EBMM StingRay Special Club

[Rlbragg15]

Agree that roasted maple looks great with tort. I think MM did pretty good with the mint/white combo, so its a toss up for me. Looks great either way.

 

[Pagorn Suebwong]

New tort guard landed today. Reminds me of my old Stingray Classic a little now. I still like the mint guard too, but it's fun to have options. Roasted neck makes this combo so much better. Which one do y'all like?

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Before
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I like it very much this bass (today). Ha.

 

[Chiliwailer]

Funny how old habits die hard - when playing yesterday on the neck pick up the treble was on about 60-70% thereabouts. I wanted a bit more but my first thought was “can’t go any higher, it’ll sounds like glass” —— then I remembered that was my OLD Stingray and that the EQ on these is far more flexible.

10 months in, and it’s the most comfortable and versatile bass I’ve ever owned.

 

[Pet Sounds]

FWIW, @Burwabit, I would give the nod to the mint pickguard. But the contrast of the tort looks nice, too.

 

[HD007]

New tort guard landed today. Reminds me of my old Stingray Classic a little now. I still like the mint guard too, but it's fun to have options. Roasted neck makes this combo so much better. Which one do y'all like?

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Before
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I like both so am no help. Nice to have options

 

[Stranger Danger]

Usually single coils get quiet enough when worked in parallel, and EMGs are extremely quiet even in singles, with the tone rolled down to 0 on a Mike Pope preamp, they can still sound amazing

Also not sure that HH can obtain a 100% StingRay H defined tone with the bridge HB pickup alone selected.. Maybe that requires completely removing the neck pickup, or so I've heard. But yes, it is a more versatile instrument than an H.
I actually prefer the HH tone with both HB running in parallel without splitting the coils. Sounds a bit like a Sabre on steroids. But not a fan of the Split H+H, does not really compete with a JB tone.. Maybe has to do with the fact that the bridge pickup is too far from the bridge, and the neck one is too close to the neck..

Only time will tell, if I will buy one again, it will be a sparkle, probably an Aqua like yours, or again a Charcoal.. Depends on what I find

There's no difference between the H and the HH with the bridge soloed.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Fret buzz!
Well, I took mine to a specialist and he found that these basses have a manufacturing problem. The neck is simply crooked!
If you turn the trusrod it creates a bump in the 4th-5th fret, not in the middle of the neck as it should. Furthermore, from the 12th fret, all the frets are not even and some stand out more than others.
What he did was shaving the frets on my neck to make it more even.
The action now is still not as low as I would like it to be, but reasonable.
This suckes!!!
But, still I like this bass a lot. I hope the "high" action will not break me...

Your bass had an issue and that's unfortunate and I wouldn't like it very much either but mine does not have that issue so I can't support your statement that "these basses have a manufacturing problem" because it is not true. Wood and wire doesn't always work out the way that it should but mine is absolutely perfect.

 

[pertyman]

Your bass had an issue and that's unfortunate and I wouldn't like it very much either but mine does not have that issue so I can't support your statement that "these basses have a manufacturing problem" because it is not true. Wood and wire doesn't always work out the way that it should but mine is absolutely perfect.

I agree, I should not have concluded that my problem is in all the other basses. I wrote out of desperation ... In any case and not to imply otherwise, I really like my bass !!

 

[Wood and Wire]

Wood and wire doesn't always work out the way that it should but mine is absolutely perfect.

I resemble that statement!

 

[keto]

Got mine back after 2 months. I don't know and don't care exactly what got done this time, but the setup is much better. It's playable without tons of rattle, so I'll take it to rehearsal and see how I like it Tues. This will be only the 2nd 'band event' I've taken it to in 9 months of ownership.

 

[J2Kbass]

What’s up folks!

So I randomly played a Stingray 5 Special HH(grey sparkle) at a music store. I’m a jazz bass guy mostly and their jazz bass was messed up so I picked up the Stingray while testing out an amp.

I was BLOWN away. I loved the feel of the neck string spacing, tonal options, etc. It looks like I’m going to get one.

I’ve got a couple questions I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. What’s the string spacing on the 5 string? It felt less than 19.

2. Are the necks consistent? I played the grey sparkle and loved it. They had the 5 string one that’s a red quilted maple top(over 3k) with bindings. And I only played that for thirty seconds because the neck was “beefier”. It was simply bigger and not the same. So I immediately went back to the grey bass.

3. Do the maple fretboard basses have a separate fretboard from the neck? Or is it ALL one piece?

Sorry if my questions seem silly. I don’t have a lot of experience with music man instruments.


Thanks for all your help.

 

[Stevorebob]

What’s up folks!

So I randomly played a Stingray 5 Special HH(grey sparkle) at a music store. I’m a jazz bass guy mostly and their jazz bass was messed up so I picked up the Stingray while testing out an amp.

I was BLOWN away. I loved the feel of the neck string spacing, tonal options, etc. It looks like I’m going to get one.

I’ve got a couple questions I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. What’s the string spacing on the 5 string? It felt less than 19.

