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EBMM StingRay Special Club

To keep a long story short [sorta:)] I spent quite a few hours fussing with it and ended up at a tad under 6/64ths & 5/64ths with tweaking A&D Strings for perceived volume match all strings and radius match for proper playability and feel.[

I can get nice clean sound with my normal attack and Pop when I dig in from frets 1-18 which is enough:) then it is random 'Fret outs' on 19-22 mainly D&G strings.

I don't do much Slap or any Tapping/Chording so extra low action is not necessary and I may be able to handle a little higher than I am used to

UPDATE; I just proved " You can have the tools but it doesn't make you a mechanic"

I went to Guitar Center to return 'Special'; also a good friend works there as a tech he is very sharp and excellent Tech.

So as the manager was arranging for return I asked him to take a look in less than 8-10 minutes he had it setup to my specs E action 5/64ths G 4/64 and played and sounded great:(:D

He did a lot of pulling on strings [since I didn't sliped my senior mind they were new]
Set relief by feel/tapping while checking fretting above 12th fret.

He told me maybe after making significant truss rod adjustment out of box I didn't give it enough time to set
[let it sit for about 20 hours before doing my 'ineffective' setup attempts.

Was in case about 54 hours before I got to store.

I have done my own setups and maintenance tweaks on 4 different Basses since 2002
BUT all had some time on them and one was setup by dealer I just tweaked it

Manager asked me if I wanted a setup when I told him some of my problems with Bass

I smugly said I know what I am doing; I lied:D

I apologize to all here and EBMM; as to my last few posts NEVERMIND

Also saw the video with the Guy whom built his own 2 band and 3 band copy's of Stingray preamps
which showed 3 band had HPF around 70hz and spike at 4k

With my Mesa WD 800 with it's HPF and Para EQ I could mimic that and yes sound was very similar to
Pre-Special 3 band EQ's
 
UPDATE; I just proved " You can have the tools but it doesn't make you a mechanic"

I went to Guitar Center to return 'Special'; also a good friend works there as a tech he is very sharp and excellent Tech.

So as the manager was arranging for return I asked him to take a look in less than 8-10 minutes he had it setup to my specs E action 5/64ths G 4/64 and played and sounded great:(:D

He did a lot of pulling on strings [since I didn't sliped my senior mind they were new]
Set relief by feel/tapping while checking fretting above 12th fret.

He told me maybe after making significant truss rod adjustment out of box I didn't give it enough time to set
[let it sit for about 20 hours before doing my 'ineffective' setup attempts.

Was in case about 54 hours before I got to store.

I have done my own setups and maintenance tweaks on 4 different Basses since 2002
BUT all had some time on them and one was setup by dealer I just tweaked it

Manager asked me if I wanted a setup when I told him some of my problems with Bass

I smugly said I know what I am doing; I lied:D

I apologize to all here and EBMM; as to my last few posts NEVERMIND

Also saw the video with the Guy whom built his own 2 band and 3 band copy's of Stingray preamps
which showed 3 band had HPF around 70hz and spike at 4k

With my Mesa WD 800 with it's HPF and Para EQ I could mimic that and yes sound was very similar to
Pre-Special 3 band EQ's

Happy it worked out for you! There's no shame in not being an expert tech. I can do pretty good setups but still need some assistance with certain issues
 
Any feedback on the 2-band, DR preamp? Like others, I haven’t had a chance to play one in person. The concept of built in drive effects is honestly a little lost on me, but that is one excellent looking StingRay… err… DarkRay. If it does a 2-band Ray thing well enough then I could be interested.

Still no word back from AJ yet on getting a natural finished SR.
 
UPDATE; I just proved " You can have the tools but it doesn't make you a mechanic"

I went to Guitar Center to return 'Special'; also a good friend works there as a tech he is very sharp and excellent Tech.

So as the manager was arranging for return I asked him to take a look in less than 8-10 minutes he had it setup to my specs E action 5/64ths G 4/64 and played and sounded great:(:D

He did a lot of pulling on strings [since I didn't sliped my senior mind they were new]
Set relief by feel/tapping while checking fretting above 12th fret.

He told me maybe after making significant truss rod adjustment out of box I didn't give it enough time to set
[let it sit for about 20 hours before doing my 'ineffective' setup attempts.

Was in case about 54 hours before I got to store.

