its kind of amazing what a 3rd party pre-amp can do for a bass that sounded just "good". Now that thing sounds fantastic, its' too bad they don't offer it with battery route.. since most people won't have the the tools to do all of that... and sometimes its hard to find a tech you trust...
Thanks Ryan! I have one coming for the EMG SUB (shot the vid installing the electronics, but not the dremeling) and removing the old guts (demonstrating the "proper" way as well as the "quick and dirty"). Stay tuned :)
Or... what I would probably do is keep it passive and wire it Volume/Tone with a series/parallel switch. But it does sound really nice with that Tone Monster preamp. I've always said that at least 80% of tone is a combination of just the strings and electronics. The hardware, construction and wood making up the rest. I think these budget bass electronics upgrades you are doing is proof.
Dang that sounds really hot, I dig it! I like the character of this preamp, even if it is super hot. Bummer that the installation process is a hassle, though. Great video as always!
Guy's this bass is one great bass for mode.... you can make it work exactly how you want...... very solid construction....i enjoy the bass and play with it and I have no upgrade it yet....its 6 bolt neck and has 2 trustroads so you can imagine that is great bass.....i am telling that is aa Stingray bass with the opportunity to make it work as you want exactly!!!!!!!
Imma get the black one. The one thing i always hated about stingrays were the 3+1 tuners on the headstock, this is perfect. Hipshot bass xtender here we come
Woaah that bass turned spicy !!!! Kudos to you to take so much effort to do that mod ! ... as I said before you need start your own line of basses now lol !!! ...
I love it. I found your review video today while looking for videos about these basses. I was planning to purchase the Deluxe model with two pickups, but they are currently sold out. What you have done with that one is nothing short of fantastic. The slap really sounds great on it!
A noticeable improvement when you play the initial review and this one back to back, like upgrading from a chihuahua to a kelpie as far as bark goes lol.
$117 on the Thomann website 9/31/21. Shipping to the Midwest is $78 or $195 total - that sucks! Price is for shipping is exactly 2/3 the price of the instrument! Wish Thomann had a US dealer
I really wish that thomann took a little more care with shipping. I like the harley benton guitars, but they seem to be damaged in shipping a lot, like half the time. That pre amp sounds great and the bass doesn't look half bad.
That's a great mod. Would love to see a full video of the whole mod process end to end. I have the HB MM-84A and your mod has got me thinking of modding it back to a single pickup with the TB pre-amp.
That is pretty cool after being Lobsterized! This is like Pimp My Ride, only it is entertaining and the final product is useful! (remember the dumb crap they would do like waterfalls, disco balls, and 5 TVs in the car?)
Hello Lobster. Is is possible that this is a "boost only" preamp? If I understood you right, it doesn't have center points on the knobs and turned counter clockwise it doesn't really sound cut at all 🤔 However... in my opinion this preamp sounds much better than the other one that you used in the ToneMonster SUB. Considering the price point it's quite nice.
Hi Christoph! I'm pretty sure it's boost and cut, I did have to replace the bass pot due to an unrelated incident and totally forgot about that haha. I could have probably turned the gain down a bit more as it was still spicy. There's a trim pot on the preamp module. Thanks and great comment! :)
If i dont win the EMG O RAY...then 2nd place would be FINE with me!!...i have the master gain on my SEB3 in the bacchus on like 30% and MAY have to turn it down a little more with these BEASTS of Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz p/us....they are HOT!!!
You should check out some aduere preamps! The classic series are priced well and supposedly sound very natural. The z-series have a bunch of shaping/pickup impedance options that I don't fully understand. They're aren't any good demos of aduere preamps and I think you would do a great job
Thanks Jared! Indeed, I actually have one in my guts drawer (misc preamps and pickups waiting to be installed into things). We'll be seeing it in the future ;).
This is a pretty cool mod (though I don’t think I’d go through the trouble of doing this myself....). Side note: I kind of miss seeing all the SUBs in the background haha
Which Tone Monster SEB 2 have you installed? Is it SEB2-AB? There are 12 types so far, right? Would it kill you to show the installation routed details?
Nice sound. Very interesting. Hope you could also feature the Harley Benton PB20 or the PB20 SBK. Thinking of getting one, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Cheers!
