I'm actually a big fan of the stingray bass. as I'm better at bass guitar than I'm at the guitar. I can do finger style bass as well as slap bass. But I suck at guitar with my short stubby fingers
The reason why people don't like them is because they, like me, find it way too honky. (Yes, I know, it's all down to taste but it was surprisingly left out in this video) Yes, Stingray basses are often used and versatile, but there are objectively better basses for less (or more) money. My favorite basses with bridge humbuckers are the Spector NS2, Peavey T40, and Peavey Cirrus, which also have the option of a neck pickup. Stingray HH basses, however, are a very solid instrument. The high end variants are too overpriced, but G&L is then better.
@@thierry18 I bought a Sterling because I absolutely love Jazzes and I was told by many that they would also be right up my alley. You're right. Too honky, even by my standards. The overall feel is awesome, though. I'm putting it down to being a single coil lover, but I think there's more to why I don't really go for Rays.
It's no different than leaving a review for a restaurant, in my opinion. As long as people have a place to discuss something, regardless of having the experience with it, then they will, good or bad. It happens a ton in the photographer world as well. "You don't use a Canon? You're not professional/I won't hire you to 2nd shoot a wedding." "You don't use a full-frame? Good luck taking any good photos." "You have a Leica? You must be rich, but an expensive camera won't take better photos for you (while they have a total of $5000+ in a single Canon camera with a duplicate for redundancy)." Use what you want and let your results prove them wrong before you just block them. They'll move on.
Exactly! And what’s really funny is you can take any of them basses to any gig and guess what, not one person in the crowd is going to say “ hey that stingray isn’t versatile enough for that song” lol
Yes, and LITERALLY EVERY BRAND OF INSTRUMENT MAKES THESE. You don't have to buy a Fender or a Music Man, there is nothing different about it other than the logo. The logo doesn't come with magic or mojo or is in any way a replacement for Gittin' Gud.
Opinions are overrated. A good player will make anything sound good, a bad player will make anything sound bad and a good song makes everything sound incredible.
Add a little fistortion with 8 magnets pocking up on an HH then you can really make a sound. I really think a lot of bass snobs really can' appreciate what a Stingeay can do. Leo Fender had so much to fo with the design aftet CBS bought Fender out. But everyone always gets hard ons for heads and tattoos on them.
9 месяцев назад+119
I personally just really miss the neck pickup when playing Stingrays. RIP Steven Irwin
I had an H/H - as well as a single pickup. I didn’t keep either of them for too long. If I wanted a more 'modern' sound to my Fenders, I’d go to a G&L. - it’s noticeable that when Leo designed the G&L 2500, he kept the chunky humbucker, but moved it back into the P-Bass position.
@@mr_bassman6685 Just compare after '76 then, a P-bass was used on both Steely Dan Aja and the Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bullocks, then from Ozzy to Pablo Cruise, from Green Day to Dua Lipa. Could do this all day.
I believe the StingRay Special (aka the post 2018 StingRay) is the highest quality production bass on the market. It is lightweight, very well balanced, has great hardware, and a smooth playing neck. People complain about the sound being too trebly, but cutting the treble and playing up by the neck can address that. I cut the treble all the way, leave mid at center, add a smidge of bass, and it sounds great. I did have an HH, but in the end, I felt just the 1 pickup was enough.
What he said!. I love my two (post 2018) Stingray special 5H basses. I've been able to tailer their tone to work with any imaginable genre needed depending on the gig. The newer Stingray specials truly are on another level.
Too much treble isn’t a problem. But there is some fundamental in the bottom and low mids that is missing, because of pickup placement. Having the pickup close to the bridge where there is no bottom end fundamental, and then trying to make up for that by boosting the bass frequency with an active eq circuitry, is a backwards way of going about creating a bass tone. It’s always better to have to too much of a frequency straight from the instrument and use eq to cut it, than to have too little of a frequency and try to artificially create it with EQ. The resulting Stingray sound, to my ears, is a tone that sounds kind of like a frog burp. Some people can make cool sounds with that - Tony Levin does great things with a Stingray - but the sounds that most players get out of them is not my favourite bass tone at all.
2 pickup stingrays with the 3 band eq are super versatile. wouldnt want to play a passive or 2 band single pickup ray in a rock/metal mix though personally
"The bottom and top end either work for what you're going for, or not." Damn, wouldn't it be crazy if there were two knobs on almost every stingray that could control the top and bottom end of the bass? I'm sure Leo Fender would have done something that cool.
@@chevyboomer62 I don't see anything about Leo Fender designing a "vibromatic?" Teles, Strats, and P and J Basses exist and they did pretty well amongst players. Would that have happened if they weren't at least somewhat functional?
Never thought some people don't like these basses. I own a Music Man SUB (the cheaper version) with a Seymour Duncan humbucker, and everybody I play with loves the sound of it.
I remember talkbass had a thread back in the day. Someone had a fender p bass and put it against a skateboard or broom something with p bass pickups, and they were arguing which one was which for like 50 pages
I have been playing bass over 40 yrs my band was signed to a major label in the 90s here is how I feel versatility is in the hands of the bassist what kind of music do you play? do you play original songs? a stingray a p bass or whatever you make your own sound so your bass becomes an extension of you if your a studio bassist particular bass sounds may be required if its your music your style and all you play is a stingray who is to say its not right? your bass is an extension of you and your sound I play original music and i use a jazz a p bas and a sting ray i find that to many bassists get hung up on crap like this
Exactly they are good basses but I owned one. And sold it after a few months and never wanted another one. I do love my jazz bass and I've owned many prior. But my carvin LB76 with single coils is my go to. My next one will probably be a sterling ray 34 with the double humbuckers.
It's the same weird bullshit with "tele's are the best/most versatile guitars ever made! Tonal swiss-army knives!". Cool, you want something simple but give me a break.
Got me a 2002 USA Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling in Burnt apple and I find it a joy to play. Also have a Sterling by Music Man Ray 34 but not touched it much since getting EBMM Sterling USA bass. It feels really good to me. I'm pretty new to bass....15 months into my bass journey but play everyday. For hours. Retired man. Hooked on groove. Time travel. These days I play my 2002 EBMMSterling USA and my G&L CLF Research L-1000 more than my other 3 basses. Five bass limit as I am on a discovery to see what bass calls to me. I enjoy your videos AMP. Jam on. Burn some hours.
I bought a brand new US made Stingray 5 back in 2009, for 11 years I played it for every gig I had and never had a complaint about the tone! Eventually I had to stop gigging with it because my aging back started having issues holding up the 11 lbs beast., my back would start hurting 15-20 minutes into the set and I would end up walking off stage in tears from back pain. So I bought an Ibanez EHB-1505 that I could get some nice Stingray-ish growl out of without killing my back, and that served me well for a couple years. Fast forward to today and I have discovered that good orthotic footwear has almost completely eliminated my back pain while playing bass so I am able to play the Stingray live again. However, a couple years ago I picked up a Fender Jazz bass and have really taken to it, it is now my main bass. I only pull the Stingray out on occasions when I really want a five string. I would say the Jazz bass is more versatile when it comes to getting a greater variety of classic bass tones. The Stingray always sounds like a Stingray no matter what you do to it, however, that does not mean it won't work for everything, it just means it's unique voice comes thru and you either like it or you don't.
I’m a huge Stingray fanboy. My Stingray 5 HH special with the roasted maple and 18V preamp is still my favorite bass that I’ve ever played and it’s not even funny. I’ve bought other basses, but then I don’t play them because they just don’t sound or feel as good as my Stingray. And it’s totally versatile! When you get to know a bass well enough, I’m sure that you can figure out how to make it work in whatever situation you want-unless your idea of versatile is “can I make this sound like xy bass” because if that’s your idea of versatility in an instrument, you might just be dissatisfied with your basses. All basses will sound like that bass, but you can totally mold it into whatever function you’re looking for with the right strings, eq, compression, etc. Loved this video!!
