Weak g string on stingray.

#63
Just got an EBMM Stingray, 2010 2 band standard, 11inch neck radius. Played it though an amp unaccompanied and was great. Then played over some songs I'm learning and the G just didn't cut through. I had no idea this was a Stingray issue so Googled it and found lots of posts, including this one. So I watched the video about adjusting the pole pieces and it worked!

Removed the strings. Removed the pickup casing. Lifted the two pickups a little and put a screw driver under pickups resting on the body. Pushed the E, A and D poles down, moving the screw driver next the the poles being pushed for support. They where stiff so needed reasonable force, pressing with thumb. Left the G pole alone. Put E so it would be flush with casing when put back on. Raised A and D so they would be 1mm (ish) higher. Replaced casing and adjusted screws so E pole is about 3mm from bottom of E string and G pole 1mm from bottom of G string. All strings now well balanced.

I also have a Sterling Ray4. I've installed an East MMSR 2 preamp and Nordstrand MM4.2 pickup. It sounds fantastic (better than the EBMM Stingray IMHO) and has no issues with the G string. Cost a fraction of the price even with the mods! And has a 38mm neck with 9.5inch radius so feels like a Jazz and sounds like a vintage Stringray.
 
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#66
76EC7A19-12A5-4DFB-ACEC-DC2A3D8CF08C.jpeg
BasEd said:
Just got an EBMM Stingray, 2010 2 band standard, 11inch neck radius. Played it though an amp unaccompanied and was great. Then played over some songs I'm learning and the G just didn't cut through. I had no idea this was a Stingray issue so Googled it and found lots of posts, including this one. So I watched the video about adjusting the pole pieces and it worked!

Removed the strings. Removed the pickup casing. Lifted the two pickups a little and put a screw driver under pickups resting on the body. Pushed the E, A and D poles down, moving the screw driver next the the poles being pushed for support. They where stiff so needed reasonable force, pressing with thumb. Left the G pole alone. Put E so it would be flush with casing when put back on. Raised A and D so they would be 1mm (ish) higher. Replaced casing and adjusted screws so E pole is about 3mm from bottom of E string and G pole 1mm from bottom of G string. All strings now well balanced.
Click to expand...

I’d been in denial a long time about this. I eventually played my ‘97 StingRay less and less, but would occasionally take it to a gig because I just love the neck.

Anyway, I finally did the pole piece push, and I had a great gig with it a couple weeks ago.
 
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#67
Goatrope said:
View attachment 3344911

I’d been in denial a long time about this. I eventually played my ‘97 StingRay less and less, but would occasionally take it to a gig because I just love the neck.

Anyway, I finally did the pole piece push, and I had a great gig with it a couple weeks ago.
Click to expand...

The pole piece adjustment seems to fix the issue so why don't EB just supply the bass with an adjusted pickup. Replacing the pickup also works (MM4.2 or something) but is a lot more expensive.
 
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#68
[QUOTE = "AndyPanda, post: 21022550, member: 263119"] Я новичок в Stingrays - у меня только один около двух недель. Хотя у меня большой опыт работы с пикапами / электроникой / ремонтом.

Мой Stingray 4H - 94 года с 3-полосным эквалайзером. Полюса струны A и D были намного выше полюсов E и G. Баланс E и A был довольно хорошим, но G очень низким. Я просто прижал полюсные элементы D вниз, а затем поднял всю сторону G звукоснимателя (сторона G намного ближе к струнам, чем сторона E), и теперь все струны очень сбалансированы. Это было действительно просто.

Я знаю, что ОП сказал, что видел видео о регулировке полюсных наконечников, но вам также нужно отрегулировать сторону G звукоснимателя намного ближе к струнам. [/ QUOTE]
how u did this?
 
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#69
Reviving this thread since it is SO on point with what I'm seeing. I adore my new-to-me early 2000s 2band 4 string fretless SR, but the G is a little weak, no question. A close look at the pickup this morning showed the A and D pole pieces raised (a bit more than I'd expect them to be, given the neck radius) compared to the E and G. I started by raising the entire assemble on the G side. We'll see if that helps.

I am thinking I will do things in this order:
1. see if what I've done helps sufficiently (I don't expect it to)
2. try to adjust the height of the pole pieces (someone on this thread seemed worried about it being risky - is that legit?, also - is there an authoritative video showing how to safely do this?)
3. swap out the pickup - is the Nord the preferred PUP on this forum for this purpose?
4. only if necessary, consider an East pre - not sure if that is warranted given the stock pre on my bass?

I'd appreciate any guidance/suggestions here.

thanks!
Jim Gray
 
#70
jimgray said:
Reviving this thread since it is SO on point with what I'm seeing. I adore my new-to-me early 2000s 2band 4 string fretless SR, but the G is a little weak, no question. A close look at the pickup this morning showed the A and D pole pieces raised (a bit more than I'd expect them to be, given the neck radius) compared to the E and G. I started by raising the entire assemble on the G side. We'll see if that helps.

