musicman with through body strings

[dub]

Has anyone had the chance to compare a musicman with through body strings to one without?
In theory it should be brighter, but what's it like in practice?

[Beedster]

I've owned both but to be honest, there are too many other variables in comparing bass to bass to make a reliable judgement (e.g., one instrument might have more sustain, but that could be the result of the body & neck working well with each other as opposed to the strings going through the body). I've owned about 10 basses with string through and don't think I've ever really noticed a difference (I've been able to confirm this on several, the bridges of which allowed both top loaded and through body stringing).

If you're making a choice between basses, there are far more important things to worry about. I'm sure other will disagree!

C

[dub]

[quote name='Beedster' post='801543' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:12 AM']I've owned both but to be honest, there are too many other variables in comparing bass to bass to make a reliable judgement (e.g., one instrument might have more sustain, but that could be the result of the body & neck working well with each other as opposed to the strings going through the body). I've owned about 10 basses with string through and don't think I've ever really noticed a difference (I've been able to confirm this on several, the bridges of which allowed both top loaded and through body stringing).

If you're making a choice between basses, there are far more important things to worry about. I'm sure other will disagree!

C[/quote]

That's good to know. I wont start drilling holes through the SR5!

[Beedster]

[quote name='dub' post='801561' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:38 AM']That's good to know. I wont start drilling holes through the SR5![/quote]

100% don't. If you were comparing two basses, and the one with through body sounded better, then buy it. Drilling holes in a bass is a different story. There's a lot of modifications you can make to a bass that SHOULD improve tone, but tone is an elusive thing. For example, a high-mass bridge is supposed to improve the tone of a bass, but, whilst I think it probably does on some, I much prefer the old-school bent piece of tin on a Precision to a Badass or similar. That's probably because many of the improvements associated with the high mass bridge are quantitative, i.e., they give you more of something - sustain, intonation, attack, clarity, harmonics -, but tone is qualitative, and sometimes those quantitative improvements detract from the quality.

Think I'm still pissed so sorry if the above is rambling!

C

[tombboy]

I agree with Chris. I have owned both and there are too many other fundamentals which affect the sound on each bass (wood density, different strings, set ups etc) for you to make a decision. My 30th was strings-thru, but it also had a mahogany body, which altered the tone.

What particular musicman are you talking about anyway? I assume it's the Stingray. If so, and you have one, it'll either be a pre- Ernie Ball model, or one of a batch made for the German market. They've only just gone back to strings-thru in the classic series.

[Grand Wazoo]

I'll say it again: don't forget that when you use string through you are forced to buy long scale strings as you might end up with not enough slack to wrap the string around the farthest peg. Oh and the worst news is that not a lot of companies will offer your favourite strings in the long scale version.

[witterth]

I'd say the tru' body one I had was better than the tru' bridge one I have now......dont ask why I sold it.....I still regret it !!

[OutToPlayJazz]

The thory with through body stringing is that you get more bottom end end more sustain because you're using the whole thickness of the body as the bridge. But as Chris says, there are a lot of variables from bass to bass. Some bodies/necks will be naturally more resonant than others in the first place, due to different densities in woods. The two Fenders I've had with through body stringing were the best sounding I've had, though.

Rich.

[Beedster]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='801732' date='Apr 10 2010, 12:46 PM']I'll say it again: don't forget that when you use string through you are forced to buy long scale strings as you might end up with not enough slack to wrap the string around the farthest peg. Oh and the worst news is that not a lot of companies will offer your favourite strings in the long scale version.[/quote]

And even worse than that, about 50% of flatwounds won't respond well to string through, and trust me, you don't want to be too close to your bass when a La Bella Deep Talkin' E string goes.

C

[Beedster]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='801740' date='Apr 10 2010, 12:52 PM']The two Fenders I've had with through body stringing were the best sounding I've had, though.[/quote]

Same's true of my old 'ray, but I still can't be sure it wasn't simply down to the fact that it weighed about the same as a moderate sized buffalo and appeared to be made of Kryptonite.

[dub]

[quote name='tombboy' post='801577' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:59 AM']I agree with Chris. I have owned both and there are too many other fundamentals which affect the sound on each bass (wood density, different strings, set ups etc) for you to make a decision. My 30th was strings-thru, but it also had a mahogany body, which altered the tone.

What particular musicman are you talking about anyway? I assume it's the Stingray. If so, and you have one, it'll either be a pre- Ernie Ball model, or one of a batch made for the German market. They've only just gone back to strings-thru in the classic series.[/quote]

My bass is a 1989 ernie ball stingray 5. I wasn't really serious about drilling holes in it.
I did have one of the old ones with through body strings, but that was along time ago so I don't remember what it's tone was like, there was something I didn't really like about that particular bass. I sold it and bought a G+L, then sold that, bought the 5 string and used that for the past 20 years.

[matski]

[quote name='dub' post='801537' date='Apr 10 2010, 08:57 AM']Has anyone had the chance to compare a musicman with through body strings to one without?
In theory it should be brighter, but what's it like in practice?[/quote]

Ooh! Me! Me!

I have 2 pre EB Music Man basses: my '79 StingRay is through-the-body, my '83 Cutlass is through-the-bridge. For reference, they are both slab bodied, both have 2 band EQ, both have brass nuts, and both weigh about 9lbs (at a guess). So almost the same, apart from the fact that one has a maple neck and one has a graphite neck. I usually fit 'em with EB Slinky strings.

The difference in the sound? The StingRay has more bottom-end fatness, and the Cutlass has more top-end zing.

Any help at all?