I was never a back pickup guy, so Stingrays never stood out as something I wanted for myself for a while. I had my mind changed when I saw a local bar rock band member using one and cutting through. I have always thought Music Mans look cool tho. Particularly the bongo stealth
Yeah, I'll admit the music man pickup position was weird AF to me. But after awhile, I felt it was for legit reasons. The way the big fat music man humbucker was set up, moving it closer to the bridge actually worked out in its favor. I'm actually impressed with how Fender did that. Man's was like, "We got all we need in the humbucker to get a deep sound. Moving it to the bridge won't gut it." 😆😆😆
@@zachjones1716 Heard and heard. I don't like the way it looks, generally. And aesthetics mean more to me than they should. That damn oval in the center of the body is just....... uuugh!!! I'm sorry. Forgive me. But I will say that the humbucker is big, fat, and looks and sounds awesome! And there are stingrays that look nice. I want one. 😈 The only downside is that I got big hands, and that 5 string spacing on MM's is gonna be an adjustment for me. I have a 5 string Squier J bass that has generous spacing. The mm I tried didn't have that.
@@Six3rdy I am a stickler for string spacing as well. I don't have like huge hands. Just fat ones kinda, and I grew up playing a 4 exclusively. So, finding the right neck to string spacing is rough. Btb's and laklands have nice spacing and the lakland may be up your alley if you like classic stuff. The jazz v is a nice middle ground for me. And, you can tighten up the bad b string with DR DDT hex core steel strings 👍
Okay. My opinion - a 'Ray is like having a very powerful motorbike. Yes, you can ride it slowly and genty but it's so much fun to go big and loud! A Precision or Jazz is much easier to play subtly (and they can respond really well to digging in) but when I pick up my Stingray it just delivers so much joy when you give it some throttle!!!!
Believe it or not, the internet is full of people that have no idea what they're talkin' about. I like Stingrays. I like pretty much everything that makes low-frequency BASS! (Clank, clank, dangle, dangle)
Personally I like the L-2000, as the neck pickup makes it more ergonomic for me, and the electronics are even better, especially with those humbuckers in series.
Andy, I don't think The 3+1 headstock has anything to do with dead spots or the G string also Leo didn't design the headstock Forrest White did and he chose 3+1 to give The Stingray a distinct look (vs. Fender) and better balance.
Congrats! You have a well equipped bass toolbox. These are the "hammer, wrench, and screwdriver" of basses. There isn't one that's "better" than the other.
It is infinitely less popular than any of the other basses you've made Solo vids for but I pray you one day do one of these on the EB-3. I think it's interesting and overly maligned
I have the "Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series" that is heavily inspired by the Stingray and I love it. It isn't active but has many of the other features and is a joy to play.
I needed to downsize my guitar collection and could only have 1 bass. I chose a Stringray with 2 pickups. The bridge pickup is iconic in itself, but throw in a neck pickup as well and you get as much versatility as you need.
People are entitled to their opinions, but Music Man Stingray is very versatile..just ask Flea, Bernard Edwards , Louis Johnson, Joe Lilly, Pino Palladino, Tim Commerford, Joe Dart …I can Keep going, as for me , I play Gospel, to metal and everything in between on my StingRay’s.
I love my stingray! It feels so good to play. I put flats on it and I play mostly any genre with it, but I mostly play rock and blues. I do have a P bass and when im playing I bounce back between the two depending on what sound I want. If I want a low fat heavy sound I use my stingray, and if I want a gurgly growling sound I use my P bass. Both sound awesome! Not one better than the other, but I will say that the stingray definitely feels better to play. The P bass I have has a kinda big and cluncky neck to me, the Stingray is nice and smooth to play!
The stingray is very versatile..!!! It has an active three band EQ that makes it very versatile., Plus it’s using different techniques that make a bass versatile..
Here’s the thing. I love the stingray sound, but you can get a bass WITH A P PICKUP AND A STINGRAY’S HUMBUCKER. YOU CAN HAVE BOTH AND THEY SOUND AMAZING TOGETHER.
IBANEZ USED TO MAKE THESE! They were called ATKs, and some of them had the added single coil in the neck position. Not exactly the same, but close enough, I challenge any of you to hear the difference in a blind test. Yes, the P bass is known for the split coil, and most bassist should be able to DIY add a split coil to a Stingray, or get a friend with shop skills to do it for them. Alas, the Fender groupies with their heads so far up their own asses they can't tell its not the 70s anymore, have ruined the market spreading this nonsense that a P bass has some special juju, like its Excalibur or something. Boo
Amp, As you pointed out, the 80s music would not be as good as it was without the Stingray! It was Louis Johnson who inspired me to get my 1st real bass and it was the 3 band eq Stingray! I had a couple of pics on my fb page of it! I wish I still had it but I got sick with kidney failure and had to sell it but plan on getting a sterling Ray 5 to replace it!
For decades, I played Precision style basses. About a year ago I sold them all and bought a J bass. Love it. But about 20 yrs ago a bought a left over Ernie Ball Sterling. Unreal. Life took some turns & i sold that. Now I have my J and picked up a new Sterling Stingray Ray 4. It takes getting used to, but I managed to find a happy medium between both basses using my very simple board. I'll be gigging with both in Dec and look forward to pumping that aggressive Stingray tone.
I've got an old Sterling Sub that absolutely rocks. Feels and sounds ridiculously good for such an inexpensive instrument. See you in the poison swamps, brother.
One of my favorite bass players of all time, (Felipe Ilabaca from famous Chilean funk/rock band Chancho en Piedra) has used a stingray on multiple occasions and it's the reason I fell in love with bass in the first place.
I do *not* know what Tony Levin played on Paul Simon's recordings, but his playing on Peter Gabriel's first couple of albums (recorded in the late '70s) definitely sounds like a Precision Bass… and you can see him playing a Precision on PG's 1978 Rockpalast video: ruclips.net/video/amxDkP_0gxs/видео.html Not to say he might not have had access to a pre-release Stingray in 1975 and used it on a recording session. Just that there's evidence he still preferred a P in later years.
After playing (and trading) multiple types of basses over the years, my preference is for having two humbuckers. I currently use a Reverend Dub King as my main bass, because the two different humbucker positions and the blend knob do allow for that extra bit of versatility when switching from an aggressive rock tone to a subdued blues or ballad. With that said, my "Drop D" bass is a heavily modded Squier Affinity that has a single music man humbucker in the traditional music man position. I like it a lot (obviously, since I use it every show), but it is more limited in range simple due to the single pickup position.
I recently bought a Ray4 after making a ton of research, and got to say, it slays everything! I run it through a EHX Batallion, a set of stainless strings and you have the most versatile sound ever. Oh, and don't forget how easy is to calibrate it and the comfort is off the roof!
Yeah I quickly learned to not go to Talkbass for any useful information. Also, I have a single pickup Ray 35. With the 3 band EQ and the series/parallel switch, it’s plenty versatile for me.
I love my Ray4. The stock pickup is a hot ceramic wired in series. That just wasn't my sound. I switched it to parallel and that helped, but it didn't quite get me there. I found a SD SMB-4A on clearance and I jumped on it. That nailed it for me. I even got an aftermarket preamp, but I'm happy with it the way it is. Ceramics have their place tonally, it just wasn't my taste for this bass.
