Duncan in a Ray

[throwoff]

I am gradually falling out of love with my Stingray.

Dont get me wrong, the neck feels right, the shape feels good but I just cannot get a sound out of it that I want.
I have played with every EQ setting on the bass, my Boss GEB7 and my amp but just cant get anthing like the tone I want and the tone I hear when I hear other people playing them on records (through racks of studio gear no doubt!)

Bearing in mind I play my Corvette with everything flat and just find that it cuts through.

My P had a similar problem in that the tone just was not punchy enough till I put a Duncan 1/4 pounder in and now it would be my go to bass (if not for the Warwick fitting just right in my current band)

So my thoughts lead me to something that seems a bit controversial in Stingray circles, and that is changing the P/up for one of these -
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/seymour_duncan_smb4ds.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/seymour_duncan_smb4ds.htm[/url]

I believe the pickup has a similar response to the 1/4 pounder tone I love but I would be interested to hear from anyone who has changed a Ray pickup (regardless as to what you replaced it with!)

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The experts on 'rays are on the EBMM forum. Perhaps you might want to ask your question there?

[throwoff]

Haha,

I do not dare risk the big poppas wrath by asking about an aftermarket part on there.

[Ou7shined]

I've tried Barts, SD's and Delanos MM pups in other basses with the Delanos coming out on tops. (not tried Nordys yet but I suspect they will be good)
But the only other pup I put in my 'ray is another genuine MM pup.... a SUB pup. It's wired in series rather than parallel and offers a bit more balls (better than other brands in series I've tried - could be the magnets but I'm loathed to enter that particular discussion ). I've left it in so I must prefer it to the original (which is wrapped up safe and sound )

Edited December 5, 2011 by Ou7shined

[tonyf]

I swapped the stock pickup in my old Sterling out with a Nordstrand 4.3. It was fan-flipping-tastic. Don't get me wrong, the Sterling was good but the Nordy made a great bass even greater. Gave it a real Pre-EB alnico tone.

The Ray version would be a Nordstrand 4.2 I believe (the 4.3 is the series/parallel jobbie that connects to the switch on the Sterling).

T

[Paul_C]

another option might be to swap the original preamp for a John East one - My gigging bass has a Bongo pickup driven by a U-Retro and it does a great job.

[throwoff]

I didnt think of swapping the Pre, that is a good idea.

[Grand Wazoo]

Ok I am not be an expert but I am someone who owned 2 Stingray 5's an earlier 1989 and a later 2000 model, the '89 had a lovely alnico pickup and the later 2000 a ceramic one.

Now I have always found a huge difference between the two and always favoured the alnico one and so... I spoke to Seymor Duncan himself and asked him what would be my best bet to achieve the same sound as the alnico. he recommended SMB5a (5 strings similar to SMB4s for 4 strings) and that he wound these himself by hand and they are built to the exact same specs as the original alnico EBMM he said he was prepared to send a full refund if I wasn't satisfied. He was spot on.

[bassmachine2112]

I will be fitting a 4d at the weekend so I,ll let you know if I like it and what the difference is to my ears.
I didn,t see the point of fitting an alnico one when there was an alnico one already there.

[bassmachine2112]

Anybody know where the white/green and the bare wire go before I open her up,red and black are self explanatory I think.

[Grand Wazoo]

Is it a 3 band or 2 band eq, that is the question. Have a look here [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/basslines/501040-110.pdf"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/basslines/501040-110.pdf[/url]

[bassmachine2112]

Hiho,it,s the 2 band-ooops,might be the same though-maybe.

[bassmachine2112]

I,ll keep you informed of things-thanks for the heads up grandwazoo think we,re on a winner here.
If I don,t like it epi t-bird pro is gettin routered-here,s johnny

[StevieD_FenderP2009]

Go for the Duncan. My mate has one fitted in his Ray 34 and it sounds absolutely amazing! He can go from really rocky, sharp tones to subtle bluesy, old school tones with it. It makes me want a Ray too but i'm sticking to P-Basses... for now

[StevieD_FenderP2009]

*edit* my bad, he's got the SMB-4A. Still sounds fantastic and i'm sure the SMB4DS will sound as good if not better.

I'm biased though, I'm a Seymour Duncan fanboy. Just get a 'duncan and be done with it

[Prime_BASS]

I've had a sMB-4A in a Ray and the 3 coil version in a sterling.
I wouldn't bother with the ceramic version as its rather muddy, and lacks definition that the alnico version has.

When I had the ray it did get a few comments on great sound even compared to a pre-EB ray at a bass bash.

I'd stay away from ceramic stuff, as its a cheap magnet and to me you get a cheap sound.

[bassmachine2112]

I,ve had a wonderful few hours fitting a seymour duncan to my SUB.
first thing SUB has 2 wires-white and a black,not the 5 that the duncan has.Seymour duncan wiring diagram has the green ,white and bare one soldered on the back of a pot.
Sub doesn,t.,they go direct to PCB.Easy to work out as the black one has a + and the white one has a -.
Red and black attached to the black original one-green,white and bare to the white one-it works.I have a funny feeling that it,s parallel wired,
Seymour duncan 4ds has bar magnets across the bottom so you cant use the original springs-pick up too high so mouse mat foam then.
Pick up lead fouls the bottom of the magnets so a small sliver of wood come out of the channel / hole for the wire to clear the magnet.
hope this helps

[peteb]

I did replace the pickup in my 95 Stingray with a passive EMG for a while, but then changed it back

The thing about a Ray is that it does have a very distinctive sound, which is bit of a problem if you don't like that sound....!

[bassmachine2112]

update on Duncan-wired it wrong-surprise,surprise
Here,s the right way-red/white-solder together and tape up
-black to black
-green/bare to white
Black is marked on the pcb - +
White is marked - -
It,s the 4d version and it,s hot.
growls like a bear
Musicman sub by the way with the crescent moon pcb.

[bassmachine2112]

Hiho had a few days to listen to seymour duncan 4ds.
Do I like it-yes.
How does it sound-I left my amp set up the same as usual.There is a lot more mids present or the top end is tamer,the glassyness is tamed which can be fierce on the original pup.There is more thump to the sound.There is a lot of growl now which I was after.
It is perfect for rock but might not suit everybody.It has the articulation of the original but is not muddy,beefier is the word .It,s hard to put it in words.
G string is nice and loud which I never noticed before that it was a little subdued.I had dropped the pick up on the bass side which meant the D string was louder than the G but I must have compensated in my playing by hitting the G harder and the D softer if that makes sense.
I have a hipshot detuner and when you go down to D it thumps now.
I can,t comment on the 4A version but going by the Duncan website it should be almost the same as the original.
Has anybody put a Wizard pick up in a musicman ?.

[simon1964]

[quote name='Paul_C' timestamp='1323093757' post='1459127']
another option might be to swap the original preamp for a John East one - My gigging bass has a Bongo pickup driven by a U-Retro and it does a great job.
[/quote]

+1 to this. I've got a John East pre-amp in my 'ray (the three band version of this: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/East_Preamps_MMSR.html) and love the tone. It still sounds like a ray, but with much more versatility.

[Rayman]

I've been down the Delanos road, and for me, it was a big fat dead end. To me, a 'ray sounds great straight out of the blocks, and if the tone isn't right for you, I'd look at a Jazz instead, rather than swapping out EQs and such, again, I've tried all that, and it didn't work for me at all, the mods made the bass sound clinical and souless.