@@LowEndLobster Should also say that I'm loving the tonal variety! Before your stingray mod series and now, I'd never heard EMG MM style pickups. Like them quite a bit.
OMG! That bass sounds amazing. I think it could cut through the mix anywhere. That neck pickup sounds like it would kill on "Roundabout." Break out the pick. I have not used EMG pickups in any of the basses I've built or modified, but this bass has made me a believer. Really nice upgrades all around Lobster! Killer!!
As usual LowEndLobster, nice modifications. It's great that all of the electronics are plug and play without any soldering connections. I was on the fence about buying a Sterling Stingray 4 Sub. However, with plug and play options, I'm all in now!
Suhweet! EMG really makes awesome stuff, especially for folks who don't want to or don't have the equipment to solder. It's definitely engaging in a whole new dimension with the plug and play aspect.
@@LowEndLobster I'm waiting for the Sterling by Music Man StingRay 4 Roasted Maple Neck Bass Natural to go on sale again & I'm pulling the trigger. Thanks for all of your insight brother!
@@LowEndLobster Absolutely My Man!✊🏿 You definitely could do custom work for a living my friend.💯🎯 That is No Smoke! No Bull💩!! I would trust you my beloved basses!👍🏿
Indeed, though the shape would require a different pickguard for the 5'ers as it's USA 5 string shaped vs the SUB, which has the little 'nubbins' at the top and bottom of the pickup. The Aguiar AG5M is a replacement for those however, but are hardwired in parallel
I love it! The only thing I would like you to try is adding the chrome control plate back but keep the black knobs. I think that would give a cool contrast.
That bass is gorgeous!! Putting EMGs in a "cheap" bass makes it three times more reliable and versatile, I find. They're completely noiseless, so not worrying about the quality of the signal and being able to just focus on dialing a tone that you like is a total luxury, in my humble opinion. I own a mexican jazz bass with JAX pickups and I'm really struggling to find reasons to buy another bass...until I watched this video 🤣🤣 Great content!! Thanks!
@@LowEndLobster I agree, they get a lot of hate from vintage tone geeks, but I bet half of them would change their mind if they just tried EMGs with old strings 🤣🤣 Again, beautiful bass and keep the good content up!!
Dude this bass looks so freaking good I cant get over it. You're mod sting rats made me decide to pick up a 5 string single humbucker trans satin blue. I gotta get some black hardware too. Looks so epic. ❤❤❤😊
I just got a Ray 34 single H in the firemist silver. I love this bass. I am going to mod it with a white capped EMG MMCS Pickup and a EMG J. I'm going to route a spot for the J pickup. I think it will sound awesome! and look cool :)
Never was a EMG bass pickup guy; love their guitar pickups, tho. But the MM’s sounds great! The black and red combo looks ‘rad!’ Would I do mine like that? I probably would! I wonder how it would sound with a rosewood fingerboard? Hmm.🤔 Lobster, you did great! You definitely put that HH on steroids!😌🎶👍🏾
You answered my question about which replacement bridge I should swap into my SUB ray4. Awesome transformation, these “low-end” music man clones are really well-made, seems like the hardware is the part where they saved the most money because the wood/finish/neck are pretty nice.
That Ray for will look even hotter if you stain the Fretboard, Neck and headstock (diff shades of course) . I’m thinking of doing it on mine as well as upgrading the parts
Great idea! I was thinking about that. Honestly, you'd need to sand it first and then spray it down and then satin/gloss over it. It'd be a LOT of work. Painted stain won't go on evenly on an application like this.
@@LowEndLobster I myself am a Lefty. I would have to get 3 trebles and 1 bass tuner Correct? Did you paint the pre-amp black? Black looks so nice on the Sub 4!! As for staining, i’ll prob rub it on with cloth. Davie504’s Musicman is the color i like to achieve!! Might be trial and error!!
Absolutely love the mods done on this bass,EMG’s are an excellent choice for all the electronics.Ma Makes me want to go out and buy this bass,Great Job 👍👍👍
This configuration is starting to sound *very* attractive to me. I mostly favour a Fender Jazz, and but my other bass is MM+P. Neither quite do what the other bass does, but THIS cherry-red darling here might just cover both of my main axes.
Thank you! I'm super stoked with how this project came out as well. This bass and the EMG M2 are headed over to Bully's house for some much needed abus.... uhh... playing ;P. I have a short comparison video dropping soon that features both Code Red and the EMG M2 (EM2G?). The Double TW config is just so mighty!
I'm currently working on a stingray. It has a pbass neck pickup which you can blend in with the bridge pickup using a blend knob, it has a 3 band eq with a midrange frequency shift switch, it has a coil tap switch for the humbucker and a switch to change the bass from off to 9v to 18v. I absolutely love it, it sounds like a beast
I'm really surprised how nicely this turned out! Normally I wouldn't consider EMG, I don't associate it with what I like. But these pickups sound awesome here! And the control layout is very smart, easy to operate and very flexible. It can even sound pretty close to the Sabre Classic like this! 5 claws out of 5!
My six string conversion was originally a Jay Turser MusicMan Five string. I had bought two of them; one red one, and one blue one. Oddly enough, the JayTursers were in a standard Fender or Musicman string spacing, as opposed to the OLP, SUB, Sterling, or most other Musicman copies. ... but, I liked the skinnier OLP for the fretless, since I had been used to a Fernandez Gravity V ... So I plugged and re-drilled the head-stocks on the Jay Tursers, making the red one a fretless six string, and the blue one a ten string octave monster.
Thanks Mitchell! Honestly, the two band with separate tone control has been one of my favorite electronics combos as of late. I'm going to be making a video on that setup that I have on a few basses and demonstrate the advantages of this setup, and demonstrate how the treble cut on an active preamp and the tone control impact the tone very differently :)
@@LowEndLobster I had another idea for Project Code Red. Maybe do a fret dress and document that process? I'm planning on doing that to my Ray34. Got some fret buzz that is only fixed with high action that affects my intonation.
