eastcoasteddie
New member
Hey, there. This is my fist post here. I'm not a heavy-duty pickup-swapper, but I have had the pleasure of using a few different pickups, and I find that Duncan 's are one of the best in the aftermarket.
That being said, I'm considering the STC-3M4 Music Man preamp for my Stingray 4 with 3-band eq. I bought the 'Ray brand new in '94 and it served me well for the last 15 years. But after acquiring a few more basses, I'm finding the stock preamp a bit lacking in overall "fullness" compared tot he others....to the point that I'm not sure I like its sound anymore. It has its signature bright tone and in-your-face attack, but it seems that the way the preamp is voiced, it doesn't stray much from that. I've read that many people dislike the 3-band version because of this, and the 2-band preamp is voiced with much better overlapping frequencies. It is a cut/boost type; and I feel that when the tone knobs are set just past the center detent is where the most difference of tome comes in. Anything past 1/4 of the way past detent yeilds very little change. I can't bring myself to part with it because it's pretty much the first bass I ever bought. I've used borrowed or stolen basses in the beginning, but this one is mine.
So I'm thinking of getting another preamp that has a great deal of tone variation, but yet allow me to keep that Stingray sound as much as possible. It sucks that nothing is available fron Ernie Ball as a swap out. They'll only sell you a part if you return your part as a broken unit. They won't sell you a new pickup or preamp outright.
Is the STC-3M4 3-band voiced close to the stock stingray? Also, I'm concerned with the module size. No size specs are printed on the Duncan site for this preamp. I read somewhere that the STC-3 (non-music man preamp) measures 2.5" x 1". But I don't know the size of the 3M4 preamp, so I'm not sure it will fit into the stock control cavity. I am NOT willing to do any routing on the bass to accomodate.
I sent an email to Duncan asking about the size of the module 3 days ago, but still haven't gotten a response.
That being said, I'm considering the STC-3M4 Music Man preamp for my Stingray 4 with 3-band eq. I bought the 'Ray brand new in '94 and it served me well for the last 15 years. But after acquiring a few more basses, I'm finding the stock preamp a bit lacking in overall "fullness" compared tot he others....to the point that I'm not sure I like its sound anymore. It has its signature bright tone and in-your-face attack, but it seems that the way the preamp is voiced, it doesn't stray much from that. I've read that many people dislike the 3-band version because of this, and the 2-band preamp is voiced with much better overlapping frequencies. It is a cut/boost type; and I feel that when the tone knobs are set just past the center detent is where the most difference of tome comes in. Anything past 1/4 of the way past detent yeilds very little change. I can't bring myself to part with it because it's pretty much the first bass I ever bought. I've used borrowed or stolen basses in the beginning, but this one is mine.
So I'm thinking of getting another preamp that has a great deal of tone variation, but yet allow me to keep that Stingray sound as much as possible. It sucks that nothing is available fron Ernie Ball as a swap out. They'll only sell you a part if you return your part as a broken unit. They won't sell you a new pickup or preamp outright.
Is the STC-3M4 3-band voiced close to the stock stingray? Also, I'm concerned with the module size. No size specs are printed on the Duncan site for this preamp. I read somewhere that the STC-3 (non-music man preamp) measures 2.5" x 1". But I don't know the size of the 3M4 preamp, so I'm not sure it will fit into the stock control cavity. I am NOT willing to do any routing on the bass to accomodate.
I sent an email to Duncan asking about the size of the module 3 days ago, but still haven't gotten a response.
