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EBMM StingRay Special Club

#8,621
I’d kind of like to add a 2008-2017 alnico 5 HH since it would give me everything I love about the feel and versatility of the two I already have but with yet another different tone. But, I can't argure that a Stingray fan should have a classic (lower case "c") model at least once in his/her lifetime and a Classic 5 is the best way for me to get there. But I can casually debate that in my head and here in this thread for the foreseeable future since I don't see anything happening any time soon.

Now the big question .... do I think you're kidding about a Sparkle? I'd estimate that you're at about 25% kidding and about 75% not kidding. :D Although, I'm not sure the alnico models or the Classics ever came in a sparkle finish. I'll have to do some searching...
 
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#8,626
I’ve owned a special for about 2 years now, but only just found out about this club!

I call him Ernie, for obvious reasons
 

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#8,629
RedJag said:
I have finally joined the Stingray (Special) owners club. I picked up my new BFR Stingray 4H in Ruby Punch from Guitar Center yesterday. I’m naming her Dorothy because of the Ruby Sparkle (like the slippers) and because she got shipped to me from Kansas.View attachment 4864671
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You know, I’d never considered spending $3500 on a bass or doing one of those payment plan options for any instrument, but this photo is seriously making me reconsider
 
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#8,630
TheKillersFan said:
You know, I’d never considered spending $3500 on a bass or doing one of those payment plan options for any instrument, but this photo is seriously making me reconsider
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I think the payment plan options are fine as long as you can get 0% interest and know for a fact you can budget for the payments and have the option to pay off early if desired. I could have bought it with cash, but why pay for it in full when I can get 0% interest and let my money earn interest/grow with the stock market?

And as for the price, I got a $900 Pro discount on it, so it only cost me $2599 + tax. At that price, the BFR was a no brainer over a standard issue stingray special. And considering the only other bass I own at the moment is a Fender Jaguar from when they first came out in 2006/2007, which is a JJ pickup configuration and I've been wanting something like a Stingray for a very long time (I've also owned and subsequently sold a Warwick Corvette fretted and fretless, but they were also JJ configurations and I didn't like them as much as my Jaguar), I felt it was justified to pick up a Stingray to complement my Jaguar Bass, which I'm thinking will become a dedicated flatwounds bass, since the Stingray sounds so good with Rounds.
 
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#8,631
They sound great with flats, too. ;)

Well, I should clarify. I've had flats on my ceramic Stingray 5 for a few years but I haven't yet tried them on my Stingray Special 5. It still has the Elixir Nanowebs that the previous owner installed.

But I will agree that they sound fantastic with rounds, too. My ceramic is amazing with either stainless steel or nickel Lo Riders. I love both but have been using the nickels beacuse they're a better fit for what I typically play, but the SS Lo Riders are excellent for a brighter tone that lasts for quite a long time. As much as I've been enjoying the Nanowebs, I probably give the nickel Lo Riders an opportunity when it's time to change strings.
 
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#8,632
dave64o said:
They sound great with flats, too. ;)

Well, I should clarify. I've had flats on my ceramic Stingray 5 for a few years but I haven't yet tried them on my Stingray Special 5. It still has the Elixir Nanowebs that the previous owner installed.

But I will agree that they sound fantastic with rounds, too. My ceramic is amazing with either stainless steel or nickel Lo Riders. I love both but have been using the nickels beacuse they're a better fit for what I typically play, but the SS Lo Riders are excellent for a brighter tone that lasts for quite a long time. As much as I've been enjoying the Nanowebs, I probably give the nickel Lo Riders an opportunity when it's time to change strings.
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As a Joe Dart fan, I’m well aware of Stingray + Flats. But the Stingray is a much better slap platform IMO and has that more aggressive sound (Tim Commerford comes to mind), so it’s keeping the rounds. Whereas flats in my Jaguar (basically a Jazz bass with extra controls) sound amazing, and the different pickup options let me get more nuance out of those strings.
 
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#8,633
RedJag said:
As a Joe Dart fan, I’m well aware of Stingray + Flats. But the Stingray is a much better slap platform IMO and has that more aggressive sound (Tim Commerford comes to mind), so it’s keeping the rounds. Whereas flats in my Jaguar (basically a Jazz bass with extra controls) sound amazing, and the different pickup options let me get more nuance out of those strings.
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As far as I know he uses very dead rounds (or at least he did).

I can slap extremely well but I’ve grown to hate it lol so I never use it in a band context.

I think the specials sound incredible regardless of what you put on them but they do excel with aggressive tones.

I have flats on my special because I tend to use it more on mellow styles, but keep rounds on my Sterling which I basically only use for metal.
 
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#8,634
RedJag said:
I think the payment plan options are fine as long as you can get 0% interest and know for a fact you can budget for the payments and have the option to pay off early if desired. I could have bought it with cash, but why pay for it in full when I can get 0% interest and let my money earn interest/grow with the stock market?

And as for the price, I got a $900 Pro discount on it, so it only cost me $2599 + tax. At that price, the BFR was a no brainer over a standard issue stingray special. And considering the only other bass I own at the moment is a Fender Jaguar from when they first came out in 2006/2007, which is a JJ pickup configuration and I've been wanting something like a Stingray for a very long time (I've also owned and subsequently sold a Warwick Corvette fretted and fretless, but they were also JJ configurations and I didn't like them as much as my Jaguar), I felt it was justified to pick up a Stingray to complement my Jaguar Bass, which I'm thinking will become a dedicated flatwounds bass, since the Stingray sounds so good with Rounds.
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How did you get that $900 pro discount?

Funnily enough, I have the same Jaguar bass you’re talking about and it’s one of the ones that I would sell if I were to get the BFR. I haven’t really been able to vibe with it, but I also always worry that I’ll regret letting it go.
 
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#8,638
RedJag said:
I have finally joined the Stingray (Special) owners club. I picked up my new BFR Stingray 4H in Ruby Punch from Guitar Center yesterday. I’m naming her Dorothy because of the Ruby Sparkle (like the slippers) and because she got shipped to me from Kansas.View attachment 4864671
Click to expand...
Would you mind sharing your experience with this one? And would you mind posting a photo of the back side of the neck? I played one today at my local GC and it was very excellent, but the flame on the back of the neck wasn’t very noticeable. Thanks!
 
#8,639
fryhole said:
Would you mind sharing your experience with this one? And would you mind posting a photo of the back side of the neck? I played one today at my local GC and it was very excellent, but the flame on the back of the neck wasn’t very noticeable. Thanks!
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Check a couple posts down from the one you quoted. I shared a photo of the back of the headstock.

And yeah, I had a similar experience when I checked out the ones that were local to me. There were two available locally at two different guitar centers. Both of them had sort of meh wood grain and the flame was visible but not really blowing me away. One was on the lighter side while the other was heavier. They both played really well, but the heavier one also had a buzz somewhere near the bridge that I couldn’t quite work out.

If I had to pick one of the two I’d have opted for the lighter weight one which played amazingly well, but since the neck wood was so unremarkable looking it didn’t make sense to be spending BFR money on it. So, I took a chance on ordering one off the website. I figured there’s only 40 of them made, they can’t all have unremarkable necks. So, whether I got lucky or the two local stores just have the least interesting of the 40 necks made for this run, the one I received was very nice.
 

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