Hey! I did one called the “Rotten Apple” of this same bass! I put in Real Ernie Ball Stingray pickups, MojoTone Preamp and Hipshot Bridge. Then I Reconditioned fretboard, fret level and shaved the neck a bit.
Is bassgazm a word? It should be! The sound... that's a huge number of tone combinations. Killer. You could almost imagine Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now... "The color... the color!" :D If only they made matching headstocks.
I'm attempting the same mod, but can't figure out how to get the Pickup connector cable with the 3 connectors through the small channel to the cavity. Not sure how you pulled that off without drilling a bigger whole or cutting the cable and re-soldering the six wires.
Hey Lobster. I just purchased this same bass and it arrives today. I was wondering where you got the black pickguard you used for the modifications. According to Music Man web site the ones they sell are not for the Sterling versions and the link for their website for the Sterling models does not work. That sounds strange to me but I do not want to blow $35 for a pickguard that does not fit.
I linked the vendor in the description. I got it from pickguard planet. It's a USA (non special) Stingray 4 HH pickguard. I mention that the pickup cutout is slightly different but it works.
@@InderjeetSingh-im3eh Definitely! Even though PC parts are a lot more black and white in terms of their performance, I try to embody what he does and focus on the customer experience vs providing lip service for a manufacturer
What you said about the neck pickup in single coil mode having a P Bass feel to it is right on. I would add that it has a P Bass feel with that classic Stingray sizzle, us Stingray-Heads know and love. 😎 I like the look of the black hardware against both the red body and pale maple neck. Nice job Lobster!! Edit: Both pickups in humbucker mode has a really nice, full tone.
Very good Review , and with the Black setup ? I can love this instrument , a very good Sound !But where do you buy a bass like that , after this perfect change ?
Cool project, nice outcome I've got some emg45 TW pickups for a six string build I'll be getting going on down the road, I have some EMG 35 DC just getting underway with and I have a EMG mmcs five string so it's got the ceramic steel pickups so much mellower than what you have with the twos I was actually hoping it was a cstw so it can be split have that mellow or tone that could then go to a single coil sound but still mellowed by the ceramic steel variation got a few different preamp options from EMG I absolutely love their wiring stuff when they first came out I thought they had a few issues they need to address and they seem to really pay attention and pay close attention to what their customer said because everything that came together by that group of early solderless wiring and preamp customers that that system should be adopted by every maker of pickups and preamps and parts and it just universalize that and then make improvements from there but it's I've been using those sets all along as a default standard gear on my builds and unless the customer specify something else and I've never had a single one come back for even just checking them out. Had a couple of it builds after about 12 years that I had a good customer calling about scratchy crackling sounds and obviously we know that's just a dirty pot a little deoxid spray turn the knob up and down up and down up and down about 8 seconds later that was gone and it's just such well built stuff and they have such a wide variety of product for guitar and bass active and passive such a wide variety of tones with in so many of the products and ability to easily get from One tone to the next to the next to the next and background and if you know where they are on on your controls you're there and the best part about working with EMG products, 100% honestly and I am not paid by them I'm not sponsored nothing although I'd be willing to listen to conversation absolute best part about working with EMG products is that you're also 100% working with the EMG people. And whether you're a customer working on your first mod or replacing something that went bad or you're an experienced tech or like me you've been building high-end custom instruments with other people's names on them for about a quarter century and you are now going to be offering these same and other custom and semi custom builds as well as a huge variety of aftermarket and replacement parts add-ons customization parts in more materials than I could ever possibly list here EMG people are the second to none. And all of my experiences they were the best customer service and technical support people have had the pleasure to work with when I was coupling one of their competitors pickups with their control system the builder of the pickups, a very popular very successful builder that we all know, basically through their hands up and said you're putting it with that stuff we have no idea you're on your own bud and that was the limit of their help I wasn't looking for them to walk me through it just maybe point out some things to look forward I'm fairly capable they wouldn't even do the bare minimum of hey make sure you got the bridge ground connected nothing and we're very nice about refusing to help they're only offer of a solution was to use the wiring and the pots that came with those pickups my customer wanted EMG with their pickups I'm going to give my customer what they want unless it's going to set their guitar on fire I'm going to get my customer and not only did EMG listen to my situation they walked me through the full install even though I didn't need it they wanted to and they walk me through a very thorough extensive testing to make sure everything was connected correctly everything was functioning correctly everything was full dynamic and tonal range and we actually found an issue and found that it couldn't be immediately corrected because of just a design quirk between the way they do things and the way their competitor does things and as of 3 years ago that is no longer a problem they changed they adapted as soon as they learned of the issue they they immediately implemented a change order in their process and began rapidly retrofitting there on the shelf stock. Yeah, the EMG people know what they're doing, they are way more than a fucking 8185 set for metal guitar. It's a nice pick up set, it's just a pickup set that and they offer so many more widely very sex options and I'm not a person who likes to choose limit variety I got to get back to work and I'm yammering here but I really look forward to possibly working with some of the community here on builds on utilizing some of the aftermarket proprietary stuff that we are bringing to market because this is a passion of mine and I can't stop doing this stuff and building this stuff so I might as well see if someone wants to buy it and people have been buying it for 25 years so the company is Chiron MusicWorks LLC we are a United States based company we are everything in house in our shop we sustainably source right now about 88% of our existing inventory is sustainably sourced and 10% of every dollar we make we provide to one of four charitable endeavors all this stuff will be on our website or RUclips channel which should be up and running in the next I'll just say it it will be the website and RUclips channel and then Facebook page and Instagram those will all be up and running very soon and I can't wait to meet some of you and work with some of you and build some bases and guitars and people's dreams because that's one of the things that makes me happy to give some money instrument they have been dreaming of my goal is to be selling a lot of $16,000 guitars and bases but just not selling them for $16,000 everything is handmade American so there's a price to it but I don't want to sell stuff for that price so all right got to get back to work thank you for those that are still reading and for those that are going to decide to look out for us and then look us up maybe work with us I can't wait we're not just about the the instruments looking for you
@@LowEndLobster awesome. I’m actually looking into finally getting one. It’s just, I’m not sure which one. I’m looking at either this one or the ray 34hh. I know....bottom and top, sterling. I’m just trying to see if it’s really worth the price difference. I think I’ve finally narrowed it to a hh at least. I really preferred the tonal options.
