A question for all the Stingray guys/gals out there

[tb-player]

It seems like a lot of Stingray players own more than one Stingray.

I have a friend in London who has his own signature bass from a UK luthier. He's played it for a while. But one day, he called me and told me he picked up a Stingray. About a year later, we were chatting and he told me he had 3 more. I asked him 'Why so many?' and he said he just loves them.

I found that interesting because I played the same Stingray 5 for about 10 years with no other basses. It was the perfect workhorse bass and I just adored it. The sound in my head eventually changed and I sold it. A few years after I got rid of it, I owned another SR5 that sounded almost exactly like it. I even (briefly) had a 4-string Stingray that also had that very similar feel and tone. In all that time, I never felt I needed more than one to get that sound.

So is it a collector thing? Do they actually sound different and I just can't hear it? Is variety the spice of life? Or is it an addiction? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Geri O]

I've owned 5 Stingray SR5s, but not more than one at a time. I own only one now.

There's a couple of Facebook stingray pages and occasionally, someone shows their collection of 2, a few, or several Stingrays. I don't get ow no one more than one of the same bass, but I don't have to understand it and more power to the owners. They all gotta have a home somewhere, right?…

And honestly, I see lots of owners of other basses (Precisions, Jazz, Rics, etc) with more than one of the same model. It's not just Stingrays…

 

[ModuMan]

Funny, I also had the same SR5 that I played exclusively for at least 10 years with no other basses. Then I eventually got another bass... then another... etc. I still have that SR5 (it's a '92 so it's awesome) and I will never sell it but I did indeed get three other StingRays, including a Classic 4 and a Classic 5.

Of those three, the Classic 4 is the keeper. It's way too heavy but it's a Natural (I always wanted one) and most importantly it's 2-band. So there's my reason for having more than one, the pre-amps. They just sound different.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

They're great instruments! They sound consistently similar, I think the oldest ones(76-78) sound very different from the 80s ones, the 80s and 90s sound the same, most of the 2000s sound extremely similar to the 80s ones but subtly pretty different, and the late 2010s is where they sound different. Phenomenal build quality the whole time through though, and those classics are pretty much works of art in themselves. though I think the best period for them in 1987-1996, but I'm biased towards the single piece maple necks. There's been a lot of preamp options over the years too

 

[Geri O]

Let me clarify a couple of things regarding my response above.

There are definitely differences in the tone between various models over the years. My comments pertain mostly to the 5-string SR5s.

I owned 4 SR5s, all made between 1999 and 2004. They are all 3-band models with the ceramic pickups. These seem to put off many players because of the aggressive tone, but I loved that tone. No mistaking what it is and the tone can be tamed if needed.

My latest SR5 (kind of a permanent loan situation that I'm hoping to make permanent soon, thanx, Gary!) is a 2011 model. 3-band preamp and Alnico pickups. Its tone is a more polite, a little less aggressive tone, but I can get it as aggressive as necessary quite easily.

I have another buddy with a 1979 Stingray that needed a replacement preamp. This was an easy fix. I returned the original bad unit to MM and they sent out a new OEM preamp. This Stingray has a distinctive tone different from the SR5s I've had. It's still all Stingray, just different and cool. I wish I had recorded this bass as well as the other models I've had and have.

And I read about the latest models (Classic, Special, Dark Ray, etc). I would love the opportunity to check out the tones of those models as well.

However, having said all of this, I don't feel at all compelled to own a specimen of each model and each time period. I hereby bequeath all of those for the players to own….

And secondly, I own (or have) only one Stingray, but I have 4 other basses. They are all distinctively different basses for different tones. Not for collection purposes

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

The StingRay is my all time favorite bass sound . To me , bass sounds like Bernard Edwards, Louis Johnson, Paul Denman, Pino Palladino, Nate Watts and Allen McGrier. Nothing else sounds like a StingRay.
The Special 5 just feels so good in my hand. It inspires me to play.

