Good replacement guts for metal Bass?

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.

 

If not done already, get rid of the préamp.

 

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.