I'm actually shocked you covered heavy music! Most bass demos completely ignore the metal/hard rock market. It's infuriating, especially when they're demoing a 5-string and/or fanned fret bass and then just play it like it's a 4 string P bass with flatwounds, noodling around and playing harmonics. Anyway, nicely done, Jayme!
I really appreciate your reviews. RU-vid gear reviews tend to gush, and you come across as meticulous without being pedantic, and include pros and cons. Thanks!
Been drooling over the dropped copper 4HH model for a few months now. First real bass I ever played was my band mate's MM. Loved the chunky feel and sound. Time to make my Christmas list! (And Jayme; "Do it Again!" Love it!)
Bud, I've been a Stingray player for so many years I can't tell you - everything from pre EB's to the slo specials. This is the best 'Ray that's every been made bar none!! Fantastic review also and playing was top order.
@@BarefootViking while the Sterling’s are well put together they really are not sonically as a true Stingrays. These new stingrays specials are the best Rays ever made in terms of weight, tone and general improvement over the design we all know and love.
@@slapitman thank you for your reply and info. Im an amateur returning to bass after 20 years, so im happy to hear this. So you would suggest a HH special as a great choice
@@BarefootViking Anything made at the SLO factory will be high quality. StingRays can be heavy due to the Northern Ash used. If you are a returning player might I suggest the new Specials as they are definitely lighter and more ergonomic.
i don't think you can get quite exactly the same sound as a great early stingray, but for everything else, i think those special stingrays are a major improvement all around, one of the nicest playing basses i've played, one of the best basses i've played, esp the ones with the ebony fingerboards
I have two early SR 5, a 1995 and a 1999, both still with the ceramic magnet Pickups. They do sound massive and have this kind of gnarl when pushing the preamp a bit harder that is to die for. My SR 4 from the early 2000 fits perfect in the row tonewise. Its the necks that I love from this older StingRays. The one SR5 has a flamed neck with rosewood fingerboard, the other one with all maple neck has a beautifull birds eye. Nothing real spectacular, but beautifull, and think about: This have been standard necks back in the days. The 3 band EQ gives incredible versatility. In 2008 I bought a SR5 Classic with a spectacular flamed maple neck and the traditional two band EQ. There is a little secret in the SR5 EQ, it has a built in high pass filter and with (I think) -6 dB at 60 Hz what helps you not killing your speakers due to exzessive speaker excursion. The Classic does not have this rolloff, so the low end is even more massive. When you cut the low end about 25%, the mids start to Shine and come more pronounced. This is the secret to all StingRay 2 band EQ. I had the chance to play a SR 5 30th Anniversary, and it was so similar to my old ones, that I didn't feel the need for getting me one. Sure, I have to check out the SR4 and 5 "Special" to double check this, but I'm quite sure I'd rather stay with my "good 'ol boys". Only thing that may drive people into the new SR 5 Special is the improved string spacing. On the old models the G string is real near to the edge of the fingerboard, and with that carefull rolled frettends it is possible that you pull the G string off the frettboard when you are in a hurry - or not used to this. Because it is a feature, not a bug.
I tried many basses , but Stingray is my love from the first sight! Love it's sound so much. And this does not disappoint as well. Weight reduce is always a good thing for bass
Sounds, and looks really nice. AND, we all need to keep in mind that in your super capable hands, even though it's not really an ax you'd gravitate to, we're getting the best review. Great job Jayme!
Your comment about Stingrays is the same way I feel about P-basses. "I love them when other people play them". I hear a P-bass on a record and they sound amazing, but when I play one, I just can't get a tone I like. I do like playing Stingrays, just a shame I can't afford one.
Jon, P Bass traditionally has always sounded better direct on a recording than live, where I agree the sound falls short of expectations. To obtain that sound live I run mine with two bass driver pedals which create the extra headroom and suttle overdrive like the classic rock, blues and Motown sound of the 70's BUT the best first option IMHO is to find a used inexpensive American made P-bass and replace the stock pups with the DiMarzio model DP122, not expensive, easy to wire-up with the original 250K pots and your set. You'll get that "recorded" P-Bass sound live that you are looking for with this method and not break the bank! Enjoy!