Rosewood w/flats for finger style .
Maple w/ rounds for slap .
Fretless with TI flats .
They feel the same in my hands but each brings something different to the table.
Even the Sandberg adds its own flavor of the mix.

The original 2bands and classics are not comfortable for me. Can't do the big slab bodies.
The ceramic and alnico 3 bands are too aggressive sounding for me. The Special 5 is just right.

 

[Vanheusen77]

Yes there are different models but mostly I just think some guys like to buy a lot of basses! If you tour a lot it can also be nice to have a spare or two.

 

[Artman]

I can definitely understand wanting to own fretless and fretted examples of otherwise identical instruments.
Just one of each though.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

This in an interesting (and ironic) topic for me. I'm a die hard Fender fanboy, but I've owned just as many (if not more) four string StingRays.

My first was was a late 70s natural Ash bodied model that I bought as new old stock at a store that didn't get much traffic. (Beats me how they got a Music Man franchise in the first place.) I paid about $350 for it in the early eighties. Hard times forced me to sell it in the early nineties. To this day, I've always considered that to be, "The one that got away".

In the late eighties, I bought a Hot Rod Red StingRay with a Birdseye maple neck. I still have that one. About 2010, I bought another natural Ash four stringer, (with a rosewood fingerboard) which I still have. When the American made SUB series came out, I got one of those. Graphite Grey, active electronics, diamond plate pick guard. I still have that one, as well.

The StingRay I've logged the most miles on, is a Sunburst Sterling Ray34, with the narrow neck.
(My other main bass is a Jazz Bass, so I can comfortably go from one to the other.) Lastly, I bought a couple of the Sterling Ray 34s, whatever they call the entry level model. (I honestly can't keep up.)
I gifted a Mint Green model to a friend from Somalia, who had recently started a family, and had different financial priorities, Lol. The last one I acquired was an Ivory colored one, which played and sounded really good, and I couldn't walk away from it.

So, to the OP, maybe it is part collector, but I really like everything about about them. Maybe it's a sickness. Lol. At this point however, I don't see myself buying any more, as I can't justify the expenditure. I hope this answers your question.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Even though StingRay sound is my favorite, I do still enjoy what the Fender Pbass, and Jazz bass have to offer. Jamerson, Sting, Wilton Felter, Jaco, Marcus, Abraham Laboriel, Anthony Jackson, Fred Hammond, Larry Graham,Deborah Killings, Janice Marie Johnson,Meshell, Tina Weymouth, Esperanza Spalding, all had an influence on my playing .

Im glad that I have found some offerings with the StingRay feel and shape that give me something that can get close to some of those Fender tones. The Specials offer a little more towards the Fender territory and with the HH you can eq and adjust hand position and switching to get you even closer to Fender territory. Same goes for the Sandberg with its active/passive options.

Im a player that really needs the low B. I couldn't find a 5 string P or Jazz that I liked or felt as nice as my Sandberg or StingRay5 Specials.

 

[steveinohio]

A little bit of everything. I have a new special. It sounds nothing like my 30th Anniversary. Those sound nothing like the one I have with the Status graphite neck. Then I have just a plain ole three band. Love them all.

 

[Relsom]

I bought my first in 1978. It was a used all natural '76. I played it into the '80s but the neck developed a problem so I sold it after buying a brand new '81 L2Ke.

Several other rays over the years came and went. I just couldn't get along with the sound. Especially in my country band.

I claimed my '87 3 band a few years ago from a friend. I swore when he bought it new that one day I would own it. I did it's first ever setup on it when he bought it in '87. I almost traded it away a couple of times recently but came to my senses before it was too late.

I added an Old Smoothie and a Classic more recently. Both taken in on trades. They are so similar that I can't decide which one to keep. That's not a bad problem to have I guess.

 

[Bill Murray]

I've got 2, one tuned a whole step down with rounds and one in standard with flats.