I love what you are doing to the Sterling basses. I have a Sterling Ray4 HH that I adore and would like to mod it and keep it around as I haven't been happy with the 2-band EQ. I was looking at the John East Uni-Pre 3 knob. Have you had any experience with the Uni-Pre's? I figure I can dial in the stingray sound (on the current EQ, I use the back pickup with the bass cut and the treble full and couldn't find any of the other John East preamps that would work with the double pickup layout. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and looking forward to more videos.
Another great modding vidéo. I don’t know if you know the Haussel Triplebucker pickups but it could make a great modding video (there is only one video for this pickup...). I just bought 2 of them to mod my stingray HH (with tone capsule preamp) but it’s not finish yet.
Awesome upgrade - sounds great. I bought a Sterling Stingray dual hum bucker with a single 9V battery about 8 months ago for my first bass. I would like to do a simplified version of your upgrade - basically new pickups and electronic's and go to a 3 way switch - the single coil "options" are not necessary for me - just want to go straight humbuckers. I like EMG pickups - could you recommend a set of pickups and electronic's. It looks like the electronic's might come with the pickups if I am understanding things. I'm still pretty much a newbie and all the different styles of pickups are pretty over whelming to me right now and I could use your expertise. Thank you - Rick
Great as always dude!! That bass sounds incredible now. I had a mini panic attack because I couldn't find the BFR bongo but it's hiding behind the bass playin crustacean.
@@LowEndLobster man I hate to hear that! My only complaint on my bongo is the preamp is too hot for its own good. I get these horrible transient pops from time to time when I slap. I used to think it was the string hitting the pickup pole, did a slowmo video and didn't see it making contact.. it's just the preamp overloading and popping. I really want to throw a bqc in mine.
Hi sir! This is an incredible sounding bass. Do you have a wiring diagram for it? I was wanting to upgrade one of my basses with a similar pickup configuration using EMG pups. Thanks so much!
OK wow! This is cool as shiz! I've been modding those old OLP five strings for a few years. since around 2006 probably. - I was into Jaco Pastorious, Tony Levin, Geddy Lee and Flea. So I was stripping those OLP fives down to fretless and then doing epoxy/superglue fingerboards. (I did five OLP Vs, 1 Squier 4, 1 MM copy 6 conversion, and 1 Ibanez Roadstar II V in fretles Jaco Epoxy) ... anyway, I've got a load of them!!! - I guess I should do a few RUclips videos and show them off. lol
You went crazy about this one, to much switching for me. Can you keep the 5 switch configuration, upgrade to a 3 band EQ with a active/passive switch (I do love the A/P switches!)? Can you also try and keep it as close as possible to a RHCP tone with the pickups? My Ray4HH is arriving on monday. it is the blue metallic with jatoba fingerboard. Fun to watch.
Hehehe, thanks! Indeed, essentially the output of the 5 way switch has one lead and one ground, so you can connect it to pretty much any single pickup preamp. Swapping out the pickups but keeping the existing 5 way switch is definitely doable, but would be a lot of work. IMO simplifying that and moving to individual coil tapping may be easier from a DIY wiring perspective. For a RHCP-ish tone, Flea was using some early 3-band Stingrays with preamps quite different from the more current Stingray standard and special. IMO a John East preamp paired with some Nordstrands would probably be the way to go.
I want to do this mod also. I'm confused about wiring the bridge pup to the tone pot. And hooking the BTC to it all and the 3 way toggle. Do you have a wiring schematic? Or will EMG help with that? Great job and I enjoy all your mod in the Quest For Low End Tone!!
Thank you! Awesome that you want to do this mod. The TW pickup directions will make it all claar in regards to wiring a master vol and tone combined with a selector switch
Very cool looking mods--the bass looks killer now. That all black hardware with red body and maple neck is YUMMY! Probably going to get slammed... but I've gotta say I'm not thrilled with the EMGs (although it has grown on me after listening through a few times). I've have several basses with EMGs, and I think they are engineered very well and the quality is top notch. Also, EMG makes it really, really easy to install their electronics. I don't know what it is, but of all the basses I've had with EMGs, I've only been completely happy with one specific bass (that was an Ibanez Doug Wimbish 4-string model). The rest, including a Spector I had, I've not been thrilled with. I'd probably not be so turned off by the sound here if I didn't know the bass started life as a "Stingray." The EMGs seem to lose almost all that character. With all the mods you did, I wonder how it would sound with the addition of an EXB control, rather than the 2-band, to give a sharper slap sound? I wonder if it would give that glassy, super-clean, scooped Henrik Linder tone. I love the sound he gets for slap from his bass. Too bad the bass he uses costs like... $10,000!
