Help me with this - why can I not get on with this active bass?

[kwmlondon]

15 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

He's probably just not found the right bass to cater to his tastes. The aforementioned switch offers series/single coil/parallel options and is not a Ray but the smaller bodied Sterling with a ceramic pickup. Based on his reason for getting the bass he's better off moving it on I feel.

This is something I should have done many times. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money faffing around with basses I’d have been better just selling to buy something I really got on with. Though I’ve learned a lot and had fun along the way…

[Terry M.]

9 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

This is something I should have done many times. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money faffing around with basses I’d have been better just selling to buy something I really got on with. Though I’ve learned a lot and had fun along the way…

Oh we've all done that. As I alluded to earlier though getting a bass because a bassist you admire has one is quite a risk. I admire James Jamerson but a 4 string P bass with sky high action and strung with flats is not on my wishlist personally. 

[kwmlondon]

2 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Oh we've all done that. As I alluded to earlier though getting a bass because a bassist you admire has one is quite a risk. I admire James Jamerson but a 4 string P bass with sky high action and strung with flats is not on my wishlist personally. 

Well… I mean… I’m quite impressionable! I love trying things and I am prone to GREAT IDEAS (TM) - I’ve gone on missions to achieve a specific artist’s tone before now. It’s a goose chase but I’ve had a lot of fun!

[Minininjarob]

8 hours ago, chris_b said:

When it comes to tone an MM and a Precision are chalk and cheese.

 

It might not be an active thing, maybe you just don't get on with the sound of humbuckers.

 

I don't either.

Maybe so, good point. I’m not rushing into anything just wanna make sure I’m right before I go selling anything. I suppose it’s a journey I’m on to discover what works best for me. 

[Minininjarob]

3 hours ago, Norris said:

I don't know exactly which Sterling model you have, but my Sterling Sub5 sounded very "meh". It was just about ok at home, but was quite indistinct and really didn't cut through in a band situation, even in our guitar/bass/drums trio. I then bought an active Sire PJ that sounded so much better, so put the Sterling up for sale on here. After a few weeks of bumping I eventually withdrew it.

 

I was considering changing the pickup, but after doing a bit of reading found several people who said that the preamp was the weak link. So I bought a Stinger '77 preamp from Retrovibe. Oh my goodness - there was the missing Stingray tone! It transformed the bass into something usable. It wasn't that expensive and I considered it paid for itself in one gig. I've gigged it a few times now and it makes a nice contrast to the Sire.

 

You never know, if you fancy a bit of tinkering, you might get a little bit closer to that sound that the bassist you love has

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-stinger-77-classic-mm-stingray-bass-eq-pre-amp-2-band-pre-eb-circuit/

As someone else says I have a USA EBMM Sterling not a ‘Sterling by MM’. Yes it’s confusing I know. 😂

[Minininjarob]

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

I’ve found modding basses is only really worth doing if you fundamentally like the instrument but have a clear, specific understanding of what you want to improve/change. In your case, if you like the way it plays and the fundamentals of the tone but find it too hot/bright/aggressive then I’d say look into an alternative preamp and/or pickup with a tap/split option. Lobster has done an amazing series of YouTube vids demoing different configurations in a ‘Ray.

Mines a Sterling not a Stingray though and not many people even know about them let alone talk about modding them. Very underrated. 

[kwmlondon]

8 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Mines a Sterling not a Stingray though and not many people even know about them let alone talk about modding them. Very underrated. 

Like this? 
https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/sterling

[Bolo]

Instead of boosting the bass you could roll off some treble.

Playing position, where your pick hits the string, matters a lot as well. Try the difference between playing over the pickup or between pickup and neck (where a P pup would sit).

 

Your experience is with 1 active bass. Writing off all basses with an active preamp would be daft.

[Terry M.]

58 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

Like this? 
https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/sterling

That's his bass 👍

[Minininjarob]

2 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Like this? 
https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/sterling

That’s the one. 

[Mudpup]

I think you're just used to a Precision and the USA Sterling has a very different inherent sound. Its worlds away from a Fender P sound. I'm exactly the opposite - I prefer modern active basses and just never seem to bond with Fendery type things. Having had both USA Sterlings and an SB14 (which is very very close to a USA in every aspect) they can have quite a cold clicky and clinical sound from the ceramic pickup which you can struggle to dial out. Even a Stingray sounds noticeably different because of the alnico pickup and can get pretty vintage sounding with the 2 band version. Are you sure the chap you saw had a Sterling and not a Stingray? They can look pretty similar from a distance. But I wouldn't waste time and money on the modding options, you'll only devalue what you have and it still won't quite do what you want it to. Just move it on and try something else...

Edited March 15 by Mudpup

[BigRedX]

On 14/03/2025 at 13:00, Bevan7 said:

I think maybe you just don’t like the sound of active basses? 

 

There is no sound of "active basses". It's just plugging a passive bass into an amp except the wire between the pinup and the tone control is shorter.

