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fretno · Jul 19, 2026

Sharks have been around before there have been trees on land. Before the dinosaurs.

jd56hawk · Jul 19, 2026

cdef said:
It's too close to the edge. If they were going for a quasi-classical ambience with the pedigree wood and all, why not ditch the pickguard altogether?

It's in the wrong place and too small.
Looks funny, looks cheap, too, for some reason.
Other than that...$3,000.
That's even funnier.

TBird1958 · Jul 19, 2026

RL5 said:
Finally found a Dean Entwistle Spider bass (import model) after YEARS of looking! Now I need a gig bag or case for it. It's 53" long and 19" wide. Anyone know of a case or gig bag that will fit it? My friend picked it up for me in NY and I need to ship it to CO. While I could just have him carefully pack it, I'd prefer if it were in a case of bag before being boxed up.

Ask this over on the T Bird club thread, A couple of the guys use gig bags for their Birds.

LadyLoveStingRay5 · Jul 19, 2026

lesclaypoolsob said:
The Marlita with the wormwood "guard" is such an appealing bass to me. Familiar, but boldly different.

I agree. And they sound like a proper PBass should.

Hot Rats · Jul 19, 2026

I'd go with a color that matches the bridge of the nose or brow.

BQFS · Jul 19, 2026

dune said:
Do the faux solid gold ones strike anyone else as a bit pretentious? (and by "a bit", I mean "ridiculously")
I also wonder how many bassists really want any of their effects built into their bass. Seems more like an answer to a question no one's been asking.
Still love that classic original 'Ray look though.

I owned a '78 Stingray ($600 used in 1980) and for over 20 years it was my only bass. After a series of back operations, it was too heavy and sat in the case. I couldn't bear to sell it but I didn't see the point in owning something I couldn't play very long anymore. Then I found a BFR fretless 5 for sale, and through a series of horse-trades, I ended up with cash to spare and a nice light 7.4 pound fretless Stingray Special with a 3-band preamp I absolutely hated.

So, when the DarkRay came out, with the 2-band Darkglass preamp instead of the miserable 3-band, I went for it and was glad. Darkglass really understood how to get the most out of the neo pickup. I bought it for that reason, not for the built-in effects which I wasn't sure I would ever use, and still don't use very much at all.

When the II was announced with the octaver built in, that was nice, but I already had an Anagram with more effects than I would ever use. I wanted the II more for the color change, which is why I ended up getting mine refinished and keeping it, rather than losing a ton of money selling or trading it in, and now I learn that the 5 string version won't even be out for a while. I made the right decision.

Asllan Pizzatto · Jul 19, 2026

Lo-E said:
0,05 Ohms é um valor realmente muito baixo. Ainda assim, pode valer a pena lixar a parte de trás da proteção para garantir uma boa conexão, mas o problema pode estar em outro lugar.

(0.05 Ohms is really pretty low. It still might be worth sanding the back of the guard to ensure a good connection, but your problem might lie elsewhere.)

The thing is, there really isn't anywhere else the problem could be

unless the issue lies in the wood itself. I’ve already replaced the entire wiring and the pickups, shielded the cavities, and—believe it or not—it stayed exactly the same. The only thing I haven't touched is the aluminum pickguard. I’m going to discuss the possibilities with my luthier, but lining the back of the pickguard with conductive tape might just solve it. It is the only metal part that does not exhibit conductivity. On the other bass, everything works normally with the same equipment (cables, pedal, interface).

evil1603 · Jul 19, 2026

chopthebass427 said:
This has three of the new EMG slim soapbars. View attachment 7417762

Hey there, how do you like the new EMG’s? How would you describe the sound compared to their Jazz single coil pickups? Do the middle and bridge pickups combined get you into MM territory? So many questions

great looking bass!

FRoss6788 · Jul 19, 2026

Necropolis

Bassplayer1586 · Jul 19, 2026

Element Zero said:
No problem! Quite envious of you being able to achieve my 2 favorite pickup combinations without swapping the pickups around. Neck/Bridge parallel and Middle/Bridge parallel. Middle pickup solo sounds killer too. Not a lot of demos on YouTube of the Nashville showcasing the Neve pre. That fat low shelf Bass control sounds killer on the Canadian made versions (at least that I’ve heard on YouTube).

Love the maple board too. Where’d you get those fret markers from?

Yeah all three of those pickup combos you mentioned sound great. Bridge and middle is killer for playing anything heavy, even the middle by itself is great and really cuts through as well.

The Neve preamp, when activated and even set flat, gives a very slightly different tonal character to the pickups, compared to passive mode. They get just a slightly deeper/fuller sound to them.