Although I am a primary guitarist, I started on the Precision Bass. I think it sounds great, but there's something else about the StingRay. It works for metal, it works for the meatier stuff, it works for slap bass, it can jazz, it has it's own signature tone. Even if it's just H (like mine) and not HH, it is still a phenomenal bass that you will find success with in every genre you can imagine.
It’s March 2024 as I leave this comment. Since 1996, I have owned four different bass guitars. The first one was the 1996 Epiphone slant on the P-bass. I only had that for four years and let it go when I purchased a Fender J-bass. In the interim, I supplemented it with a Squier Vintage Modified Bass Six and a friend’s custom Carvin fretless. I have meditated extensively on whether I wanted another bass and would it be an Ernie Ball. From where I stand, it’s hard for me to imagine that the Stingray is less versatile than the P-bass. There are probably any number of times that deep back to when that model hit the market that I thought were played on fender models. That’s how frankly easy it is to adjust the sound of this instrument to match any context.
I personally think the stingrays with two humbuckers because it gives me as many options as possible with the active electronics. Also: citing Ed Freidland made my day.
The one area where bassists as a group seem to remain rigidly ignorant about their instruments is in the passive vs active electronics discussion... Active electronics allow for a flat even response across the sound spectrum from low wound pickups, which means with simple EQs you can get them to sound like almost anything you want. But a lot of bassists simply refuse to go near them or learn that simple fact. I really dont get it... The only thing that works against the Stingray in terms of versatility is that it has a single pickup and even then the active electronics provide a more versatile and adaptable set of sounds than many passive doubles.
Also to address the argument made by a commenter in the video, no you can not EQ just anything to make it cut through a mix through the high end. If a bass isn't putting out those frequencies you can't get them back. Meanwhile, cutting frequencies that are there is easy. If you need more high end out of a bass and it doesn't have it I'd say your best option is a drive of some sorts. A well dialed drive, even at low gain, can add the harmonics you need and really make your bass tone pop. With low gain the drive can be entirely invisible in the full mix too but the effects on presence for your low end still very noticeable so don't be afraid to try it just because you aren't recording metal or rock. Either way, use whichever instrument or setup you are most comfortable with, you don't have to like active electronics or EQ if it's too much, but do try to understand how it works before posting in forums about how much more versatile a P bass is.
I have 4 Stingrays..2 mid 90s 5 strings,a 2001 4 string and a 79’pre Ernie ball.In over 30 years playing and tons of other basses,these are my favourites and it’s the Stingray tone I love
I'm about to get one almost entirely because I like the look of the Stingray. I'm pretty sure I can make it sound ok for whatever I'll need between EQ and amp and style of playing. And I think it looks great.
My number one luthier, who has been building basses since the 80s (Leader bass guitars where Warwick stole some designs from) once told me when asked what is the best bass and he without a second thought said Stingray. Great for slap, great for rock, great for pop. All round good. I play a jazz bass but always wanted a proper stingray.
A true bass guitar lover should have at least one of each in their stable: a P-bass, a J-bass and a Stingray (plus a Rick as a bonus one). And about 10-15 other ones…
After the MM Stingray was revised a few years back i.e. pickups, electronics, ergonomics, the tone has been tamed especially in the treble so it really is in line with other active basses.
Get one man!! You’ll love it! Don’t let talkbass be your deciding factor, let your ears do the deciding plus their cool as hell looking with one of the nicest looking headstocks out there imo
a stingray is the best sounding bass when it's being itself, and it can do a pretty good impression of all the others. just do this crazy thing called 'moving your plucking position'
I loved playing my Stingray, but really wasn't into its sound for what I was trying to achieve with my band at the time. Sold it and bought a Squier CV single coil 50's Precision which I still use to these days (longest relationship I've ever had)
Same man, in the 27 years of my playing if owned 2 p basses and 1 Jazz the Jazz sure I actually miss it and need another one , but I’ve had 11 USA stingrays and they just speak to me and the Warwick Thumb NT lol
I stopped playing bass 40 years ago, but I remember when these Sting Rays first came out. Heard on going through an Acoustic 360 at a live gig. Absolutey beautiful sound. Haven;t heard a bad sound out of one yet, and I pay attention to the equipment people are using. Plus, after all these years, I still think they look great. As a comparison, I played a 65 Fender Telecaster bass, which I really liked, though a V4-B cabinet powered by an Acoustic 150B top. Total clarity at all levels. Round wounds produced a Rickenbacker growl. That was the shit back then.
I owned 2 sting rays ... A teal finish 2 eq A natural finish 3 eq both maple fretboard... I agree they are versatile i'd say a fender on steroid although the 9 volts circuit is fairly gentle compared to aguilars...emg and so on... the reason i parted with both is because ... I was cashstrapped with the teal one ... But with the natural finish one i finally realised it was the wrong neck profile ... It's a baseball bat a bit like the precision .. now my perfect profile is jazz bass period ...really small @ first fret... i need to wrap my hand around the neck and i feel comfortable .... Sting rays cost an arm and a leg and weigh a tonne
I bought a Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe last year, which is a stingray clone with a passive humbucker. I hadn't played bass in about 20 years after a year of lessons and switching to guitar. My initial thought is that I actually like stingrays with passive humbuckers ..I personally hate active pickups. The tone I've gotten sounds well rounded, though it has a tone and two volumes to split the coils. Essentially I rarely ever find myself using the full humbucker as I usually roll off the neck portion and just use the bridge for that punch and clarity ..they do seem versatile ..but it also depends on the setup you have for your controls and pickup and what pedals you throw in front of your amp. A 10-band EQ pedal can make a stingray sound like a lot of things it clearly isn't.
This literally might be one of my new favorite channels. I fell in love with the EBMM Stingray last night while picking something up from a Guitar Center. I definitely want one so bad and could care less what people say on the web lol. 😂
I play a Stingray ( but also love a Jazz ) - if it's good enough for: Bernard Edwards ( Chic ) and Paul Denman ( Sade ) - those are my 2 guys. oNe LovE from NYC
I remember staring at a bongo in about 2004/5 thinking it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. But I’ve also seen photos of my haircuts from that era so I assume I experienced some kind of vision impairment for a few years there
in the US Fender basses rule the roost but when you go over to the UK its Ric, Stingrays and Gibson basses. I've notice those 3 combine out sell fender basses during the golden era of rock betweeen 1965-1981 and yes the Stingray was part of that era
A friend is playing my sterling stingray full time in a punk band. The electronics are all fd up. The volume kinda works. I bought it because it was a cheap crap can bass that some kid chopped up but the neck was perfect. It sounds incredible.
Like most bass players out there dont know how to use the bass. Stingray is very versatile. I own all 3 jazz .p bass and stingray. The only fender one that versatile is my fender jazz special mij. The stingray is the other. Most bass players dont even know how to use tones or different effects. I play out in bands i have other bassist watching me and wonder how i get the tones i do. Most time i dont use amp. Just eq compressor and chorus all mxr. Directly to mixer.
Most my basses are high end too. Not exactly cheap. I can play through little 30 watt fender rumble still have excellent tones. Even recorded with only the 3 pedals and sound professional. Big amps are just waste of money and space if u really know how to play
I own a few of each (Jazz, Precision and Stingrays) they each have their own sound and work well on some things and not as well on others. It really depends on the stuff I’m playing on. They’re all pretty versatile instruments though.