I have a Ray5 in surf green ( I know it's mint, but I like surf instrumental so I call it surf green), anyway I ended up replacing the bridge saddles with ones I made (the stock ones were crap, I had to use 3 different hex keys to adjust the pu height.) And I made a pickguard out of mother-of-pearl material (for that surf aesthetic) I also dumped all the pots in favor of a SPDT on-off toggle. The stock ceramic pu really bites when run with no preamp or pots, but it was missing something. I have some EMG pu hanging around and been considering modding the bass to a bridge/humbucker-neck/single coil configuration. It's a no cost mod to me as I already have all the stuff. I was just hesitant to do all that work if it would sound like crap when I was done. The Ray5 is the single pu model and I would have to route the body for the bridge pu. However, after listening to your in depth review of the modded Ray4, I'm confident I will get the sound I want and it will be worth the effort. The best part is, the mod is reversible as the pick guard for the single Ray5 will cover any bridge hole I route into the body and the EMG humbucker will fit in the existing route for the stock Ray5 pickup. Thanks for the inspiration. 8)
Hehe the videos were shot farther apart. Most videos you see are a few weeks to a couple months old when they're released with only certain ones cutting in line (if they're for something brand new or if it's something that I think would get a lot of subs or views).
@@LowEndLobster yes , I managed to put on a SBMM Ray 34 bridge, but since the saddle configuration is different ,ala real musicman, the alignment was off and required some lo tech tweaking on my part (reposition the pickup, slightly move the pickguard and tug on the neck sideways) I noticed that the saddle configuration on the Albridge looks like it lined right up
I LOVE IT.
Red bass with black guard, black hardware, and a maple board is badass. That Ray is kinda like a muscle car, but in bass form.
Thank you Landroid!
@@LowEndLobster Should also say that I'm loving the tonal variety! Before your stingray mod series and now, I'd never heard EMG MM style pickups. Like them quite a bit.
Were we can buy all that black Hardware and pickguard ?
I appreciate that he said the craziest mod "yet"...nice keeping that future options open
;)
@@LowEndLobster Plot Twist: LEL finds a rare and pristine Ray husk that has nothing but the neck and body and upgrades the body and neck
I love the sound of a bridge pickup with the tone rolled off.... you get all of the punch without the nasal sound you get from some bridge pickups.
Thanks Chris! Indeed, that's a great tone
That bass sounds great. I think this is the best stingray mod you've ever done.
Thanks Daniel! I agree, very happy with how this came out
What a versatile sounding bass-great for the studio. Great aesthetics too!
Thanks Barry!
OMG! That bass sounds amazing. I think it could cut through the mix anywhere. That neck pickup sounds like it would kill on "Roundabout." Break out the pick. I have not used EMG pickups in any of the basses I've built or modified, but this bass has made me a believer. Really nice upgrades all around Lobster! Killer!!
Thanks Chris!
As usual LowEndLobster, nice modifications. It's great that all of the electronics are plug and play without any soldering connections. I was on the fence about buying a Sterling Stingray 4 Sub. However, with plug and play options, I'm all in now!
Suhweet! EMG really makes awesome stuff, especially for folks who don't want to or don't have the equipment to solder. It's definitely engaging in a whole new dimension with the plug and play aspect.
@@LowEndLobster I'm waiting for the Sterling by Music Man StingRay 4 Roasted Maple Neck Bass Natural to go on sale again & I'm pulling the trigger. Thanks for all of your insight brother!
I’m a simple man I like red on Basses. So this Bass’s Aesthetics make me happy : )
Thanks Spider :) I like how this came out too.
Great video to be listening to while shopping for a stingray. Makes it easier to stay focused.
Thank you :)
Now that's one HUGE sounding BEAST. Great mod.
Thank you :)
The crisp of the pickup is sound so good, and I love how the bass is more growler than before.
Thank you Mark! :)
Once again EMG saved the day!
Thanks for this video LowEndLobster!!!
:) You're welcome Guy!
You are the coolest cat in bass modifying, Lobster!!! Always a pleasure to watch and listen to what you are up to again!!!
Definitely Snazzy Lookin'!👀😘
From the "piano wire ping"✨to the rich warm tones🔥the CLARITY is exceptional!🎶🎶🎶
Great Work Lobbie!💯
Thank you Jason!
@@LowEndLobster
Absolutely My Man!✊🏿
You definitely could do custom work for a living my friend.💯🎯
That is No Smoke! No Bull💩!!
I would trust you my beloved basses!👍🏿
Killer! I love the black hardware and it sounds amazing! I would definitely buy a Lobster Custom Shop bass!
Thanks Dustin :)
That Red Lobster bass you got there sounds sweet! It looks like they have those pickups in the 5 string variety as well. Hmm...
Indeed, though the shape would require a different pickguard for the 5'ers as it's USA 5 string shaped vs the SUB, which has the little 'nubbins' at the top and bottom of the pickup. The Aguiar AG5M is a replacement for those however, but are hardwired in parallel
Dang, that bass sounds Great!!! Well done my friend:)
Love your videos 👍🏻
Thank you Ray!
I love it! The only thing I would like you to try is adding the chrome control plate back but keep the black knobs. I think that would give a cool contrast.
That's a cool idea! Thank you :)
Love it! I really enjoy the Code Red name. The bass sounds amazing and extremely versatile. Keep Grooving bro!
Thanks Norb!
Damn that sounds awesome and the black hardware and pg looks as good as it sounds
Thanks Jason!
Man, dual humbucker sting rays just sound "chef kiss"
That bass is gorgeous!!
Putting EMGs in a "cheap" bass makes it three times more reliable and versatile, I find. They're completely noiseless, so not worrying about the quality of the signal and being able to just focus on dialing a tone that you like is a total luxury, in my humble opinion.
I own a mexican jazz bass with JAX pickups and I'm really struggling to find reasons to buy another bass...until I watched this video 🤣🤣
Great content!! Thanks!
