how does a MusicMan "StingRay" Bass sound passive with bypassed electronics?

[Misdee]

I have a Musicman Reflex  HH which has a humbucker in the Stingray position that can be switched to passive (and which also features a passive tone control when used in that mode). From memory, I don't really notice that much difference  in tone  between  the two with the EQ set flat.

I certainly wouldn't rush to modify  the stock electronics on a regular Stingray myself. To me a Stingray is an active bass, even if I usually set the EQ flat. Just my own personal  prejudice though, obviously Stingray owners can do as they see fit.  I always felt with the Joe Dart Sig  that it was just him being contrary in asking for a passive bass with no finish and one knob. 😄

[fretmeister]

3 minutes ago, Misdee said:

I have a Musicman Reflex  HH which has a humbucker in the Stingray position that can be switched to passive (and which also features a passive tone control when used in that mode). From memory, I don't really notice that much difference  in tone  between  the two with the EQ set flat.

I certainly wouldn't rush to modify  the stock electronics on a regular Stingray myself. To me a Stingray is an active bass, even if I usually set the EQ flat. Just my own personal  prejudice though, obviously Stingray owners can do as they see fit.  I always felt with the Joe Dart Sig  that it was just him being contrary in asking for a passive bass with no finish and one knob. 😄

I think Dart just wanted to copy the POS counterfeit ray that one of the other Vulf guys owned and he used when recording. It had no finish and was passive.

 

Might even be the very first example of a luxury product being a copy of a dirt cheap and nasty one. No doubt built a bit better though.

[Musicman20]

Isn't the Dart pickup a ceramic/Sterling (as in American Sterling) pickup?

[Little Dragon]

On ‎17‎/‎06‎/‎2020 at 16:15, Dov65 said:

My opinion m8 & it's crap...trust me i've tried a jazz & precision loom...if you wanna give it a go i've got a 2 holed control plate you can have. I've got an East pre comming 

And it arrived today. Many thanks to Dov65.

[kiwibass]

Hi everybody,

Regarding the lack of any controls in passive mode (which is not exactly a good thing), I did some thinking:

What if it actually WAS possible to convert the controls into a setup usable for both active and passive mode?

One would need custom made tandem pots, values being approx. 25k for the active circuit and 250k on the passive side. AFAIK there are no such pots in existance (yet), so you would have to "build" your own - by getting two otherwise identical tandem pots (25k and 250k) and somehow swapping the bottom halves...

(Well - I'm just playing mind games here. Dunno if it's really feasable... ;-))

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

kiwibass

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by kiwibass

[lee650]

I've recently Emailed John East about the possibility of a 2 band classic ray pre that he has,, but with a push/pull active/passive and a passive tone control.

My sterling has a Nordstrand vintage pickup,So I'd love the vintage 2 band circuit,with the ability to switch to a passive vintage (Joe Dart) style tone.

Not heard anything back,So may email again,this thread has got me interested. I recently lost out on a 3 band circuit, due to funds,but I'll revisit plan A 😂

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, lee650 said:

I've recently Emailed John East about the possibility of a 2 band classic ray pre that he has,, but with a push/pull active/passive and a passive tone control.

My sterling has a Nordstrand vintage pickup,So I'd love the vintage 2 band circuit,with the ability to switch to a passive vintage (Joe Dart) style tone.

Not heard anything back,So may email again,this thread has got me interested. I recently lost out on a 3 band circuit, due to funds,but I'll revisit plan A 😂

 

He made me a MMSR 3-knob 3-band with a bypass switch on the volume control (pull for bypass) at my request. I'm sure he'll add the passive tone control if there's a good way to add it to the existing layout of a Stingray  

... and then I'll be very envious I didn't ask for that myself

 

[bloke_zero]

When I looked there aren't too many passive bass and treble circuits out there - the only one I found was the G&L2000:

https://www.bassesbyleo.com/passive_l_series.html

It's pretty easy to implement and I'm sure could sit in with a preamp (it's only a couple of caps really).  The only thing I found difficult was finding a reverse log pot with a long enough shaft - but you wouldn't have that problem. And I've heard that you can use an Linear 250K in it's place anyway.

I've definitely heard of people swapping the resistance strip in pots to create new combinations so it is possible - good luck!