Loving it!! I had thought about the passive bass & treble control idea when you posted the original video form this bass. Would that be pretty simple to achieve?
I can get behind this bass, as a mod platform, and how it is finished. I dig it. Now if I were to go down this road, I'd need to hide it away from the wife, hmm.....
Harley Benton is not only CRUSHING "Big Brand Guitar" manufacturers but they are going to overtake the Chinese replica/counterfeit market for damn sure. I have a replica Music Man from China (with similar upgrades) but this is actually CHEAPER!!!! I added a Seymour Duncan STC-3M4 Preamp Music Man Tone Circuit ($150) and a Seymour Duncan SMB-4A Alnico ($99) and the bass itself was around $350 from AliExpress, complete with the brand logo and serial number on the headstock. I think that your post-mod HB sounds slightly better than my upgraded Music Man (but I could be suffering from G.A.S and your playing is definitely better). Why the hell would a "non-gigging" bassist or guitar player pay $3,000 for an Ernie Ball/Fender/Gibson/PRS when you can get one of these for under $200 (and immediately upgrade the pickups, which, anyone would say, is "90%" of the difference between Big Brand and budget guitars)? As the hardware on these are great for the money so you don't necessarily have to immediately upgrade these items. Also with Chinese fakes you never know what you're getting until it arrives (although the quality has improved tremendously) and good luck returning it, if you're unhappy, as these DHgate/AliExpress stores simply disappear every few months and re-emerge under a different name. Also with Harley Benton, you don't have to wait for 3-months for delivery. NOTE: My HB order arrived within 3-days or the online order, whereas my replica Music Man took 45 to 60-days for arrival! My fake Music Man arrived with a defective truss rod (won't move) so I cannot change the action to my preference (I like extremely low-action for slap). However, for an extra $$$ (say another $150) it can be fixed but I cannot easily find an after-market replacement neck. I could have exchanged it but if it took 45-days to arrive, imagine how long the exchange process would've taken? However, the guitar is fantastic and sounds just as good, based on my comparison against a real Stingray at a guitar store (using the same amp). With the Chinese fakes there is NO manufacturer warranty either which is a huge risk! Truth be told, only an expert could "potentially" tell the difference from a sound perspective and the quality is JUST AS GOOD as the Big Guitar products (don't get it twisted). FYI - If you really want to fake it, you can buy the "Big Brand Guitar" logos for under $20.
Crispy treble. Install a side jack plate which will give you a 4 knob control plate and use a jazz bass plate preamp. Eliminate the pan control and you should have room for a battery. Just my thoughts.
Thanks Richard! I reaaaaaaaaaally tried to get the battery to fit in there without a separate compartment. Removed a lot of material, but still no go :(.
So I have a quick question. Do you know if the pickup on the bass is wired Series or Parallel? Was reading that you could rewire the pickup on the SUB basses.
You are a person who i respect your opinion and in Stingray bass your opinion is a fact.....i see your video and i love it....i allways love the Stingray but I don't have a mm Stingray....i have return to tomman a sterling 24 because I was disappointed with all of the bass....i have play with Stingray music man and boy it's a unique bass and the sterling was... something else....but I have buy this Harley Benton and I love the neck profile and the all construction of the bass...so tell me what can I do for upgrade it for 300€ that I can puy....i trust you and I will be glad if you are going to send me your opinion
What bit do you recommend for routing out the cavity? I have the same issue installing a preamp on my bass (not quite enough room) but only have plunge style router bits for my router. Thanks for the awesome video showing how preamps can be a game changer!
to my taste theres too much treble and zing. theres a lot of noise from strings and fingers. its like you play through guitar amp. maybe flatwound strings will solve the problem. i think that the original version is better, because anyway everybody use eq on the amp, or preamp pedal or in the DAW after recording. at least thats how i hear it. great experiment!
Thanks Ruslan! I think you're right haha. Stock with the tone knob, you could roll off the brightness, but even the treble cut here isn't doing enough to mellow it out.
@@LowEndLobster Cool, I was planning to bring my ole Esp F104 back to life, but Im on the fence on which pre amp to go with. When you put the Audere pre amp in please do a comparison video. I ready like these informative videos. THANK YOU
@LowEndLobster I'm late to the party, and know this bass is long gone! How is your memory of it for balance and weight? I might just order up this and a J to get a feel for them, and then go nuts with some mods, lol.
