The Joy of the Ray

[BassAdder60]

In balance to the Joy of the P / J 

 

What do you love about your Stingray ? 

[ezbass]

The pickup position is the key to the ‘Ray, IMO. They always sit well in a mix. My current shorty is nice and light, a breeze to play and tonally very versatile with the series/single/parallel switching. 
 

Gratuitous photo…

 

[Lozz196]

I’ve never got on very well with the sound of them when I play them, but I think they sound amazing when played by those who know how to get the best from them. I do however find them pretty much the most comfortable bass to play from all the basses I’ve played, the design just fits so well, just with I could make them sound good.

[spongebob]

Got a wanted ad for one. Want one!

[Musicman666]

i bought a black ray brand new in the uk during the 90s and immediately took it to south east asia....with all that high humidity around the backplate split and the poly paint got all cracked up and started falling off, a guitar tech said it has mojo. Plays just as good as the day I first got it....but looks like shite.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Musicman666

[ezbass]

I’ve had 5 ‘Rays over the years: USA SUB, US 3 band, US five string (should have never let that one go), Sterling ‘Ray34, Sterling ‘Ray SS.

[casapete]

I’ve had 6 or 7 Stingrays over the years, starting with a late 70’s pre EB job.

Always loved them, the eq being the main attraction for me as well as the perfectly

postioned pickup. Also the consistent high build quality, never seen a bad one.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find one light enough for me to play now, and sold

my last one recently. ☹️

[dmckee]

My 2001 Stingray now has a Nordy MM4.2 pickup, a John East MMSR preamp and a series/parallel/single switch. A lot of tinkering, but it sounds great. (I especially like series mode on the Nordy and a little low mid bump from the John East). 

 

But I think what I like about it, probably even more than the sound, is the body shape. I just find it super comfortable - it really ‘fits’ me. Ditto the neck profile actually. 

 

My current probably-daft-but-still-tempted idea is to get a (lightweight!) Stingray-shaped body made and have the neck and electrics from my Fender Dimension HH fitted to it. I really like the Dimension pickups/EQ (which might be a relatively unusual opinion), and it has a great pro level Fender neck, but I can’t seem to bond with the body…. 

[uk_lefty]

14 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

What do you love about your Stingray ? 

I love my Stingray because it is BIG, bold and a bit gritty. It does great big dollops of deep, gritty Stingray tone, or I crank up the mids and make it a bit more like a P bass. Put simply it's the ultimate live bass. I compare it to having a big, stupid, lovable dog that slobbers all over you and always wants to play but will never just sit calmly in your lap. 

[OliverBlackman]

Loved the looks but lacked warmth and the G string offered nothing

[alexa3020]

Big lows & sparkly top end - jumps out the mix way more than a p or j

[Piers_Williamson]

I really like the way the neck of a Stingray really sits under your hands, almost like I imagine a short-scale would (albeit I don't own a short scale).  Much more forgiving to play long sets with.

[gazhowe]

Pickup position, build quality, looks and how well they sit in a live mix.  I've had six Ray's and the two Specials I have now are the best of the lot.

[drTStingray]

I first found the joy of them when I bought a new one at the beginning of the 80s - fat sound, perfect neck shape (for me), plenty of highs when required, sound great recorded or live. 
 

The latest Stingray Specials have sublime feeling/playing necks. I have a number of Stingrays ranging from fretless (with flats) to fretted (with flats and rounds), to 5 strings, to a Tim Commerford long scale signature which is passive with series/parallel/single coil selection. 

 

Ive concluded that I prefer them with rounds (slap sound is brighter), and prefer to mute the strings through playing technique if I want a thumpier sound. But make no mistake, if you want thumpy, then a Ray will do it - especially with flats and using the individual string mutes (if the version you have had them). 
 

Basically a great all round bass that can give a range sounds from fat, warm and thumpy to zingy, to searing slap, to mid heavy fingerstyle burpiness. 

Edited June 6, 2022 by drTStingray

[Franticsmurf]

I have had a Sterling 5 string for a while and loved the action, neck and the clarity from the active electronics. Last year I invested in a Sterling Ray 34HH and it's the range of sounds from the two pickups and the EQ which means it can cover pretty much anything I'm playing that makes it a standout for me. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

7 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

Loved the looks but lacked warmth and the G string offered nothing

I always struggled with the G as well. It just got totally lost in the band, no matter what I tried. 

