Stingray confusion (trying to nail Jamie Stewart's tone from The Cult's early days).

[chriswareham]

I played a Stingray for almost twenty years, having bought one when I first started working full time after college. It was my dream bass since several of my favourite bassists used one - Barry Jepson of Southern Death Cult, Jamie Stewart of Death Cult and The Cult, Simon Gallup of The Cure and even Peter Hook during his Revenge / Monaco phase. I then switched to a Greco copy of the Rickenbacker 4003 about five years ago, and sold the Stingray. Fast forward to now, and the while the band I'm in suits the middly honk of a Rick style bass I think the tone I was originally inspired by would fit even better.

 

So I had a look at what's out there in Stingray land, and I'm confused. It used to be that the choices were straightforward - four or five strings, two or three band active tone controls. Now there seems to be a bewildering array of Stingray models and no amount of Googling seems to provide an explanation. So in short, I'm looking to recreate the kind of tone from the Cult's early performance of Horse Nation. I know that solid state amps (Trace Elliot) and chorus were also a factor, but I'm wondering what models from the current Stingray range get me close without spending more than I have to.

 

So do the Ray 4 models have the same kind of pre-amp as the more expensive Sterling or full fat Stingray models? Do the two or three band active tone controls have a difference in terms of what sounds you can get? I would prefer to go for something like a Ray 4, Ray 24 or Ray 34 rather then the frankly eye watering cost of a US made Stingray but don't want to end up with something that disappoints if I can't get the right tone. Advice very much appreciated!

 

 

[Beedster]

I’m biased of course, but that aside you could do a lot worse than this which I was about to out on consignment sale….

 

 

[chriswareham]

Oh, that's tempting. I think I bought a Yamaha BB1200 from you, which I used with a Joy Division tribute until I got tired of too many people saying I should be playing a Rickenbacker (I'd point out Hooky's clearly playing a Yammy in the Love Will Tear Us Apart video and before that he actually played a Hondo rather than a Rickenbacker, but to no avail).

[Beedster]

1 minute ago, chriswareham said:

Oh, that's tempting. I think I bought a Yamaha BB1200 from you, which I used with a Joy Division tribute until I got tired of too many people saying I should be playing a Rickenbacker (I'd point out Hooky's clearly playing a Yammy in the Love Will Tear Us Apart video and before that he actually played a Hondo rather than a Rickenbacker, but to no avail).

You did, and there’s no telling some people 😆

[Lozz196]

I think it would be very difficult to offer a better suggestion than the above

[LukeFRC]

3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I think it would be very difficult to offer a better suggestion than the above

+1

[martthebass]

I think if it's a Stingray to be had then I'd be looking for a 2EQ standard used or a Stingray Classic 2EQ.  You can get close with the 3EQ but not exactly (IMHO).

[Bolo]

The sterling ray4 is passive, any other will be close enough in the mix.

[Skybone]

Wouldn't one of the Retro StingRay's be better...? And loads of chorus of course.

 

 

[Musicman666]

all i can hear is a stingray with a new set of round wounds .. any decent amp would do.

[chriswareham]

Many thanks for the responses! I've been pondering my options and based on some of the comments decided to buy a Ray 24 which seems to have a recreation of the 2 band pre-amp from a Stingray from the early 1980s. After changing the strings on my regular bass this evening for a set of stainless steel Rotosounds I think that also plays a big part in capturing the sound I'm after along with a modulation effect. I experimented with a bunch of effects, and came closest with my ancient Frontline rack mounted thing. The modulation offers either chorus or flanger and seems to be a clone of Boss circuitry. With careful tweaking of the manual and feedback controls on the flanger setting I got really close to what I'm looking for even on my passive bass.

[Beedster]

Good stuff, important to have a bass that calls to you 👍