Music Man Stingray vs Fender P-Bass | Which Bass Rocks Harder? 

If you watch my channel you know I am a Stingray guy, but I was super impressed with the P in this demo! If the situation was I had to run on stage, I think I would grab the P.

"Which one rocks harder?" Plays them like they're gonna break...

There is a bit more clarity in the stingray. The P-bass wasn't bad, but, the stingray had a bit of a brighter, more clear tone.

They both have the same dad

Stage -> Stingray Studio -> Pbass

Kind of have to hear them rocking to know which one rocks the best.

Would grab the Pbass. Not because it's better or worse, but because in a pinch it's easier to get a workable tone out of it quickly with less margin for error!

Pbass. No battery, simple, + pure beautiful tone that just plain works... and for most about every application.

40 years of touring... Sting Ray 100% of the time

I own around 100 guitars, but only one bass, and it's a Stingray.

The stingray had a “better“ tone. But in context with other instruments, I think the P bass would sound better. With few exceptions, the electric bass is an instrument of accompaniment, and how it mixes with the other instruments is paramount.

been messing with a stingray 5 for one year now and i feel like i should be able to give some decent opinions on the topic For starters, you will not get rid of that nasal sound. Period. It's just something that's a byproduct of it's only pickup being in the bridge section of the body and the natural tone of the bass. While still on the topic of it's annoyingly persistant nasal sound i'd like to point out that yes, even though it's got an Active 3knob EQ that won't fix this issue, for even the EQ itself suffers from it. You see, if my ears don't fail me the knob for the mids seems to affect *mostly* the low-mid range and that means that whenever you try to "flatten" the sound by cuting down on mids the bass will still sound nasal while also losing the "fullness" and definition of the notes themselves. In other words; yes, in theory you have a gigantic range of tones at your fingertips, but most of them besides the natural Stringtray tone will sound like a cheap knockoff version of the desired result. Another thing that messed me up; the highs. Personaly, i found the highs to be quite annoying as well because even though they have that distinctive bite to them that locks in with the mid-heavy nature of the stringray to create that aggresive growl of a tone they just really, REALLY like to pop for no apparent reason. No amount of trebble cutdown will save you from this and if you try to hit say, Jason Newsted's tone using a Stingray you'll become painfully aware of how bad it is. That's not to say that the Stingray has no strenghts to it though. On the opposite end of the table we have the lows. Oh god, the lows. Yeah, as if that beastly mid-range growl wasn't enough this fucker of a bass has enough low-end to fill your pants with the aftermath of the brown note with ease. I mean Seriously, treat the bass knob for the Active EQ as a weapon and give it proper respect or you'll blow either your roof or your amp, maybe both. Some say that it has too much low end and it makes the notes feel like they're stuck to mud, but that's mostly personal taste in my opinion. All in all the Stingray is a great bass if you want to cut through the mix. Great option to make melodic/complicated basslines and interludes come to life but no so much to lock in with the guitars since that mid-heavy tonality will fight with the guitars for the spotlight. If i had to describe owning a Stingray in the most mundane way possible, it'd be like being the parent of a noisy teenager. Sure, you can't help but admire how angry and full of life someone in their prime is, but sometimes you wish from the bottom of your heart he'd just shut the fuck up.

When you phrase it the way you did at the very beginning, not only is the answer P bass, but even most Stingray guys are going to pick the P bass too in that scenario. It's the safe "generic" choice for walking into an emergency situation like that. You want to make a good impression, you're humble, you're there to do a job and not steal the spotlight. It's a sign of respect to show up with a Fender in a situation like that. Not that a Stingray is a far out choice by any means, but between the two it has a far greater chance of doing something unexpected in the mix. As far as which "rocks harder", the Stingray certainly has a reputation for an aggressive sound, but a P bass can easily be made its equal in that regard while still retaining a sound that supports the band better. I love Stingrays too, and I own both. It's just that not many models compare favorably to a good P bass. The best way to regret buying that nice boutique bass is to sit down and compare it to your P.

