I got a Sterling Stingray for $300. I really like it, looks awesome and plays fine for me. Not looking to get a different bass but I may be interested in replacing all the internals (pre amp, pickup, whatever) I do not know anything about bass gear at all. Just looking for some suggestions on what are some of the go to's for these? I play various types of metal. Anywhere from Hardcore to Metalcore and Death Metal. If I had to choose one sound for this bass it would be older metalcore like early KSE kind of stuff. Any recommendations?
A lot of bass players in that style use EMG. I imagine your Stingray would do just fine stock though. I'd say put that money toward a good rig unless you have one already.
While that's most likely the weakest link in the bass at this point I'd still say just leave it as-is for a while to see if it works out. I imagine for live use it would be fine. Maybe add a bypass switch if recorded tones become an issue. A pre upgrade would certainly make a positive difference but if finances are any issue that same money could keep you in good quality new strings for some time. That's usually an even bigger difference.
Quite a few brand sell a Stingray wiring kit and pickups. You cant go wrong with any. But yeh give the stock a chance first. Basses are not like guitars “for metal” like we only need a humbucker. Basses get most of their sound for the type of pickup. So you might be chacing a P style sound but you have a MM style one. You can do metal with P or JJ or PJ or MM or humbuckers. See if you like the sound of a MM first before you spend your money
Buy a Sansamp Bass Driver, and that'll get you halfway towards the tone that most metal / hardcore bassists have.