Thank you Adrian! Indeed, EMG is one of the best avenues to improving an instrument electronically and the solderless design makes it even easier :)
@@LowEndLobster I agree, they get a lot of hate from vintage tone geeks, but I bet half of them would change their mind if they just tried EMGs with old strings 🤣🤣
Again, beautiful bass and keep the good content up!!
I would have gone with alternating black and candy-apple red as my nail polish colors, but you do you. XD
LMAO!
Dude this bass looks so freaking good I cant get over it. You're mod sting rats made me decide to pick up a 5 string single humbucker trans satin blue. I gotta get some black hardware too. Looks so epic. ❤❤❤😊
Thank you! This was one of my favorites
.....damn, this is amazing! I really dig the tone. I was wondering what this could sound like, and it seems it was worth the wait. 5 claws out of 5.
Thank you! I am super happy with the end result, looks just like I imagined and sounds even better.
I just got a Ray 34 single H in the firemist silver. I love this bass. I am going to mod it with a white capped EMG MMCS Pickup and a EMG J. I'm going to route a spot for the J pickup. I think it will sound awesome! and look cool :)
Awesome! That sounds like a killer mod! Let me know how it turns out :)
Wooooow what a Great Sound , with EMG ! Thanks a very good Review ..👏👏👏
Congratulations Low End Lobster This is The Fattest Sounding Stingray And Quite in All Settings Another Winner Indeed Bravo 😎👍
Thanks Darrell!
Wow. Great sound. Very even sounding. Nice job lobster.
Thanks Rich!
Finally EMG MMTW! Thank you so much! And damn, that bridge PU in single coil mode blows my mind
Thanks AK! Really happy with these pickups in this application, end result makes me very happy!
As always.... great, great MOD Lobster!! Congratulations
Sounds like a good recording bass! Thanks.
Thank you!
That is one awesome sounding machine. Lordy and looks fantastic.
Thanks Don!
Salutations crustaceans this neck is so clear. I need more dark colors in this master piece
Damn! Sounds like a really modern Sabre Bass! You did amazing! Congrats!
Thanks Jacob!
WOW! Great Job! That Thing is a BEAST! When I grow Up, I'm gonna be Just like You LOL! @LowEndLobster
Thanks George XD
That sounds fantastic!!!!! Thank you!
Glad you liked it! This was a very fun project.
Never was a EMG bass pickup guy; love their guitar pickups, tho. But the MM’s sounds great! The black and red combo looks ‘rad!’ Would I do mine like that? I probably would! I wonder how it would sound with a rosewood fingerboard? Hmm.🤔
Lobster, you did great! You definitely put that HH on steroids!😌🎶👍🏾
Thank you! :)
You answered my question about which replacement bridge I should swap into my SUB ray4. Awesome transformation, these “low-end” music man clones are really well-made, seems like the hardware is the part where they saved the most money because the wood/finish/neck are pretty nice.
Glad I could help and you're right!
That Ray for will look even hotter if you stain the Fretboard, Neck and headstock (diff shades of course) . I’m thinking of doing it on mine as well as upgrading the parts
Great idea! I was thinking about that. Honestly, you'd need to sand it first and then spray it down and then satin/gloss over it. It'd be a LOT of work. Painted stain won't go on evenly on an application like this.
@@LowEndLobster
I myself am a Lefty. I would have to get 3 trebles and 1 bass tuner Correct? Did you paint the pre-amp black? Black looks so nice on the Sub 4!!
As for staining, i’ll prob rub it on with cloth. Davie504’s Musicman is the color i like to achieve!! Might be trial and error!!
This bass looks and sounds great.
Thanks Rick!
EMGs sound great! Usually I'd prefer Stingray pups that have slugs showing, but the EMG style works great on this one with the black hardware.
Thanks! Indeed, was going for a much less traditional look/sound here and I think we succeeded :)
Absolutely love the mods done on this bass,EMG’s are an excellent choice for all the electronics.Ma
Makes me want to go out and buy this bass,Great Job 👍👍👍
Thanks NJT!
This configuration is starting to sound *very* attractive to me. I mostly favour a Fender Jazz, and but my other bass is MM+P. Neither quite do what the other bass does, but THIS cherry-red darling here might just cover both of my main axes.
Thank you! I'm super stoked with how this project came out as well. This bass and the EMG M2 are headed over to Bully's house for some much needed abus.... uhh... playing ;P. I have a short comparison video dropping soon that features both Code Red and the EMG M2 (EM2G?). The Double TW config is just so mighty!
Great great bass you've got dude! Badass in tones and aesthetics!
Thank you! Very happy with the end result :)
I'm currently working on a stingray. It has a pbass neck pickup which you can blend in with the bridge pickup using a blend knob, it has a 3 band eq with a midrange frequency shift switch, it has a coil tap switch for the humbucker and a switch to change the bass from off to 9v to 18v. I absolutely love it, it sounds like a beast
Very cool look and sound!
Thanks Marks5s!
Dude, that sounds GREAT!
Thank you!
Very very instructive and interesting !! Thanks a lot !
:)
Great job Lobster.
Once again, an incredibly useful watch and learn, he said, feeling a little more aware and so reaching for his wallet!
I'm really surprised how nicely this turned out! Normally I wouldn't consider EMG, I don't associate it with what I like. But these pickups sound awesome here! And the control layout is very smart, easy to operate and very flexible. It can even sound pretty close to the Sabre Classic like this! 5 claws out of 5!
My six string conversion was originally a Jay Turser MusicMan Five string. I had bought two of them; one red one, and one blue one. Oddly enough, the JayTursers were in a standard Fender or Musicman string spacing, as opposed to the OLP, SUB, Sterling, or most other Musicman copies. ... but, I liked the skinnier OLP for the fretless, since I had been used to a Fernandez Gravity V ... So I plugged and re-drilled the head-stocks on the Jay Tursers, making the red one a fretless six string, and the blue one a ten string octave monster.
