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EBMM StingRay Special Club

#9,221
I now own 3 Stingrays.
2007 EBMM Stingray 5 HH
2015 EBMM Stingray 4 H
2022 EBMM Stingray special 5 HH

I love them all for different reasons but I told myself if I get the stingray special I will sell my 2007 to fund it.
Problem now is I think my 2007 sounds the best of all three. It just has this sound that has more body than the other two. Only reason why I wanted to replace it was the weight. 10.3lbs
Anyways not sure if I should still sell it or return the special. Maybe just keep all three but it seems silly to have two 5 HH Stingrays. I want to keep my 4 H because it’s my only 4 string bass at the moment. The special is an amazing bass as well and so light. I do love the tone of the special as well but my 2007 does sound better to my ears. What would you do?
 
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#9,223
ics1974 said:
I now own 3 Stingrays.
2007 EBMM Stingray 5 HH
2015 EBMM Stingray 4 H
2022 EBMM Stingray special 5 HH

I love them all for different reasons but I told myself if I get the stingray special I will sell my 2007 to fund it.
Problem now is I think my 2007 sounds the best of all three. It just has this sound that has more body than the other two. Only reason why I wanted to replace it was the weight. 10.3lbs
Anyways not sure if I should still sell it or return the special. Maybe just keep all three but it seems silly to have two 5 HH Stingrays. I want to keep my 4 H because it’s my only 4 string bass at the moment. The special is an amazing bass as well and so light. I do love the tone of the special as well but my 2007 does sound better to my ears. What would you do?
Click to expand...
The correct answer is to keep all 3. Take a look at my avatar. :)
 
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#9,225
ics1974 said:
I now own 3 Stingrays.
2007 EBMM Stingray 5 HH
2015 EBMM Stingray 4 H
2022 EBMM Stingray special 5 HH

I love them all for different reasons but I told myself if I get the stingray special I will sell my 2007 to fund it.
Problem now is I think my 2007 sounds the best of all three. It just has this sound that has more body than the other two. Only reason why I wanted to replace it was the weight. 10.3lbs
Anyways not sure if I should still sell it or return the special. Maybe just keep all three but it seems silly to have two 5 HH Stingrays. I want to keep my 4 H because it’s my only 4 string bass at the moment. The special is an amazing bass as well and so light. I do love the tone of the special as well but my 2007 does sound better to my ears. What would you do?
Click to expand...
Silly to have TWO Stingray 5 HH’s?! Oh, I disagree! :D

3849D5E4-69E1-4FCC-AF6D-8504FEA961A8.jpeg


On the left is a 2019 Special and, on the right, is a 2007 ceramic. They do overlap a lot, but they’re still different enough that I like having both. The ceramic can get noticeably more aggressive sounding and rivals my L-2500 for pure beef. The Special has abundant beef as well, but has a warmer and less aggressive general tone than the ceramic. But, the EQ is powerful enough on both to give me any tone I want.

I call them my co - number ones and that’s effectively true but I do give the 2007 ceramic a slight 50.1% to 49.9% edge. And I’d say that half of that edge is due to the ceramic being my favorite Musicman finish - honeyburst.

Honestly, I do love Stingrays and would keep all three if I were you. But, if you have reasons to sell one that are enough to sway your decision, I’d say go with your gut.

EDIT: I can give you a more objective reason to keep all three. They’re from different eras and have different electronics, so they have sonic differences that make each unique in your collection. Personally, I’d love to someday add an SR5HH from 2008 - 2017 to my collection just for that reason. Or possibly a Stingray Classic 5 (only available in an H, as far as I know), though I do love the HH configuration.
 
