Stingray 5 ,

[Chris Horton]

Hi all,

I play a Stingray 5 bass with the standard Humbucker Pickup with Piezo pickup.

I have been toying with the idea of getting hold of a Stingray 5 with the HS pickup configuration,

Could any stingray experts please share their thoughts on the H vs HS pickups with tone etc ??

Many thanks
Chris

[Musicman20]

There are two great videos here that I found for when I bought mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rp45IKy48U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ef2CQZxXo&feature=related

Personally, I find the HS to be really really good! The 2008- Ray 5s are ALL alnico, like the Ray 4s. The Sterling's are all ceramic.

If you bought a 2008 onwards HS, you get all the nice single coil/combined coil options, plus the normal fat Ray H tone which is essential.

A 2008- H does not give you the Jaco single coil tone at the bridge....single coil mode isnt possible unless you get a HS now. Pre-2008, different story.

[stingrayPete1977]

I just can't get used to the look of a Ray with more than one pup and I like the room behind the pick guard too. I only use the standard Ray setting too so I guess I'm not much help here?

[Chris Horton]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1317228344' post='1388418']I just can't get used to the look of a Ray with more than one pup and I like the room behind the pick guard too. I only use the standard Ray setting too so I guess I'm not much help here? [/quote]



I know what you mean
I do prefer the cosmetic look of a SR5 in single humbucker setup over any other configuration.
GAS is a bad thing
Would like to try out a SR5 with HS pickups though

[Chris Horton]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1317217389' post='1388217']


Personally, I find the HS to be really really good! The 2008- Ray 5s are ALL alnico, like the Ray 4s. The Sterling's are all ceramic.

If you bought a 2008 onwards HS, you get all the nice single coil/combined coil options, plus the normal fat Ray H tone which is essential.

A 2008- H does not give you the Jaco single coil tone at the bridge....single coil mode isnt possible unless you get a HS now. Pre-2008, different story.
[/quote]





Thanks for the helpful coments guy's,
My current SR5 is a 2002 model, if i bought a brand new SR5 with HS pickups , do you think that the tone would be vastly different ?

[Musicman20]

The alnico's are slightly, and I mean ever so slightly, smoother. There is less aggression in the mids compared to the ceramic.

You will find the 2008- alnico's are basically the same tone as a normal 3EQ Ray 4 string now, apart tonal variations that normally exist because of wood used/winding of pickups, etc.

They did it, I presume, because many asked for an alnico Ray 5, and if you dont want that, you can get the Sterling.

With the HS though, there is a LOT of nice variations for tone. The neck S pickup, despite being a single coil, is still MASSIVE compared to say a Fender Jazz single coil. My Ray 5 HS and Sterling 5 HS just look phenomenal.

[stingrayPete1977]

You lot have me gassing for a HS now