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EBMM StingRay Special Club

Got the idea from Carol Kaye years ago. She taped hers on top of the strings though.

According to Carol Kaye :

If you're using a pick - the strings should be muted on the topside.

If you're playing finger style - the strings should be muted on the underside.

Maybe it's no coincidence that Fenders came with the mutes in the bridge cover - having been aimed at pick players, particularly electric guitarists performing double duty.

The Stingray with it's adjustable mutes from below the strings - having been designed with slap, and finger style funk, very much in mind.
 
According to Carol Kaye :

If you're using a pick - the strings should be muted on the topside.

If you're playing finger style - the strings should be muted on the underside.

Maybe it's no coincidence that Fenders came with the mutes in the bridge cover - having been aimed at pick players, particularly electric guitarists performing double duty.

The Stingray with it's adjustable mutes from below the strings - having been designed with slap, and finger style funk, very much in mind.


I can dig it. Not to derail the thread, but I am a big fan of Carol Kaye. Great player and I really like her teaching style. I've grasped concepts much faster from her teachings than the more standard scales/modes stuff from other teachers.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled magic of the Specials!
 
According to Carol Kaye :

If you're using a pick - the strings should be muted on the topside.

If you're playing finger style - the strings should be muted on the underside.

Maybe it's no coincidence that Fenders came with the mutes in the bridge cover - having been aimed at pick players, particularly electric guitarists performing double duty.

The Stingray with it's adjustable mutes from below the strings - having been designed with slap, and finger style funk, very much in mind.

Interesting quote from Carol Kaye - not entirely sure of how the physics of this works except that a top applied mute presumably has less pressure than foam stuffed under the strings - this is probably miles off topic for a Musicman thread - except she was an endorsee of the Stingray in the late 70s...

The Stingray was designed with a broader target group in mind - country was one of the genres which Leo had strong links with. It is a good bass for pick playing (the tone controls - especially the treble can be turned down). It's often overlooked that some rock players, for instance Carl Radle used a Stingray bass with Eric Clapton from its introduction.

As has been mentioned, the mute design arrangement was a development from that on the Mustang bass - but using string muting was likely focussed more on genres like country where a more traditional bass sound persisted rather than R and B and funk, or even rock, where a more lively sound developed from the early 70s onwards, influenced especially by jazz rock and subsequently jazz funk. I would associate muted electric bass more generally with 60s rather than later 70s bass sound and playing. The Stingray also shipped with flat wounds until early 78.
 
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I can dig it. Not to derail the thread, but I am a big fan of Carol Kaye. Great player and I really like her teaching style. I've grasped concepts much faster from her teachings than the more standard scales/modes stuff from other teachers.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled magic of the Specials!

Me too- the more chordal approach makes so much sense. She’s such an accomplished musician

OK back to Specials again, once again!
 
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I think price went up on all of them. MF prices just went up too from earlier this week when I (luckily) snagged this beautiful Ivory White 4H Special that arrived yesterday...

SR1.jpg

SR2.jpg
 
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Very comfortable. Neck definitely lives up to the hype with both shape and feel... really fast. Weight is great too at 8lb 11oz. Zero neck dive even with a slick Couch strap. It has a resonant sound.

I'm still getting used to the preamp, honestly. My previous experience was with a 2 band Classic for a few years, which I loved. I'm about an hour into experimenting for my favorite Stingray tones. I'm using a Guitar Port with headphones, not an actual amp, so that may have something to do with it too. And, some of my struggle may be the stock strings so I ordered a set of the Cobalt flats last night. Initial impressions are good, we just aren't totally bonded yet. Usually takes me a few days.
 
That's a beeeautiful white bass you got there, @Burwabit !
I've never owned white with maple neck, but this roasted color really gives it nice contrast. I struggled through a few color options before deciding on this, and I'm really happy I did.
 
Thought I'd try the cobalts flats after seeing some of you liking them and they're a bust. Per my usual luck the A was unusable right out of the gate and there's a huge disparity in overall brightness between the high and low strings. The G and D sound like slightly dead rounds and the E and the B are like really dead rounds. Yes I know they're flats and aren't supposed to be like rounds but it's just way to much of a difference. I'm a bit of a lunatic and can't stand big differences in strings. If one is too different from the others I gotta change them. Oh well $35 down the drain. :meh:
 
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Thought I'd try the cobalts flats after seeing some of you liking them and they're a bust. Per my usual luck the A was unusable right out of the gate and there's a huge disparity in overall brightness between the high and low strings. The G and D sound like slightly dead rounds and the E and the B are like really dead rounds. Yes I know they're flats and aren't supposed to be like rounds but it's just way to much of a difference. I'm a bit of a lunatic and can't stand big differences in strings. If one is too different from the others I gotta change them. Oh well $35 down the drain. :meh:
Hmm… Contact EB for a replacement set.