The block markers are from Neck Illusions. They are just vinyl stickers, but definitely add some character to the maple. Super easy to install them as well. Didn’t even have to take the strings off! They have a section on the site specifically for Dingwall basses, and a TON of options. Mine is “liquid swirl” in black/light black.

mikebassplayer · Jul 19, 2026

JOME77 said:
Why does Musicman continue to make their 5 string Stingray necks too narrow for their bridge spacing?
Am I the only one that this bothers?
16 Years ago I purchased a new Musicman Stingray 5 (this one):

View attachment 4060853

View attachment 4060874

After it arrived, though I love the sound, I immediately struggled with the G sting riding so close to the edge of the fingerboard. It literally hoovered above the area on the end of the fret (where it was filed). If I didn't push up a little when I played I would eventually pull the string over the edge of the fingerboard.
I traded the bass after 2 weeks due to this reason.
Obviously not everyone struggles with this because there are so many players out there that own and play the Musicman SR 5's. Maybe I have bad technique in that area but I don't have this issue with any other basses.
This design issue on the MM 5 has kept me from owning a MM Stingray 5.
It could easily be solved by either slightly widening the neck at the body or at least providing a bridge design that allows tweaking the string spacing.
I recently stopped by a local music store and played one of the new Sterling by Musicman SUB Ray 5's and they solved this problem by reducing the string spacing to 16.5 mm at the bridge. This allows plenty of room from the edge of the fingerboard to the G string. I liked it so much that I ordered a Lake Blue Metallic Ray 5 from MF and love it. Here's a pic:

View attachment 4060869

I measured the neck and it appears to be the exact measurements at the nut and body as the MM SR5. But with the narrower string spacing the strings are better centered on the neck. Oddly the narrower spacing on the Ray 5 doesn't bother me. It actually feels good. But I'm sure some players wouldn't like it.

I'd love to own a US MM SR 5 but I guess as long as this issue exists I'll never purchase another one (although I really have GAS for a US MM SR 4 HH model).

cjac9 · Jul 19, 2026

Root 5 said:
The bridge pickup is an easy fix

What did you drop in?

Bob_Ross · Jul 19, 2026

sunbeast said:
Nice! Was that from MXR?

I don't think so, but I honestly can't recall where I found that!

djmay · Jul 19, 2026

For preamp, Underhill Cali Classic, Cali Dub or Full English, Classic (2024) Preamps | Underhill Bass

I have The Full English in a Warwick Rockbass Corvette 6-string fretless and Cali Classic in a Pedulla Thunderbass ET-6.

For pickups, make sure they have wide frequency range to get the most out of these preamps.

mikeswals · Jul 19, 2026

The neck pickup looks too level, as mentioned, just lowered that E side a tad: like make those pickup mounting ears flush with the pickguard.

Theoprecision · Jul 19, 2026

My P-54 Van der End For me……

Krisfield · Jul 19, 2026

Great info, cheers. I really like the Axle Guitar Stand. Looks solid. Unfortunately the compressed nerve at the C-5 is located on the left side of my neck. So any activity I do with the left arm aggravates the pinched nerve. In order to be pain free I've decided to stop playing bass. I can channel my creativity in other directions. If the surgeon can give me a 100% reliable operation to fix it, I'll definitely pick up the bass again.

Gopherbassist said:
This video:

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Features a clamp that you can mount on a stand. Would something like that allow you to play?

JakesAy · Jul 19, 2026

Update: I eventually paired the RT5P in the neck with the stock bridge RT5 pickup. I was missing upper mids on the D and G strings with the 2 RT5P pickups.. pairing the RT5P in the neck and RT5 at the bridge brought out the upper mids and still got a very good slap tone..

atquinn · Jul 19, 2026

DaveParker39 said:
sorry, this is kind of a hot button issue for me because I feel like these sorts of critiques get levied at women disproportionately, but I don't think that was the case for your post, apologies

Ah I got it. There's a whole host of highly regarded male singers that I also like and would judge to be not great singers. Looking at you Robert Plant, but best not to open that can of worms

warx · Jul 19, 2026

From my banjo rim steam bending (and the many failures) wood can only expand by 1.5 to 2% before it breaks. It can compress up to 30%. I suppose we’re not even close to 2% with a simple string tension loading on a neck but the modulus of expansion is still twice the compression modulus. But of course you pointed out that the D shape changes that significantly!

I might start looking into a super light one way truss rod and pre-build a back bow into the neck during fingerboard gluing. My first builds will just get a regular StewMac or BitterRoots low profile 18” truss rod. Given the neck is very much like an upright (1/2 sized double bass) I’m using a fender style slab headstock and truss rod adjustment under the nut.

MultiScaleMale · Jul 19, 2026

I had my account marked "no candy" when I was doing keto. I still get candy every now and then, it's a weird request I guess.

ChrisDev · Jul 19, 2026

Another bass solo. This time it's Robert Gordon's on "Is that jazz" by Gil Scott-Heron.

HubbardsFate · Jul 19, 2026

BassOx said:
They’re also big so don’t buy it for gigging or if you live in a small apartment

I watched part of that Premier Guitar video (Laura Lee) someone embedded in their reply on the first page, and even disregarding the fact that she is a likely-petite woman, yeah, that amp looks stupidly big...

Root 5 · Jul 19, 2026

J Wilson said:
If you run across run, these were REAL tight at the nut. The spacing quoted I can find is 15mm and it was the tightest I ever played. Yamaha took a four-string BB3000 and subdivided it for five strings. Wheeeeee ! ! ! !

View attachment 7538218

Love these!

Chadwick123 · Jul 19, 2026

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If you are on the fence about these strings, I did this review with you in mind. Hope it helps.

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