I Love both. But I would pick the Stingray. It allways works fine for me in live situations. Leo build the best basses in the whole world. The P the J and the Ray. He was a genius. They all work fine in every situation

James Jamerson, Geezer Butler, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Carol Kaye, Pino Palladino, Steve Harris, Willie Weeks, Sting, Paul Simonon , John Paul Jones... they all don't lie.

The P bass is perfect in nearly all situations. It always sits perfectly in the mix and is a timeless classic...... and Steve Harris plays one.

The Stingray has a sound that makes an impression, until you realize you can't ever get rid of that sound. It's like the bass that wants to be a guitar. The P just sounds like a bass is supposed to sound and always does.

Stingray. As much as I love the P-bass I think the Stingray is much more versatile and offers more of an aggressive tone.

The P bass. I appreciate the Stingray but each time I’ve bought a 2 band or the new 3 band, it just does not work for me. I’m a pBass or jBass guy. To each there own.

I have been playing bass since 1971 and I have played many, many basses. The P is still my favorite and works with every type of music.

For live, I would grab the Stingray, but for sessions, it would depend on the session, but would probably grab the P Bass

I love both basses, and he nailed it with “you can’t make a bad choice”. personally I generally enjoy playing the Stingray more than the P-bass. Let’s face it, it’s in the playing , but Tony Levin’s tone with a Stingray, wow!

I own a couple of both and love them all but the P Bass is my favorite. The P ust has such a classic tone, great feel and rock solid build

You can never ever go wrong on a P bass.

I had a stingray for 10 years and loved it - both in studio and live. I now play an American Elite P bass and its the best bass I've ever had.

I put flats on my stingray and it offset the inherent brightness perfectly. From there I don't feel there's a sound that I can get from my p-bass that i can't get with my stingray.

P bass for me. Simple, rocks hard, the everything sound, iconic design, no battery..

i have both. depends on the music

The P, no eq settings to fiddle with since there's no opportunity for a sound check. Volume and tone all the way on and start playing.

I would never own a bass with less than 21 frets Because I couldn't play the orion solo

I would grab the stingray and run out of the building cause’ I don’t know how to play 😃

-I’ve always wished the Stingray was designed to still have output even if the battery died like a G&L can.

P-Bass IS my go-to for stage and studio. I used to have a sweet Ray along with others over the years but a Fender P is my only must have. Rock on!

P-Bass with Seymor Duncan Quarterpounder, Maple Fretboard and Flats

I'm the original owner of a vintage Sting Ray and I started on a Precision borrowed from school. The biggest difference is that the Music Man can have gobs of high end if you want it to. Sometimes I play with a pick and just want a "smash" at the beginning of every note and sometimes I want to dial the treble EQ down and play fingerstyle to make it just seem "normal." But that "normal" speaks with a real authority. The Precision - if only by self-reference - is more "classic." I've heard them sound wonderful when some high-mids are allowed out but that's not how you usually hear them.

Music man Stingray forever.

I've owned an American P bass for 40 years. That's all I need.

I've been using them both for the last few years. Then... Sold my Stingray and bought another Pbass from 1978 ... No regrets. The way Music Man plays is almost unbeatable but the Power and sound of a good Pbass .... 😍

Stingray all day long the best necks in the world.

P Bass every time. Instinctive, simple, versatile. Great sound. Welcome at any party.

Have a P-Bass and a Stingray. Love them both. 2 classics!

In your scenario: P-Bass. I'm more familiar (even though I recently got into Musicman) and there's fewer options. To me the P-Bass's basic tone always works, so fewer ways to mess up the bass tone is better in a "hurry up" situation.

I'm a die-hard Fender guy, however, I love my Stingray. But if I was in a hurry going onstage, I would choose the Precision Bass because of the tonal simplicity. I wouldn't want to have to mess around with a 3-band EQ up on stage when I could just roll up a single tone knob. If I had the option though, I would choose a Jazz Bass, my favorite of all time, the Swiss Army knife of basses IMO.

I've owned and loved both but I now just play the P bass.

Love them both, but if only one, P Bass for life. :)

Stingray with flatwounds are very funky!!

It's natural to see Stingray excel more than the P-bass because it's an active bass. That EQ with the battery gives more gain for the pickup and it gives more signal to the amp.