[BigRedX]

On 14/03/2025 at 15:00, chris_b said:

When it comes to tone an MM and a Precision are chalk and cheese.

 

It might not be an active thing, maybe you just don't get on with the sound of humbuckers.

 

I don't either.

 

The split P-bass pickup is a humbucker.

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

The split P-bass pickup is a humbucker.

 

It is, but that one has a different sound to other humbuckers.

[Minininjarob]

3 hours ago, Mudpup said:

I think you're just used to a Precision and the USA Sterling has a very different inherent sound. Its worlds away from a Fender P sound. I'm exactly the opposite - I prefer modern active basses and just never seem to bond with Fendery type things. Having had both USA Sterlings and an SB14 (which is very very close to a USA in every aspect) they can have quite a cold clicky and clinical sound from the ceramic pickup which you can struggle to dial out. Even a Stingray sounds noticeably different because of the alnico pickup and can get pretty vintage sounding with the 2 band version. Are you sure the chap you saw had a Sterling and not a Stingray? They can look pretty similar from a distance. But I wouldn't waste time and money on the modding options, you'll only devalue what you have and it still won't quite do what you want it to. Just move it on and try something else...

He’s well known for playing a Sterling - Roger Lima from Less than Jake. 
I wasn’t about to spend that amount of money without being sure! I did play it before buying too but I’m sure we all know that it  can take a while to bond with stuff sometimes. 
As I said originally it does sound awesome for some stuff but not an awful lot for me. 

Edited March 15 by Minininjarob

[Jack]

Excellent role model and one of my early reasons to get a Stingray, even though I later found out that it was a Sterling... 

 

You need a pick, an SVT and a lot of practice to sound like that though, it's more than just the bass. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Apologies if you've mentioned this already but do you use any drive? I love Stingrays but do find them quite harsh and clicky... until there's a bit of drive in the mix. Mind you that's me with most active basses 😄

[Terry M.]

33 minutes ago, Jack said:

 

You need a pick, an SVT and a lot of practice to sound like that though, it's more than just the bass. 

I genuinely believe the OP bought the Sterling for the wrong reason. No offence intended 🙏 Work on your craft and step on fresh snow and tell YOUR story. I mean that in good spirits. 

[Mudpup]

1 hour ago, Minininjarob said:

He’s well known for playing a Sterling - Roger Lima from Less than Jake. 
I wasn’t about to spend that amount of money without being sure! I did play it before buying too but I’m sure we all know that it  can take a while to bond with stuff sometimes. 
As I said originally it does sound awesome for some stuff but not an awful lot for me. 

I had to Google him......he's a proper monster isn't he! Love it. 

Here's a link to a tutorial. Classic Sterling tone there. As mentioned above, whack it through an SVT or something valvey to give the bottom end some girth and add some drive and it's there. 

 

 

[Jack]

12 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

I had to Google him......he's a proper monster isn't he! 

Whilst singing lead and jumping around to boot. 

[Minininjarob]

11 hours ago, Jack said:

Excellent role model and one of my early reasons to get a Stingray, even though I later found out that it was a Sterling... 

 

You need a pick, an SVT and a lot of practice to sound like that though, it's more than just the bass. 

He actually used a GK 400rb for touring and recording up to Hello Rockview. Which I also have. 

[Minininjarob]

10 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Apologies if you've mentioned this already but do you use any drive? I love Stingrays but do find them quite harsh and clicky... until there's a bit of drive in the mix. Mind you that's me with most active basses 😄

A little bit yes, but not tried it much with the Sterling. That’s a good idea I’ll give that a go, thanks very much. 

[Minininjarob]

10 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I genuinely believe the OP bought the Sterling for the wrong reason. No offence intended 🙏 Work on your craft and step on fresh snow and tell YOUR story. I mean that in good spirits. 

I am here you know……

I bought it as I tried a stingray and wasn’t massively keen, and I wanted a bass with a thinner neck too to try out (I have quite small hands compared to most, I don’t struggle too much with a P except complex stuff). I found out by chance about the Sterling and thought it might just be the ticket then later that Roger used them. It seemed to be the exact combination of everything I wanted so found one not to far away to go and try. 
I love it apart from the odd tone for some stuff which is why the advice given might help me keep it. 

[Minininjarob]

9 hours ago, Jack said:

Whilst singing lead and jumping around to boot. 

Honestly seen them live and it boggles the mind. 

[Minininjarob]

9 hours ago, Mudpup said:

I had to Google him......he's a proper monster isn't he! Love it. 

Here's a link to a tutorial. Classic Sterling tone there. As mentioned above, whack it through an SVT or something valvey to give the bottom end some girth and add some drive and it's there. 

 

 

One of my top 3 fav ever tunes. I’ve spent 2 years learning that tune (since I started playing the bass) and I think I’ve got it down now, not all the frilly bits but most of them. Going to be playing it live at my first ever gig.