Sterling Sub4 Stingray Drama

[Chistopher]

Does anyone have a proper EBMM or pre-EBMM Stingray and can get a DCR reading? I just did a reading on the pickup in my budget Stingray and it's reading 6.47k, which leads me to believe that it's wired in series, not parallel as Stingrays traditionally are. Which cooperates with the way it sounds to my ears and the fact that historically the Sub4 is a louder bass.

 

[Chistopher]

Apparently the SD 70s Stingray pickup measures in at 1.3k?

 

[Blille]

The MM sound is parallel. That said, when I replaced mine I was surprised by how close both wirings were.

 

[Chistopher]

Yeah, I found this out because I ordered the 90s inspired ceramic GFS MM pickup and apparently the new ones only come in series. They advertise them at 8k, which claims to be overwound, which made me wonder what my pickups dcr is.

 

[jeremy]

id guess thats series but hard to tell without putting a meter on each coil. i dont have anything i can check for you but i do remember working on my buddies old sting ray and i think it read like 1.5k, which suggests 3k per coil in parallel

 

[ErikH]

I have a SD MM Alnico in my Sub Ray4. Wired in parallel. Will check the in circuit DCR in a bit.

 

[ErikH]

The SD MM Alnico measures 1.89k in circuit. My StingRay is wired passive like a P Bass. I like it better that way than with the stock active treble and bass controls, which are ok but aren’t the greatest.

 

[jeremy]

so 1.89k suggests thats in parallel with each coil around 3.6k. ive loved the alnico sd mm pup in every bass ive heard it in

 

[Chistopher]

So I think that confirms it, Sub4 has a series pickup. Which makes me think it probably sounds pretty crummy in parallel, but I may convert it to four conductor just for fun.

 

[ErikH]

Replace it with a SD MM Alnico and don’t look back. You’ll be glad you did. I used the stock pickup for a good while before I decided to change it out.

 

[jeremy]

the sd alnico pup is awesome! especially wired to a series/split/parallel switch

 

[Chistopher]

I think I'll get an SD MM after a while if the GFS doesn't work out. I've already spent too much money on guitars this month as-is.

 

[Mr. B]

To my ears, parallel sounds just like series if the volume and tone is turned down just a hair each. I like series because it gives you a wider range and you can then adjust to taste.

 

[Chistopher]

Definitely in agreement as far as bass goes. The nuances between the positions is lost at lower frequencies. In the end I decided to just hardwire it in series.

 

[jeremy]

interesting. i always found parallel clearer (and lower output) than series when using mm pups

 

[ErikH]

Yup, parallel is lower output and clearer, less boomy, than series. Parallel is the default for MM bass pickups. There are models with series/split/parallel switches on them though.

 

[jeremy]

There are models with series/split/parallel switches on them though.

thats the way i always wired the mm pup when i built basses. i liked all three options

 

[Mr. B]

There are models with series/split/parallel switches on them though.

That is the way my Sterling Short Scale Stingray is wired, so you can hear and compare series and parallel one after the other. On that bass, I wouldn't say that parallel sounds clearer, just dialed back a bit compared to series. That is what makes it sound less boomy/aggressive.

 

[donaldr]

It's a known issue with Sub4 (series vs parallel), just search talkbass.com. If I remember, there are 4 wires coming from the pickups and you just have to resolder for parallel.