What would a passive stingray sound like?

[mcnach]

15 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I have a clone and I like the bass but I’m not over fond of the bright sound. 
could a push pull pot be fitted in place of volume and would it sound like a P when in passive ? 

 

Why would it sound like a P? The pickup is not where a Precision pickup would be, so no, it won't. It will sound like a Stingray, with fewer tonal options, but still very much a Stingray type of sound.

 

(My 2002 EBMM Stingray has a preamp bypass switch now, I'm not talking hypotheticals. I thought I'd add this before we get any of the "the MM pickup needs a preamp, it'll be too quiet on its own" BS  )

 

 

 

[mcnach]

12 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Thanks - am missing a p bass and was trying to avoid the traditional tar and feathers on the abstinence thread 

non starter by the sound of it

thanks all 

 

One alternative -not for everybody but it's an alternative that I have used as it doesn't bother me- is to get a pickguard made with a P route on it at the right spot. Then just carefully chisel away enough wood to allow the P pickup to fit, using the pickguard as a template to mark where the pickup will go. If you like how the bass feels etc...

 

 

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

One alternative -not for everybody but it's an alternative that I have used as it doesn't bother me- is to get a pickguard made with a P route on it at the right spot. Then just carefully chisel away enough wood to allow the P pickup to fit, using the pickguard as a template to mark where the pickup will go. If you like how the bass feels etc...

 

 

 

No good for avoiding the wrath of the gear abstinence massive though if you have to buy a P pickup, extra pot etc.

[MartinB]

A decent comparison here, starting around 10:24:

 

[Alanko]

18 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I have a clone and I like the bass but I’m not over fond of the bright sound. 
could a push pull pot be fitted in place of volume and would it sound like a P when in passive ? 

 

 

Even with the pickup wired with the coils in series this bass sounded nothing like a P Bass! In parallel the bass was very dental-sounding. Each note went 'gink!'

 

In short, a Stingray pickup in the traditional P Bass location in a passive bass still sounds more Stingray than anything else. These big humbuckers have an inherent tone. Maybe if you isolate one coil it becomes more like a fat '51 P Bass pickup?
 

Unhappy with the bass, I fitted a Gibson Thunderbird pickup...

 

 

...but the pickup was furiously noisy and prone to interference. So I went berserk with the router...

 

 

[ead]

I have a Sandberg TM bass which has a MM pickup that is a little closer to the bridge than the Stingray and a humbucking single coil (yes I know, but you know what I'm trying to say here) that is about 1cm closer to the 12th fret than a standard P bass.  Crucially it also has an active passive switch in the preamp and the treble control turns into a slightly agricultural tone control.

 

In a live music situation it does a very passable P bass sound in passive mode.  Just my thoughts, and I'm sure purists will be burning effigies of me within minutes 

 

I've not tried a passive"Stingray" tone yet, but will give it a go to see what it sounds like.

Edited 2 hours ago by ead