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EBMM StingRay Special Club
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
I have a question; I wonder if it's me. So, I bought an EBMM special 5HH reserved - Paua Blue Burst. It was an awesome bass; I was able to set up the bass with very low action. Unfortunately, the bass was slightly over 9lbs, because of my back I need it a lighter bass, so I returned that one and got another one exactly except with 1 lbs. less. The problem I now have is that I can’t get the action low like the previous bass, especially the G string, the truss rod is adjusted, and the saddles are all the way down. Is this inconsistency common?
You might need a shim . No big deal . Order some from EBMM. Email or call them . They will help you out. Or maybe you have a local luthier that can assist .
We love to see pics around here .
Never had that problem on any of my EBMM basses but have read here others having same issue. Shim is probably the answer
Does anyone know if there are any after market bridge saddles that will work on the Special’s bridge. I can’t understand why Ernie Ball opted for the hollowed out saddles. It can’t be saving much weight at all. I’ve owned three Special’s and have had problems on all three bridges with these saddles.
My new Stingray Special 5H had the same issue. G saddle was bottomed out. A shim fixed it. Ernie Ball has a 3-pack of shims that are different sizes.
Do you have to buy the shims? The other issue I have is the saddles are set to stop at one point. It won't let me lower them all the way. This is weird because on a another EBMM the saddles would go all the way down except the G String. On the picture I took this is the lowest I can move the saddles on all the strings.
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I noticed that Hot Honey basses are a bit of a lottery; namely, a wood grain lottery. Most of the ones I see are kind of ugly, and some are absolutely out of this world. I didn't feel like waiting for one to arrive up here in Canada and I didn't want to be disappointed if I got a bad one, so I cancelled my preorder.
Instead I checked out what was in stock at the reputable shops and ended up ordering this:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...an-stingray-special-bass-guitar-fallout-green
Biggest requirements were: Something subtle or classic, single humbucker, and it had to have one of those Mono cases.
I didn't think much of this finish at first, but then I saw a Facebook reel of Eddie's Guitars where they showed it off and it kinda blew me away.
Wish me luck.
Instead I checked out what was in stock at the reputable shops and ended up ordering this:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...an-stingray-special-bass-guitar-fallout-green
Biggest requirements were: Something subtle or classic, single humbucker, and it had to have one of those Mono cases.
I didn't think much of this finish at first, but then I saw a Facebook reel of Eddie's Guitars where they showed it off and it kinda blew me away.
Wish me luck.
I hope you like it . EBMM has so many great finishes . I love that they are never stagnant in their offerings. Hot honey is one of their best finishes ever. Looking forward to seeing your new acquisition.
The Hot Honey finish is amazing, I agree. The wood grain is another story. Check out these three 4HH basses from Sweetwater. The left one is amazing, the other two are passable at best, in my opinion. I don't have the luxury of ordering by serial like that due to border fees and possible tariffs (Canada), so I decided to go with what was available. I liked the Oxblood too but it's a bit plain.
The olive drab thing fits my style so I'm good with it.
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The bass is a keeper, so I bought the shims. once i get them I post a feedback thanks for the advice.The shims are cheap. @Killens84 will have to answer whether he was charged for his. I’d buy ‘em regardless.
As for that G saddle, that’s not a big part of your problem. Get the full-pocket neck shims from EBMM and that should take care of that low saddle issue.
(….that I find REALLY surprising. I have no such issue with my Special. But seeing your pics and knowing @Killens84 as well as I do, that’s a problem. I wonder what changed….)
If you or someone wants to go all “shouldn’t have to do all that!”, fine. It’s your bass and you have two choices. Get the shims or return the bass. And move on with life. We ain’t here forever….
I ordered the 3-pack of Music Man shims, but they’re only partial shims. That’s what Music Man uses on their instruments. But I also ordered a 3-pack of the Tascam, full-pocket wooden shims from Amazon. The .025° worked for me.
Apparently not….
. One possibility is to look for a used bridge with round solid bridge pieces that you can remove the bridge pieces and the screws and springs that go with them and replace the Special bridge pieces with those.
If the issue is the bridge piece screws moving after you’ve set the height, I’ve heard folks mention using the blue Loctite on those screws to prevent movement.
As they used to say 100 years ago when we watched TV commercials by candlelight….
“A lil’ dab will do ya”…..
I’ve wondered if the pre-Special saddles from Music Man would work. My special and pre-Special and Special saddles measure 17.5mm, and they should since that’s the string spacing of both basses. (Music Man is clear that each product is for the specific instrument model. But…?)
Edit: Of course, the 17.5mm measurement is for 5-string basses. I oft forget that some play 4-strings.
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They should really just go back to the solid saddle barrels. Or design new hollow ones where the screw can continue up through the top hole. I can't believe people are having to accept routinely shimming brand new $3,000 basses. The solid barrels were one of the many improvements that had been made to the original Stingrays.
Well this happened today. I can already tell it will get a lot of gig time.