I remember it being 9ish lbs, I don't remember the balance. TBH I'd get both as shipping will be cheaper split amongst the two vs getting them separately (I have no affiliation with thomann or harley benton)
great vid as always, very intresting mod, can you compare it with a sterling ray 34...would you suggest doing this mod to a cheap HB bass (or any other mod maybe) instead of buying a sterling ray 34 due to the huge price differense.Will a moded HB sound eventually as good as ray 34 ???In EU where i leave a new sterling ray 34 is about 1100 euro , about 1300 usd
The HB takes a bit more modification to get active and w/ a preamp vs something like the SUB Ray4, but yes with an aftermarket pickup and preamp you could definitely get this to sound more like a Ray34/USA Ray.
hey, i understand this is one year old however; I'm writing to report that the thumbs up option is missing and only the thumbs down is available to click. that is strange especially since I like this video and have no way to express it.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Did you ever add the tone monster pickup as well? Thought I understood from the first video that it would be 3 separate videos. I watched your Ultimate Stingray Mod videos as well. If you were going to the mod route to save money vs dropping $2k+ for a stingray, Would you still go with the Harley, low end Music Man, or something else? Cheers
Heyo! I believe this used the stock pickup here, unlike the Ultimate Stingray Mod Guide vid which had the Tone Monster pickup as well. For the mod route, I'd go with the Sterling By Music Man SUB because it comes with the battery route already. However for a passive mod, the Harley Benton is a great platform and value
@@LowEndLobster yeah only issue is you can't buy them new anymore since they stopped making them a while ago and buying used can always be hit or miss. Appreciate your response, thank you.
A little noisy for me, I don't want to hear such articulate string sliding sounds, etc. Some of that is inevitable with active setups, I've played Stingrays for 20 years, so I know. But this preamp is a little too hot, IMO. I have one of these HB MB-4's, and the only thing I felt inclined to mod was the tuners. Otherwise, great as-is.
I have a couple of basses in the shop that need preamps as the originals are fried or simply awful. A Harley Benton enhanced mp-4eb and a Lado hawk neck through. What's your general consensus on the tone master preamps MR lobster?
They don't have these on Amazon, but I bought this with two other basses (the Ibanez RGB300 and the HB MP-5 Enhanced) and shipping at the time was like 70 or 80 bucks total.
@@LowEndLobster I guess they don't have it any more. You can sell me that one when you are finished with it . I don't need the preamp or pickup because I will be using EMG only so give me a good price.
Hey Lobster, was the Humbucker more or less a drop in replacement for the original pickup in the MB-4? Would you say most 'music man style' pickups would be drop ins? Considering modding one if I end up getting it. Thanks!
Hey Wollace! Yes, the pickup used here and other MM style humbuckers will fit no problem. Worst you'll have to do is maybe remove the pickguard (some pickups don't like to go in with the pickguard on).
@@vabassin wouldn't work for my sound, i like a mid rich sound with the treble controlled, usually flat, but i cut if i feel like it. I tend to play old school funk and hard rock
Dang, I really wanted that HB MB, oh well, I'll have to buy one and mod it to an OLP mm22 configuration but better parts.... Music Man should do a 3 band, Double Humbucker with 5 way switching, 4, 5, or 6 string, hey even a 34"-35.5" multi-scale.
Thanks Anton! The necks are really nice, just more akin to a USA spec 'Ray as opposed to a SBMM Ray4/24 (more J bass profile). No issues with neck stability or fret work on mine!
That's not a Matador. It sounds nice. Has some clicky and percolation but doesn't get stabby although it is a bit sharp around the edges, tonewise, but that tone is good for stuff too.
5:30 Tone gets thicker and rounder, losing the percolative pop a bit but it's still sizzling and clicking on top of the thicker bottom. Maybe there's just a lack of mids...but you can't seem to dial out that click action so you better love it if you're doing this mod.
6:12 if you started slapping here I think you might crack a couple windows and wineglasses from the over the top penetration you're getting with just that setting. Someone might but I don't like it at all. Harsh and grating are the words that come to mind.
