StingRay plays stiff

Still working on this — I’ve got my pickup heights adjusted so the StingRay sounds pretty good. But it still plays really stiff compared to the Cutlass, which just plays like butter. Truss rod adjusted the same, both with little relief. Same gauge strings, string height set low as I can get it without fret buzz. Only diff is that I’ve got the StingRay set up to use the trem — still flat on the body when not in use but lighter springs so I can shimmy. Cutlass is set up with all springs tight, as close to hardtail as I can get it. Any thoughts? Should I set the StingRay trem up to float? I like this guitar but every time I pick it up, I wish I was playing the Cutlass.