I have done my own setups and maintenance tweaks on 4 different Basses since 2002
BUT all had some time on them and one was setup by dealer I just tweaked it

Manager asked me if I wanted a setup when I told him some of my problems with Bass

I smugly said I know what I am doing; I lied:D

I apologize to all here and EBMM; as to my last few posts NEVERMIND

Also saw the video with the Guy whom built his own 2 band and 3 band copy's of Stingray preamps
which showed 3 band had HPF around 70hz and spike at 4k

With my Mesa WD 800 with it's HPF and Para EQ I could mimic that and yes sound was very similar to
Pre-Special 3 band EQ's
:p:hyper:;)
 
I don't want to jinx it but this will begin a 6000 miles journey to me tomorrow :hyper:
View attachment 5158257
My 2021 Special arrived today from Ikebe Music, Tokyo. It is absolutely untouched with serial number label on back and film still on the pickguard. There are no signs that it's been played at all with tools and candy still sealed in bags in a rather nice velvet branded bag. The fretboard has the nicest piece of rosewood of any of my 30+ basses.
Once I receive the black pickguard from Germany I'll post some photos to prove "it really did happen".
Tonally, in aggression terms it sits third, behind my most aggressive USA Sterling and then my 1980 Stingray. I haven't had a chance to compare directly with my Old Smoothie that it reminded of immediately. The rosewood may contribute to the less aggressive tone and I really like it. This Special is very well balanced tonally from bottom to top of its range.
Everything about this Special looks and feels of exceptional quality.
20230810_143910.jpg
 
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My 2021 Special arrived today from Ikebe Music, Tokyo. It is absolutely untouched with serial number label on back and film still on the pickguard. There are no signs that it's been played at all with tools and candy still sealed in bags in a rather nice velvet branded bag. The fretboard has the nicest piece of rosewood of any of my 30+ basses.
Once I receive the black pickguard from Germany I'll post some photos to prove "it really did happen".
Tonally, in aggression terms it sits third, behind my most aggressive USA Sterling and then my 1980 Stingray. I haven't had a chance to compare directly with my Old Smoothie that it reminded of immediately. The rosewood may contribute to the less aggressive tone and I really like it. This Special is very well balanced tonally from bottom to top of its range.
Everything about this Special looks and feels of exceptional quality.
View attachment 5166371
Are you teasing us ?!?! :snaphappy:
So glad you like it. But I knew you would. Yes, please do a comparison with Old Smoothie. Im very interested in how they compare. I use my Ernie Ball Short Scale and my Alder / Rosewood Amethyst Sparkle when I want to get into Old Smoothie Territory. On both, flats and muting seem to do the trick.
 
UPDATE; I just proved " You can have the tools but it doesn't make you a mechanic"

I went to Guitar Center to return 'Special'; also a good friend works there as a tech he is very sharp and excellent Tech.

So as the manager was arranging for return I asked him to take a look in less than 8-10 minutes he had it setup to my specs E action 5/64ths G 4/64 and played and sounded great:(:D

He did a lot of pulling on strings [since I didn't sliped my senior mind they were new]
Set relief by feel/tapping while checking fretting above 12th fret.

He told me maybe after making significant truss rod adjustment out of box I didn't give it enough time to set
[let it sit for about 20 hours before doing my 'ineffective' setup attempts.

Was in case about 54 hours before I got to store.

I have done my own setups and maintenance tweaks on 4 different Basses since 2002
BUT all had some time on them and one was setup by dealer I just tweaked it

Manager asked me if I wanted a setup when I told him some of my problems with Bass

I smugly said I know what I am doing; I lied:D

I apologize to all here and EBMM; as to my last few posts NEVERMIND

Also saw the video with the Guy whom built his own 2 band and 3 band copy's of Stingray preamps
which showed 3 band had HPF around 70hz and spike at 4k

With my Mesa WD 800 with it's HPF and Para EQ I could mimic that and yes sound was very similar to
Pre-Special 3 band EQ's
All is well that ends well.
 
Are you teasing us ?!?! :snaphappy:
So glad you like it. But I knew you would. Yes, please do a comparison with Old Smoothie. Im very interested in how they compare. I use my Ernie Ball Short Scale and my Alder / Rosewood Amethyst Sparkle when I want to get into Old Smoothie Territory. On both, flats and muting seem to do the trick.
This is one of Ikebe's photos as my crappy phone camera and electric lighting just won't do it justice tonight.
sp8txfyw48h5qeag72p7.jpg
 
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