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Musicman Stingrays - Overrated ?


WHUFC BASS

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58 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

Nice basses Danny 79.

The 3 band (certainly up to 2017 and probably beyond) does have a high pass filter which cuts the boomier frequencies.

I did not know that , my go to settings were bass, full. Mid centre dent. Treble just off the dent plus. 

No way of ever needed the bass fully open with the J.E pre amp. Lots of head room in all directions 

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2 hours ago, danny-79 said:

I’m a shameless Stingray fan boy, love mine, although I do admit to tampering with them, not something to post on the EBMM forum but it goes something like this

That was another thing that turned me off the Musicman line of basses. The sheer vitriol on that forum of any criticism of their products which to me, smacked of a level of insecurity that was bordering on the hysterical. I happened to mention (quite civilly) that I was having problems sound-wise with the second EBMM Stingray that I owned and was rounded upon as some sort of heretic and subsequently threatened with being banned. Now I don't know about you, but when the owner of the company is guilty of this vitriol to any criticism would just turn any prospective owner to think twice before purchasing.

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5 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

My 2002 Stingray was 2-band, and now has a John East 3-band in it (2-band plus mids module). I'd say the 2-band part is very very similar to the original, but a bit sweeter: the treble doesn't get so shrill if you overdo it, and the bottom end feels a bit tighter. But it's not radically different. I love the MMSR preamp. Go for it!

I'm going to have to think about it some more. My Stingray is the only bass I have that is still completely stock, is always been the one I thought I'd never mess with....

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1 hour ago, WHUFC BASS said:

The sheer vitriol on that forum of any criticism of their products which to me, smacked of a level of insecurity that was bordering on the hysterical.

Similar to the RIC forum. Venture the mild opinion that some replacement parts are priced a bit on the high side (specifically: £200+ for the 'R' guitar tailpiece - known for snapping) and you could get nibbled to death by rabid fanbois and / or forcefully ejected by one of the Hall clan.

The Balls and the Halls. They're such bastards.

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2 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Similar to the RIC forum. Venture the mild opinion that some replacement parts are priced a bit on the high side (specifically: £200+ for the 'R' guitar tailpiece - known for snapping) and you could get nibbled to death by rabid fanbois and / or forcefully ejected by one of the Hall clan.

The Balls and the Halls. They're such bastards.

Oh yes, without a doubt, Rickenbacker are notorious for this too. You only have to look at the way they've hunted down replica Ricks on eBay to tell you something about the way they operate. To their credit, I've not seen EBMM do this.

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39 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

I'm not even on the ebmm forum, well I have a log in but I can't remember my user name or password, anyway, I'm not sure why anyone expects to get a warm welcome for picking fault on any manufacturers forum be it Fender, Gibson, musicman, Rickenbacker etc etc. 

Come on mate, some constructive criticism shouldn't be attacked (especially by the owner of the company). If anything, it should be listened to and taken onboard to produce an even better product. If you're that arrogant that your confident your products are beyond reproach then you're bound to fail in the long run.

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Well they've been going since 1984 so they can't be doing too badly, the fanbois are always going to flock to their associated web site and defend it to the hilt as if they'll get given a medal or a free t shirt or something. 

I've been to the factory in CA, they haven't even got a sign never mind a factory tour or t shirt! 

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2 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

The Balls and the Halls. They're such bastards.

I doubt they're too worried about getting your business. What a stupid thing to say!!! 

I have no idea regarding the Rickenbacker forum but comments about the EBMM forum really are about 10-15 yrs out of date. It was quite tetchy at one time - HOWEVER there were also people who behaved like utter anusses on there as well and eventually got banned as a result - and still crop up every now and then on other forums causing trouble or trolling - or even under different names on the EBMM forum. Rather like scorned women......

Ive always thought Scott Ball's posts on Talkbass are extremely helpful and far from the stuff you're describing - as I say I think you're probably somewhere 10 yrs in the past on that subject. 

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30 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

Come on mate, some constructive criticism shouldn't be attacked (especially by the owner of the company). If anything, it should be listened to and taken onboard to produce an even better product. If you're that arrogant that your confident your products are beyond reproach then you're bound to fail in the long run.

As a company with an enviable customer service reputation and also one which has just relaunched an updated Stingray bass, which seems to be universally applauded and liked, the CURRENT reality is clearly not the one presented by one or two posters on here. 

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8 hours ago, drTStingray said:

Nice basses Danny 79.