That bass sounds as slick as it looks now. I'm a sucker for matching head stocks. Great playing also. Lobster chops 🦞
Thanks Skank!
its kind of amazing what a 3rd party pre-amp can do for a bass that sounded just "good". Now that thing sounds fantastic, its' too bad they don't offer it with battery route.. since most people won't have the the tools to do all of that... and sometimes its hard to find a tech you trust...
Thanks Panda! I agree.
This bass sounds pretty perfect to play Level 42's "World Machine" as it has that nice cutting sound imo.
Also, happy new year man!
Happy new year Jack!
I got one HB MB-4 and I'm going to upgrade it with a Nordstrand Bigman pickup and a John East MMSR preamp, I can't wait!
Now it sounds much closer to Music Man.
I agree!
I'd be cool if you did some videos showing the installation of upgrades
Thanks Ryan! I have one coming for the EMG SUB (shot the vid installing the electronics, but not the dremeling) and removing the old guts (demonstrating the "proper" way as well as the "quick and dirty"). Stay tuned :)
That preamp is mighty powerful, for the price this might be a real banger with these mods.
Thanks James!
Or... what I would probably do is keep it passive and wire it Volume/Tone with a series/parallel switch. But it does sound really nice with that Tone Monster preamp. I've always said that at least 80% of tone is a combination of just the strings and electronics. The hardware, construction and wood making up the rest. I think these budget bass electronics upgrades you are doing is proof.
Thanks Michael!
Wow a noticeable difference.Thanks for the transparency.
Thanks Stacy :)
Dang that sounds really hot, I dig it! I like the character of this preamp, even if it is super hot. Bummer that the installation process is a hassle, though. Great video as always!
Thanks Taconeko!
Rewatching... And this bass sounds phat to me.. really like it
Thanks Robert :) glad you like this one!
I changed my headhones and the sound is much better now, i think im gonna rewatch some or your videos lol
Thanks Ruben :)
Guy's this bass is one great bass for mode.... you can make it work exactly how you want...... very solid construction....i enjoy the bass and play with it and I have no upgrade it yet....its 6 bolt neck and has 2 trustroads so you can imagine that is great bass.....i am telling that is aa Stingray bass with the opportunity to make it work as you want exactly!!!!!!!
Imma get the black one. The one thing i always hated about stingrays were the 3+1 tuners on the headstock, this is perfect. Hipshot bass xtender here we come
Sweet :)
Woaah that bass turned spicy !!!! Kudos to you to take so much effort to do that mod ! ... as I said before you need start your own line of basses now lol !!! ...
It may happen ;)
Yep, HH model like mine MM-85A comes with battery box, preamp and even the battery. ;)
Thanks Valentine! ;P
The Tone Monster SEB preamp made a big difference. Wonder what it would sound like with their pickup. But that is one heck of a bass for
Thanks Andrew!
I love it. I found your review video today while looking for videos about these basses. I was planning to purchase the Deluxe model with two pickups, but they are currently sold out. What you have done with that one is nothing short of fantastic. The slap really sounds great on it!
Thanks Mark!
A noticeable improvement when you play the initial review and this one back to back, like upgrading from a chihuahua to a kelpie as far as bark goes lol.
Thanks Matt! This TM SEB preamp has some BITE!
Man yeah the TM SEB is a SPICY MEATABALL for SURE!!!...but for the money...its HARD to beat!!...thanks TY!!!!
:)
$117 on the Thomann website 9/31/21. Shipping to the Midwest is $78 or $195 total - that sucks! Price is for shipping is exactly 2/3 the price of the instrument! Wish Thomann had a US dealer
Thank you for the update!
I really wish that thomann took a little more care with shipping. I like the harley benton guitars, but they seem to be damaged in shipping a lot, like half the time. That pre amp sounds great and the bass doesn't look half bad.
Thanks Mark! This was from my first and only shipment thus far so I can't judge from a sample size of one, but it's a bummer that you had some issues.
That's a great mod. Would love to see a full video of the whole mod process end to end. I have the HB MM-84A and your mod has got me thinking of modding it back to a single pickup with the TB pre-amp.
Great tone. Really clean.
Thanks Swain!
Wow! All I can say is great experiment! Sounds great with the tone monster.🤨🎶👍🏾
Thanks etpslick!
Not bad.... Not bad at all!
