MattW Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Hi All, I picked up an unloved "Vintage" brand Stingray from Facebook Marketplace recently with only 3 strings! I've cleaned it up, sorted the fretwork, put a new Nut on and it's playing very nicely. However having plugged it in it just sounds awful! Really bass heavy and boomy. I've cleaned the pots which were very scratchy and checked everything is secure, but before I work out what to do to make it sound better I'm trying to understand what is there currently. I assumed before I took it apart that the control would be volume, tone and some sort of split between the coils of the humbucker, but it actually appears to have 2 tone pots. The first/middle tone control doesn't appear to do anything, the second one does add/remove some top end but not a great deal. Can anyone shed any light on this, and also any possible repairs/upgrades. I don't want to spend a lot on it, I just got it as a project which I'll probably sell at cost to a friend whose son wants a bass - but if he has it now the sound will put him off bass forever 🤣 As far as I can tell the Pup is wired directly into the Volume Pot and then there are two tone pots with capacitors in series before the jack sockets. The "Series Link" wires for the pup are attached together so there's definitely no coil spitting going on. It could well be that the middle pot is the issue as it seems to be non functional. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Two tone controls? Seems unusual. If it was mine, I'd rewire it. If the coil split is available, I'd replace one of the pots with a series/parallel or series/parallel/single switch of some sort - probably a rotary. The Schaller Megaswitch made it super easy when I did this to a single MM bass recently (Harley Benton HB-50 prototype) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, neepheid said: Two tone controls? Seems unusual. If it was mine, I'd rewire it. If the coil split is available, I'd replace one of the pots with a series/parallel or series/parallel/single switch of some sort - probably a rotary. The Schaller Megaswitch made it super easy when I did this to a single MM bass recently (Harley Benton HB-50 prototype) Unless anyone can day otherwise I can only think the middle one is there for show and the capacitor value is such that it doesn't actually do anything!! I really like your suggestion of the rotary control, that's definitely something I'm going to look into. How did you set yours up? Did you have a 3 way switch so effectively rear coil/both/front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 8 minutes ago, MattW said: Unless anyone can day otherwise I can only think the middle one is there for show and the capacitor value is such that it doesn't actually do anything!! I really like your suggestion of the rotary control, that's definitely something I'm going to look into. How did you set yours up? Did you have a 3 way switch so effectively rear coil/both/front? No, IME that's a pointless way of doing it - the tonal differences between having either coil or both in parallel is minimal in the extreme. I wired mine parallel (both)/single (rear)/series (both) - there's definite differences between series and parallel that make it worth actually doing. See the thread about the bass in particular here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/484563-belated-nbd-harley-benton-hb-50-prototype 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy_r Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) 15 hours ago, MattW said: ... having plugged it in it just sounds awful! Really bass heavy and boomy. ...hi As far as I can tell the Pup is wired directly into the Volume Pot and then there are two tone pots with capacitors in series before the jack sockets. The "Series Link" wires for the pup are attached together so there's definitely no coil spitting going on. ... Any advice would be much appreciated! hi, maybe it's just my 70+yr old eyesight, but can you tell us how many connections there are to the Jack? I only see 1 - a blue wire. And i don't seem to see any other wire that could be ground, apart from a possible bridge ground to a tone pot case It's also not clear (to me) what is going on with the pickup wires to the vol pot (the white wire appears to be strapped back into the insulation - is that where the 2 pickup halves are connected in series? Can't see a 4th wire) Any chance of clearer/closer photos of the pots & Jack? (The dark background of the control plate isn't helping) With what i'm seeing (admittedly dodgy eyesight!)) I'm surprised you're hearing anything at all from the bass! 😉 Edited January 22 by sandy_r 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 9 minutes ago, sandy_r said: hi, maybe it's just my 70+yr old eyesight, but can you tell us how many connections there to the Jack? I only see 1 - a blue wire. And i don't seem to see any other wire that could be ground, apart from a possible bridge ground to a tone pot case It's also not clear (to me) what is going on with the pickup wires to the vol pot (the white wire appears to be strapped back into the insulation - is that where the 2 pickup halves are connected in series? Can't see a 4th wire) Any chance of clearer/closer photos of the pots & Jack? (The dark background of the control plate isn't helping) With what i'm seeing (admittedly dodgy eyesight!)) I'm surprised you're hearing anything at all from the bass! 😉 Coax - there's a white inner wire, I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy_r Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) 23 minutes ago, neepheid said: Coax - there's a white inner wire, I think. Thanks, yes i can makeout the white inner at the Jack and nearest tone pot now - looks a bit tight (being polite!) at the next (non-func.) tone pot - lug wiring at the Vol pot pretty much obscured by the pup cable Agree with replacing 1 tone position with a selector switch (and rotary should keep the form factor) Cheers Edited January 22 by sandy_r 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 6 hours ago, neepheid said: Coax - there's a white inner wire, I think. Yep absolutely correct! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 7 hours ago, neepheid said: No, IME that's a pointless way of doing it - the tonal differences between having either coil or both in parallel is minimal in the extreme. I wired mine parallel (both)/single (rear)/series (both) - there's definite differences between series and parallel that make it worth actually doing. See the thread about the bass in particular here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/484563-belated-nbd-harley-benton-hb-50-prototype Thanks for this - I'll check that thread + really appreciate the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 6 hours ago, sandy_r said: Thanks, yes i can makeout the white inner at the Jack and nearest tone pot now - looks a bit tight (being polite!) at the next (non-func.) tone pot - lug wiring at the Vol pot pretty much obscured by the pup cable Agree with replacing 1 tone position with a selector switch (and rotary should keep the form factor) Cheers Thanks for your thoughts. You're right about how tight it all is and I'll double check there are no accidental shorts that are effectively bypassing this tone pot. Might explain a few things! Even if it is I agree - a rotary switch is definitely the way to go! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy_r Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) ...looks like a bit of shielding is peeling away from the control cavity, Vol pot end - you might want to confirm the adhesion and continuity throughout? Another couple of things to confirm (obscured in photo) - is the pickup wired to Vol pot as per standard MM wiring? I've seen pickup shown with Black ('hot' wire) to Vol pot outer lug, Green to Ground (and Shield, if present), and Red + White as the series connection. Vol pot wiper (middle) lug on to tone (If pickup 'hot' wire is connected to Vol pot middle lug then it could adversely load the pup with pot rotation less than full on, losing some treble response) HTH Edited January 22 by sandy_r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 3 minutes ago, sandy_r said: ...looks like a bit of shielding is peeling away from the control cavity, Vol pot end - you might want to confirm the adhesion and continuity throughout? That's not actually shielding, it's paint peeling and what looks like silver is actually just lots of dust - presumably from manufacture! But you make a good point, I will definitely clean that all out and put some shielding in and earth it all while I am working on it. I've just had another look at that middle tone control, and moving the capacitor/wiring slightly suddenly brings the treble back in! So the poor sound is definitely from there. All the electrics were loose when I got it so I'm not overly surprised. So going to get a rotary switch ordered and swap that out. Thanks all!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Strange. I seem to recall the OLP version had one tone control and two volume controls, one for each coil of the humbucker. That makes slightly more sense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 minute ago, pete.young said: Strange. I seem to recall the OLP version had one tone control and two volume controls, one for each coil of the humbucker. That makes slightly more sense. Yup, I had a 5 string OLP (MM3) and remember it being volume for each coil also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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