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EBMM StingRay Special Club

#4,261
Chiliwailer said:
I’m really surprised that the natural finish is off the EBMM website.

It’d have been my second choice over the black one I bought.

Still, the colours are excellent and my choosing black or natural probably says more about me than it does the colours!
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The beauty of black, natural and white basses is that they fit in most settings! At least I tell myself that, because it says a lot about me too that I like those finishes.

I like natural and white these days but I don't go with black anymore. Ironically, I just bought a SR4 Special in Aqua Sprakle, one of the loudest finishes around, and I love it. I was thinking about sending my natural one back and getting the Charcoal Sprakle one. It must be a midlife crisis.
 
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#4,262
I purposely picked a "loud" color for my special because, well, I wanted to! There's been zero push-back from anyone regardless of genres of music. Quite the opposite even audience members have commented on how much they like it.

It gets used to play country, pop, rock, 80s new wave, R&B, reggae, even in my Billy Joel tribute. It's my clear #1 instrument and will be for quite a while.
 
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#4,263
BassGuyFL said:
I purposely picked a "loud" color for my special because, well, I wanted to! There's been zero push-back from anyone regardless of genres of music. Quite the opposite even audience members have commented on how much they like it.

It gets used to play country, pop, rock, 80s new wave, R&B, reggae, even in my Billy Joel tribute. It's my clear #1 instrument and will be for quite a while.
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Which loud color did you get?

I'm like yourself that I play an assortment of genres from Country, Pop, etc. and I'm being recruited to possibly join up with a jazz trio. I figured the natural would "fit in" better with the more conservative circles, luckily I really like natural, so it wasn't a big deal. I think I want that Charcoal Sparkle over the Natural, but maybe not. It depends on the hour. :D

That's awesome that you haven't gotten any pushback. I had a bad experience in the 90's with pushback. I was looking to buy a new American Stratocaster. I was actually going to buy one from the Custom Shop because it was offered in Black Holoflake. The band leader said if I bought that he really didn't want me playing out live with it because it didn't fit in the look he was wanting to present (90's grunge-type). Ironically, he didn't have an issue with the bassist borrowing my '89 SR4 that was a much louder blue color than Black Holoflake. His band, whatever. I ended buying something else and I don't even remember what. It's just as well, as I really couldn't afford the CS Strat at the time.

When I got the SR4 I wanted it be my fun bass, as I assumed I'd be using the SR5 primarily. When I got the Aqua Sparkle in person it knocked me out. I just want to grab it and play it. Maybe it's because I'm in a honeymoon period but I doubt it. It's just that damn awesome! :drool:

I've always loved sparkle finishes, which is crazy because I'm the type of person who doesn't call attention to myself, don't want to be the center of attention, hates attention but I love the finishes that calls attention to myself.
 
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#4,264
Cyborg said:
Which loud color did you get?

I'm like yourself that I play an assortment of genres from Country, Pop, etc. and I'm being recruited to possibly join up with a jazz trio. I figured the natural would "fit in" better with the more conservative circles, luckily I really like natural, so it wasn't a big deal. I think I want that Charcoal Sparkle over the Natural, but maybe not. It depends on the hour. :D

That's awesome that you haven't gotten any pushback. I had a bad experience in the 90's with pushback. I was looking to buy a new American Stratocaster. I was actually going to buy one from the Custom Shop because it was offered in Black Holoflake. The band leader said if I bought that he really didn't want me playing out live with it because it didn't fit in the look he was wanting to present (90's grunge-type). Ironically, he didn't have an issue with the bassist borrowing my '89 SR4 that was a much louder blue color than Black Holoflake. His band, whatever. I ended buying something else and I don't even remember what. It's just as well, as I really couldn't afford the CS Strat at the time.

When I got the SR4 I wanted it be my fun bass, as I assumed I'd be using the SR5 primarily. When I got the Aqua Sparkle in person it knocked me out. I just want to grab it and play it. Maybe it's because I'm in a honeymoon period but I doubt it. It's just that damn awesome! :drool:

I've always loved sparkle finishes, which is crazy because I'm the type of person who doesn't call attention to myself, don't want to be the center of attention, hates attention but I love the finishes that calls attention to myself.
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Aqua Sparkle for the win! I've had my fair share of sunburst, black and natural basses and wanted something else. If one of the red finishes was offered in the combo I wanted (rosewood or ebony neck and black hardware) I would have gone in that direction. Funny thing is I just bought it for all my other gigs I had been using my Fender P5 in the Billy Joel band because it fit better. When I got the Ray I brought it to one of the gigs just to show the guys and they went oh wow that's nice plug it in let's hear it. They all went woah ok you gotta play that one tonight! And I've been using it ever since!

