Stingray HH can't find an "universal" eq setting

[greyshark]

Hi everyone.

I have a Music Man Stingray HH. Most of the time I prefer to use both pickups but there are times that I really want the classic bridge pickup sound. The problem is, I cannot find an eq setting (on my amp that is) that would sound good at both times. That is when I play with both pickups fully active and just the bridge pickup by itself. Right now I have it set so it sounds good for me on both pickups because thats what I use most of the time. It sounds great on every other pickup position BUT the bridge pickup and it's driving me crazy. I have an Ampeg svt3 pro and an Ashodwn ABM610 cab. The 12 band eq on the head is set like this: 33hz -6dB, 80hz +3dB, 150hz 0db, 300hz -3dB, 600hz 0dB, 900hz -4dB, 2khz +2dB, 5khz +3dB, 9khz +9dB. I hope I explained it good enough. The bridge pickup on this setting sounds honky. That's the only word that comes to mind for it. I would appreciate any advice even if it's generally about bass equalization. Sorry for any grammatical errors, It's getting late...🙃

[Lozz196]

I`m not that familiar with  the HH, but to my way of thinking if it were set up to be just the right amount of bassiness/bite on the bridge pickup alone, surely when addingnin the other pickup, or playing that pickup only the sound will be over bassy. Pretty much the same as a Les Paul guitar, get a great sound on the bridge pickup, select the others and the only person in the world who can sound good is Slash, everyone else sounds over-bassy and rotten.

[Muppet]

I have a Sterling HH and use both pickups most of the time. I set the amp EQ to make the most of this setting. When I switch to the bridge pickup, I use the active EQ on the the bass to compensate, which normally means dialling in a bit more bass and cutting mids. 

[corndog]

Yeah, the HH has lots going on. I have a lot of backline supplied for me, so typically set everything as flat as I can on the amp and use the on board pre to adjust tone. I find if I keep the bass at about 75% for every pickup selection and adjust mids and treble depending on pickup selection, I can adjust quickly enough between songs without to much dial twisting.  

For switch setting 4, I turn up the mids to help get close to a precision tone, for #5 setting I drop the mids to just below the detent and increase treble a  bit to help with note definition.

i couldn’t imagine making adjustments on the amp, just to much going on

Good luck

 

 

[kyuuga]

2 hours ago, greyshark said:

The 12 band eq on the head is set like this: 33hz -6dB, 80hz +3dB, 150hz 0db, 300hz -3dB, 600hz 0dB, 900hz -4dB, 2khz +2dB, 5khz +3dB, 9khz +9dB. I hope I explained it good enough. The bridge pickup on this setting sounds honky. That's the only word that comes to mind for it.

What is this EQ brother...that's nuts! Especially with a Stingray that must sound terrible. No wonder the bridge pickup sounds honky. The Stingray is already very trebly by nature and if you're adding +9dB to 9Khz then it'll be a nightmare.

Here's what I'd do if I were you: ditch your pre-saved EQ ideas completely. Seriously, you can't always EQ the same way. Your amp's EQ is only there to shape your sound when you move to different rooms to compensate for types of areas where you'll be playing. Anything else too extreme and you're just ruining your tone.

Set everything flat and then think to yourself: what's REALLY missing from my sound?

Very important tip: what sounds good by yourself in your room is totally different from what sounds good with a band. And, as mentioned previously, different rooms will have very different sounds. 

Also, try adjusting your bass preamp EQ first. A lot of small adjustments to fit your band (adding low end, removing high end, pushing the mids through the mix, etc) can be done on the Stingray's preamp and it'll sound much better. 

Just don't go too nuts on the EQ. You can do some tone-shaping with it but not that extreme.

[drTStingray]

I start with my amp set flat.

With the bridge pick up soloed I tend to boost bass and treble a little and cut the mid control (as much as 50% cut).

