EBMM Stingray Lost punch

[David Cook]

Hi

Hope this is in correct section. I have an EBMM Stingray 4knob  built 1981 but in my possession for approx last fifteen yrs. At last band practice when my friend also a bass player with a relatively new Yamaha 5 string, don't know the model was killing me with his volume and tone and he was only playing through foldback . I was dialled right round volume on bass and plenty of gain and volume from amp.

The only work I have ever had done on it was to change the Jack socket about 4yrs ago.

Could this be a pickup problem? or a pre amp problem?  If a pre amp would I solve it with swapping out for a John East model.

Thanks for your thoughts

 

 

[Lozz196]

I`d be willing to bet that the other guys eq was less low-end heavy. It`s much easier to hear a bass with a lot of mids going on, and from a distance that always seems to translate to a really full sound anyway. So I reckon he was just in the frequencies that are easier to hear hence him seeming to win the battle.

[Doctor J]

Yep, the first thing which came to mind from the title alone was bass and treble boosted, little to no mids in the classic Stingray style. Try running all the eq flat and seeing if it fills the room better, then making minor adjustments to suit your tonal requirements.

[LukeFRC]

How old are your strings @David Cook?

[David Cook]

Thanks for your replies. I did have the eq flat , then started tinkering to find its voice! Not sure about the other guys set up.

With regard to strings which are a couple of years old, would that make a big difference? James Jamerson apparently never changed his strings the whole of his career!!

With none of you mentioning pick ups or pre amp I guess you think this cannot be the issue. 

I was plugged into an Ashdown combi amp, which is borrowed and stays at the venue in fact it is owned by the other chap.He let me use it because he could tell I was struggling thats why he simply plugged into the foldback  My amp is an Orange AD200, far too heavy to carry downstairs these days as I am disabled and it lives in a bedroom.

Just to add the reason we were both playing was that it was a church practice and we have a rota for the Sunday. When I play at church I plug into the PA through a pre amp box and thats why I hadn't noticed an issue before.

[ezbass]

Battery?

[David Cook]

My first thought. So I changed it for a brand new one.

[ezbass]

Re-reading your OP, perhaps the foldback was cranked up by the desk, or boosted in a particularly Yamaha loving frequency. You'd have to try your 'Ray through the same setup to really compare.

[dannybuoy]

I'd change your strings first before trying anything else. 2 years is quite old for a set of rounds unless the bass had hardly been played during that time.

[LukeFRC]

2 hours ago, David Cook said:

With regard to strings which are a couple of years old, would that make a big difference? James Jamerson apparently never changed his strings the whole of his career!

He used flatwounds and tended towards quite a thumpy sound... if you are using roundwounds then the lack of punch would be the result of old strings.

Two years is a fair time for roundwounds, some folk on here change theirs every month! 

[Jimbogubson]

Not really sure what the problem is but I have my brother in laws 92 stingray 2 band. This also seems to suffer from a lack of output. Up against my P bass and a usa Sub Ray it’s like it’s being played with the volume rolled back a third.

I also think there could be a fault in the preamp

[T-Bay]

I don’t get more than a couple of months out of any roundwounds I have tried. I play a lot to be fair but when they die they sound as dead as anything. The difference a new set makes is massive. So as mentioned above it’s well worth trying new ones. By comparison I have flats on one of my Basses and they seem the same as when I put them on 18 months ago.

[David Cook]

Thanks again. I will try changing the strings as advised. I am also going to try an experiment by asking my mate to set everything flat on his Yamaha ,I will do the same and then in turn plug into the amp without changing any settings and see if there is a noticable difference.

[bassmachine2112]

pick up height ?

[Richard R]

Try using his lead, may well be a dry joint.

I was at my tutor's on Thursday and had to crank the gain right up to get any volume. Since my guitar was just back from a full service with new strings and action low we knew it wasn't any of those. Swapped out the battery, no change. Swapped guitar leads for his and deafened the neighbours!  

[frannie01]

Hi I could be mistaken but  when I was teaching at The Acm we had one with very low out put....Don't know how but it was operating passively no pre amp ? have you checked the pre amp section ?

[David Cook]

Once again thank you all for your input. After quite some research I decided to put EB cobalt flatwound strings on. Wow what a difference.

I did have roundwounds on before and those of you who pointed me in the direction of dead strings were exactly correct.

When I played there was/is a real zing and back to how a Stingray should sound, in my opinion.

Just an addition for anyone reading this. The feel of the EB cobalt flats is totally different to the silky,smooth, sliding feel of the Thomastik jazz flats I have on another bass, they feel in between roundwound and those.

Frannie, I wouldn’t know how to check the pre amp. I can say there is a difference when plugging into the active and passive jack sockets.

Definitely not a lead problem I have three and all were the same.

Anyhow I think I’m sorted!!

 

[ezbass]

There you go, sorted. Good choice of strings there too, I love ‘em.