golem]

With the StingRay 5, you may find a more effective approach would be to start with the bass eq flat, and make adjustments as you go. Ive never found a need to run any of the 3 bands of eq wide open, well maybe once or twice, but IMO that EQ is just too powerful for everything to be dimed.

Yeah. With 3 EQs wide open, you have some troughs between them. Depending on where the centers are for the EQ on your rig, this could wash out most of your tone.

I'm not sure why you do that to your Toby either. It's a flawed idea in general. Maybe you lucked out with the Toby so that the troughs happen to complement your rig. Have you played the Tob that way on a number of rigs?

Also, the Tob may have very wide 'Q' on it's EQ bands. I don't know the 'Q' for the Ray, but given that it's designed to take no prisoners, it probably has a narrower 'Q' than most other 3-band basses. That would make the troughs more distinct with everything wide open. It's designed to have only one band wide open, or even 2 bands for "em-phat-ik" tone. But 3 full open is likely to be trouble, again depending on the specs of the EQ on your rig.

 

[BigBallz]

"I like a fat , warm bottom, with some snap in it for thumbing/popping."

Sounds like my wifes sister....

 

[freedok]

It sounds like the best thing to do would be to send the bass to me. I'll mess with the tone coloring over the next few years and then send it back to you with an evaluation. Free of charge, of course.

 

[Lazybite]

"I like a fat , warm bottom, with some snap in it for thumbing/popping."

Sounds like my wifes sister....

You're a bad bad man... hehe

 

[stretch80]

I play an SR5 through a WT-300 w/ avatar 15" and 12" speakers.

EQ that works for me:

-- Bass on Eden at 1 or 2 oclock, depending on the room. Maybe a little low-end parametric boost at 12 oclock, otherwise pretty flat. No shape.

--Pickup coils in parallel (switch toward bridge). Series (switch to neck) is punchier, but I think parallel is warmer.

-- A little boost on bass EQ, but not much. Mid cut a tad. Treble flat or cut a little depending on how new my strings are.

That's it. The Eden EQ is very powerful if you need a bit more.

ALSO -- SR5's are very sensitive to where you play on the string -- a lot more bass up by the neck, great growl over the pickup. Hope this helps!

 

[Randracula]

"I like a fat , warm bottom, with some snap in it for thumbing/popping."

Sounds like my wifes sister....

And you would know this beacause?

 

[BigBallz]

Ahhhh...er......hmmmmm......I've seen her in a Bikini?...Yeah...that's it.

 

[nun lover]

So my question- How do yin's guys (pittsburgh-ese) run your tone and pickup selections?

selector switch 3rd position, treble flat (12:00), mid 2:00, bass 4:00

 

[strummer]

Hi
I just cooked myself some pasta, and I tell you it isn't exactly the way I expected it to be.
I didn't have the time to read the package, or a cook book for that matter. In fact, I was in such a hurry I didn't even have time to call my mom and ask her what to do (that's my usual m.o.)
Anyway, I cooked the pasta just like I cook potatoes, about 30 mins in the oven, some olive oil and spices, and it tastes nothing like what I'm used to.