 

I do love the Stingray but have come to accept that it's one of those basses that works better when it's in the hands of someone else.

[Bagman]

A good solid instrument 

High quality build

I like the neck (it’s more P than J)

 

A little EQ boost goes a long way

My favourite Fretless 

[alexa3020]

8 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I always struggled with the G as well. It just got totally lost in the band, no matter what I tried. 

 

I do love the Stingray but have come to accept that it's one of those basses that works better when it's in the hands of someone else.

Is there not an easy pickup mod you can do to improve the G string - levelling the poles I think

[Cosmo Valdemar]

57 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

Is there not an easy pickup mod you can do to improve the G string - levelling the poles I think

Hmm... possibly. It was never a volume issue - played solo the bass sounded fine.

[jonnybass]

Amazing live sound and build quality, I’ve owned three (2 fives and a 4) find the body shape and size are not ergonomically good for me, but the sound live is fantastic. Only gone as my ACG is more suitable for me.

[drTStingray]

6 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I always struggled with the G as well. It just got totally lost in the band, no matter what I tried. 

I’ve heard people say this as well - if you try a Stingray Special you find this doesn’t happen - but they have neodymium pick ups and an 18 volt pre amp so are more powerful.

 

Its interesting, I tried out a couple of 70s Precisions a couple of weeks back and was expecting them to sound very different from Stingrays, especially as far as the G string was concerned - curiously they didn’t at all. 
 

Having played a couple of deps recently with bands with rock sets, and crunchy guitars, and using a Stingray I found I needed to be in certain parts of the octave and on certain strings to avoid being in identical frequencies to the guitars at times (and to turn up) - to avoid disappearing into the bottom end morass - the guitarists tended to play with lots of bass sound and bar chords favouring the bottom strings - the only other time I’ve experienced this type of problem has been with keyboard players with heavy left hands (and possibly they hadn’t noticed they’re playing in ensemble so don’t need to play absolutely everything). 
 

Im afraid that certain parts of bass guitar are going to disappear into the mix when playing in those sort of situations - however a Stingray can most definitely be made to cut through a mix, or alternatively form a part of it by playing technique and EQ - however it should always be judged by the sound coming out of FoH rather than a poor stage mix!! 
 

If it causes a problem, best bet is to move on to something else (exactly what I did with Fender P and J type basses way back!!). 

Edited June 6, 2022 by drTStingray

[Burns-bass]

I reckon if I had to choose one single bass do do rock, funk, R&B and pop it would be a Stingray.  Thankfully I don’t have to choose and so I don’t currently have one, but do I want one? 

Yes!!!

[MichaelDean]

I think maybe the one bass I slightly regret selling is my SBMM SUB Ray 5. It was a really good playing bass that fitted really well in busy arrangements. I switched out the preamp for a Retrovibe Stinger. Might have to pick up another at some point. I'd love a purple sparkle Ray35, although that might just be because it's purple 😅

 

 

I also think I prefer the look of the 5 string Ray to the 4. Don't quite understand why they're part of the same range when they look so different! Even the contouring is so different.

[Len_derby]

I haven’t yet owned, or even tried, a Ray but it’s an itch I’d like to scratch.

These days my preference is for short-scale bases. Can anyone tell me, from their own experience, if the lauded characteristics of the Ray also live in the 30” neck version?

[ezbass]

31 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

I haven’t yet owned, or even tried, a Ray but it’s an itch I’d like to scratch.

These days my preference is for short-scale bases. Can anyone tell me, from their own experience, if the lauded characteristics of the Ray also live in the 30” neck version?

Yes, I think so. I pretty much put all my bases through my Sadowsky preamp pedal and this adds some of that active boost you get from a normal ‘Ray but without the brittleness I have experienced on a couple of the 3 band models. Although I’m not particularly a slap player, it does that well enough for my needs, whilst sitting/cutting in/through the mix for finger style, just like a normal ‘Ray. Having the series/single/parallel option just adds to the versatility. It’s all about that pickup placement IMO, and the SS pickup is in the same relative place as the 34” scale.

Edited June 6, 2022 by ezbass