Doctor J

Let's turn it around again and say if you took the pickups and electronics out of a Stingray and replaced them with a P pickup with a passive volume and tone pot, what would it sound like? Does a maple boarded Stingray sound like a Stingray? If so, does a rosewood boarded Stingray also sound like a Stingray?

No, they say They say the differentiator is the frets.

I play original music so, overall, I have played at a loss for 30 years. Playing for free would be a step up in the world 😂 I would play for free for now because I enjoy playing, provided there were no expenses and, perhaps, the venue could throw in some goodies to sweeten it a smidge. The situation would be fluid, however, and no long term commitments would be made. Once the venue is doing well, the band should do well too.

Well, copper wire and pickup magnets are built to specific values with controlled tolerances so, yes, there is a level of verifiable consistency with them. DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan issue tonal charts as to what sonic properties you can expect from different pickup models. They are built to produce sound with a particular sonic footprint which the manufacturer will stand over since they're advertising the product as having these specific properties within a specified tolerance. There is no magic or guesswork to it.

My own take on it is that I can usually tell when I hear a Stingray on a recording. I can usually pick out Precisions and the bridge pickups of Jazz basses. Jazz bass neck pickup recordings can easily be confused with Ric 4000 or 4003, depending on the playing and settings. Same with single coil early 50's Precisions. I used to think The Holy Bible was a Ric until it was claimed that it was Bradfield on a Precision so I guess there are some sonic fingerprints common to both which get obscured in the context of a mix. Pickups make a huge difference, this much I am sure of. I have never been able to tell what fretboard wood they have just by listening, though. Even solo bass. Do I care about comparing isolation recordings and listening out for teeny tiny differences? No. I like bass in the context of a band playing a piece of music. Wood is organic. Every piece is different, even if they are of the same species. Does it make a difference? Yes, everything makes a difference, but my ears tell me it doesn't make enough of a difference for me to care signifigcantly about it. Therefore, I have learned not to get to caught up in it and pick what looks pretty. FWIW, I can't tell the bridge saddle material just by hearing, nor nickel vs steel frets, either. I'm pretty sure I can't tell if you're playing a BBOT or a Badass just by listening, to my shame. I am told they make a difference, too.

The Alembic perspective is interesting in that context http://www.alembic.com/info/wood_fingerboards.html

This thing sounds just what you need

I'll see your Vinnie Vincent and raise you two Michael Jacksons. "What's all that noise outside? What is that terrible smell?" "It looks like the dead have come back to life, love." "What are they doing?" "They're dancing at some terrified young one, love. One of them looks a bit like that Michael Jackson. Go back to sleep."

Dean Exotica... didn’t he play in Tigertailz for a while?

Well, if you don’t ask you’ll never know 🙂

So, not quite right then but still not as bad as the pictures would lead you to believe? 🤣

Sell it and knock a few years off the mortgage.

If the threads come up far enough, put a washer between the blend pot and bottom of the control plate, which should bring the overall height down and allow you to have everything just right. It would get to me, too 😉

The only box set I've ever gone for like that is for Pet Sounds, but you got isolated harmony vocal tracks, breakdowns of the orchestration, a great insight into a very complex and layered album. For a straightahead rock band, a power trio essentially, it seems a bit much. It's more like selling everything they could find related to it.

You have cash? They want it.

Yamaha developed a process called A.R.E. which follows this line of thought. They used it on the highly regarded BB2024 basses

Why not get one and add a second pickup in the Stingray spot? It looks like there is space to get it in the authentic Stingray position. More is more, after all.

It's ok, nothing amazing, though some interesting nuggets if you're into SY

15/15 I have even read her book 😉

3 minutes in and the only thing, other than time, you’ll be hearing is a year’s worth of finger biocrud and fatigued strings?

$2.49 each here https://lovemyswitches.com/solid-aluminum-knob-the-eagle-black-16-x-19mm/ I've bought from these guys a few times, very reliable and, provided you don't blow the rent on them, you should come in under the import duty radar.

Mahogany-purpleheart-maple-walnut on my Alembic

Praga Khan, not Chaka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0ijNcNvmyw

Perhaps you’re thinking of the plexi strat in the Get Lucky video which matches the plexi bass? What gets used in videos frequently does not correspond to what was used to record.

50-something... it’s called The Hitmaker and has a GDP which would put most countries to shame 😂