TONY LEVIN USED A SABRE BASS THAT IS AN EARLIER VERSION OF THE STINGRAY.. SOY YES , THAT SOUND WAS USED IN THE PAUL SIMON RECORDINGS...THE DRUMMER WAS STEVE GADD AND THERE ARE SOME VIDEOS LIVE WITH TONY USING THE SABRE BASS ( MUSICMAN)
I've been playing a couple Stingray5s for the last 23 years and IME the most important thing is: THERE'S BETTER BASSES TO PLAY HOME ON YOUR OWN. Most people who ditch Stingrays/Sterlings do so in dislike of the tone, AFTER PLAYING TOO MUCH ON THEIR OWN. The Stingray is too in-your-face. Of course you can tame that, but still, a P or a J will just sound nicer on their own, just CHOSE A DIFFERENT BASS TO PLAY HOME ON YOUR OWN, as we all do. Now, when it comes to mixes, the Stingray has a SUPERIOR GRUNT IN THE LO-MIDS. It simply doesn't sound "BBBBBB" but more "PRRRRRRR" (latin grainy R). That timbrical sorta' "square wave'ish" character in the lo-mids is what makes it cut within a band. There's some "magic" going on there that avoids it to ever get lost, even when mixing it quiet you can still hear the bass line.
You can always mellow out a Stingray with tone, playing approach, and muting if need be. I use mine for All Styles. From playing funk, fusion, Motown with Mary Wilson, Crooning Jazz w Bobby Rydell, and more. Better to have more and tone it down, than not have it to begin with. Remember, Leo Fender created the Stingray. Check out my drbassface bass stuff playlist.
I think it's important to understand why they were so popular in the past though, because it wasn't necessarily "versatility" in the sense bassists today refer to. The stingray was the first mass-produced active bass, making it versatile in ways that other basses at the time weren't. This along with it's strong defined midrange made it much easier for sound engineers to make the bass pop, a big reason why it was used on so many records. Nowadays though, there's loads of active instruments out there, with all kinds of configurations so a Stingray naturally won't be all that "versatile" compared to the field anymore. That plus mixing and engineering technology/knowledge has advanced a ton since the 80s so outside of the lazy engineers who won't mix anything that's not a P bass, you can really just use whatever. That said, play a stingray because you wanna play one, the guys in the forums don't have your fingers or ears. In my opinion as far as fun factor, nothing beats a Ray
Two pickups in different positions are versatile... Even the P-Bass is a one-trick-pony. There are Musicmans with two pickups and piezo-pickup, those are really versatile...
If I had to keep only one bass : Jazz Two basses : Jazz and Stingray The Stingray is just a groove machine, it is so powerful and that tone, like it or not but it is so unique, you just have to own one The pickup position, the active electronics, it's a must have
You need a bass with an MM, a P and 2 J pick ups. It also needs flat and round wound strings, oh, and both fretted and fretless necks. Now that's a versatile bass.
Versatility is not the number of sounds you can get from a bass, it's about whether you can make it sound great in different genres. I'd say that the P and J might be more versatile, but only because people are used to hearing them in the context of a bigger variety of different genres. All three have a distinctive character, much more than most modern basses. All three are still very versatile, and I love all three. My most-played bass is a J with an MM bridge pickup btw., and I use the MM pickup soloed just as much as I use the traditional J sounds it provides. If you have the options, you use them. But if I'd use a plain J, P, or StingRay, those would do the job as well.
My absolute favorite bass of all time is my sterling shortscale stingray. It's the most comfortable bass I've ever owned and although it is a passive bass, it's pickup mode selector actually makes it fairly versatile. I honestly wish they'd make a long scale version of that bass.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
"you think this bass isn't versatile? YOU'RE not versatile."
- Jack Stratton
You think Vlance Armstrength is shifting into the active pickup granny gear in the French alps?
Stop it. No more government subsidies for active basses
Best argument + burn ever.
I'm actually a big fan of the stingray bass. as I'm better at bass guitar than I'm at the guitar. I can do finger style bass as well as slap bass. But I suck at guitar with my short stubby fingers
I immediately hear his voice as soon as I saw the thumbnail 😂
I see opinions on talkbass forums still haven't moved on from the 1960s. A Stingray doesn't need to be versatile, it sounds powerful in any context
Talkbass is just crap..
The reason why people don't like them is because they, like me, find it way too honky. (Yes, I know, it's all down to taste but it was surprisingly left out in this video)
Yes, Stingray basses are often used and versatile, but there are objectively better basses for less (or more) money.
My favorite basses with bridge humbuckers are the Spector NS2, Peavey T40, and Peavey Cirrus, which also have the option of a neck pickup. Stingray HH basses, however, are a very solid instrument. The high end variants are too overpriced, but G&L is then better.
@@thierry18 I bought a Sterling because I absolutely love Jazzes and I was told by many that they would also be right up my alley.
You're right. Too honky, even by my standards. The overall feel is awesome, though. I'm putting it down to being a single coil lover, but I think there's more to why I don't really go for Rays.
Talkbass has turned to shit in the last 10 years
@@hrwildem4993 Poopie, bruh. It has turned to poopie* 😅
Imagine logging into a forum to talk about a bass you don't like
It's no different than leaving a review for a restaurant, in my opinion. As long as people have a place to discuss something, regardless of having the experience with it, then they will, good or bad. It happens a ton in the photographer world as well.
"You don't use a Canon? You're not professional/I won't hire you to 2nd shoot a wedding."
"You don't use a full-frame? Good luck taking any good photos."
"You have a Leica? You must be rich, but an expensive camera won't take better photos for you (while they have a total of $5000+ in a single Canon camera with a duplicate for redundancy)."
Use what you want and let your results prove them wrong before you just block them. They'll move on.
Jazz bass.... That's me....
I’ve found forums to easily be the the most snobby, pretentious, AWFUL places you could possibly go to find opinions on something
@@mrishka7286 Not just the forums, there are a lot of snobby spoiled people out there....
@@DerthkissOkay but the majority of the posts still ended with “I sold it because I didn’t like it”
90% of rock, pop, blues etc. can be played on either a Stingray, a Jazz, or a Precision. It's all good. No need to diss any of those instruments.
Exactly! And what’s really funny is you can take any of them basses to any gig and guess what, not one person in the crowd is going to say “ hey that stingray isn’t versatile enough for that song” lol
@@bassimprovjams3772😄😄
Yes, and LITERALLY EVERY BRAND OF INSTRUMENT MAKES THESE. You don't have to buy a Fender or a Music Man, there is nothing different about it other than the logo. The logo doesn't come with magic or mojo or is in any way a replacement for Gittin' Gud.
Aye for sure mate!
You said everything!
EXACTLY 💯👍🏻🙂!
I AGREE ✅✔️
Opinions are overrated. A good player will make anything sound good, a bad player will make anything sound bad and a good song makes everything sound incredible.
No lies detected!
Hahaha! Nicely put...
I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to love playing my Ray. Damn it.
cant believe you werent looking for single coil sounds (i love my jazz but this shit is hilarious)
Add a little fistortion with 8 magnets pocking up on an HH then you can really make a sound.
I really think a lot of bass snobs really can' appreciate what a Stingeay can do. Leo Fender had so much to fo with the design aftet CBS bought Fender out.
But everyone always gets hard ons for heads and tattoos on them.
I personally just really miss the neck pickup when playing Stingrays.
RIP Steven Irwin
I don't know why they stopped making the HS, but they shouldnt have. I stumbled into one and use the single coil neck pickup often.
@poopmidas There’s a guy I follow on TikTok (Kris Lohn) who uses one and he sounds great!
lmao
I had an H/H - as well as a single pickup. I didn’t keep either of them for too long. If I wanted a more 'modern' sound to my Fenders, I’d go to a G&L. - it’s noticeable that when Leo designed the G&L 2500, he kept the chunky humbucker, but moved it back into the P-Bass position.
NOT STEVE IRWIN NotLikeThis
Saying the Musicman stingray is a one trick pony is like saying The P bass is a one trick pony.