Thanks B@ssiCS :)
Hmmmmmm Mr. Lobster 🦞 I keep telling you.... you are on to something. Very nice, very nice indeed. Much better preamp and this bass sounds amazing 👏
Thanks Dalton! :)
Great vids Lobster, thanks. I wonder how many of us would know what bass this was if it was a blind test ?
Thanks Mark! Great idea on the blind tests :)
Sounds great. IYV bass is crying out for either this mod or the treble bass cut set up.
The Ivy will be making some more appearances soon, but not here ;). It's been modded with more mods to come hehehe
I'm hoping to win that in the giveaway!
:) Good luck!
I would love to see how this would turn out with a complite mod lobster's style
Maybe with a Delano mc al4/v4 pickup which I believe were never featured on this channel
Great sounding bass and ridiculously good sounding bass for the price, installation hassles notwithstanding
Thanks Keith!
Sounded really great!!!. I'm digging that tone monster for sure!
Thanks Jeremy!
Imo that bass might be the best sounding bass for the price.
Thanks James
That is pretty cool after being Lobsterized! This is like Pimp My Ride, only it is entertaining and the final product is useful! (remember the dumb crap they would do like waterfalls, disco balls, and 5 TVs in the car?)
LOL I'll never forget Pimp my Ride XD
@@LowEndLobster Please 🦞! Pimp my bass! 🤣
Pimp my bass could be a very cool video series....
would love to see an indepth review of the beat buddy
Totally agree! I have been looking at them and see two different ones. The mini and I guess the originals?
Thanks Nick! I'll definitely do a more in depth video on it at some point :)
Hello Lobster. Is is possible that this is a "boost only" preamp? If I understood you right, it doesn't have center points on the knobs and turned counter clockwise it doesn't really sound cut at all 🤔
However... in my opinion this preamp sounds much better than the other one that you used in the ToneMonster SUB. Considering the price point it's quite nice.
Hi Christoph! I'm pretty sure it's boost and cut, I did have to replace the bass pot due to an unrelated incident and totally forgot about that haha. I could have probably turned the gain down a bit more as it was still spicy. There's a trim pot on the preamp module. Thanks and great comment! :)
Nice sound. The head stock without the tuners 3 on top and 1 on bottom doesn't look right though lol.
Haha right? Does not compute lol
If i dont win the EMG O RAY...then 2nd place would be FINE with me!!...i have the master gain on my SEB3 in the bacchus on like 30% and MAY have to turn it down a little more with these BEASTS of Seymour Duncan Apollo Jazz p/us....they are HOT!!!
They're quite spicy indeed!
Lobby..I absolutely love the bite in it!
Thanks Floyd!
You should check out some aduere preamps! The classic series are priced well and supposedly sound very natural. The z-series have a bunch of shaping/pickup impedance options that I don't fully understand.
They're aren't any good demos of aduere preamps and I think you would do a great job
Thanks Jared! Indeed, I actually have one in my guts drawer (misc preamps and pickups waiting to be installed into things). We'll be seeing it in the future ;).
@@LowEndLobster Nice I'm looking forward to it
This is a pretty cool mod (though I don’t think I’d go through the trouble of doing this myself....). Side note: I kind of miss seeing all the SUBs in the background haha
Thanks Matt! LOL I don't ;P
And please do more vid doing modification to this bass!!! Thank youu!!
Thanks Poli! This bass was already given away, but I have a 5 string here that we will be modding soon :)
Which Tone Monster SEB 2 have you installed? Is it SEB2-AB? There are 12 types so far, right? Would it kill you to show the installation routed details?
Thanks , I should say that sounds very good !
The bass & volume control location would kill me. Otherwise a cool mod! impressively low hum for the amount of treble output.
Hehehe, threw me off a few times too. I was going to extend the ground wire but it was one of those double layer ones that had the lead inside it.
Nice sound. Very interesting. Hope you could also feature the Harley Benton PB20 or the PB20 SBK. Thinking of getting one, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Cheers!
Thanks Michael! We'll definitely be checking out more Harley Bentons in the future.
@@LowEndLobster Great! Looking forward to that.
If this was my mod I'd have used a stacked volume pot, one for each coil for different blend possibilities like the original stock version
Oooh, that's an interesting thought. Thanks Martin!