2. Are the necks consistent? I played the grey sparkle and loved it. They had the 5 string one that’s a red quilted maple top(over 3k) with bindings. And I only played that for thirty seconds because the neck was “beefier”. It was simply bigger and not the same. So I immediately went back to the grey bass.

3. Do the maple fretboard basses have a separate fretboard from the neck? Or is it ALL one piece?

Sorry if my questions seem silly. I don’t have a lot of experience with music man instruments.


Thanks for all your help.

1. 17.5mm.
2. Necks are consistent.
3. Maple fretboards are sawn from the neck blank, trust rod routed and inserted, then fretboard glued. The seam is minimally visible.

 

[HD007]

What’s up folks!

So I randomly played a Stingray 5 Special HH(grey sparkle) at a music store. I’m a jazz bass guy mostly and their jazz bass was messed up so I picked up the Stingray while testing out an amp.

I was BLOWN away. I loved the feel of the neck string spacing, tonal options, etc. It looks like I’m going to get one.

I’ve got a couple questions I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. What’s the string spacing on the 5 string? It felt less than 19.

2. Are the necks consistent? I played the grey sparkle and loved it. They had the 5 string one that’s a red quilted maple top(over 3k) with bindings. And I only played that for thirty seconds because the neck was “beefier”. It was simply bigger and not the same. So I immediately went back to the grey bass.

3. Do the maple fretboard basses have a separate fretboard from the neck? Or is it ALL one piece?

Sorry if my questions seem silly. I don’t have a lot of experience with music man instruments.


Thanks for all your help.

They’re awesome basses!

The quilted maple one you tried was not a Special, so that’s probably why the neck felt different. I’m pretty sure it must have been one of the BFR models (Ball Family Reserve, which are limited runs with upgraded wood etc so more pricey).

Did it look like the quilted one in this set? That was a “regular” StingRay but not a Special. (Specials are the redesigned version that came out in 2018 with roasted neck, neodymium pickups, lighter weight, more ergonomic design etc):

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[J2Kbass]

Yes. It was the quilted orange/red one. BEAUTIFUL bass but I greatly preferred the neck on the special.


Thanks for the replies folks!

 

[keto]

Got mine back after 2 months. I don't know and don't care exactly what got done this time, but the setup is much better. It's playable without tons of rattle, so I'll take it to rehearsal and see how I like it Tues. This will be only the 2nd 'band event' I've taken it to in 9 months of ownership.

OK with a good set up, this is the nicest playing bass I own of many, including my custom L2K. Very clear and punchy. Super fast precise neck.

Got a setting for you to try, it's going to sound weird I bet, at least the description/setting. I was looking for a very mellow round tone for a ballad cover (Lights/Journey). Position 4 (bridge being =1), I rolled the treble right down but it was still a touch pointy. I started messing with the mids, and ended up all the way down on that too, with a slight bump in the bass. Taking the mids out got rid of the last of the 'pointiness' native to my rig, GK being crisp up top. Still lots of spectrum there to fill out the mix, nice and mellow (not my usual thing, but it worked great). So, on a scale to 10, I was T0 M0 B7-8

 

[Chiliwailer]

OK with a good set up, this is the nicest playing bass I own of many, including my custom L2K. Very clear and punchy. Super fast precise neck.

Got a setting for you to try, it's going to sound weird I bet, at least the description/setting. I was looking for a very mellow round tone for a ballad cover (Lights/Journey). Position 4 (bridge being =1), I rolled the treble right down but it was still a touch pointy. I started messing with the mids, and ended up all the way down on that too, with a slight bump in the bass. Taking the mids out got rid of the last of the 'pointiness' native to my rig, GK being crisp up top. Still lots of spectrum there to fill out the mix, nice and mellow (not my usual thing, but it worked great). So, on a scale to 10, I was T0 M0 B7-8

Totally get what you mean about the ‘pointiness’ of your rig.
I play a lot at home on headphones with a Line 6 Helix Stomp - it’s so cool how different amps make the HH settings sound so different. For instance with a particular setting - on one amp it’ll sound smooth, on another it’ll have more high peaks. Oddly, some amps make position 5 sound like a P Bass, others make position 4 like a P Bass. I can get so many sounds out of this combo.
Who needs a bass collection with gear like this?

 

[Taustin Powers]

Been taking my Special 4H (sparkle blue) to rehearsal for the last few weeks. My current rig is:

SS 4H -> Broughton HPF/LPF -> Mesa Subway D800 -> Eden 410 XLT

I love everything about this setup! The bass is light and balances well, the action is low where I like it. The tone is thick, responsive and sits very well in the mix. Low E is massive and tight, the Stingray growl is very present!

I've been GAS'ing for a Dingwall D-Bird Standard that's available here, but every time I play my SS at rehearsal, I think "why bother?". We'll see how that works out in the long run...

 

[hyp.spec]

Can I join the club?

 

[Stranger Danger]

Can I join the club?

Of course! There are no numbers but I think you qualify.

 

[bumble yeti]

Hmm… #4139, maybe?