P Bass. Hard to not get a good sound out of it. Not to mention, it's extremely F.O.H.-friendly straight from the DI Box.

Any studio or sound engineer prefer P Bass. Sounds way better in the mix....

I love both. But to answer your question, the Stingray. But both are great.

Surprisingly, the Music Man Stingray, had a more responsive sound, from your doodling!! IMO.....leif

I really loved the tone of the Stingray

Great video! I have a P-bass and a J-bass, and I dream of expanding my collection, by adding a Stingray to it. Maybe some day.

Grab the P Bass it never lets you down

All my life (and I’m 63 at the moment) I’ve been a Höfner and Rickenbacker lad. Last year 2019 I decided to get a P bass. I was very surprised by the tone !!! Unfortunately with the pandemic, I haven’t been able to use it in gigs yet. It has a very distinguished sound, so different to the Höfner, the Rickenbacker and the Steinberger that I also owned. I’m happy with it. Never played a Stingray, can’t compare its tone to the rest. In your video, both seem similar in tone. That’s my experience. Cheers !!!

I have had both, and I gravitate toward the stingray. That said, I gravitate toward MY stingray, a passive stingray.. I am a big guy and I prefer to play toward the bridge of the bass so having the SR pickup right there is perfect for me, not to mention the wider nut makes things easier for my big hands. Also another little thing, the pickup on the SR is a lot bigger so it gives me more options for thumb anchoring. With the P bass, it sounds fine, but I always feel a little squished when I play it.

Real easy for me--I've been shopping for a better bass, and I have tried several of each. Being older and having small hands, fretting is generally hard for me. The EBMM, even the Sterlings, are infinitely more comfortable in my hands. I like to test ease of playing with one step intervals, both picked, and I find them more difficult to nail accurately on the Precision. I can take my POS Sterling Sting Ray, hold it out from my body, and nail them every time. I put my hands on a $2600 Stingray today, and it was like butter. I couldnt miss a note. As far as sound goes, if you are putting it into a DAW, then you are going to tweak it, anyway. Ease of playing is much more important in my world.

I've owned both, and the Precision bass totally owns the Stingray in every way for me. As soon as you open the tone on the Stingray it's just too clicky and obviously 'active'. The precision is raw and throaty OR warm and thumpy. The greatest bass in the world.

I play a lot of extreme metal and alternative rock stuff, and im stuck between a sterling stingray HH and a Fender Aerodyne with PJ pups. Anybody got any tips that would point me in the right direction because both seem great to me.

Having both, I'd tend toward the stingray, but would need to know the battery is good, strings on each, and the music specifics

My P bass has a Badass bridge II, an absolutely beautiful birds eye maple Warmouth Neck, Steve Harris pickups and Hip-shot tuners. I play it one of every three practices. The Stingray is all Stock and I play it 2 out of every 3 practices. Bottom line, If you want to be cool and get laid, you need to have both these basses in your arsenal.

Stingray but I love them both

Was a really long time till I decided to get the Stingray, and I'm totally happy with it. 😁

Though the Stingray had a more even tone on the high end and sounded more consistent, the P had better lows and highs can be adjusted along with amp and compression.

I`ve owned both (amongst others) but the P bass is the best all -round, fit in anywhere instrument.

I love the stingray but I’d have to grab the precision

I have a 1978 stingray. I brought it when brand new . It’s been an absolute beast indestructible and versatile. It also has a more even tone than the pbass there’s no hot spots and still has a beautiful fat tone up the neck.

I think I prefer the tone from p basses , they seem to be more organic , open sounding old fashioned tone. Having said that a stingray is a great gig workhorse because it just had a really tight punchy lower mid sound and always cuts through the mix without sounding boomy .

I could never get used to the stingray. Somehow it lacks personality IMO. Super bassy and super trebly, no mids. That sound of strings hitting the frets just drives me nuts. I mean no disrespect to anyone, please. That’s just my opinion not an unquestionable truth. And amongst the Fenders, PBass is king.

I can't consider a Stingray until they make a passive pick-up only version. That's always been a deal breaker for me.