Loving it!! I had thought about the passive bass & treble control idea when you posted the original video form this bass. Would that be pretty simple to achieve?
Simpler than this mod was, absolutely! Actually researching it now. www.bassesbyleo.com/gl_bbe_wiring_diagrams.html
I can get behind this bass, as a mod platform, and how it is finished. I dig it. Now if I were to go down this road, I'd need to hide it away from the wife, hmm.....
Haha thanks Ryan!
Sounds really nice, but with an unusual amount of finger noise. Is the hot preamp that causes this?
Harley Benton is not only CRUSHING "Big Brand Guitar" manufacturers but they are going to overtake the Chinese replica/counterfeit market for damn sure. I have a replica Music Man from China (with similar upgrades) but this is actually CHEAPER!!!! I added a Seymour Duncan STC-3M4 Preamp Music Man Tone Circuit ($150) and a Seymour Duncan SMB-4A Alnico ($99) and the bass itself was around $350 from AliExpress, complete with the brand logo and serial number on the headstock. I think that your post-mod HB sounds slightly better than my upgraded Music Man (but I could be suffering from G.A.S and your playing is definitely better).
Why the hell would a "non-gigging" bassist or guitar player pay $3,000 for an Ernie Ball/Fender/Gibson/PRS when you can get one of these for under $200 (and immediately upgrade the pickups, which, anyone would say, is "90%" of the difference between Big Brand and budget guitars)? As the hardware on these are great for the money so you don't necessarily have to immediately upgrade these items. Also with Chinese fakes you never know what you're getting until it arrives (although the quality has improved tremendously) and good luck returning it, if you're unhappy, as these DHgate/AliExpress stores simply disappear every few months and re-emerge under a different name.
Also with Harley Benton, you don't have to wait for 3-months for delivery. NOTE: My HB order arrived within 3-days or the online order, whereas my replica Music Man took 45 to 60-days for arrival! My fake Music Man arrived with a defective truss rod (won't move) so I cannot change the action to my preference (I like extremely low-action for slap). However, for an extra $$$ (say another $150) it can be fixed but I cannot easily find an after-market replacement neck. I could have exchanged it but if it took 45-days to arrive, imagine how long the exchange process would've taken? However, the guitar is fantastic and sounds just as good, based on my comparison against a real Stingray at a guitar store (using the same amp).
With the Chinese fakes there is NO manufacturer warranty either which is a huge risk! Truth be told, only an expert could "potentially" tell the difference from a sound perspective and the quality is JUST AS GOOD as the Big Guitar products (don't get it twisted). FYI - If you really want to fake it, you can buy the "Big Brand Guitar" logos for under $20.
Agreed! Now if they can only keep up with the demand for these bad larrys!
Crispy treble. Install a side jack plate which will give you a 4 knob control plate and use a jazz bass plate preamp. Eliminate the pan control and you should have room for a battery. Just my thoughts.
Thanks Richard! I reaaaaaaaaaally tried to get the battery to fit in there without a separate compartment. Removed a lot of material, but still no go :(.
Another great bargain, this isa mean sounding little budget bass. 8 stars, out of 10
Thanks Derick!
No pick playing?
I'm getting the MM5 and do the Tone Monster thing.
Gonna sound sick for heavier stuff and some experimental ambient shenanigans.
Me bad with pick ;P
That thing is bright! Are those brand new steel strings? They have some sizzle.
Yeah I think I put stainless on here by accident haha. A sizzler!
So I have a quick question. Do you know if the pickup on the bass is wired Series or Parallel? Was reading that you could rewire the pickup on the SUB basses.
This pickup is wired in parallel. Not all SUB pickups can be wired that way as some are only two conductor
You are a person who i respect your opinion and in Stingray bass your opinion is a fact.....i see your video and i love it....i allways love the Stingray but I don't have a mm Stingray....i have return to tomman a sterling 24 because I was disappointed with all of the bass....i have play with Stingray music man and boy it's a unique bass and the sterling was... something else....but I have buy this Harley Benton and I love the neck profile and the all construction of the bass...so tell me what can I do for upgrade it for 300€ that I can puy....i trust you and I will be glad if you are going to send me your opinion
Slap sounds very sweet
Thanks ShadowWarrior :)
What bit do you recommend for routing out the cavity? I have the same issue installing a preamp on my bass (not quite enough room) but only have plunge style router bits for my router.
