cutting sound from a stingray? eq advice needed!

[bigevilman]

Just invested in a sterling ray 35 - really nice bass, plays well, and has a great stingray sound.

Im currently in a classic rock tribute band (thin lizzy, whitesnake, gnr, bon jovi etc), with 2 guitarists, one who swaps to keyboards for some songs.

Im currently getting a little lossed in the mix at the moment. My othet bass is a lakland 55 - 01, which is great. I gt the sterling as a backup, just trying to get a workable sound with it before I go bk to the lakland.

Has anyone gt any advice for eq settings, bass and anp wise? My current rig is a bh500 head and a compact. Usually playing pubs and clubs, to some biker rallys. Usually a little PA support for pub gigs.

Cheers

Joe

[stingrayPete1977]

What EQ does it have? If its the same as a regular Ray I like Bass almost maxed out, mid about flat and a tiny bit of treble boost. Im not sure if the pickup is wired in series or paralel on those either?

[Dingus]

The Stingray can be a bit of a muddle at first to find a sound that cuts through in a rock group situation . First thing is start with the tone controls half way , on the centre detent . Maxxing out the controls as some folks do gives way too much boom and tizz to the sound . Play along woth the rest of the band and try and analyse if you need to add or take anything away from the sound and then make adjustments accordingly . A major difference between the Ray and you Lakland is that the Lakland is a lot more present in the midrange , whereas Stingrays have a very pronounced scoop in the midrange frequencies , so some different amp EQing may be neccesary to get a sound that cuts .

[bigevilman]

Its a 3 band eq, with a selector changing it from series to parallel.

[Dingus]

[
[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1367679552' post='2068330']
I like Bass almost maxed out
[/quote]

Fight ! Fight ! Fight !

Edited May 4, 2013 by Dingus

[Dingus]

[quote name='bigevilman' timestamp='1367679729' post='2068335']
Its a 3 band eq, with a selector changing it from series to parallel.
[/quote]

Series will be noticably louder and have more pronounced low mids that will help you be heard with loud guitars ect , generally speaking .

[stingrayPete1977]

Bass on max

[drTStingray]

I'd suggest you put it into series, try the EQ with the mids flat, the bass boosted a tiny bit and the treble boosted a tiny bit.

Dependent on what amp you have, I would go with everything on centre detent.

The other thing to bear in mind is if you going through a PA, make sure the sound man doesn't create too much scoop by boosting treble and bass and cutting mid (as they often do).

The other think to bear in mind is because you have one pick up, plucking position will create significant change in the tone. PLUS, it is very unlikely your bass, even if you have it set too scooped, won't cut through as far as the audience is concerned - on stage it might sound slightly lost if it's too scooped, however.

[Gust0o]

Start at the centre and build out. It can take a little while, as I find out - although, admittedly, I was with a Stingray. There shouldn't be anything the 55-01 can do that this cannot.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1367685395' post='2068422']
Start at the centre and build out. It can take a little while, as I find out - although, admittedly, I was with a Stingray. There shouldn't be anything the 55-01 can do that this cannot.
[/quote]
I agree, to be fair I probably boost the bass too much the cut it compared to where someone else might at the head.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367684774' post='2068410']
The other thing to bear in mind is if you going through a PA, make sure the sound man doesn't create too much scoop by boosting treble and bass and cutting mid (as they often do).
[/quote]

I meant on the fader the bass is through just to be clear.

[Gust0o]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1367685814' post='2068432']
I agree, to be fair I probably boost the bass too much the cut it compared to where someone else might at the head.
[/quote]

Haha, yeah - once you've got it to a position you can make the most of it, the rest if finesse; and I put a bit more bass back in at that point. Haven't quite gone to the limit yet

I struggled as my amp was set for my previous Lakland precisions. I did most of my fiddling there - and then with some adjustment for both live and rehearsal settings, which [i]are [/i]different.

[bigevilman]

Cheers for the advice guys!