They are one trick ponies. Those tricks are amazing though.
@@JLeppert one trick ponies that fit in lots of music.
Carol Kaye can attest to that.
@@Nerotique for sure!
the trick never gets old
like the stingrays were literally used both in bands like RATM and Sade... Isn't that a sign of versatility?
Very astute and intellegent observation.
P-bass was used in nearly every classic Motown, Stax and Philly soul record... and in the Clash, Sex Pistols and Iron Maiden.
@@rrdream2400 the P-Bass had a 15-year head start though, bit of an uneven comparison.
@@mr_bassman6685 Just compare after '76 then, a P-bass was used on both Steely Dan Aja and the Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bullocks, then from Ozzy to Pablo Cruise, from Green Day to Dua Lipa. Could do this all day.
I believe the StingRay Special (aka the post 2018 StingRay) is the highest quality production bass on the market. It is lightweight, very well balanced, has great hardware, and a smooth playing neck. People complain about the sound being too trebly, but cutting the treble and playing up by the neck can address that. I cut the treble all the way, leave mid at center, add a smidge of bass, and it sounds great. I did have an HH, but in the end, I felt just the 1 pickup was enough.
What he said!. I love my two (post 2018) Stingray special 5H basses. I've been able to tailer their tone to work with any imaginable genre needed depending on the gig. The newer Stingray specials truly are on another level.
People do realize they can just roll off the treble right?
But it won’t work if the knobs aren’t turned all the way up!
Too much treble isn’t a problem. But there is some fundamental in the bottom and low mids that is missing, because of pickup placement. Having the pickup close to the bridge where there is no bottom end fundamental, and then trying to make up for that by boosting the bass frequency with an active eq circuitry, is a backwards way of going about creating a bass tone. It’s always better to have to too much of a frequency straight from the instrument and use eq to cut it, than to have too little of a frequency and try to artificially create it with EQ. The resulting Stingray sound, to my ears, is a tone that sounds kind of like a frog burp. Some people can make cool sounds with that - Tony Levin does great things with a Stingray - but the sounds that most players get out of them is not my favourite bass tone at all.
@@darwinsaye For hard rock and metal it is perfect though. Neck position single coils suck for it.
true, but it loses something with the treble down that you can get with a p-bass without turning the treble down because it has a warmer high end
Im a fan of extreme metal genres and some of those bassists use stingrays, easily on of the most versatile basses imo
no they are not lmao
@@maciejbzura9057 Sorry dude I have been looking for hours but I still can not locate who the hell asked
Bahaha!
2 pickup stingrays with the 3 band eq are super versatile. wouldnt want to play a passive or 2 band single pickup ray in a rock/metal mix though personally
@@roachdoggjr155 hello brother
"This bass isn't versatile? YOU'RE not versatile!"
That's exactly what popped in my head too lol
"The bottom and top end either work for what you're going for, or not."
Damn, wouldn't it be crazy if there were two knobs on almost every stingray that could control the top and bottom end of the bass? I'm sure Leo Fender would have done something that cool.
Why would Leo Fender design something functional? Lmao
@@chevyboomer62hats off to the great man. Also in the vein of the Stingray the G&L Kiloton is sick too
@@sEaNoYeAh I will never respect anyone who designed something as horrible as the vibromatic
@@chevyboomer62 I don't see anything about Leo Fender designing a "vibromatic?"
Teles, Strats, and P and J Basses exist and they did pretty well amongst players. Would that have happened if they weren't at least somewhat functional?
My first bass purchase was a Sterling Ray 4 bass. Super happy with it! I put a Original Bartolini MM pickup in it, and it sounds even better!
Never thought some people don't like these basses. I own a Music Man SUB (the cheaper version) with a Seymour Duncan humbucker, and everybody I play with loves the sound of it.
I remember talkbass had a thread back in the day. Someone had a fender p bass and put it against a skateboard or broom something with p bass pickups, and they were arguing which one was which for like 50 pages
I think what those forum members are really saying is:
I don’t know how to use the EQ on a Stingray. And I refuse to learn.
😂😂
@MikeV.-sy6fl "I don't know how to use the EQ on a Stingray. And I refuse to learn."
Absolutely
I have been playing bass over 40 yrs my band was signed to a major label in the 90s here is how I feel versatility is in the hands of the bassist what kind of music do you play? do you play original songs? a stingray a p bass or whatever you make your own sound so your bass becomes an extension of you if your a studio bassist particular bass sounds may be required if its your music your style and all you play is a stingray who is to say its not right? your bass is an extension of you and your sound I play original music and i use a jazz a p bas and a sting ray i find that to many bassists get hung up on crap like this
I can’t imagine living my life thinking the precision is the pinnacle of bass guitars.
I KNOW, right? 😩
If it makes you happy it makes you happy I guess
Exactly they are good basses but I owned one. And sold it after a few months and never wanted another one. I do love my jazz bass and I've owned many prior. But my carvin LB76 with single coils is my go to. My next one will probably be a sterling ray 34 with the double humbuckers.
why?
It's the same weird bullshit with "tele's are the best/most versatile guitars ever made! Tonal swiss-army knives!". Cool, you want something simple but give me a break.
Got me a 2002 USA Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling in Burnt apple and I find it a joy to play. Also have a Sterling by Music Man Ray 34 but not touched it much since getting EBMM Sterling USA bass. It feels really good to me. I'm pretty new to bass....15 months into my bass journey but play everyday. For hours. Retired man. Hooked on groove. Time travel. These days I play my 2002 EBMMSterling USA and my G&L CLF Research L-1000 more than my other 3 basses. Five bass limit as I am on a discovery to see what bass calls to me.
I enjoy your videos AMP. Jam on. Burn some hours.
You've been playing 15 months and own 5 basses?
@@NatePlaysMM True. I'm retired. Trying to discover "my bass". Making Sterling Stingray RAY 34 fretless right now.
First, stingray 5 strings have the a superior body shape and the pickguard doesn’t look like a toilet seat.
Second, Stingrays are fine sound wise.
Doesn't look like a toilet seat, but instead has an unnecessary piece of plastic covering up 90% of tbe body
I bought a brand new US made Stingray 5 back in 2009, for 11 years I played it for every gig I had and never had a complaint about the tone! Eventually I had to stop gigging with it because my aging back started having issues holding up the 11 lbs beast., my back would start hurting 15-20 minutes into the set and I would end up walking off stage in tears from back pain. So I bought an Ibanez EHB-1505 that I could get some nice Stingray-ish growl out of without killing my back, and that served me well for a couple years. Fast forward to today and I have discovered that good orthotic footwear has almost completely eliminated my back pain while playing bass so I am able to play the Stingray live again. However, a couple years ago I picked up a Fender Jazz bass and have really taken to it, it is now my main bass. I only pull the Stingray out on occasions when I really want a five string. I would say the Jazz bass is more versatile when it comes to getting a greater variety of classic bass tones. The Stingray always sounds like a Stingray no matter what you do to it, however, that does not mean it won't work for everything, it just means it's unique voice comes thru and you either like it or you don't.
My Stingray Special 5 string weighs 7.9 lbs. They really shaved the weight off of em with the 2018 redesign.
I’m a huge Stingray fanboy. My Stingray 5 HH special with the roasted maple and 18V preamp is still my favorite bass that I’ve ever played and it’s not even funny. I’ve bought other basses, but then I don’t play them because they just don’t sound or feel as good as my Stingray.