That’s probably your best sounding modded bass ever!!
Oh that sounds killer! I only have a single buck Ray but I love the tone control. Im gonna have to get a set.
Thanks Mitchell! Honestly, the two band with separate tone control has been one of my favorite electronics combos as of late. I'm going to be making a video on that setup that I have on a few basses and demonstrate the advantages of this setup, and demonstrate how the treble cut on an active preamp and the tone control impact the tone very differently :)
@@LowEndLobster I had another idea for Project Code Red. Maybe do a fret dress and document that process? I'm planning on doing that to my Ray34. Got some fret buzz that is only fixed with high action that affects my intonation.
Truly insane! I love it.
Thanks Sam!
Sick bass! Love the color combo.
Thanks A!
Always enjoy the stingray videos
Thank you :)
As always the operation was a success.The allBridge is very interesting.
Thanks Kev! Yeah I really dig these bridges. Love em on my Sires and on this project. We have another project coming with an Albridge soon! :)
Geez, everything sounds great on that MM. Talk about Versatility. The swiss army knife of basses..
Thank you! I really love how this project turned out. I lent this to Bully, hopefully we'll see a vid on it soon!
Hey! I did one called the “Rotten Apple” of this same bass! I put in Real Ernie Ball Stingray pickups, MojoTone Preamp and Hipshot Bridge. Then I Reconditioned fretboard, fret level and shaved the neck a bit.
Hell yeah! That sounds awesome! Would love to see pics. Join our discord channel (linked in the video description)
Damn that’s a sleek bass
Thank you!
This was a great mod vid. Lobster 🦞 makes me want a stingray so bad. I’ve been a jazz man my whole life.
Thank you Twig :)
Jazz still best option.
Is bassgazm a word? It should be! The sound... that's a huge number of tone combinations. Killer. You could almost imagine Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now... "The color... the color!" :D If only they made matching headstocks.
Thank you Breakit!
Bought the same bass in olive and switched out the pups and preamp in this configuration. And WOW it sounds MASSIVE.
Sweet! What'd you swap in?
@@LowEndLobster Same electronics as the Code Red. Very very happy with it.
@@PhatPhrank Awesome! So glad you're enjoying the setup
I'm attempting the same mod, but can't figure out how to get the Pickup connector cable with the 3 connectors through the small channel to the cavity. Not sure how you pulled that off without drilling a bigger whole or cutting the cable and re-soldering the six wires.
You use the Tele switch instead of the little module. The Tele switch acts as a signal and power hub
Fantastic job sounds incredible!
Thanks Scott!
Awesome engineering, dude🎸
I really dig this!! Second to the mintoray though. That sucker is clawsome.
Thanks Wes! Indeed Minty was a strong first mod project, definitely going to be hard to beat that one!
I dig it a lot too! Nice bass!
Thanks Budd!
Sounds wonderful! Awesome!!
Thank you!
Nice, I hope to get one of those EMG's for my bass.
Thanks Hissori! They are quite nice :)
Hey Lobster.
I just purchased this same bass and it arrives today.
I was wondering where you got the black pickguard you used for the modifications.
According to Music Man web site the ones they sell are not for the Sterling versions and the link for their website for the Sterling models does not work.
That sounds strange to me but I do not want to blow $35 for a pickguard that does not fit.
I linked the vendor in the description. I got it from pickguard planet. It's a USA (non special) Stingray 4 HH pickguard. I mention that the pickup cutout is slightly different but it works.
Nice to see you're representing GN. 👍
Steve is the man! He's one of my biggest youtube influences when it comes to integrity and presentation
@@LowEndLobster It's also why I like the channel. Plus their unwavering focus on the end user.
@@InderjeetSingh-im3eh Definitely! Even though PC parts are a lot more black and white in terms of their performance, I try to embody what he does and focus on the customer experience vs providing lip service for a manufacturer
What you said about the neck pickup in single coil mode having a P Bass feel to it is right on. I would add that it has a P Bass feel with that classic Stingray sizzle, us Stingray-Heads know and love. 😎
I like the look of the black hardware against both the red body and pale maple neck. Nice job Lobster!!
Edit: Both pickups in humbucker mode has a really nice, full tone.
Thank you Kevin!
Amazing, Finally I found what I need for my Harley Benton five string...
Very good Review , and with the Black setup ? I can love this instrument , a very good Sound !But where do you buy a bass like that , after this perfect change ?
