Fender Precision or a Musicman Stingray

[mcnach]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1388589196' post='2323712']
I am not dismissive of the three band Stingray by any means , but most folks would agree that in use there is a discernible difference between that bass and the traditional two band version
[/quote]

But the 3EQ is not "a 2EQ plus a mids control", it's a different design and it is not a surprise they do not sound the same. Not saying one is better than the other, just that they are different.
The John East MMSR 3-band *is* a 2EQ plus an extra mids module.

[4000]

P for me. Every now and again I get a hankering for a MM but every time I try or use one it just isn't me at all. I find a P far more versatile.

[4000]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1388090671' post='2318499']
I'm afraid that for me there is little point in comparing basses of this standard and ability to create a professional recorded or live sound.

To use a festive analogy it's rather like comparing sherry trifle and normal fruit trifle. Probably a matter of personal taste.

I would say the Stingray is far more likely to expose poor technique than the precision - simply by the detail of playing being more audible with the Ray than the precision.

I wouldn't want to try and play, say, Teen Town on a Precision .............. but then neither was Jaco a fan, highlighting certain limitations when asked. Many famous performances on them have been enhanced with outboard pre amps - Sir Duke being a good example.

Both basses are extremely competent but I would personally never choose a Precision over a Ray - indeed I've played many over the last 30 years - both good and bad - and have never been persuaded to part with any money for them.

Other people love them for one reason or another and good luck to them. Too limiting for my liking but nice for Motown etc / but then so is the Stingray.
[/quote]

I've never found a P limiting. I actually think they're more versatile than most actives I've owned, because almost every sound is useable. Of course if you want a Jaco-esque burp it's not really the bass for that but I've never been a fan of the back-pickup burp anyway.

[M@23]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1388688012' post='2324895']


I've never found a P limiting. I actually think they're more versatile than most actives I've owned, because almost every sound is useable. Of course if you want a Jaco-esque burp it's not really the bass for that but I've never been a fan of the back-pickup burp anyway.
[/quote]

Agreed. I loved my Stingray, but musically it didn't work for me. There isn't a sound from the P that I couldn't use.

[Mattmit]

Yeah both, I recon if you have a good P bass, and a Stingray, or even better an Ernie Ball Sterling, you wouldn't need another bass.

[Lo.]

What a good question...I love 'em both, so I made this bass:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iYxbkEYDg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iYxbkEYDg[/url]

The 51P pickup takes care of the top and bottom, while the MM lets me get real dirty.

Mine's all passive - to get the classic MM sound I would need the right (2EQ) preamp, I use my amp or outboard preamp and shelf boost the bottom and peak boost the 2.5k - it's surprisingly active-sounding.

[badboy1984]

I have Precision, Jazz and MM Bongo. I use Precision most of the time. To stir it a little bit more, i added a J pickup on the bridge position on the P bass.

Edited January 6, 2014 by badboy1984

[dan670844]

I guess everything has its place, The precision started it all..................... It really depends what style of music you are playing. I am a jazz bass user. I used to have a precision, but found that I could get by with the jazz for most things I do. If I was doing more rock stuff I would defo consider a precision, as with a good pickup, they cut through guitars like a knife. Recently I have developed a bit of GAS for a stingray esp the three band with the 7.25 neck like a jazz. I think they are less hard work than a jazz on some of the fast funky stuff I do. I see the Ray as more of a funk machine, but Deacon used it well in the rock context.To me if you had to cover all styles of music if you had a jazz, precision and a ray you could do anything.
In the past I was a warwick man (streamer stage 11) , every pedal you could muster, big solid state amps. But 5 years ago I discovered, the great tone you get with a passive bass straight into a good valve head. So now I don't like active basses!! The exception to this is the Ray, I don't know why, but this bass has managed to keep its tone intact. ( Levin -> Ray -> SVT = Cooking).
Its funny the basses I am talking about were designed by the same radio repair man..................