Hello all! What about P bass vs Dimension bass? I am trying between the two! Whats your opinion?

Both have qualities unique to one another down to design, pickup placement, on board electronics, and neck shape. The musicman has more tonal possibilities, but the pbass has the one tone that fits everything nearly perfect. Pbass is good for metal and tone (depending on your amp and equipment) while the Musicman honestly has the better slap sound.

The P-bass is the emperor with no clothes.......Stingrays have always had a better overall tone that lets the bassists parts be articulated better.....your playing examples proved it. That being said...use what you like and color the sound to fit the song best, yes even a P-bass.

I think a comparison of a Music Man Sting Ray vs. an Elite or Ultra P-Bass would have been better. That way it would have been active vs active. I know there are a ton of active basses out there that offer a passive mode, but I am not sure if the Sting Ray offers that option to make it passive or not. Active pickups really have their own unique sound so it should not be compared to passive.

Stingray for me every time unless I'm playing Motown songs. In the studio it has to be a P but I am addicted to the ballsy and commanding tone of my 2000 5 string Stinger.

I'm new to the bass and been researching a lot. In this demo, the StingRay was easier to hear with volume, note clarity and tone. Though I also believe the P bass is the classic go to bass for any situation. If I was experienced on the road with gigs and could only take one bass, I would take the P bass as the main bass. I think I would like the StingRay for down and dirty rocking.

I like the Stingray better although the p-bass is favored for its stronger mid tones, I didn't hear that in your samples.

Stingray is much better and cuts through a live mix better. My sound guy says my stingray is the best bass he has ever mixed in a live situation. I have a 2018 special HH

How are you getting such a nice smooth tone out of the sting ray ? I would've thought they'd be a lot zingy-er and harder to tame. Also what tone settings are you using for the pbass ?

I would grab a p bass for certain stuff but I do all my practicing on a Stingray HH4 which I love. I find them impossible to compare, totally different.

P bass, I love that deep bassy tone. I hate J basses so much lol.

Jazz bass for me.

I’d go with the P-Bass. The simplicity and the fact that one would be hard pressed to dial in a bad tone with a P-Bass makes it my go-to, especially if running headlong into the unknown.

what does P stand for ? precision bass?

un demo de bajos sin slap! aleluya!

P-Bass absolutly!!!!! It just ROCKssss

Totally different basses for totally different purposes. Plus, we all play differently, which has a huge impact on the tone. 40 years of playing says own a bass for every style/genre you're into. They are the tools, but you are the craftsman.

Which one do you think would be better for people (me) with sausage fingers? I've tried playing guitar for years, but I want to switch to the bass.

I’d choose a Jazz Bass 🙂

The Music Man is the workhorse of punk/ska bass!

The Stingray sounded great, but the warmth of the P was subtle and I felt it more. I'd like to see a MIM Active Deluxe P against that active Stingray.

I've been playing the Precision since I was 13. I've played and owned others in my life including the Stingray but I have always come back to the Fender Precision, split coil, maple fretboard, customizable 4 string bass guitar. Grand daddy of all mass produced basses. Often imitated and often duplicated. The Stingray has a place in my heart but only if I can split the signal and distort the hell out of the amp feed. And if I played for a black metal band... Which doesn't seem likely at my age.

totally incomparable. have both. both are used for different kinds of music

p 4ever. also: batteries suck

I'd get a stingray and jam a p-bass pickup right up against the stingray pickup as close as possible to the correct location, install a little toggle switch on the control plate, and have the best of both worlds:)

Stingray for me. Though I love them both, my experience is that you can tweak the Stingrays 3 band preamp to get a very close P bassish sound, but you can't get the Sintgray growl from a P Bass. I own a 2018 MM Stingray.

P bass all day. Love that passive tone

P Bass all day long, unless he’s holding an old smoothie with flats , then I’d be stuck for a while haha

Depends on the context really, doesn't it? The bass that rocks harder might be an old, EB-3! Either one of those instruments are good for performing live, or cutting tracks in the studio.

Well if we’re playing super low tuning lowers then c then a stingray but if we’re playing drop c drop d or above then a fender