Thanks for the awesome video showing how preamps can be a game changer!
Thanks James! Great question. I just use a dremel for cavity stuff most of the time, but I do have a router for more heavy duty projects.
Lot's of clarity and punch! What's the body wood?
I believe basswood? I think it's mentioned in the full review.
I hope i win this tomorrow.
*Friday is the drawing ;)
to my taste theres too much treble and zing. theres a lot of noise from strings and fingers. its like you play through guitar amp. maybe flatwound strings will solve the problem. i think that the original version is better, because anyway everybody use eq on the amp, or preamp pedal or in the DAW after recording. at least thats how i hear it. great experiment!
Thanks Ruslan! I think you're right haha. Stock with the tone knob, you could roll off the brightness, but even the treble cut here isn't doing enough to mellow it out.
Sounds damn good my man
Thanks dude!
That sounds very nice, do you usually go with Tone Master? Have you ever use Audere pre amps? If so which one do you prefer?
Hi Cedric! I do not, this is my second Tone Monster experiment ever. I have an Audere here but haven't actually put it in anything yet :).
@@LowEndLobster Cool, I was planning to bring my ole Esp F104 back to life, but Im on the fence on which pre amp to go with. When you put the Audere pre amp in please do a comparison video. I ready like these informative videos. THANK YOU
Nice mods!
Yamaha BB and TRBX next!!
Thanks Maruniku :) I have a couple BB's here, and will definitely check out the TRBX soon. BB vids coming very soon :)
@LowEndLobster I'm late to the party, and know this bass is long gone! How is your memory of it for balance and weight? I might just order up this and a J to get a feel for them, and then go nuts with some mods, lol.
I remember it being 9ish lbs, I don't remember the balance. TBH I'd get both as shipping will be cheaper split amongst the two vs getting them separately (I have no affiliation with thomann or harley benton)
great vid as always, very intresting mod, can you compare it with a sterling ray 34...would you suggest doing this mod to a cheap HB bass (or any other mod maybe) instead of buying a sterling ray 34 due to the huge price differense.Will a moded HB sound eventually as good as ray 34 ???In EU where i leave a new sterling ray 34 is about 1100 euro , about 1300 usd
The HB takes a bit more modification to get active and w/ a preamp vs something like the SUB Ray4, but yes with an aftermarket pickup and preamp you could definitely get this to sound more like a Ray34/USA Ray.
thank u Lobster, ill take that under consideration before buying anything
When arw we gunna see that new MM !!!
What new mm ;)?
@@LowEndLobster that musicman case!! Lmao
That thang slaps!
Indeed :)
Lob it in there 😎😂👍
XD YUP!
I like the beefy neck, it's more stable.
Thanks Richard!
hey, i understand this is one year old however; I'm writing to report that the thumbs up option is missing and only the thumbs down is available to click. that is strange especially since I like this video and have no way to express it.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Did you ever add the tone monster pickup as well? Thought I understood from the first video that it would be 3 separate videos. I watched your Ultimate Stingray Mod videos as well. If you were going to the mod route to save money vs dropping $2k+ for a stingray, Would you still go with the Harley, low end Music Man, or something else? Cheers
Heyo! I believe this used the stock pickup here, unlike the Ultimate Stingray Mod Guide vid which had the Tone Monster pickup as well. For the mod route, I'd go with the Sterling By Music Man SUB because it comes with the battery route already. However for a passive mod, the Harley Benton is a great platform and value
@@LowEndLobster yeah only issue is you can't buy them new anymore since they stopped making them a while ago and buying used can always be hit or miss. Appreciate your response, thank you.
She is looking good
Thanks Ram!
Sounds awesome.
Thanks Gary!
Nice sounding puncheeeee doodle
:)
Could it be wired to have a push-pull volume for the preamp and the other two knobs for the tones?
A little noisy for me, I don't want to hear such articulate string sliding sounds, etc. Some of that is inevitable with active setups, I've played Stingrays for 20 years, so I know. But this preamp is a little too hot, IMO. I have one of these HB MB-4's, and the only thing I felt inclined to mod was the tuners. Otherwise, great as-is.
Great job. Not bad for a $120.00 bass.