You need to buy a stock Ray4HH and about $600 USD of parts XD
Cool project, nice outcome I've got some emg45 TW pickups for a six string build I'll be getting going on down the road, I have some EMG 35 DC just getting underway with and I have a EMG mmcs five string so it's got the ceramic steel pickups so much mellower than what you have with the twos I was actually hoping it was a cstw so it can be split have that mellow or tone that could then go to a single coil sound but still mellowed by the ceramic steel variation got a few different preamp options from EMG I absolutely love their wiring stuff when they first came out I thought they had a few issues they need to address and they seem to really pay attention and pay close attention to what their customer said because everything that came together by that group of early solderless wiring and preamp customers that that system should be adopted by every maker of pickups and preamps and parts and it just universalize that and then make improvements from there but it's I've been using those sets all along as a default standard gear on my builds and unless the customer specify something else and I've never had a single one come back for even just checking them out. Had a couple of it builds after about 12 years that I had a good customer calling about scratchy crackling sounds and obviously we know that's just a dirty pot a little deoxid spray turn the knob up and down up and down up and down about 8 seconds later that was gone and it's just such well built stuff and they have such a wide variety of product for guitar and bass active and passive such a wide variety of tones with in so many of the products and ability to easily get from One tone to the next to the next to the next and background and if you know where they are on on your controls you're there and the best part about working with EMG products, 100% honestly and I am not paid by them I'm not sponsored nothing although I'd be willing to listen to conversation absolute best part about working with EMG products is that you're also 100% working with the EMG people. And whether you're a customer working on your first mod or replacing something that went bad or you're an experienced tech or like me you've been building high-end custom instruments with other people's names on them for about a quarter century and you are now going to be offering these same and other custom and semi custom builds as well as a huge variety of aftermarket and replacement parts add-ons customization parts in more materials than I could ever possibly list here EMG people are the second to none. And all of my experiences they were the best customer service and technical support people have had the pleasure to work with when I was coupling one of their competitors pickups with their control system the builder of the pickups, a very popular very successful builder that we all know, basically through their hands up and said you're putting it with that stuff we have no idea you're on your own bud and that was the limit of their help I wasn't looking for them to walk me through it just maybe point out some things to look forward I'm fairly capable they wouldn't even do the bare minimum of hey make sure you got the bridge ground connected nothing and we're very nice about refusing to help they're only offer of a solution was to use the wiring and the pots that came with those pickups my customer wanted EMG with their pickups I'm going to give my customer what they want unless it's going to set their guitar on fire I'm going to get my customer and not only did EMG listen to my situation they walked me through the full install even though I didn't need it they wanted to and they walk me through a very thorough extensive testing to make sure everything was connected correctly everything was functioning correctly everything was full dynamic and tonal range and we actually found an issue and found that it couldn't be immediately corrected because of just a design quirk between the way they do things and the way their competitor does things and as of 3 years ago that is no longer a problem they changed they adapted as soon as they learned of the issue they they immediately implemented a change order in their process and began rapidly retrofitting there on the shelf stock. Yeah, the EMG people know what they're doing, they are way more than a fucking 8185 set for metal guitar. It's a nice pick up set, it's just a pickup set that and they offer so many more widely very sex options and I'm not a person who likes to choose limit variety I got to get back to work and I'm yammering here but I really look forward to possibly working with some of the community here on builds on utilizing some of the aftermarket proprietary stuff that we are bringing to market because this is a passion of mine and I can't stop doing this stuff and building this stuff so I might as well see if someone wants to buy it and people have been buying it for 25 years so the company is Chiron MusicWorks LLC we are a United States based company we are everything in house in our shop we sustainably source right now about 88% of our existing inventory is sustainably sourced and 10% of every dollar we make we provide to one of four charitable endeavors all this stuff will be on our website or RUclips channel which should be up and running in the next I'll just say it it will be the website and RUclips channel and then Facebook page and Instagram those will all be up and running very soon and I can't wait to meet some of you and work with some of you and build some bases and guitars and people's dreams because that's one of the things that makes me happy to give some money instrument they have been dreaming of my goal is to be selling a lot of $16,000 guitars and bases but just not selling them for $16,000 everything is handmade American so there's a price to it but I don't want to sell stuff for that price so all right got to get back to work thank you for those that are still reading and for those that are going to decide to look out for us and then look us up maybe work with us I can't wait we're not just about the the instruments looking for you
Yo Metalbass! Great comment, yeah man EMG's quality definitely goes beyond the electronics- excellent staff and team over there!
I’m sold!!!!! I need this bass!!!!
:) I have another vid on it coming in the next couple of weeks
@@LowEndLobster awesome. I’m actually looking into finally getting one. It’s just, I’m not sure which one. I’m looking at either this one or the ray 34hh. I know....bottom and top, sterling. I’m just trying to see if it’s really worth the price difference. I think I’ve finally narrowed it to a hh at least. I really preferred the tonal options.
I love what you are doing to the Sterling basses. I have a Sterling Ray4 HH that I adore and would like to mod it and keep it around as I haven't been happy with the 2-band EQ. I was looking at the John East Uni-Pre 3 knob. Have you had any experience with the Uni-Pre's? I figure I can dial in the stingray sound (on the current EQ, I use the back pickup with the bass cut and the treble full and couldn't find any of the other John East preamps that would work with the double pickup layout. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and looking forward to more videos.
Aesthetically, I preferred the white and chrome furnishings. Tone wise: nice... but way more than I’d ever need!
Thanks Rev! Indeed, this is the kind of bass that you take into the fallout shelter with you so you don't need to ration your bass tones ;P
I am totally wowed!
Another great modding vidéo. I don’t know if you know the Haussel Triplebucker pickups but it could make a great modding video (there is only one video for this pickup...). I just bought 2 of them to mod my stingray HH (with tone capsule preamp) but it’s not finish yet.
Now we're talking! Great suggestion, thank you!
Awesome upgrade - sounds great. I bought a Sterling Stingray dual hum bucker with a single 9V battery about 8 months ago for my first bass. I would like to do a simplified version of your upgrade - basically new pickups and electronic's and go to a 3 way switch - the single coil "options" are not necessary for me - just want to go straight humbuckers. I like EMG pickups - could you recommend a set of pickups and electronic's. It looks like the electronic's might come with the pickups if I am understanding things. I'm still pretty much a newbie and all the different styles of pickups are pretty over whelming to me right now and I could use your expertise. Thank you - Rick
Great as always dude!! That bass sounds incredible now. I had a mini panic attack because I couldn't find the BFR bongo but it's hiding behind the bass playin crustacean.
Hehehe, I gotta make another vid on that Bongo. It's a cool bass but it's not without its flaws.
@@LowEndLobster man I hate to hear that! My only complaint on my bongo is the preamp is too hot for its own good. I get these horrible transient pops from time to time when I slap. I used to think it was the string hitting the pickup pole, did a slowmo video and didn't see it making contact.. it's just the preamp overloading and popping. I really want to throw a bqc in mine.