And it’s totally versatile! When you get to know a bass well enough, I’m sure that you can figure out how to make it work in whatever situation you want-unless your idea of versatile is “can I make this sound like xy bass” because if that’s your idea of versatility in an instrument, you might just be dissatisfied with your basses. All basses will sound like that bass, but you can totally mold it into whatever function you’re looking for with the right strings, eq, compression, etc.
Loved this video!!
I 1000% Agree. I love my Sterling Ray4 .
I can't believe someone turned their EBMM Stingray into a P-Bass. I hope that's a fake Stingray they did that to.
Let us P-Ray that’s the case.
He just saved the bass then.
It's funny considering that one of Leo Fender's original prototypes for the Stingray had a reverse P pickup, next the the bridge.
talkbass irrationally disliking something? some things never change lol
I was never a back pickup guy, so Stingrays never stood out as something I wanted for myself for a while. I had my mind changed when I saw a local bar rock band member using one and cutting through. I have always thought Music Mans look cool tho. Particularly the bongo stealth
Yeah, I'll admit the music man pickup position was weird AF to me. But after awhile, I felt it was for legit reasons. The way the big fat music man humbucker was set up, moving it closer to the bridge actually worked out in its favor.
I'm actually impressed with how Fender did that. Man's was like, "We got all we need in the humbucker to get a deep sound. Moving it to the bridge won't gut it." 😆😆😆
@@Six3rdy That's probably it honestly. It does have huge ass pole pieces and that gives you a lot of attack too
@@zachjones1716 Heard and heard.
I don't like the way it looks, generally. And aesthetics mean more to me than they should. That damn oval in the center of the body is just....... uuugh!!! I'm sorry. Forgive me.
But I will say that the humbucker is big, fat, and looks and sounds awesome! And there are stingrays that look nice.
I want one. 😈
The only downside is that I got big hands, and that 5 string spacing on MM's is gonna be an adjustment for me. I have a 5 string Squier J bass that has generous spacing. The mm I tried didn't have that.
@@Six3rdy I am a stickler for string spacing as well. I don't have like huge hands. Just fat ones kinda, and I grew up playing a 4 exclusively. So, finding the right neck to string spacing is rough. Btb's and laklands have nice spacing and the lakland may be up your alley if you like classic stuff. The jazz v is a nice middle ground for me. And, you can tighten up the bad b string with DR DDT hex core steel strings 👍
@@zachjones1716 Ooh. Thanks for the info. I'm taking notes as we speak.
But wait. Which bass had a bad B string?
Okay. My opinion - a 'Ray is like having a very powerful motorbike. Yes, you can ride it slowly and genty but it's so much fun to go big and loud! A Precision or Jazz is much easier to play subtly (and they can respond really well to digging in) but when I pick up my Stingray it just delivers so much joy when you give it some throttle!!!!
A P bass, A jazz bass and a Stingray are all needed for whatever situation you’re in..Play what makes you happy🍻
I have a baker's dozen of basses and none are duplicates of another in my collection. I love them all. Play and smile!
a fretless stingray
And G&L L2000
Believe it or not, the internet is full of people that have no idea what they're talkin' about.
I like Stingrays.
I like pretty much everything that makes low-frequency BASS!
(Clank, clank, dangle, dangle)
Personally I like the L-2000, as the neck pickup makes it more ergonomic for me, and the electronics are even better, especially with those humbuckers in series.
Andy, I don't think The 3+1 headstock has anything to do with dead spots or the G string also Leo didn't design the headstock Forrest White did and he chose 3+1 to give The Stingray a distinct look (vs. Fender) and better balance.
I have the holy trinity, all American. Not a single regret
Congrats! You have a well equipped bass toolbox. These are the "hammer, wrench, and screwdriver" of basses. There isn't one that's "better" than the other.
@ agreed wholeheartedly. I guess I’m technically always searching for cool basses, but when it comes to recording or playing out, i want for nothing
It is infinitely less popular than any of the other basses you've made Solo vids for but I pray you one day do one of these on the EB-3. I think it's interesting and overly maligned
I have the "Harley Benton MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series" that is heavily inspired by the Stingray and I love it. It isn't active but has many of the other features and is a joy to play.
I actually wanted one just because their so inexpensive and actually sound great
Those who didn't get satisfying tones from a Stingray didn't know how to use it. Certainly they weren't using the HH models.
😂😂😂😂😂
Bernard Edwards - Chic.....,Flea - RHCP....,Louis Johnson....,Rage against the machine...,Tony Levin .... and so on.....top bass
Cliff Williams of ACDC too🤘 by the way, none of them have ever cried over a dying 9V battery 😂😂
“Baby, you got a stew going!” RIP Carl Weathers
I needed to downsize my guitar collection and could only have 1 bass. I chose a Stringray with 2 pickups. The bridge pickup is iconic in itself, but throw in a neck pickup as well and you get as much versatility as you need.
Hilarious! You made me smile with the forum posts, thanks
People are entitled to their opinions, but Music Man Stingray is very versatile..just ask Flea, Bernard Edwards , Louis Johnson, Joe Lilly, Pino Palladino, Tim Commerford, Joe Dart …I can Keep going, as for me , I play Gospel, to metal and everything in between on my StingRay’s.
those guys all have a very distinctive sound. Is that what versatile means?
@@rrdream2400 Considering that's a number of players from different genres who made the Stingray work for them, I'd say so.
I love my SBMM Ray34H. Plays and sounds great. Also have a MIJ P bass with flats and it sounds good too.
I love my stingray! It feels so good to play. I put flats on it and I play mostly any genre with it, but I mostly play rock and blues. I do have a P bass and when im playing I bounce back between the two depending on what sound I want. If I want a low fat heavy sound I use my stingray, and if I want a gurgly growling sound I use my P bass. Both sound awesome! Not one better than the other, but I will say that the stingray definitely feels better to play. The P bass I have has a kinda big and cluncky neck to me, the Stingray is nice and smooth to play!
Bought one in 78 and converted to a fret less then and still my favorite
The stingray is very versatile..!!!
It has an active three band EQ that makes it very versatile.,
Plus it’s using different techniques that make a bass versatile..
Here’s the thing. I love the stingray sound, but you can get a bass WITH A P PICKUP AND A STINGRAY’S HUMBUCKER. YOU CAN HAVE BOTH AND THEY SOUND AMAZING TOGETHER.
Any recommendations
That’s what I did. Took a pj and routed out the jazz pickup for a stingray humbucker. It’s a great instrument
IBANEZ USED TO MAKE THESE! They were called ATKs, and some of them had the added single coil in the neck position. Not exactly the same, but close enough, I challenge any of you to hear the difference in a blind test. Yes, the P bass is known for the split coil, and most bassist should be able to DIY add a split coil to a Stingray, or get a friend with shop skills to do it for them. Alas, the Fender groupies with their heads so far up their own asses they can't tell its not the 70s anymore, have ruined the market spreading this nonsense that a P bass has some special juju, like its Excalibur or something. Boo
@@monkeyking617 and i really wish they make it again ....
@@justmemin7005 schecter stealth 4
Amp, As you pointed out, the 80s music would not be as good as it was without the Stingray! It was Louis Johnson who inspired me to get my 1st real bass and it was the 3 band eq Stingray! I had a couple of pics on my fb page of it! I wish I still had it but I got sick with kidney failure and had to sell it but plan on getting a sterling Ray 5 to replace it!
For decades, I played Precision style basses. About a year ago I sold them all and bought a J bass. Love it. But about 20 yrs ago a bought a left over Ernie Ball Sterling. Unreal. Life took some turns & i sold that.
Now I have my J and picked up a new Sterling Stingray Ray 4. It takes getting used to, but I managed to find a happy medium between both basses using my very simple board. I'll be gigging with both in Dec and look forward to pumping that aggressive Stingray tone.
