Bass Players - MM Stingray question

[audiomichael]

Hey Guys,

I just got a MM Stingray 5. It has a 3 way pickup selector, to me it sounds like:
1) scooped and bright, lots of zing and sub low end (kinda Flea-ish)
2) kinda vintage sound. not a ton of highs or lows, but a nice fat mid
3) like pos 1, but with fatter lows, and less highs

Is there a goto position that is THE Stingray sweetspot? 1 seems kinda Metal, 2 or old school, and 3 more pop session. Often I'll get a cool bass sound then by the time I layer all the guitars and vocals, and keys, the bass sound isn't quite right. I'm now using the Ampeg SVX plugin which has really helped me dial in better bass tones. So any Stingray advice would be appreciated.

[max cooper]

They're different ways of configuring the pickup.

from ernieball.com

3-way lever pickup selector (position 1 is closest to neck)
1 - both coils, series mode
2 - single coil
3 - both coils, parallel mode

I'm usually a single coil guy, but it totally depends on what you're going for.

[audiomichael]

What style do you usually play with your MM?

[picksail]

I have one and feel the middle position on the pickup selector works very well for rock applications within a studio setting.

[Jules]

My recording experience with MM Stingrays is this..

There seems to be some pick up / knob configuration that delivers a full 'reggae bass' output.. 9 times out of 10 this maximum bass setting is far too much for the rock / indie music we get in this studio..

So when I work with a MM Stingray I always think - "back the full bass tone off a little"

So perhaps I am a position 1, bass backed off a little type of guy...

[Chunky Karma]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey Guys,

I just got a MM Stingray 5. It has a 3 way pickup selector, to me it sounds like:
1) scooped and bright, lots of zing and sub low end (kinda Flea-ish)
2) kinda vintage sound. not a ton of highs or lows, but a nice fat mid
3) like pos 1, but with fatter lows, and less highs

Is there a goto position that is THE Stingray sweetspot? 1 seems kinda Metal, 2 or old school, and 3 more pop session. Often I'll get a cool bass sound then by the time I layer all the guitars and vocals, and keys, the bass sound isn't quite right. I'm now using the Ampeg SVX plugin which has really helped me dial in better bass tones. So any Stingray advice would be appreciated.

Here is the link:
http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/sp...stingray5.html
I got one about a year ago and didn't want to know the answer to your question right away so I waited about a month. I wanted to discover what I liked without being biased.

[audiomichael]

Originally Posted by Jules

My recording experience with MM Stingrays is this..

There seems to be some pick up / knob configuration that delivers a full 'reggae bass' output.. 9 times out of 10 this maximum bass setting is far too much for the rock / indie music we get in this studio..

So when I work with a MM Stingray I always think - "back the full bass tone off a little"

So perhaps I am a position 1, bass backed off a little type of guy...

He said "MAX i' MUM BEAAAAS!"

[David R.]

It all depends on the music and the player. And the condition of the strings.

As Jules pointed out, great reggae tones on one setting, I have gotten great funk (slap) tones, straight up rock tones, jazz melow-ness...

You just have to mess around with it.

That is one of the many things I love about my Stingray 5, the variety of tones.