Ive been a fender jazz guy most of my musical career. Im ordering this exact bass next week from american musical supply to take advantage of the 12 or 18 pay. I went to sweetwater music in fort wayne last weekend to try this bass out. It was amazing!!! I would have ordered it then but they only have a 3 pay plan which is to salty for my budget lol. Thanks for this great review! Cant wait to get mine!
i can say i sold my classic after i recieved my special. the overall design, string over polepieces thing, weight and tone is far better. As you already mentioned you get the same tones here with the special but more.One thing i always disliked about my classic was the thinner sounding g string which is called weak g in many forums (which is wrong btw its not weak its just very thin sounding) and with this bass the strings are way more balanced without loosing variety of the oldschool stingray sound so you can still get the zing and growl but more. I was always a 2 Band Ray Guy too which was not a bad decision in comparision to the old Stingray Std 3 Band - But not it seems that the new 3 Band which comes with the Special seems to be superior. Dont get me wrong - EB MM did never build bad basses, but this one is by far the best. Nice review btw :)
This bass covers Precision, Jazz, and StingRay sound territory very well. I love my P basses but they can't touch StingRay territory. The only thing I'm not hearing is the Jaco Jazz bridge pickup sound, which is something I couldn't care less about. The fact that that it lost weight as well still using a good body wood like ash instead of some light weight junk wood is awesome. They are expensive but I would drop the dough on one of these way before I would give Fender $1000 and up.
Just the 18v preamp is a major improvement. I still would love to have a A/P switch on it but that’s just me. I have a 1989 EBSR bass with the ‘original’ 2b EQ. NOT GETTING RID OF IT!!! Great basses!😌🎸👍🏾
Musicman Stringray next on my hitless. Question is which one or 2 ? Currently run with some of the other Classics. Fender 51 Custom shop telecaster bass. Fender 62 Jazz Custom shop. Rickenbacker 73 4001 Rickenbacker 76 4001. Stringray will Comfortably sit Just fine adding more Colors of Sound . To me it just depends what fits . They ALL bring it.
I have two fretless stingrays very special instruments one is a 2003 4 HP unlined fretless which is my meat and potato bass and I'm fortunate enough to own number 4 of 106 bfr the fretless with the roasted Maple neck and roasted Maple fingerboard with the super high figuring I honestly have to say I love the new Stingray bfr above every other Stingray I have it's just a much more balanced instrument it sings It's a sustains it's a chameleon it could sound like a jazz bass with the back pickup wide opening you roll the bass up cut the mid and you could bring the treble up it's not clicky or clacky and especially to sizzly meaning sterile or glassy I love the fact thought I could dial up the bass roll the middle down bring up the treble and I can rip up and down that bass getting a Jack Bruce sound with Clarity punch growl is in one second change my right hand technique and it's note-for-note accurate the preamp is amazing the New Bridge configuration transfers the tone to the body from the neck that does not get robbed for the heavy high mass Bridge the hollowed-out I love the fact that I could I'll up the base roll the middle down bring up the treble and I can rip up and down at Bass getting a Jack Bruce to a Jaco sound with clarity , I can go on and on song yes the new bases the bfr as they're called all well worth the price it will be your friend forever
Absolutely "Luv" this bass I have a 5HH special but IMHO the composite nut installed on my bass is a joke it's very sharp around the edges and the G string doesn't line up properly with the fretboard (too close to the edge) even after a proper neck adjustment and slips off repeatedly. I had my local pro (who agreed with me BTW) fashion a standard double-wide bone nut with a slight adjustment (1/32") and this bass plays and sounds fantastic! Find a like-new one at a great price like I did worth every dollar spent. I hope to get me a 4HH special at some point too, Enjoy! Oh btw, my 5'er only weighs in at 8.8lbs yep you heard it right! Lean and mean thumping machine!! Thanks for the review, Jayme!
Nice bass, and the StingRay is still as great as it always has been. Fantastic for all the things that you said it was good at. But the tone that you dialed in to get a P Bass did not cover that area at all IMO. Hard to duplicate a split P pickup.
This bass is a banger , I love hum jazz or p style for that versatility like the sand berg Cali offer over this tho , what ever made you change from la bass licks I think to this ?
The big question is... did they fix the weak G string issue? It’s a real thing. I had a brand new neptune blue SR4 which was beautiful but I ultimately returned it; it had a real issue with the G.
It would be cool if you could do a demo on the 4HH and compare it to this one. I've heard some people say you can't get the traditional "Stingray sound" out of the 4HH while other people claim you can if you use it with the pickup switch in the 2nd position (with only the back pickup on). I realize your demos are subject to what these companies will send you though. Love the channel!