This is why I have my eye on a Sandberg TM. Noiseless neck (P-ish), multiple J options, plus a full humbucker.
I've got an old Sterling Sub that absolutely rocks. Feels and sounds ridiculously good for such an inexpensive instrument.
See you in the poison swamps, brother.
Lake of Rot 2: Electric Boogaloo
I have one of those too and I find myself playing it more than my others
Look at the sandburg californa vm bass it has a music man bassbucker with p bass pickups personally that is pretty universal to me.
One of my favorite bass players of all time, (Felipe Ilabaca from famous Chilean funk/rock band Chancho en Piedra) has used a stingray on multiple occasions and it's the reason I fell in love with bass in the first place.
I have a Sterling HH that I’ve had for a couple of years that’s been great for me. Sold my Fender Jazz because my Sterling is now my #1.
I do *not* know what Tony Levin played on Paul Simon's recordings, but his playing on Peter Gabriel's first couple of albums (recorded in the late '70s) definitely sounds like a Precision Bass… and you can see him playing a Precision on PG's 1978 Rockpalast video: ruclips.net/video/amxDkP_0gxs/видео.html Not to say he might not have had access to a pre-release Stingray in 1975 and used it on a recording session. Just that there's evidence he still preferred a P in later years.
Good stuff! Appreciate this!
He used a Chapman Stick for a lot of Peter Gabriel's recordings and definitely used it live ...
After playing (and trading) multiple types of basses over the years, my preference is for having two humbuckers. I currently use a Reverend Dub King as my main bass, because the two different humbucker positions and the blend knob do allow for that extra bit of versatility when switching from an aggressive rock tone to a subdued blues or ballad.
With that said, my "Drop D" bass is a heavily modded Squier Affinity that has a single music man humbucker in the traditional music man position. I like it a lot (obviously, since I use it every show), but it is more limited in range simple due to the single pickup position.
I recently bought a Ray4 after making a ton of research, and got to say, it slays everything! I run it through a EHX Batallion, a set of stainless strings and you have the most versatile sound ever. Oh, and don't forget how easy is to calibrate it and the comfort is off the roof!
Yeah I quickly learned to not go to Talkbass for any useful information. Also, I have a single pickup Ray 35. With the 3 band EQ and the series/parallel switch, it’s plenty versatile for me.
I love my Ray4. The stock pickup is a hot ceramic wired in series. That just wasn't my sound. I switched it to parallel and that helped, but it didn't quite get me there. I found a SD SMB-4A on clearance and I jumped on it. That nailed it for me. I even got an aftermarket preamp, but I'm happy with it the way it is. Ceramics have their place tonally, it just wasn't my taste for this bass.
Although I am a primary guitarist, I started on the Precision Bass. I think it sounds great, but there's something else about the StingRay. It works for metal, it works for the meatier stuff, it works for slap bass, it can jazz, it has it's own signature tone. Even if it's just H (like mine) and not HH, it is still a phenomenal bass that you will find success with in every genre you can imagine.
It’s March 2024 as I leave this comment. Since 1996, I have owned four different bass guitars. The first one was the 1996 Epiphone slant on the P-bass. I only had that for four years and let it go when I purchased a Fender J-bass. In the interim, I supplemented it with a Squier Vintage Modified Bass Six and a friend’s custom Carvin fretless. I have meditated extensively on whether I wanted another bass and would it be an Ernie Ball. From where I stand, it’s hard for me to imagine that the Stingray is less versatile than the P-bass. There are probably any number of times that deep back to when that model hit the market that I thought were played on fender models. That’s how frankly easy it is to adjust the sound of this instrument to match any context.
5,000 points to you for that FANTASTIC Carl Weathers reference.
Timmy C. made me love these basses while I was always nostalgic of his Fender Jazz Basses era. His new signature Stingrays look rad !!
I personally think the stingrays with two humbuckers because it gives me as many options as possible with the active electronics.
Also: citing Ed Freidland made my day.
somehow the bridge pickup solo on a 2 pu stingray doesn't exactly like a 1 pu stingray
The one area where bassists as a group seem to remain rigidly ignorant about their instruments is in the passive vs active electronics discussion...
Active electronics allow for a flat even response across the sound spectrum from low wound pickups, which means with simple EQs you can get them to sound like almost anything you want. But a lot of bassists simply refuse to go near them or learn that simple fact. I really dont get it...
The only thing that works against the Stingray in terms of versatility is that it has a single pickup and even then the active electronics provide a more versatile and adaptable set of sounds than many passive doubles.
Also to address the argument made by a commenter in the video, no you can not EQ just anything to make it cut through a mix through the high end. If a bass isn't putting out those frequencies you can't get them back. Meanwhile, cutting frequencies that are there is easy.
If you need more high end out of a bass and it doesn't have it I'd say your best option is a drive of some sorts. A well dialed drive, even at low gain, can add the harmonics you need and really make your bass tone pop. With low gain the drive can be entirely invisible in the full mix too but the effects on presence for your low end still very noticeable so don't be afraid to try it just because you aren't recording metal or rock.
Either way, use whichever instrument or setup you are most comfortable with, you don't have to like active electronics or EQ if it's too much, but do try to understand how it works before posting in forums about how much more versatile a P bass is.
I have 4 Stingrays..2 mid 90s 5 strings,a 2001 4 string and a 79’pre Ernie ball.In over 30 years playing and tons of other basses,these are my favourites and it’s the Stingray tone I love
I'm about to get one almost entirely because I like the look of the Stingray. I'm pretty sure I can make it sound ok for whatever I'll need between EQ and amp and style of playing. And I think it looks great.
Bassed
My number one luthier, who has been building basses since the 80s (Leader bass guitars where Warwick stole some designs from) once told me when asked what is the best bass and he without a second thought said Stingray. Great for slap, great for rock, great for pop. All round good. I play a jazz bass but always wanted a proper stingray.
The answer is in the Vid. Ed Friedlands reviews are sorely missed. All these years later his opinion is worth more than any weekend warriors.
A true bass guitar lover should have at least one of each in their stable: a P-bass, a J-bass and a Stingray (plus a Rick as a bonus one). And about 10-15 other ones…
Yamaha. Definitely a few Yamahas.
After the MM Stingray was revised a few years back i.e. pickups, electronics, ergonomics, the tone has been tamed especially in the treble so it really is in line with other active basses.
Great timing as I was looking at getting a Stingray.
Get one man!! You’ll love it! Don’t let talkbass be your deciding factor, let your ears do the deciding plus their cool as hell looking with one of the nicest looking headstocks out there imo
@@bassimprovjams3772 I've got one now and it's great. Found an actual Music Man Stingray Special for a good price used and it feels great.
a stingray is the best sounding bass when it's being itself, and it can do a pretty good impression of all the others. just do this crazy thing called 'moving your plucking position'
I loved playing my Stingray, but really wasn't into its sound for what I was trying to achieve with my band at the time. Sold it and bought a Squier CV single coil 50's Precision which I still use to these days (longest relationship I've ever had)
In 30 years of playing, I've never found a P-Bass that spoke to me. Jazz basses and Stingrays always feel and sound great, though.
Same man, in the 27 years of my playing if owned 2 p basses and 1 Jazz the Jazz sure I actually miss it and need another one , but I’ve had 11 USA stingrays and they just speak to me and the Warwick Thumb NT lol
I stopped playing bass 40 years ago, but I remember when these Sting Rays first came out. Heard on going through an Acoustic 360 at a live gig. Absolutey beautiful sound. Haven;t heard a bad sound out of one yet, and I pay attention to the equipment people are using. Plus, after all these years, I still think they look great. As a comparison, I played a 65 Fender Telecaster bass, which I really liked, though a V4-B cabinet powered by an Acoustic 150B top. Total clarity at all levels. Round wounds produced a Rickenbacker growl. That was the shit back then.
