Insanely tight and consistent playing. HUGH THANK YOU I've installed the same thing along with the EMG 2 Band 1 knob EQ. In Hindsight, i'd maybe go the Mid EQ instead.
Thank you for doing a comparison of the stock to modded. I think the stock pickup sounds great and that dumping $400 or so into one of these or a SUB is not needed, although there seems to be a cult of crustation lovers hell bent on modding their basses. Good for them but I am not dumping that huge amount of $ into a lower end bass when the stock bass sounds great.
So I've seen countless SUB demos that sounds really good unfortunately they are all directly recorded. I don't do any direct playing all my playing is through an amp which is a Gallien-Kruger 700RB through an Eden XLT 4x10 and Ampeg Classic 1x15, although the SUB had a nice midrange growl unfortunately for me the lowend was flat and farty at the same time which I why I got rid of my original one year's ago and I was playing a different amp so it's not the amp. I recently added an Aguilar Pick up and kept the stock preamp, the bass lowend is way smoother and round unfortunately I lost that midrange growl (because the Aguilar isn't as hot and it's alnico and not ceramic) but not completely. I am happy with the tone but if I find a preamp on the cheap I'll probably swap it out, I got the Aguilar AG4M pick up pretty cheap so I'm not sinking a tone of money into it but in all honesty even if i sank $300 extra it wouldn't be bad because I've played enough Ray34's, 24's and American Stingrays to say these SUB basses are way more consistent in feel than the expensive one's i mentioned above, they are even more consistent in sound with the stock electronics.
Love the EMGs. Sounds really full, almost scooped low end and high end more pronounced very good for slapping, funk, rock, metal and punk. I have emgs on my bass but they are the pj set
It is interesting that the stock pickup at least to my ears sounds much better -- they just seem to be more 'open' and have more presence and growl. In my experience more 'modern' style pickups seem to sound rounder, and maybe 'gentler'. At least this was the case on a Sandberg TM4 with Delano pickups. I'm not sure if one is 'better' than the other, it's just that we are all probably used to hearing a certain sound so anything different than that naturally doesn't sound as good. The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is that the high end seems to be rolled off on the EMGs even with the preamp controls at 50%. I wonder if that is normal or it has something to do with the pickups and the preamp together.
Hi. He doesn't have any preamp curcetry with EMG pickup, it's just simple passive Tone control. You should really compare Stock pickup, with preamp controls on 50% (Witch should be neutral preamp position, without any boost or cut in Bass and Trable regions) , vs EMG on Tone 100% (Witch is fully open, not attenuated pickup sound). There is also big volume boost wit preamp on 100%, witch is huge advantage in favor of stock pickup, as a well known psychoanalytic effect in production work, used to persuade listener that something louder, sounds better, as humans hearing perceives louder signals as better sounding. You should really compare 0:27 vs 1:52 Sorry on my bad English.
So I just added an Aguilar AG4M pick up to my Sterling Sub with the stock preamp, I noticed a, lot of that high-end Stingray growl is gone because the pick up isn't as hot as the original pick up. What I do like is everything is smoother especially the E low end, I had the exact same bass a few years back and got rid of it because of the very reason that the lowend was kind flat yet farty at the same time. I've seen that putting the Aguilar preamp with bring my bass fully to life but right now I'm happy with the sound because it still has that Stingray character
It took a few times of listening and re-listening, but the EMG's have a bit more clarity on the higher notes. Not sure if I'd go thru the trouble and expense of switching pickups. The stock seems to work just fine. Owners of this bass model complain about the bad stock pickups and pre amps, but I think they work just fine. I picked up a used one and it's one of the best basses I've owned in that price range. I ain't changin nuffin !
Two different concepts . Tone with Coil modes VS 2 band. I know how it sounds, like stock is the stand out leader. But that's for the impatient. Sit back and realize the harmonic range of the EMG and hear how the stock has a narrow or hollow footprint. It would be beneficial to hear different styles on the right hand. But I am going to hazard an opinion. The EMG have more sonic range. The meat is fatter, the treble has more texture and even a bit more of the Pbass squish, or saturated fat. The difference is in the harmonic coloring. The Music man has it's well known character. The EMG takes it from there and fills in the blanks. If you can swing it, hold on to the EMG's and do more AB comparison with different dynamics, finger styles, genres, and with a mix of instrumentation, oh and with some modular effects. Take your time. My money is on the EMG. Easy decision. It's your artistic vision in the end. This is helpful for me , I have a Sterling Music Man with Dark Glass Tone Capsule. I'm going to grab the EMG to pair with that preamp. Thanks to you. 🙏👍😎 P.S. we also didn't hear the Stock with Bass 50-100% and Treble 0-50%. That could give us what the EMG tone knob gives us. The sub tone.
Hi Adam. Just a question. All in all are you satisfied with this bass?I'm planning to buy a similar one and I'd like to know your opinion. The stock electronics seems a bit hot to me. Overdriven I mean.
Hello, I have a question, I have a bass very similar to yours, did you physically modify the bass or did you just replace it in the circuit, does the bass with this pickup stop being active? thank you!
Hi! No special modifications are necessary, I just removed the factory pickup and electronics, then installed the EMG pickup and electronics. The EMG electronics and the pickup are also active. (The stock pickup is passive)
Stock sounds better. People waste their time thinking theres always better out there. Best players in the world could make anything sound good, its all smoke and mirrors, people trying to flog you things you dont need..
