EBMM StingRay Special Club

[Littlewing6283]

That's the first Maroon Mist I've seen on here other than mine. Besides having a difficult time deciding H or HH I had a horrific time picking a color and choosing a fret board wood. I originally wanted a maple fret board and nearly had my mind set on a Pacific Sparkle color with maple neck but it was not going to be available for a few months and the more I looked at it each day the more I grew tired of it. I decided the key was to find a color I would not get tired of so quickly, so I downloaded all the colors and fret board combos that interested me and looked at them on my tablet for weeks. What else are you going to do when your stuck at home with this crazy virus going on? Charging Green, Dropped Copper, Burnt Amber, Maroon Mist, Burnt Apple and Ghost Wood were the contenders and I finally after weeks decided I liked the Maroon Mist with the rosewood neck the best, but really could have been happy with any of them. I was a bit concerned that the rosewood neck may be too warm sounding and not have the cutting bite I wanted in a StingRay that I heard with the roasted maple neck on u-tube, but after playing mine with rosewood that concern is now completely gone. This thing rips through lead walls if you want it too! The bass and EQ are so well implimented that I find a flat setting sounds about ideal most of the time, and every now and then just a slight tweek.

i too was at a crossroads. I succumbed to GAS and got a burnt copper with maple neck.

they are both great

 

[N4860]

That's the first Maroon Mist I've seen on here other than mine. Besides having a difficult time deciding H or HH I had a horrific time picking a color and choosing a fret board wood. I originally wanted a maple fret board and nearly had my mind set on a Pacific Sparkle color with maple neck but it was not going to be available for a few months and the more I looked at it each day the more I grew tired of it. I decided the key was to find a color I would not get tired of so quickly, so I downloaded all the colors and fret board combos that interested me and looked at them on my tablet for weeks. What else are you going to do when your stuck at home with this crazy virus going on? Charging Green, Dropped Copper, Burnt Amber, Maroon Mist, Burnt Apple and Ghost Wood were the contenders and I finally after weeks decided I liked the Maroon Mist with the rosewood neck the best, but really could have been happy with any of them. I was a bit concerned that the rosewood neck may be too warm sounding and not have the cutting bite I wanted in a StingRay that I heard with the roasted maple neck on u-tube, but after playing mine with rosewood that concern is now completely gone. This thing rips through lead walls if you want it too! The bass and EQ are so well implimented that I find a flat setting sounds about ideal most of the time, and every now and then just a slight tweek.

Funny you mention the ghostwood colour. I really really like that colour and had considered getting one but ended up getting a bfr instead. Still really like the ghostwood and think it's pretty underrated.

 

[Moonskunk]

Forgot to mention how much I like the new tuners. They exude quality and make the Hipshots I put on my Squier P to replace the rather poor quality ones that it came with seem cheap and mediocre.

 

[JuanB]

Has anyone else experienced a dead spot on the 9th fret of the G string? So far I've tried two 4H stingray specials and they both have a dead spot there. I don't mean a subtle dead spot. That's something I can live with. I'm talking decaying to the harmonic in less than a second kind of dead spot. This is after a proper setup and even a fresh set of strings in one case. I could feel both basses fighting this note. I love everything else about the bass but I just can't get over this.

 

[Groovegestapo]

Has anyone else experienced a dead spot on the 9th fret of the G string? So far I've tried two 4H stingray specials and they both have a dead spot there. I don't mean a subtle dead spot. That's something I can live with. I'm talking decaying to the harmonic in less than a second kind of dead spot. This is after a proper setup and even a fresh set of strings in one case. I could feel both basses fighting this note. I love everything else about the bass but I just can't get over this.

It’s a problem with a lot of EBMM Basses. For the price, it shouldn’t be happening especially for a $2000+ premium production base. Bolt in necks usually have that character naturally. But I’ve been through 6 EBMM SSpecials and finally found one that is consistent, but the B string buzz is an issue, as it was in all the other ones. The stainless frets on the HH Models could be causing the buzz problems evening after fret leveling and one PLEK. I’ve played Sandbergs and Dingwalls and don’t experience any of those issues.