I owned 2 sting rays ...
A teal finish 2 eq
A natural finish 3 eq both maple fretboard...
I agree they are versatile i'd say a fender on steroid although the 9 volts circuit is fairly gentle compared to aguilars...emg and so on... the reason i parted with both is because ...
I was cashstrapped with the teal one ...
But with the natural finish one i finally realised it was the wrong neck profile ...
It's a baseball bat a bit like the precision ..
now my perfect profile is jazz bass period ...really small @ first fret...
i need to wrap my hand around the neck and i feel comfortable ....
Sting rays cost an arm and a leg and weigh a tonne
I bought a Harley Benton MB-4 SB Deluxe last year, which is a stingray clone with a passive humbucker. I hadn't played bass in about 20 years after a year of lessons and switching to guitar. My initial thought is that I actually like stingrays with passive humbuckers ..I personally hate active pickups. The tone I've gotten sounds well rounded, though it has a tone and two volumes to split the coils. Essentially I rarely ever find myself using the full humbucker as I usually roll off the neck portion and just use the bridge for that punch and clarity ..they do seem versatile ..but it also depends on the setup you have for your controls and pickup and what pedals you throw in front of your amp. A 10-band EQ pedal can make a stingray sound like a lot of things it clearly isn't.
This literally might be one of my new favorite channels. I fell in love with the EBMM Stingray last night while picking something up from a Guitar Center. I definitely want one so bad and could care less what people say on the web lol. 😂
I play a Stingray ( but also love a Jazz ) - if it's good enough for: Bernard Edwards ( Chic ) and Paul Denman ( Sade ) - those are my 2 guys. oNe LovE from NYC
Have one of each. That is why I buy variants of evrry brand I can. One of everything solves the the tone voids in your life.
3:30 that bass is so cool. The ugly one is the bongo. Ugh god, i often say that is not such thing as an ugly bass, then i remember the bongo.
I remember staring at a bongo in about 2004/5 thinking it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
But I’ve also seen photos of my haircuts from that era so I assume I experienced some kind of vision impairment for a few years there
those were difficult times, hair colors were polemical also
For me, it's such an unusual design that I like it... I'm drawn to things like that 😅
in the US Fender basses rule the roost but when you go over to the UK its Ric, Stingrays and Gibson basses. I've notice those 3 combine out sell fender basses during the golden era of rock betweeen 1965-1981 and yes the Stingray was part of that era
A friend is playing my sterling stingray full time in a punk band. The electronics are all fd up. The volume kinda works. I bought it because it was a cheap crap can bass that some kid chopped up but the neck was perfect. It sounds incredible.
Like most bass players out there dont know how to use the bass. Stingray is very versatile. I own all 3 jazz .p bass and stingray. The only fender one that versatile is my fender jazz special mij. The stingray is the other. Most bass players dont even know how to use tones or different effects. I play out in bands i have other bassist watching me and wonder how i get the tones i do. Most time i dont use amp. Just eq compressor and chorus all mxr. Directly to mixer.
Most my basses are high end too. Not exactly cheap. I can play through little 30 watt fender rumble still have excellent tones. Even recorded with only the 3 pedals and sound professional. Big amps are just waste of money and space if u really know how to play
I own a few of each (Jazz, Precision and Stingrays) they each have their own sound and work well on some things and not as well on others. It really depends on the stuff I’m playing on. They’re all pretty versatile instruments though.
TONY LEVIN USED A SABRE BASS THAT IS AN EARLIER VERSION OF THE STINGRAY.. SOY YES , THAT SOUND WAS USED IN THE PAUL SIMON RECORDINGS...THE DRUMMER WAS STEVE GADD AND THERE ARE SOME VIDEOS LIVE WITH TONY USING THE SABRE BASS ( MUSICMAN)
I've been playing a couple Stingray5s for the last 23 years and IME the most important thing is: THERE'S BETTER BASSES TO PLAY HOME ON YOUR OWN. Most people who ditch Stingrays/Sterlings do so in dislike of the tone, AFTER PLAYING TOO MUCH ON THEIR OWN. The Stingray is too in-your-face. Of course you can tame that, but still, a P or a J will just sound nicer on their own, just CHOSE A DIFFERENT BASS TO PLAY HOME ON YOUR OWN, as we all do. Now, when it comes to mixes, the Stingray has a SUPERIOR GRUNT IN THE LO-MIDS. It simply doesn't sound "BBBBBB" but more "PRRRRRRR" (latin grainy R). That timbrical sorta' "square wave'ish" character in the lo-mids is what makes it cut within a band. There's some "magic" going on there that avoids it to ever get lost, even when mixing it quiet you can still hear the bass line.
You can always mellow out a Stingray with tone, playing approach, and muting if need be. I use mine for All Styles. From playing funk, fusion, Motown with Mary Wilson, Crooning Jazz w Bobby Rydell, and more. Better to have more and tone it down, than not have it to begin with. Remember, Leo Fender created the Stingray. Check out my drbassface bass stuff playlist.
I think it's important to understand why they were so popular in the past though, because it wasn't necessarily "versatility" in the sense bassists today refer to. The stingray was the first mass-produced active bass, making it versatile in ways that other basses at the time weren't. This along with it's strong defined midrange made it much easier for sound engineers to make the bass pop, a big reason why it was used on so many records. Nowadays though, there's loads of active instruments out there, with all kinds of configurations so a Stingray naturally won't be all that "versatile" compared to the field anymore. That plus mixing and engineering technology/knowledge has advanced a ton since the 80s so outside of the lazy engineers who won't mix anything that's not a P bass, you can really just use whatever.
That said, play a stingray because you wanna play one, the guys in the forums don't have your fingers or ears. In my opinion as far as fun factor, nothing beats a Ray
Two pickups in different positions are versatile... Even the P-Bass is a one-trick-pony. There are Musicmans with two pickups and piezo-pickup, those are really versatile...
My Stingray is the one I play the most. It's versatile enough for me.
If I had to keep only one bass : Jazz
Two basses : Jazz and Stingray
The Stingray is just a groove machine, it is so powerful and that tone, like it or not but it is so unique, you just have to own one
The pickup position, the active electronics, it's a must have
You need a bass with an MM, a P and 2 J pick ups. It also needs flat and round wound strings, oh, and both fretted and fretless necks. Now that's a versatile bass.
Versatility is not the number of sounds you can get from a bass, it's about whether you can make it sound great in different genres. I'd say that the P and J might be more versatile, but only because people are used to hearing them in the context of a bigger variety of different genres. All three have a distinctive character, much more than most modern basses. All three are still very versatile, and I love all three.
My most-played bass is a J with an MM bridge pickup btw., and I use the MM pickup soloed just as much as I use the traditional J sounds it provides. If you have the options, you use them. But if I'd use a plain J, P, or StingRay, those would do the job as well.
I love how wildly unfounded the takes are on TalkBass 😂
Once you go musicman you never go back.
Kajagoogoo was great for the Stingray, pure 80's
Thanks for the video!
move where you are playing between neck and bridge, versatile sounds
I want that Sterling SB14 that looks like a budget Joe Dart bass with a pickguard
I actually tried it last weekend, and the nut was actually too narrow for my taste which was really weird given I usually like that on fenders lol
My absolute favorite bass of all time is my sterling shortscale stingray. It's the most comfortable bass I've ever owned and although it is a passive bass, it's pickup mode selector actually makes it fairly versatile. I honestly wish they'd make a long scale version of that bass.