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#9,226
ics1974 said:
I now own 3 Stingrays.
2007 EBMM Stingray 5 HH
2015 EBMM Stingray 4 H
2022 EBMM Stingray special 5 HH

I love them all for different reasons but I told myself if I get the stingray special I will sell my 2007 to fund it.
Problem now is I think my 2007 sounds the best of all three. It just has this sound that has more body than the other two. Only reason why I wanted to replace it was the weight. 10.3lbs
Anyways not sure if I should still sell it or return the special. Maybe just keep all three but it seems silly to have two 5 HH Stingrays. I want to keep my 4 H because it’s my only 4 string bass at the moment. The special is an amazing bass as well and so light. I do love the tone of the special as well but my 2007 does sound better to my ears. What would you do?
Click to expand...

I think the only sensible thing to do here is to buy many more Stingrays until you find one that is 110% perfect in every way. :)
 
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#9,227
Well I may have to take back my comment that my 2007 Stingray 5 HH sounds better than my Special 5 HH. I assumed the EB strings that came on the special were new sounding. They are not. I just put a new set of EB regular slinky’s on my special and it came to life. Both basses sound equally awesome now. They don’t sound exactly the same but I can’t decide which sounds better now.
 
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#9,229
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
The correct answer is to keep all 3. Take a look at my avatar. :)
Click to expand...
Great answer. Totally agree.

dave64o said:
Silly to have TWO Stingray 5 HH’s?! Oh, I disagree! :D

View attachment 5014592

On the left is a 2019 Special and, on the right, is a 2007 ceramic. They do overlap a lot, but they’re still different enough that I like having both. The ceramic can get noticeably more aggressive sounding and rivals my L-2500 for pure beef. The Special has abundant beef as well, but has a warmer and less aggressive general tone than the ceramic. But, the EQ is powerful enough on both to give me any tone I want.

I call them my co - number ones and that’s effectively true but I do give the 2007 ceramic a slight 50.1% to 49.9% edge. And I’d say that half of that edge is due to the ceramic being my favorite Musicman finish - honeyburst.

Honestly, I do love Stingrays and would keep all three if I were you. But, if you have reasons to sell one that are enough to sway your decision, I’d say go with your gut.

EDIT: I can give you a more objective reason to keep all three. They’re from different eras and have different electronics, so they have sonic differences that make each unique in your collection. Personally, I’d love to someday add an SR5HH from 2008 - 2017 to my collection just for that reason. Or possibly a Stingray Classic 5 (only available in an H, as far as I know), though I do love the HH configuration.
Click to expand...
Again totally agree. I have two Stingray Special HH's in Smoked Chrome and HD Yellow and both are eye catching. Is it redundant? Maybe. Is it necessary? Probably not. Should I get rid of one then? :eek:
 
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#9,232
Wicked G said:
Great answer. Totally agree.


Again totally agree. I have two Stingray Special HH's in Smoked Chrome and HD Yellow and both are eye catching. Is it redundant? Maybe. Is it necessary? Probably not. Should I get rid of one then? :eek:
Click to expand...

Oooooh, I think I remember you posting pictures of the HD yellow one before. :drool: If it's the bass I'm thinking of, it looked simultaneously current and 1986.
 
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#9,233
PrimitiveMan said:
When the Specials first came out, I really wanted an HD yellow
Click to expand...

I was really lucky in that when I saw it listed I was told that it was the last one in the EBMM warehouse. Once I ordered it, it was immediately removed from all the sites that had it listed in stock such as GC, MF, Sweetwater and others. Very lucky nobody jumped up and grabbed it because it took me about a week to get it.

dave64o said:
Oooooh, I think I remember you posting pictures of the HD yellow one before. :drool: If it's the bass I'm thinking of, it looked simultaneously current and 1986.
Click to expand...

It's really a beautiful bass, much nicer than what I have seen on pictures. The yellow is really striking in person and on stage it's reflectiveness with the lighting makes it change colors. I've got pictures of me playing it where it looks like a very unusual yet awesome orange :drool:.

I've never seen a yellow guitar/bass look quite like this one and the black hardware makes it pop big time. So to me it looks current, not so much 1986 although someone will probably post a picture of one from that year soon and prove me wrong. :D
 
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#9,234
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
My mistake.:facepalm: Too much coffee. :angel:He said it was the bridge . The compensated nut helped with intonation. Take a listen here.
Click to expand...