 

[JuanB]

It’s a problem with a lot of EBMM Basses. For the price, it shouldn’t be happening especially for a $2000+ premium production base. Bolt in necks usually have that character naturally. But I’ve been through 6 EBMM SSpecials and finally found one that is consistent, but the B string buzz is an issue, as it was in all the other ones. The stainless frets on the HH Models could be causing the buzz problems evening after fret leveling and one PLEK. I’ve played Sandbergs and Dingwalls and don’t experience any of those issues.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I understand that some level of dead spots are expected but this is something I've never experienced before even with cheap Fenders. Maybe I've been lucky. Regardless, I think this bass is being shipped back. I don't think I can keep returning basses until I find one without significant dead spots. I guess it would help if a shop around me carried these so I could actually try it before buying.

 

[Moonskunk]

Has anyone else experienced a dead spot on the 9th fret of the G string? So far I've tried two 4H stingray specials and they both have a dead spot there. I don't mean a subtle dead spot. That's something I can live with. I'm talking decaying to the harmonic in less than a second kind of dead spot. This is after a proper setup and even a fresh set of strings in one case. I could feel both basses fighting this note. I love everything else about the bass but I just can't get over this.

After reading your post I got my new 4H special out and tried the 9th fret on the G string to see if I had perhaps overlooked something. No issue, rings as clearly as a bell with lots of sustain. In fact, no dead spots anywhere. Hope you get that matter straightened out, I can assure they are not all like that. The stock Slinky strings seem to lose thier zing pretty quickly though. I've only had the bass a few days and I can already tell the E string has lost some zip. When I first got it, the E sounded amazing! What strings are you guys using in round wounds? I have some D'Addario Pro Steels on my P bass I really like. I may try them on the StingRay next.

 

[N4860]

Has anyone else experienced a dead spot on the 9th fret of the G string? So far I've tried two 4H stingray specials and they both have a dead spot there. I don't mean a subtle dead spot. That's something I can live with. I'm talking decaying to the harmonic in less than a second kind of dead spot. This is after a proper setup and even a fresh set of strings in one case. I could feel both basses fighting this note. I love everything else about the bass but I just can't get over this.

No, I have 3 fretted specials and I don't have that on any of them. I just tested mine and went from 1st to 12th on the G string and each rings nicely for a good 15 seconds or so I would say.

Could it be your setup? Maybe try adjusting the relief just a hair.

 

[JuanB]

No, I have 3 fretted specials and I don't have that on any of them. I just tested mine and went from 1st to 12th on the G string and each rings nicely for a good 15 seconds or so I would say.

Could it be your setup? Maybe try adjusting the relief just a hair.

Thanks for the reply. It's not the setup. I'm pretty decent with setting up my basses so I ruled that out. No high frets either. In my 20 years of playing I've never experienced such a bad dead spot. Two basses in a row! And in the same spot! I wonder how many exchanges I can make before they tell me to take a hike.

 

[N4860]

Thanks for the reply. It's not the setup. I'm pretty decent with setting up my basses so I ruled that out. No high frets either. In my 20 years of playing I've never experienced such a bad dead spot. Two basses in a row! And in the same spot! I wonder how many exchanges I can make before they tell me to take a hike.

How long have you had the bass? I know with one of my Specials, I had some buzz on the E string around the 5th fret that was causing me issues. I made some adjustments but couldn't get it quite right but after a little while it seemed to get better. I did do a string change though so that could have to do with it. I do believe necks sometimes take a couple of weeks to truly set in to their environment if it's radically different from where the instrument came from.

That was a different issue though; I don't know a lot about dead spots so I'm not sure if this relates at all.

 

[Benny4P]

Got that exact dead spot, too. Ninth fret on the g string. My other basses have dead spots too. In fact all my basses have dead spots. No big deal. Just the nature of the beast (i.e. wood).

 

[JuanB]

How long have you had the bass? I know with one of my Specials, I had some buzz on the E string around the 5th fret that was causing me issues. I made some adjustments but couldn't get it quite right but after a little while it seemed to get better. I did do a string change though so that could have to do with it. I do believe necks sometimes take a couple of weeks to truly set in to their environment if it's radically different from where the instrument came from.