With both pick ups selected in humbucking mode (my favourite setting), I tend to bring the bass back to centre and boost the mids a little. With both pick ups there is a natural scoop to the sound hence bringing up the mids - and dropping back the bass.

Works for me! 

Edited August 23, 2018 by drTStingray

[ead]

Interesting reading folks.  I have an ACG with two MM style pickups but they go into a filter preamp.  I have set the neck pickup to have have the filter pretty much open with a hint of boost at the filter 'knee'.  The bridge pickup filter is set to be about 25% 'closed' for want of a better word, i.e. less treble coming through and has a little more boost at the 'knee' than the neck seeting.  The treble filter is mostly open and then I regulate 'live' with the tone control and blend.

In addition there is a low mid boost on the neck p/up and a high mid boost on the bridge pickup.  I tend not to sue these too much in all honesty.

That all makes sense to me, but appreciate some folk may be think what chuffing heck is he wittering on about 

[CameronJ]

@greyshark sounds to me like you could benefit from an EQ pedal that you can switch on to give you a more pleasing tone whenever you select the bridge pickup.

[Paulhauser]

3 hours ago, CameronJ said:

@greyshark sounds to me like you could benefit from an EQ pedal that you can switch on to give you a more pleasing tone whenever you select the bridge pickup.

+ 1, or you can use a preamp / DI pedal like the EBS microbass II where you can engage a 2nd channel / route with the necessary tone shaping for when you use the bridge pickup only. 

The EBS Microbass II works great and has a sensible EQ selection + does not cost much. 

[BigRedX]

5 hours ago, ead said:

Interesting reading folks.  I have an ACG with two MM style pickups but they go into a filter preamp.  I have set the neck pickup to have have the filter pretty much open with a hint of boost at the filter 'knee'.  The bridge pickup filter is set to be about 25% 'closed' for want of a better word, i.e. less treble coming through and has a little more boost at the 'knee' than the neck seeting.  The treble filter is mostly open and then I regulate 'live' with the tone control and blend.

In addition there is a low mid boost on the neck p/up and a high mid boost on the bridge pickup.  I tend not to sue these too much in all honesty.

That all makes sense to me, but appreciate some folk may be think what chuffing heck is he wittering on about 

Which is why the ACG Filter Pre-Amp is one of the few on-board active circuits worth bothering with as it allows you to EQ each pickup separately. Which on a multiple pickup bass is exactly what you need.

[acidbass]

Is your bass set up correctly? I.e. are the pickup heights consistent with distance from the strings?

[greyshark]

23 hours ago, kyuuga said:

What is this EQ brother...that's nuts! Especially with a Stingray that must sound terrible. No wonder the bridge pickup sounds honky. The Stingray is already very trebly by nature and if you're adding +9dB to 9Khz then it'll be a nightmare.

Here's what I'd do if I were you: ditch your pre-saved EQ ideas completely. Seriously, you can't always EQ the same way. Your amp's EQ is only there to shape your sound when you move to different rooms to compensate for types of areas where you'll be playing. Anything else too extreme and you're just ruining your tone.

Set everything flat and then think to yourself: what's REALLY missing from my sound?

Very important tip: what sounds good by yourself in your room is totally different from what sounds good with a band. And, as mentioned previously, different rooms will have very different sounds. 

Also, try adjusting your bass preamp EQ first. A lot of small adjustments to fit your band (adding low end, removing high end, pushing the mids through the mix, etc) can be done on the Stingray's preamp and it'll sound much better. 

Just don't go too nuts on the EQ. You can do some tone-shaping with it but not that extreme.

Yeah my mistake it's not +9 on 9khz it's about +3. Nevertheless, I got some quite interesting replies from you guys thank you very much :)

[grenadillabama]

Maybe (to move only one knob) , adjust the eq for the bridge pickup alone - like a regular Stingray. This may not be possible exactly because the neck pickup will still be "pulling" on the strings a little bit. (magnet) Then, when you switch to both pickups just turn the bass eq knob down on your Stingray. I only have the one pickup version .