Yea, I thought that was interesting too. It came to mind though, that's the new style bridge. They made their name on B strings with a bridge that I would say is significantly different. Bigger, heavier, studs on both sides, solid barrel saddles, etc. They only started using that new bridge in 2018. They've also occasionally done through-body bridges on 5 strings, and even ones with the string mutes, which have a larger base plate. So I wonder what is it about the bridge that's been retained through all the different variations that's given the B string its mojo?
 
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#9,235
Hey Fellas,
I got the chance to sit down with a brand new Stingray Special 4 HH in a BEAUTIFUL Speed Blue. It played so well! I was in a boomy sort of room and using an amp I wasn't used to so I was having some difficulty dialing in a sound I really liked. One thing I noticed on this particular bass was that the pickups were both adjusted that they were almost flush with the pickguard. Is that normal? I usually anchor my thumb on a pickup. I've never seen that before on a Ray. As far as I know it was fresh from the factory.
Thanks,
Brent
 
#9,237
IronLung1986 said:
Yea, I thought that was interesting too. It came to mind though, that's the new style bridge. They made their name on B strings with a bridge that I would say is significantly different. Bigger, heavier, studs on both sides, solid barrel saddles, etc. They only started using that new bridge in 2018. They've also occasionally done through-body bridges on 5 strings, and even ones with the string mutes, which have a larger base plate. So I wonder what is it about the bridge that's been retained through all the different variations that's given the B string its mojo?
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm curious too
 
#9,238
Bevan777 said:
That’s not normal to have the pickups so low to be flush with the pickguard. They should definitely be high enough to have a decent thumb rest. I imagine the tone would suffer significantly having them that low.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the confirmation!
Yeah it was kind of odd. The string action was fairly low and the neck was straight. Very easy to play but I was definitely struggling with the sound. This was only the 2nd Special I've had a chance to play and I wondered if the pickups were that HAWT you know?
Thanks again,
Brent
 
#9,239
BrentSimons said:
Thank you for the confirmation!
Yeah it was kind of odd. The string action was fairly low and the neck was straight. Very easy to play but I was definitely struggling with the sound. This was only the 2nd Special I've had a chance to play and I wondered if the pickups were that HAWT you know?
Thanks again,
Brent
Click to expand...


I suspect somebody in the shop adjusted it for easy slapping.

The EBMM setup specs, in their FAQ, are very much not flat to the deck.
 
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#9,240
IronLung1986 said:
Yea, I thought that was interesting too. It came to mind though, that's the new style bridge. They made their name on B strings with a bridge that I would say is significantly different. Bigger, heavier, studs on both sides, solid barrel saddles, etc. They only started using that new bridge in 2018. They've also occasionally done through-body bridges on 5 strings, and even ones with the string mutes, which have a larger base plate. So I wonder what is it about the bridge that's been retained through all the different variations that's given the B string its mojo?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but in terms of solving the original problem, he was certainly referring to the original StingRay5 - where the bridge was hardened steel, with the two large bolts going into large brass threads embedded in the body.

I don't think they did anything uniquely different from the 1987 4-string StingRay bridge, besides get rid of the whole mute portion of the bridge (which would eventually become the standard bridge for the 4-string as well, until the Special did away with the large bolts, and changed to aluminium).

Who knows; perhaps the combination of the bridge having higher mass than a Fender type bent plate, but less than an aftermarket hulking great high mass bridge, and the (at the time brand newly designed) 3 band EQ, is what made the B string work so well.

I've never played a StingRay Classic 5, so I really don't know if the B string sounds any less defined, and if so, the mute bridge & 2 band EQ are the reason?

I suspect that by the time the Special rolled around, the StingRay5 B string was so well established, that the new bridge only made a minor difference - the greater change being the new pickup, and revoiced preamp (which may well have been engineered to compensate for any losses incurred by the new bridge???).

That, and the fact that Sterling Ball blesses each StingRay5 bridge, with a little kiss on its botty, before it's bolted to the instrument.
 
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