[thebassist]

[quote name='dan670844' timestamp='1389017027' post='2328790']
To me if you had to cover all styles of music if you had a jazz, precision and a ray you could do anything.
[/quote]

I totally agree with this part. I've currently got two Jazz Basses and will be buying a Precision Bass at the end of this month. A 2 band EQ StingRay will come after that. I much prefer a passive bass nowadays.

[thisnameistaken]

I've always been most comfortable with Jazz necks (out of the 'holy trinity' anyway - the neck on my Thumb is the best neck for me I've ever played) and I think a Jazz wired in series sounds better than any of them, but excluding Jazzes I definitely prefer a P to a Stingray. I've had a couple of Stingrays because I think they're pretty and I'm a hopeless romantic but I've never got on with the neck or the sound.

Edited January 6, 2014 by thisnameistaken

[Bloc Riff Nut]

Only owned 7 different basses, a lot of jazzes, but no Rays or Ps.
After reading this Im thinking, ive got to get me a P.
Subconsciously Ive been thinking that for years.

[paulie]

Musicman arent really rock n roll anymore.
Rarely do you see them in a rock setting due to the fact that they have a very brittle high, huge low end but scooped mids.
So if you play slap or if your not too concerned about cutting through in the mix then the MM is great otherwise go with a P bass

[LiamPodmore]

Stingray for me. I find them more comfortable and the sound is what i'm after, though my main bass is a Precision at the moment, so....

Liam

[mcnach]

[quote name='paulie' timestamp='1389083479' post='2329591']
Musicman arent really rock n roll anymore.
Rarely do you see them in a rock setting due to the fact that they have a very brittle high, huge low end but scooped mids.
So if you play slap or if your not too concerned about cutting through in the mix then the MM is great otherwise go with a P bass
[/quote]


That's doing the Stingray a huge disservice and hurting its feelings to boot

Brittle high? only if you want it.
Huge low? only if you want it.
Scooped mids? only if you want it.
I hate scooped mids. I want my bass noticeable, mids rich, cutting through, but fat as well. I favour bridge pickups for that reason. I use a Stingray because it's fat, cuts through better than anything else I have, and it's got a very well defined focussed sound.

It almost sounds like we're talking about two entirely different basses. How is this possible? Could it be because of how different people use preamp/amp controls differently?

[paulie]

OK
Allow me to affirm my position here
If I had to choose Id go with the Musicman, but not a recent one as I reckon the late 80's and early 90's versions are nicer than the current crop of Ernie Ball Musicmans.
However, it cant be ignored that the vast majority of gigging musicians out there go for either a Fender Jazz or Precision bass and you rarely see Musicmans. I know the bass player from AC/DC used one to great effect as did Pino obviously and Flea for a while but it seems they all gravitate back to Fender for some reason.
I prefer Musicman basses personally but P bass might be a better all round option but again it depends on the style of music you want to play. Its harder to play slap on a P bass for example

[Steff]

[quote name='paulie' timestamp='1389083479' post='2329591']

...or if your not too concerned about cutting through in the mix then the MM is great otherwise go with a P bass
[/quote]

Allow me to very strongly disagree with that part mate

The SR5 3eq I got is the best cutting through bass I've ever played and I have played a lot of basses. I think that's the last thing you could point out as a flaw in a MM. There's no chance I'd play my SR5 and you won't hear what exactly I'm playing and not because of high volume... I have played my J, a friend's P, another friend's Warwick and my MM in the same environment (I've got a resident gig) and none of them comes even near the cutting through and definition of the Stingray. All of the rest basses are somehow warmer, yes, but not cutting through as much.

[Steff]

In fact if there's anything I miss from my MM is warmth in the lows, its low end is very.... I see it as rude, aggressive. To get a warm and friendly low end from mine (At least for me) I have to watch my playing and look for that tone. But I do play mostly rock covers so I need that warmth for about 2-3 songs per gig and I can easily get it.

Played a few gospel gigs last year and a jazz-blues-funk gig recently and the SR was alive, driving, with a nice cutting through low and low-mid end, the other musicians (all session guys) couldn't stop complimenting my tone. Of course the preamps in my rack case, the amp and the cabs I'm using contribute a lot, but they don't shape it to an un recogniseable level, even with only my Littlemark II and either 310 epifani or 21012 schroeder the tone is still there and it rumbles, growls and cuts through. Yeah, the MM isn't the most friendly bass out there. It's a rare beast that needs taming .

