With all the good things us Americans can do we also have a knack for holding on to tired, old ideas, well-past their shelf life.
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19mm EBMM 5 string: fact / fiction?
- Thread starter dickfitts
- Start date
We are entitled to custom basses. There are plenty of options. We're not entitled to have a company that has made its money primarily on a quality, standard mass-produced bass to make us one. I'd love a Stingray 6, but I'm not complaining, 'Well, they made the Bongo, why won't they do an SR6?" C'mon.
Seriously, the entitlement issues some people get over things, I will never understand. Sterling doesn't owe you anything.
If you played a 15mm spaced 5 string, it would feel cramped to you most likely. Same thing for a 19mm /17.5mm person.
The L2500 is nothing like a Stingray, unfortunately.
The Lakland 55-76 is probably the closest thing out there, but they're so hard to find!
As for the 'deal' you mentioned above it was very obviously designed to fail, just so that they could say "we tried and see? no demand". Maybe you have >$2000 ready to spend on a 'toy' (by that I mean it's something that is not exactly a necessity) without notice, many others won't. I was one of the ones who got excited at the prospect, but I was not planning on buying a new bass at the drop of a hat. I think it was 4 weeks that the 'deal' was open, and it could only be black, no choices on fingerboard either etc etc. I'm sorry, but no, $2000 is not loose change to me, so...
A Lakland 55-02 was what I used instead, which again is not like a Stingray but closest I could find (I had also a G&L L2500 and a USA EBMM SUB 5-string, both of which were sold and kept the Lakland). No biggie, if EBMM don't want my money that's ok, plenty others will. Right now I'd probably go to Maruszczyk or Sandberg because they would build a bass to my specs for around the same price that a SR5 would cost me. I have no issue with any company producing or not whatever they want to, they don't owe me an explanation. But what EBMM did was just weird, almost the kind of trick you'd expect from a politicianBut whatever, if it makes SB happy. It's his company to do as he pleases, just don't give me BS stories
Gahhhhh. I literally just tried Maruszczyk, that was my first thought too. Adrian would flatly not go outside the body choices he currently offered, tried to sell me on a J. Which I totally respect of course, but...Frick. I'm holding out for what I really want if it's going to be custom build kind of money.
Four string spacing, yes. Aggressive Flea-style slapping - and so much more - is just simply best within its facility in a classically wide format, for a LOT of players. As arguably the quintessential slap instrument Music Man has come to be regarded as by many: I think this is where a lot of the disconnect comes in. And rightfully so in my mind. But of course, and again: I'm not in charge of much here and recognize that fully. At this point I'm just curious about finding the right builder to make this format a reality.
I wish I could remember if it felt like that when I went to the Wal 5 from my Ibanez 4. I could see your point, but I guess it just takes some adjusting. I just can't deal with a super wide neck, it's not comfortable. I can't even fathom how people play wider 6 strings.
Basically, it was an example of cutting off your face to spite your nose as far as Sterling was concerned. Many players prefer full width spacing, especially to accommodate certain right hand techniques, like double-thumb for instance. I have long fingers so I always felt curled and cramped with the StingRay5 spacing. I owned three of them, I could never get used to it.
That is one thing I have heard about wider spacing, one luthier asked if I slapped much when figuring out my specs. I don't too often, but I still manage to slap just fine on the Wal 5 and the Bordwell 6. That said, I'm more of a Larry Graham type than a Flea (with none of the slap skill of either).
I spent years playing MM, Modulus, Spector, and other narrow fives, so I can handle them too, but whenever a play wider spacing, I like it better.
True, the body shapes are probably one thing they don't seem to change (there are a few to choose from 'though), but you can specify everything else: pickup position, orientation, whatever. I am with you with the if you're going to go custom, might as well get exactly what you want. The thing is with Maruszczyk you don't really pay 'custom' prices, which is the amazing thing. Using the Jake body shape (Precision), none of the three I ordered cost more than a USA Fender, so there's that to consider too.
Well, Heck...
I appreciate the earlier recommendation of Sandberg, friend. Seriously and quite a lot.
Anybody can take any path they want on this meritous conversation but by golly: if I could eke out a Lake Placid Blue / matching headstock from this equation i just might be looking at Final Answer Time for my purposes.
If I go this route I'll provide a running journal! Actually getting kind of excited now...
Those are some nice design choices, love that blue.
+1
“Thinking themselves to be wise they became as fools instead”.
The truth is, the best product that Ernie Ball makes is the Stingray 4 and Leo Fender designed it.
His 5 designed necks can’t even accommodate the 17.5mm spacing it currently has. The “G” string resides above the fret end filing in the upper register. Poor design IMO
...Many thanks. I'm getting kind of unreasonably stokefaced.
I'm thinking aftermarket multicoils and an AC EQ-01 preamp, and I may finally be looking at as close to the "Ernie Wal" I've got envisioned as I'll reasonably get...
I think the narrow spacing might work better for some players who use a pick or play mostly rock or punk style with a lot of up and down or just down strokes.
For some that play mostly finger style , slap, and do a lot of runs up and down and across the neck , the wider spacing is actually faster. Double thumb technique also benefits from wider spacing.
He owes himself a little dalliance with some common sense. Way to narrow your market...
Doesn't seem like his company is hurting. Seems like he has plenty of common sense, including not letting a few people dictate his manufacturing choices.
I don't play with a pick, or play punk... when I do play rock, it's prog rock, and I play funk and jazz. I generally don't play simple stuff. Nothing has been held back by the spacing. Feels perfect to me. I think it's about personal preference, and to a degree, adaptability. Some people are incredibly adaptable, others can't adapt to anything other than what they started with.