59777631_531709914032345_1296330988341926243_n.jpg
 
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#4,266
pertyman said:
Here’s is an example of how good is the sound in position number 5 (neck pickup):

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Great playing, and that’s a beautiful bass!
It is really cool to hear how different each one sounds with the different fretboard choices. My ebony and rosewood boards are definitely a different flavor of sound than the maple.

-ScottM
 
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#4,271
Wood and Wire said:
Caught part of a set at Reading Festival, by a band called something like "Day To Remember".

The bassist had a couple of Stingray classics, and a Stingray Special.

On the Stingray Special, he had swapped out the preamp for a 2 band - leaving a redundant output socket on the bottom of the instrument.

Are there any 3rd party 2 band preamps available for the Special?

If he just used an old 2 band preamp (be that EBMM, or 3rd party), I wonder if he swapped the pickup too, as the new pickup is somewhat different from the one originally designed to work with the old 2 band preamp.


Anybody here in the know, with regard to that individual?

Anybody here swapped out the Special preamp, for a 2 band?

I'm intrigued.
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Here is the band/ bass in question (good shots during the first song... haven't watched further yet)-

20191003_063641.jpg


My personal speculation, based on a little research- the bassist, Josh Woodward, is an Ernie Ball artist. He's played Stingray Classics in the past. I would wager that he had EBMM put (or sent for his tech to put) classic electronics in a Special, giving him the tone he's used to, with every other advantage that a Special brings (not least of which is lighter weight, which he specifically mentions in an EBMM video). It's, at the very least, a preamp swap, made evident by the aforementioned side jack clearly still being present. I would guess that a Special pickup and Classic preamp might not jive as well as either stock setup, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a complete transplant.
 
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#4,272
vates said:
poplar and basswood then... again :meh:
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Yeah, it's the 80's all over again. :bored:
Northern ash, anyone? Solid bass. Solid tone! :cautious:
Heavy? What?! Weight weenies… Ugh! Feel like I'm on a biking forum! How many grams is your bass? ‍:blackeye:
To paraphrase Capt. Willard, 'Poplar… 5h1t, I'm back to playin' poplar. Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the 80's.' :bag:
Gotta give EBMM credit tho. They made basswood sound a lot better than I thought anyone could. :D
 
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#4,274
Treeman said:
Uh oh. We're playing our Specials more and talking about them less. Anyone play one of these new BFR fretless Specials? I saw one at the GC the other day but didn't play on it. That gloss roasted flame maple fretless fingerboard is GORGEOUS.
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I got one! Posted some photos in my thread. Awesome, awesome instrument.
 
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#4,276
Jonithen said:
I got one! Posted some photos in my thread. Awesome, awesome instrument.
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Excellent! Congratulations. I just read your post - it seems like such an outstanding instrument. The one I saw in person was locked into the hanger with no attendant around so i gave the strings a slight feel against the fingerboard while standing next to it and was in awe with the feel.
 
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#4,277
Treeman said:
Excellent! Congratulations. I just read your post - it seems like such an outstanding instrument. The one I saw in person was locked into the hanger with no attendant around so i gave the strings a slight feel against the fingerboard while standing next to it and was in awe with the feel.
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It really is a great one. If you get a chance to pull it down and try it out I highly recommend it. If mine is any indication, these are ultralight - something I never really went looking for but having it I see the draw.

The neck really is killer. I thought SLO was where it's at in terms of width but this is just great in both width and thickness.

The unlined thing is a bit of a challenge but the bass is so sweet it's motivation to figure it out. Having something I don't want to put down helps.
 
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#4,278
Cyborg said:
I don't see the Natural finish on the Specials listed on the EBMM site. I wonder if EBMM is dropping the Natural finish from the StingRay line up?
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It's also gone on the Stingray Classic line as well (just black and burst). I contacted EBMM and asked if it's because they've moved from ash. If you look at their site, the body wood is listed as "select hardwood" on all of their models now. They also removed the weight specs. I asked them about that as well, but only got this response:

"There is an industry shortage of swamp ash, please see our blog for more information."


bumble yeti said:
:bookworm:
Changing Times, Changing Timbers: Why the guitar industry’s swamp ash shortage won’t interrupt our mission to make the world’s best guitars.
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I believe that's the reason for the lack of natural finish, and doubt it's the sales. I also think this is why they no longer list the weight. They might be waiting to see where the new wood takes them?
 

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