Gt a outdoor show tomorrow so will play around a bit more and let u know hw it goes

[Gust0o]

Just to check - are you saying you can't hear it cut? Or the crowd can't?

Worth getting someone to stand out there as you check in for an opinion.

[Lozz196]

I found with my Stingrays I had was keep all eq flat on the bass, and sort it from the amp. Mainly as it was easier to keep the settings always the same that way. I think from memory that I rolled off treble a bit and boosted low-mids a bit, with bass & hi-mids flat on the amp as well.

[bigevilman]

Out front - im usually the one with the long lead checking the mix lol on stage its quite good. In all fairness, im probably trying to make it sound like my lakland, insteadof a ray.

Tbf, the guitarist has just changed his setup, so its getting used to that as well.

Will let u knw hw today goes!

[Guest]

Does this happen more when the guitarist is on keys ?? If so it might be that he's playing in the lower registers and fluffing up all your tone.

[bigevilman]

No its more the other guitarist, he's just changed from a marshall a cab to a b cab which supposedly has nore bottom end...might tell him to roll off some bass, could be the issue

[JTUK]

Wow.... there is NO way a MM bass should struggle in this regard.
If there is anything about them, it is that the EQ can cut glass.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1367836615' post='2069946']
Wow.... there is NO way a MM bass should struggle in this regard.
If there is anything about them, it is that the EQ can cut glass.
[/quote]

Ay!

[paulmcnamara]

I'm using a classic Stingray c/w Aguilar TH500 & 2 SL112 cabs, playing classic rock.

Tend to max out bass on guitar and have treble about +2. On the amp I cut the lower mids, boost bass and have treble at 0.

I find this sound really cuts through especially across all the string and up the neck, also it gives a big fat bottom end to our sound, which is also well defined owing to the Gramma Pad on which the rig sits. Hope this helps.

ATB Paul.

[mcnach]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367684774' post='2068410']
I'd suggest you put it into series, try the EQ with the mids flat, the bass boosted a tiny bit and the treble boosted a tiny bit.
[/quote]

That would be my suggestion too.
Tiny bass boost. Tiny. Don't listen to Pete

In 2-band Stingrays especially boosting too much the bass can sound a bit muddy, and if you boost treble much, your mids will fall off the edge. Small bass boost.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='paulmcnamara' timestamp='1367837449' post='2069963']
I'm using a classic Stingray c/w Aguilar TH500 & 2 SL112 cabs, playing classic rock.

Tend to max out bass on guitar and have treble about +2. On the amp I cut the lower mids, boost bass and have treble at 0.

I find this sound really cuts through especially across all the string and up the neck, also it gives a big fat bottom end to our sound, which is also well defined owing to the Gramma Pad on which the rig sits. Hope this helps.

ATB Paul.
[/quote]
[b]Win [/b]
[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1367839482' post='2070004']

That would be my suggestion too.
Tiny bass boost. Tiny. Don't listen to Pete

In 2-band Stingrays especially boosting too much the bass can sound a bit muddy, and if you boost treble much, your mids will fall off the edge. Small bass boost.
[/quote]
[b]lose[/b]

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1367839482' post='2070004']


That would be my suggestion too.
Tiny bass boost. Tiny. Don't listen to Pete

In 2-band Stingrays especially boosting too much the bass can sound a bit muddy, and if you boost treble much, your mids will fall off the edge. Small bass boost.
[/quote]

This was my error when I had a ray, I think I boosted both eqs too much and ended up with a scooped tone that I disliked and vanished in the mix. If only basschat had existed back then :-)

Edited May 6, 2013 by Roland Rock

[risingson]

I found I could get on a lot better in series mode over parallel, it seems to kick the mids in a bit. The EQ as everyone has said is extreme on Musicmans, a little goes a long way and I virtually left my EQ flat the whole time I gigged with my 5'er, maybe a bit of bass boost here and there. Maxed out bass is extreme, you can really mess your bandmates up with a Stingray's EQ and the stage setup couldn't handle it, it saturated the stage completely.