@@CNick75 I've actually played the 4HH myself. But that was in a guitar store, and I didn't have anything to compare it to. I know I like the traditional StingRay tone, but I couldn't tell if I getting that when I used only the bridge pickup. I did like the versatility of it a lot. I want one in Burnt Copper, I think.
rome8180 I’ve played the new HH too and seen videos where they compare the sound between the old and the new and the new one is more smooth sounding than the old classic. It’s because of the extra battery it pushes more sound out.
Very helpful review. I haven't read through the entire thread of comments to see if this was previously answered, but wondering: What are the settings of each control on the 1st sound (the classic one you described as "scooped") you demo'd?
Hey Jayme, great Playing! I have a Special 5 and love it. Could you pls name the first Song you played, sounds awesome and I‘d like to play it. Best JP
Hi Jayme, did you muted a bit the string for the triplet picking with index and middle finger? what a great sound it has! Great work and presentation. Beautiful video
I like how he says its feels like its a little more balanced......I love the Music Man sound but I hate the neck dive. For me the balance outweighs the sound unfortunately.
I just bought this exact model about 2 months ago. I havent played my fender jazz since getting this. It plays better than any bass Ive ever played. The problem is I am getting distortion from it. I cant figure out how to get a clean tone. Yous sounds fantastic. Is the volume up all the way on the bass? How do you get the clean tone?
@@deadbeatstudios ... After watching a couple of these videos I went out and bought the 5HH. Fantastic bass. I was hard-pressed between the 5HH special and the Fender Jazz Elite. The versatility I can get from the 5HH was what won me over. Having that extra pickup makes a world of difference if you want a smoother sound. Perfect for worship music playing at churches. Too bad you weren't up in Seattle I'd let you play.
Jayme! What is up bro? Hey man, what were the settings on the EQ when you played that very last clip? The one where you were imitating the sound of a P bass. Out of all the different sounds you displayed, by far, that was my favorite one man! It sounded so phat, solid, but yet articulate and pretty all at the same time. So yea, what were the settings on that EQ for that badass sound my brother?
@@deadbeatstudios Ok cool! I appreciate that. And now I see what kind of sound you can get by doing so, and how to get it too!! Thanks again!!! Great vids man!
Jayme I just bought my first StingRay (a USA made S.U.B. 4 from 2003) and I love the 2 way onboard preamp! 🙂 But I’m in trouble because I am a “passive bass” guy and I have no idea what EQ settings would be perfect for me and can’t perfectly see how it works. In “all the way up” of Bass and Treble sounds me killer, I love the tone but maybe it will be too much in the mix. But every time I’m cutting with the knobs, sound is getting worst. 🙁 Please help me, what is you recommendation in the case of EQ settings on the bass? Around the middle? Thank you a lot! Marcellus from Hungary
Hello Jayme, thanks for this awesome review! I only had a question: Is it possible that this bass has less treble than the original stingrays? It seems the tone switch have less effect on it. Could you please give your feeling? Thanks!
Yes it's much less bright than previous models. You can still dial it in, but it's more tame when you first plug it in and set all the knobs to center detent.e
@@deadbeatstudios Thanks a lot for your answer. If I can dial it in, it's ok for me. HH brings much more versatility than H? I want to be able to slap it freely and the extra fret makes the space between the fretboard and the neck pick up super small. Is it worth it? (I promise it's my last question ;) )
@@gemseurope No problem at all! Something like that may be very specific to one's particular slap technique so I'd recommend checking it out for yourself to see if that'll be a problem. Just hit up the folks at EBMM and tell em I sent you, they should be able to help you hunt one down for sure!
I have a Stingray . . . A very good Bass . . . To me, just my personal point of view . . . the sound is way too unique. Maybe because the RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS are so often heard on the radio. It immediately reminds me of FLEA when I grab the Stingray ;-)
Detlev Gebers #bass a lot of people say that but flea didn’t play a stingray on most their popular songs, he used to use one live but changed mid 90s. You are hearing a modulus/jazz bass on most of their radio hits
@@MusicManStingray1989 Hello! Yes, I know. But somehow it is like that. I could also think of Tony Levin. But it is Flea who comes immediately to my mind. The Bass and the brand is great no question about that.