Great Vid!!!! I want to ask what two pots did you order for the volume and tone? I ordered everything else thanks in advance
They come with the pickup. It's shown how to configure them as volume or tone in the directions. Really cool stuff. Nothing additional needed
The hipshot badass bridge 2 fit my modded ray4 I got the walnut one and put some Seymour Duncan pbass pickups in it
Nice! Sounds awesome :)
Hi sir! This is an incredible sounding bass. Do you have a wiring diagram for it? I was wanting to upgrade one of my basses with a similar pickup configuration using EMG pups. Thanks so much!
OK wow! This is cool as shiz! I've been modding those old OLP five strings for a few years. since around 2006 probably. - I was into Jaco Pastorious, Tony Levin, Geddy Lee and Flea. So I was stripping those OLP fives down to fretless and then doing epoxy/superglue fingerboards. (I did five OLP Vs, 1 Squier 4, 1 MM copy 6 conversion, and 1 Ibanez Roadstar II V in fretles Jaco Epoxy) ... anyway, I've got a load of them!!! - I guess I should do a few RUclips videos and show them off. lol
You went crazy about this one, to much switching for me. Can you keep the 5 switch configuration, upgrade to a 3 band EQ with a active/passive switch (I do love the A/P switches!)? Can you also try and keep it as close as possible to a RHCP tone with the pickups?
My Ray4HH is arriving on monday. it is the blue metallic with jatoba fingerboard.
Fun to watch.
Hehehe, thanks! Indeed, essentially the output of the 5 way switch has one lead and one ground, so you can connect it to pretty much any single pickup preamp. Swapping out the pickups but keeping the existing 5 way switch is definitely doable, but would be a lot of work. IMO simplifying that and moving to individual coil tapping may be easier from a DIY wiring perspective. For a RHCP-ish tone, Flea was using some early 3-band Stingrays with preamps quite different from the more current Stingray standard and special. IMO a John East preamp paired with some Nordstrands would probably be the way to go.
I love it. I would play around with some black strings
Thanks Darrell :)
Hi Lobster..
That bass sound so good...
Did You Just Using 9v???
With Active Double Humbucker And Preamp????
Yes, I was going to expand the battery cavity and install a double door, but a single battery does it all here!
Wow it sounds effen bad ass man!!!!! Sooo jelly!!!
Thank you!
I want to do this mod also. I'm confused about wiring the bridge pup to the tone pot. And hooking the BTC to it all and the 3 way toggle. Do you have a wiring schematic? Or will EMG help with that? Great job and I enjoy all your mod in the Quest For Low End Tone!!
Thank you! Awesome that you want to do this mod. The TW pickup directions will make it all claar in regards to wiring a master vol and tone combined with a selector switch
Very cool looking mods--the bass looks killer now. That all black hardware with red body and maple neck is YUMMY!
Probably going to get slammed... but I've gotta say I'm not thrilled with the EMGs (although it has grown on me after listening through a few times). I've have several basses with EMGs, and I think they are engineered very well and the quality is top notch. Also, EMG makes it really, really easy to install their electronics. I don't know what it is, but of all the basses I've had with EMGs, I've only been completely happy with one specific bass (that was an Ibanez Doug Wimbish 4-string model). The rest, including a Spector I had, I've not been thrilled with. I'd probably not be so turned off by the sound here if I didn't know the bass started life as a "Stingray." The EMGs seem to lose almost all that character.
With all the mods you did, I wonder how it would sound with the addition of an EXB control, rather than the 2-band, to give a sharper slap sound? I wonder if it would give that glassy, super-clean, scooped Henrik Linder tone. I love the sound he gets for slap from his bass. Too bad the bass he uses costs like... $10,000!
Indeed a great job
Thank you!
Could a budget version of this be done, just changing the pick ups and keeping the stock electronics? Thanks in advance great channel!
I have a Ray5 in surf green ( I know it's mint, but I like surf instrumental so I call it surf green), anyway I ended up replacing the bridge saddles with ones I made (the stock ones were crap, I had to use 3 different hex keys to adjust the pu height.) And I made a pickguard out of mother-of-pearl material (for that surf aesthetic) I also dumped all the pots in favor of a SPDT on-off toggle. The stock ceramic pu really bites when run with no preamp or pots, but it was missing something. I have some EMG pu hanging around and been considering modding the bass to a bridge/humbucker-neck/single coil configuration. It's a no cost mod to me as I already have all the stuff. I was just hesitant to do all that work if it would sound like crap when I was done. The Ray5 is the single pu model and I would have to route the body for the bridge pu. However, after listening to your in depth review of the modded Ray4, I'm confident I will get the sound I want and it will be worth the effort. The best part is, the mod is reversible as the pick guard for the single Ray5 will cover any bridge hole I route into the body and the EMG humbucker will fit in the existing route for the stock Ray5 pickup. Thanks for the inspiration. 8)
Hell yeah! That sounds awesome!
Dig it Low End🦞 🤘
Thanks Nuggs!
Wow, that was fast!!!
Hehe the videos were shot farther apart. Most videos you see are a few weeks to a couple months old when they're released with only certain ones cutting in line (if they're for something brand new or if it's something that I think would get a lot of subs or views).
That is a very nice bridge. I wish I had known of it before I modded my SUB
I wish I knew about these during the Mintoray days as well!
@@LowEndLobster yes , I managed to put on a SBMM Ray 34 bridge, but since the saddle configuration is different ,ala real musicman, the alignment was off and required some lo tech tweaking on my part (reposition the pickup, slightly move the pickguard and tug on the neck sideways)
I noticed that the saddle configuration on the Albridge looks like it lined right up
One more thing, on a previous SUB I modded back in 2014, I replaced the bridge with a badass 2 .
The strings lined up perfectly also
@@MegaBassfunk the knock off bridges are off on their string alignment. A friend of mine put one on a project and had a similar issue.