 

[Jim C]

The StingRay is my all time favorite bass sound . To me , bass sounds like Bernard Edwards, Louis Johnson, Paul Denman, Pino Palladino, Nate Watts and Allen McGrier. Nothing else sounds like a StingRay.
The Special 5 just feels so good in my hand. It inspires me to play.

View attachment 4921440
Rosewood w/flats for finger style .
Maple w/ rounds for slap .
Fretless with TI flats .
They feel the same in my hands but each brings something different to the table.
Even the Sandberg adds its own flavor of the mix.

The original 2bands and classics are not comfortable for me. Can't do the big slab bodies.
The ceramic and alnico 3 bands are too aggressive sounding for me. The Special 5 is just right.

Beauty!
Where did you find the straps on the purple flake and white basses?

 

[tb-player]

Even though StingRay sound is my favorite, I do still enjoy what the Fender Pbass, and Jazz bass have to offer. Jamerson, Sting, Wilton Felter, Jaco, Marcus, Abraham Laboriel, Anthony Jackson, Fred Hammond, Larry Graham,Deborah Killings, Janice Marie Johnson,Meshell, Tina Weymouth, Esperanza Spalding, all had an influence on my playing .

Im glad that I have found some offerings with the StingRay feel and shape that give me something that can get close to some of those Fender tones. The Specials offer a little more towards the Fender territory and with the HH you can eq and adjust hand position and switching to get you even closer to Fender territory. Same goes for the Sandberg with its active/passive options.

Im a player that really needs the low B. I couldn't find a 5 string P or Jazz that I liked or felt as nice as my Sandberg or StingRay5 Specials.

P-bass is another one that I don't understand having more than 2 (1 with flats/1 with rounds, if that's your thing). With the Stingrays, I wasn't thinking about the HH. I've never played one but they must have a different vibe. It makes sense to have one of those, I guess.

 

[BrentD]

I've got one and don't plan on buying another unless somehow I buy a tiny car and need a short scale to fit or they do that Emerald Sparkle on the Specials.

I get it, though.

 

[KaseOfBass]

For me, and speaking strictly of the SR5, I had several at one point because they were all varying models that had slightly different specs to them - a regular HH of the time (2017), then once they came out, a special H, a special HH, then the 30th anniversary model, an old first run '88, and a Classic. Now, it's a BFR HH and a USA SUB 5. Whether it was ceramic vs. alnico, H vs. HH, or a different preamp, they all had something different about them. Did they all sound essentially like a SR5? Yep, but they all also sounded different from one another.

 

[Stevorebob]

I have four EBMM StingRays, and they all have different tonal characteristics. Two are alnico pickup 5HH; two are neodymium pickup Specials, one a 5H, the other a 5HH. I find particular uses for all.

The older alnico models I have are early to mid 2010's. I picked up the second one because I had a protect that required both E and Eb tunings for shows. However, they don't sound identical — indistinguishable to the audience in the mix, I am sure, but I hear a difference. Both have more StingRay character than the Specials. One (rosewood fretboard) has a mellower tone with a big-cat purr quality, the other (maple board) is a little clearer, sharper sounding.

The newer Specials' neodymium pickups and 18v electronics yield a less-aggressive tone than the alnico StingRays — a step closer to a Jazz Bass. These two are nearly identical with the 5HH (rosewood) soloing the bridge pickup and the 5H (maple) in parallel mode. They differ greatly with the other four coil selections on the 5HH and the series and "filter" selections on the 5H. The Specials are also pounds lighter than the non-Specials and great for long shows.

In my occasional thinning-the-collection mode, I threaten (myself) to part with one or two. But then I awaken from this fever-dream to regain some common sense.

 

[CletusMarley]

I think in a lot of cases it's def a collectible thing. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[tb-player]

I think in a lot of cases it's def a collectible thing. Nothing wrong with that.

Absolutely. I was that way with Elrick basses for a good long while. I owned a bunch of them because they're just that nice. I ended up selling off and finding one that ticked all the boxes. But yeah, I totally get that.