That was a different issue though; I don't know a lot about dead spots so I'm not sure if this relates at all.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I've had the bass for a couple of days. From my understanding, dead spots are when the vibrating string basically feeds its energy into vibrating the bass. This happens to varying degrees all over the neck as there's really no way to avoid transferring some energy to the body/neck. Some spots are worse than others. Sometimes it's bad enough to cause a note to decay into a harmonic in less than a second. In my case, I can feel the entire bass vibrate especially hard when playing E on the G string. Unfortunately, I don't think time will fix this issue.

 

[Tomservo-Crow]

I just checked the 2 stingray specials I have and no dead spots. I have had Basses with them in the past, but luckily neither of my specials have them.

 

[Moonskunk]

You could try one of the Fender Fat Fingers. I had a dead spot on my Squier Precision G string at the third fret. You'd hit the note and get pretty much a thud. I discovered that frequency was being absorbed by the head stock wood. The Fat Finger really helped and at one time I had 3 Fat Fingers on it. The dead spot was gone and fortunately didn't move to another fret.

 

[bumble yeti]

You could try one of the Fender Fat Fingers. I had a dead spot on my Squier Precision G string at the third fret. You'd hit the note and get pretty much a thud. I discovered that frequency was being absorbed by the head stock wood. The Fat Finger really helped and at one time I had 3 Fat Fingers on it. The dead spot was gone and fortunately didn't move to another fret.

I have one on mine. Had two for a little while but the bass seems to have settled in.
Placement is key. I used the capo I have for setup work to find where the issue was, added a Fat Finger and was good. I put the other Fat Finger on my old Carvin LB70, which has the same issue, and it fixed it. Both basses are lightweights with non-laminated maple necks but differ substantially in every other regard: bolt on - neck through, maple fingerboard - ebony, etc.
FWIW, most of the StingRay 5 Specials I've played have a dead D instead of C on the G string. Some are more prominent than others. Of course, YMMV.

 

[2milehighspike]

No dead spots anywhere on mine...but I don’t have any frets anywhere either.

 

[Moonskunk]

Frets on mine but no dead spots. The harmonic on the 9th fret G string rings for nearly 60 seconds, just tested it. I just found out why it plays so sweetly. I e-mailed Ernie Ball a few days ago and asked for the born on date of my new Maroon Mist StingRay Special and just got my answer. Turns out it was made on Feb 14th, 2020 Valentines Day.

Pictured along with its little short scale Sterling sister in Daphne Blue.

 

[N4860]

Frets on mine but no dead spots. The harmonic on the 9th fret G string rings for nearly 60 seconds, just tested it. I just found out why it plays so sweetly. I e-mailed Ernie Ball a few days ago and asked for the born on date of my new Maroon Mist StingRay Special and just got my answer. Turns out it was made on Feb 14th, 2020 Valentines Day.

View attachment 4050173
Pictured along with its little short scale Sterling sister in Daphne Blue.

In the future, you can just go here to search the birthday of your MM bass, assuming it's not a vintage MM.

 

[Groovegestapo]

You could try one of the Fender Fat Fingers. I had a dead spot on my Squier Precision G string at the third fret. You'd hit the note and get pretty much a thud. I discovered that frequency was being absorbed by the head stock wood. The Fat Finger really helped and at one time I had 3 Fat Fingers on it. The dead spot was gone and fortunately didn't move to another fret.

I have one, the only thing is, on a light SS special you might get neck dive. mine did so it wasn’t worth dealing with a minor improvement in sustain.

 

[Phaidrus]

After reading your post I got my new 4H special out and tried the 9th fret on the G string to see if I had perhaps overlooked something. No issue, rings as clearly as a bell with lots of sustain. In fact, no dead spots anywhere. Hope you get that matter straightened out, I can assure they are not all like that. The stock Slinky strings seem to lose thier zing pretty quickly though. I've only had the bass a few days and I can already tell the E string has lost some zip. When I first got it, the E sounded amazing! What strings are you guys using in round wounds? I have some D'Addario Pro Steels on my P bass I really like. I may try them on the StingRay next.

I feel you. I've put a 45105 Pro Steel set (EPS165) on my Pbass and it's oozing funk juice.