The 3 band (certainly up to 2017 and probably beyond) does have a high pass filter which cuts the boomier frequencies.

 

That's good to know!

Do you know what kind of frequency it is set up at or any other details? 

It can potentially explain why some feel the Stingray lacks a bit of bottom end, if they tried a 3-band and they're used to something a bit... girthier. I have only played 2-band Stingrays, really, and I find it difficult to imagine someone could feel they lack bottom end.

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6 hours ago, No. 8 Wire said:

I'm going to have to think about it some more. My Stingray is the only bass I have that is still completely stock, is always been the one I thought I'd never mess with....

 

The John East preamps are very easy to install, and it's all reversible very quickly. There was one recently for sale in the forum... It would be easy to have a go and see if it's for you, and not lose any money if it turned out it wasn't for you.

But I'll stop, in case I'm accused of being pushy :D

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5 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

The John East preamps are very easy to install, and it's all reversible very quickly. There was one recently for sale in the forum... It would be easy to have a go and see if it's for you, and not lose any money if it turned out it wasn't for you.

But I'll stop, in case I'm accused of being pushy :D

That one sold unfortunately.  I suspect I'll end up doing it in the end.  I'll keep a lookout for another used one.

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Two of the 3 stingrays I've played have had serious issues. One had an incredibly weak G string. Mainly because it was a 4 string in BEAD. The second had 5 strings which is a serious design flaw as all bassists know.

However, on a serious level, I like them. Very good instruments though I do prefer the HH versions.

I guess it's something I might own one day, but that's for some other time.

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9 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

That's good to know!

Do you know what kind of frequency it is set up at or any other details? 

It can potentially explain why some feel the Stingray lacks a bit of bottom end, if they tried a 3-band and they're used to something a bit... girthier. I have only played 2-band Stingrays, really, and I find it difficult to imagine someone could feel they lack bottom end.

I don’t. The preamp is a John East. Three band with the stacked mid pot (sweep between low and high with the bottom control then either cut or boost it with the top pot. Leave the top pot at centre dent an all mid control is totally bypassed so it’s now effectively a two band) 

the pick up is a Nordstrand Big Man. Quick google search will get you all the information you need 

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13 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I doubt they're too worried about getting your business. What a stupid thing to say!!! 

I have no idea regarding the Rickenbacker forum but comments about the EBMM forum really are about 10-15 yrs out of date. It was quite tetchy at one time - HOWEVER there were also people who behaved like utter anusses on there as well and eventually got banned as a result - and still crop up every now and then on other forums causing trouble or trolling - or even under different names on the EBMM forum. Rather like scorned women......

Ive always thought Scott Ball's posts on Talkbass are extremely helpful and far from the stuff you're describing - as I say I think you're probably somewhere 10 yrs in the past on that subject. 

Yes, this would have been about 10 or 12 years old but my point still stands. I merely stated (quite civilly and not like an "utter anus") that I wasn't getting the sound I wanted and enquired about the replacement pickups that SD and Kent Armstrong did. That was it, all hell broke loose and it wasn't Scott Ball who chimed in, it was Sterling Ball which surprised me. I wasn't "scorned" or even banned, I just thought that if you can't have a sensible conversation about replacement pickups on a forum, then that forum isn't for me and promptly left. I've never seen anything like that on a Gibson or Fender forum where criticism and discussion of aftermarket parts is positively encouraged. Either way, I was out of there and the bass got sold on shortly afterwards. As for caring about whether they get my business or not, they probably don't. Neither do I.

As for Musicman getting it right with their latest 2018 model. Good. I'm glad they've sorted them out now but as I said, I won't be buying one (or even trying) as my preferred brand of bass is now Spector.

Peace.

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3 hours ago, danny-79 said:

I don’t. The preamp is a John East. Three band with the stacked mid pot (sweep between low and high with the bottom control then either cut or boost it with the top pot. Leave the top pot at centre dent an all mid control is totally bypassed so it’s now effectively a two band) 

the pick up is a Nordstrand Big Man. Quick google search will get you all the information you need 

 

I was asking about the high pass filter in the 3-band EBMM preamp. :)

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14 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

That's good to know!

Do you know what kind of frequency it is set up at or any other details? 

It can potentially explain why some feel the Stingray lacks a bit of bottom end, if they tried a 3-band and they're used to something a bit... girthier. I have only played 2-band Stingrays, really, and I find it difficult to imagine someone could feel they lack bottom end.

https://nordstrandaudio.com/products/the-bigman-4

thats the pick up I’m using in both StingRays 

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