Sounds great.
Thanks kjuivfbfjhv :)
I was wondering, will a fender size neck fit that neck pocket ??
Would be nice to look under pickguard and get an idea how did you insatleld the preamp there? Also the preamp model name pls
Thanks Dmitry! Had my tech route out the battery cavity. Tone monster SEB preamp is the model here :)
I have a couple of basses in the shop that need preamps as the originals are fried or simply awful. A Harley Benton enhanced mp-4eb and a Lado hawk neck through. What's your general consensus on the tone master preamps MR lobster?
Sounds very close to MM👍🏼
Thanks Willie! :)
Where can I buy a Tone Monster SEB 2-band preamp??? I cant find one anywhere
Ebay is the place :)
How much was that with shipping? I'm gonna check Amazon because international shipping sucks.
They don't have these on Amazon, but I bought this with two other basses (the Ibanez RGB300 and the HB MP-5 Enhanced) and shipping at the time was like 70 or 80 bucks total.
@@LowEndLobster I guess they don't have it any more. You can sell me that one when you are finished with it . I don't need the preamp or pickup because I will be using EMG only so give me a good price.
Love it
Thanks Jerry!
I like it bright!
Hey Lobster, was the Humbucker more or less a drop in replacement for the original pickup in the MB-4? Would you say most 'music man style' pickups would be drop ins? Considering modding one if I end up getting it. Thanks!
Hey Wollace! Yes, the pickup used here and other MM style humbuckers will fit no problem. Worst you'll have to do is maybe remove the pickguard (some pickups don't like to go in with the pickguard on).
@@LowEndLobster Perfect, thank you very much for the fast response!
There is an EMG Sub give away.
Yup- ruclips.net/video/SNfmfIwODs8/видео.html
a little too much treble for me, would install a passive filter
The high frequency is set at 4k,played live it's got clarity without being ice pick thin.
Thanks Julian!
@@vabassin wouldn't work for my sound, i like a mid rich sound with the treble controlled, usually flat, but i cut if i feel like it. I tend to play old school funk and hard rock
I love it. Make me deal.
:)
Great vid , but where can I send fan art.
Thanks Decent! lowendlobster at gmail :)
@@LowEndLobster thanks !
Interesting. Does John East make a preamp that would drop in without needing a battery box? (Would the one used in the Ray24 fit?)
Thanks Matthew, unfortunately the cavity stock route can't even accommodate a 9v at all.
I was considering trying to do an adapter with a different battery... but maybe next another time hahaha
I had to reverse the controls on the Bacchus also!!...hahaha
It's funny, on the Kiesel RV69K, Kevin had me do stacked vols by the bridge (his idea if I remember correctly - and an awesome one at that!)
I had to do the same with my Yamaha BB.
froge approves
:)
I tried the giveaway link, but it's marked as private, have I modded something?
Giveaway is over, sorry!
Dang, I really wanted that HB MB, oh well, I'll have to buy one and mod it to an OLP mm22 configuration but better parts....
Music Man should do a 3 band, Double Humbucker with 5 way switching, 4, 5, or 6 string, hey even a 34"-35.5" multi-scale.
The comments about the neckin these basses throw me off a little bit, bu it sounds wicked tbh
Thanks Anton! The necks are really nice, just more akin to a USA spec 'Ray as opposed to a SBMM Ray4/24 (more J bass profile). No issues with neck stability or fret work on mine!
That's not a Matador. It sounds nice. Has some clicky and percolation but doesn't get stabby although it is a bit sharp around the edges, tonewise, but that tone is good for stuff too.
5:30 Tone gets thicker and rounder, losing the percolative pop a bit but it's still sizzling and clicking on top of the thicker bottom. Maybe there's just a lack of mids...but you can't seem to dial out that click action so you better love it if you're doing this mod.
6:12 if you started slapping here I think you might crack a couple windows and wineglasses from the over the top penetration you're getting with just that setting. Someone might but I don't like it at all. Harsh and grating are the words that come to mind.
grating lol it does sound like you're playing it with a cheese grater sometimes lol
7:19 Jaco says you're playing in a drainpipe but it is a cool effect
8:05 got rounder again. Maybe one of those knobs should be called the "rounder" knob. Dat clatter tho. maybe a different setup would help.