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1388072512' post='2318286']
I would have to take exception with all of these points except the one regarding quality control, Gareth.
[/quote]


Oh I don't believe that was Gareth, no no! It's a clone operated remotely by Strings and Things UK who have managed to "Matrix" into Gareth's brain to make him write all those nice things about their basses, also to stop him from buying more EBMM's and go on for weeks about quality control issues that are only viewable by the real Gareth and not the Matrix'd one.

Oh and don't blame Strings & Things either, for they are also being remotely controlled via the "Matrix" by none other than Big Poppadum dum dum himself!


[b][size=1]Disclaimer all of above was meant only as irony, got that? [/size][/b]

[Grand Wazoo]

To answer the question in this thread, well you need to try both and decide for yourself. as you can see people have different opinion on both basses. Stingrays are nice and poppy, if you like scooped slap / pull type of sounds but if you want a soid presence in the audible mix of a band, the precision is the only winner, after all the proof is in the number of competitors bass manufacturers which fit P style split pickups to their basses as opposed to those who fit those large soapbar humbucker common with the Stingrays brigade.

[paulie]

Now, when it comes to 5 strings I would run straight for Musicman agreed!, best pound for pound 5 string out there in my opinion,
But as musch as I love Musicmans their 4 strings have big low end and clear treble but not enough in between for me and thats the only reason I dont play one regularly.

But lets all stop this bickering at once and agree that the Jazz bass is the only true weapon out there LOL!

[Steff]

Lol I love my jazz but I tend to only take it on about 30% of my gigs, the musicman does the rest.

I can't really comment about the other MM variations apart from the SR5 3eq that I own cos I haven't tried them on gigs.
Other than that, all of the videos in my signature are with my SR5, I don't think in any of them the bass is undefined or not cutting through

[Tdw]

I play mostly reggae so for me it would be a precision, i agree with what Steff said about stingrays lacking warmth on the lowest notes although i do like my stingray a lot.

[Cairobill]

Stingray for me. Classic with a 2 band to be exact. 3 band doesn't appeal to my ears, but the 2 band on my classic is just amazing. It also sits very well in the mix. The low mids are incredible.

P basses are cool, clearly, but the Ray does it for me in spades.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1389107759' post='2330069']
To answer the question in this thread, well you need to try both and decide for yourself. as you can see people have different opinion on both basses. Stingrays are nice and poppy, if you like scooped slap / pull type of sounds but if you want a soid presence in the audible mix of a band, the precision is the only winner, after all the proof is in the number of competitors bass manufacturers which fit P style split pickups to their basses as opposed to those who fit those large soapbar humbucker common with the Stingrays brigade.
[/quote]

I've never quite understood this 'Stingrays are scooped'. I'd say a Jazz bass with both pups on is very scooped, whereas a Ray has peaks and scoops in the mids, but the mid frequences affected are different. Eg, most the Ray tones I like are very low mid aggressive, but of course you can roll up the bass and treble and make it scooped and modern which a lot of the slap bassists prefer.

A Stingray tends to kick like a mule...a very immediate feel to the pickup response, which is partly due to that low mid/high bass kick, and there must also be a peak in the high mids for the detail.

I think P basses, whilst ALWAYS popular, are VERY much in fashion at the moment. I remember back in the mid 90s when people thought I was weird buying a MIJ Precision. This was also when Orange were big with Oasis using their amps, way before they revved up and became super popular like they are now. Times change a lot.

Thing is, boutique manufacturers are bound to make P bass copies, because they are selling! The Super Jazz is still a big seller, but the P is everywhere now. To be honest, I think charging £2.5k for a P bass which isn't a vintage Fender is crazy. It is a VERY simple design.

To me, the P is great, but I'd choose a Fender American Standard everytime over a boutique P copy.

People don't copy the Ray so much because they can't. Aguilar however are now starting to make a MM style pickup.

[Dennis1971]

P for me.