I am thinking I will do things in this order:
1. see if what I've done helps sufficiently (I don't expect it to)
2. try to adjust the height of the pole pieces (someone on this thread seemed worried about it being risky - is that legit?, also - is there an authoritative video showing how to safely do this?)
3. swap out the pickup - is the Nord the preferred PUP on this forum for this purpose?
4. only if necessary, consider an East pre - not sure if that is warranted given the stock pre on my bass?

I'd appreciate any guidance/suggestions here.

thanks!
Jim Gray
Click to expand...
Preamp won’t have any effect. Pickup replacement likely will
 
#72
jimgray said:
Thanks. Any suggestions on the best pup to preserve character of sound but fix this issue?
Click to expand...

I bought my 2004 3 band in 2005 and noticed the weak-G.

This is what I did:

1) Lowered the A & D pole pieces so they were even with the G
2) Tilted the pickup to favor the G
3) Strung the bass with Flats 45-105
4) EQ'd with a slight bump in the mids

It helped make the G string more present and balanced with the other strings to the point that it was no longer an issue.

No pickup change necessary.
 
#73
jimgray said:
Reviving this thread since it is SO on point with what I'm seeing. I adore my new-to-me early 2000s 2band 4 string fretless SR, but the G is a little weak, no question. A close look at the pickup this morning showed the A and D pole pieces raised (a bit more than I'd expect them to be, given the neck radius) compared to the E and G. I started by raising the entire assemble on the G side. We'll see if that helps.

I am thinking I will do things in this order:
1. see if what I've done helps sufficiently (I don't expect it to)
2. try to adjust the height of the pole pieces (someone on this thread seemed worried about it being risky - is that legit?, also - is there an authoritative video showing how to safely do this?)
3. swap out the pickup - is the Nord the preferred PUP on this forum for this purpose?
4. only if necessary, consider an East pre - not sure if that is warranted given the stock pre on my bass?

I'd appreciate any guidance/suggestions here.

thanks!
Jim Gray
Click to expand...
The problem is that the G magnets are weaker so there is less output from that string. Covered in post #19.

I read somewhere that the SR pickup was made this way to make it more "slap friendly", fine if you slap, not so great if you don't.

If you can find a pickup from a USA SUB 4* those have equal strength magnets and don't suffer from the dreaded weak G.

* You probably have about as much chance as winning the lottery.
 
#75
jimgray said:
I’ll call a few high end pickup makers and see what I can learn. Must be a solved problem. Pickups are relatively cheap.
Click to expand...
Ask around the pickup makers and see if they can help, some who use Alnico magnets buy them un-magnetised and magnetise them to the required strength and polarity after assembly so could probably give the G magnets a suitable boost in strength.
 
#76
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#78
Well...

I spoke w the folks at Nord yesterday. Nice people! They sure know about this issue and are happy to suggest a new pup to help w it. They don't think their passive pup will work w my stock (very hot) pre, so they suggested I run it passive and update the pre with something compatible if I decide I miss being active.

Many, many options.
MM4.2
Big Blademan
Alnico 3 vs 5
etc.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with choice, to be honest.

Of course, there are other makers to consider as well.
Bartolini
Delano
Seymour Duncan
EMG
Aguilar
Aero

Music Man - Best Bass Gear - 4-String, String Configuration: 4-String

And then there's which pre to get, since I apparently need to swap that out too?
East?
Aguilar?

TBH: I am not looking for a science project or to become a serious tinkerer with this; I just want to address a specific problem on this otherwise wonderful instrument without destroying it's character, in a way most compatible with the fretless vibe I practice. Not slap. Pino/Jaco/Victor/me. TI Jazz flats. Jazz/world/americana.

I emailed Ernie Ball and the folks at bestbassgear.com to see if they had any recommendations.

Is there a TB hive mind consensus for the best way to fix this, given my goals?
:-)

BTW: I have not yet tried to adjust the pole pieces, but the dude at Nord seemed to think it would only have minor impact BECAUSE the pickup on those basses is relatively weak and all the power is coming from the pre.

-Jim
 
#79
delta7fred said:
I wish I had known about that method of re-gaussing when I had my SR, the weak G was the reason that I stopped playing it.
Click to expand...
I think a bladed pickup is solution that should have been offered from the factory. The poles served in picking up some extra treble to the amp in the late 70s. Now amps have evolved and I don't think the poled design is necessary considering the string balance downsides but EB wants to hold on to it probably for aesthetic/recognizability reasons. I listened to an EMG in the sweet spot and thought it could totally be worked in to a Stingray conceptually ESP LTD AP4 Black Metal - Sound Demo (no talking) - YouTube
 
#80
Someone probably mentioned it but it bears repeating. A simple thing that you can do with a stock Stingray is adjust the pickup height further away from the string. EBs factory setup is definitely further from the string than average.

EMG on contrary suggest raising the pickup a close a possible to the strings. So far blade vs. poles is the explanation makes the most sense to me. It's known among pickup nerds that poles get more directional when set closer to the strings, while blades keep a uniform field throughout.
 
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