Brandon Shea
Commercial User
Purple Sunset for the win! Such a cool finish, it’s gotta be one of the best ever. I’ve been playing the heck out of mine today.
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EBMM StingRay Special Club
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
So I had a lot of feedback re ebony vs rosewood vs maple and I had my heart set on amethyst sparkle custom order but instead ordered an arctic sky burst with matching headstock and striped ebony fretboard. Well today it arrived.
Pics to follow in a second. Now, stupid me kept browsing the internet and Andertons in the UK dropped the price of a black rock special with maple fretboard from £2,800 to £2,200 (which is only a smidge more than they go for 2nd hand) so my man maths made me buy that as well. What the hell is wrong with me, bought 3 Stingray's in less than 3 weeks. Just got to set them up and get playing and see whatI think. The thought was to send one back if I don't love it but seeing them on the wall it's going to be hard to do that. Anyway pics:
Pics to follow in a second. Now, stupid me kept browsing the internet and Andertons in the UK dropped the price of a black rock special with maple fretboard from £2,800 to £2,200 (which is only a smidge more than they go for 2nd hand) so my man maths made me buy that as well. What the hell is wrong with me, bought 3 Stingray's in less than 3 weeks. Just got to set them up and get playing and see whatI think. The thought was to send one back if I don't love it but seeing them on the wall it's going to be hard to do that. Anyway pics:
Sweet! Now get over to The Official Purple Stingray Club and post some photos, if you haven't already.Purple Sunset for the win! Such a cool finish, it’s gotta be one of the best ever. I’ve been playing the heck out of mine today.
I've now played all three and I have come to a similar conclusion as what you said to me at the beginning.Congratulations on your grapecrush Special. Lovely bass.
The Amethyst Sparkle is my all time favorite finish and I have one with matching headstock. To my eyes, that’s the way that bass should have been designed in the first place.
Ebony , rosewood , and maple all sound and feel different under the fingers. I’ve owned all 3 on StingRay Special. I’d love to own a Cruz Teal Special but don’t because Ebony isn’t for me on this bass. I’m also not a fan of the black hardware.
Ebony has a more piano like sustain and the notes bloom in a way that takes it away from that vintage StingRay sound. It doesn’t sound bad. The notes are very even . It has less of that signature StingRay “bounce “ to the notes. Ebony feels great. I could say it’s between rosewood and maple in brightness.
I have 5 different Specials . The rosewood is very warm in tone. I love it paired with bright flats . Mids are nice and robust. The trebles are rounds and the bass is smooth and deep.
Maple has more snap and a little less mid forward. Nice classic StingRay sound. I have highly flamed necks and fingerboards on some of my Specials. Some are roasted , other are not. They all feel and sound great. However, the roasted are more stable and sound more broken in with warmer tone. Not as warm as rosewood but warmer than my non roasted maple . The non roasted is very bright and snappy . Those basses growl and snap like a beast !!! Slap is so lovely .
In terms of the Stingray tone that I adore, the maple takes it for me. The rosewood is indeed warmer and is really nice to play and just chill with, the ebony seems to have more poke and attack (strings are newer it seems which adds to that of course) and indeed less of that Stingray feel but actually I really like it and the matching headstock and sparkle finish means I will want to pick it up a lot. I think each bass is mood dependant.
Was thinking about selling the Flea bass to fund one of the Stingray's but my daughter loves it so can't sell it. The G&L is an option but with the current situation I have no idea where the market will go with them.
Congrats on picking up some lovely basses and being able to compare them. I understand how addicting they can be. Nice collection !!!
Enjoy them all without guilt .
Like how the colour changes depending on the light
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
Amazing collection! It's gonna be tough to choose what goes back.
Also, nice looking Schecter guitar on the wall!
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
For anyone using D’Addario Chromes: how long do they usually last for you on your StingRay? I’m really liking these so far, but I’m not sure how long they’ll keep their zing relative to cobalt flats. I have to boost the treble a bit more compared to cobalts as well, but that’s not a problem – it seems like these strings can cover a wider range.
Sweetwater has a new exclusive run.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...IRULqDVvqBbClxo4MLvK8gnxV5mXcxFxoCYsMQAvD_BwE
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...IRULqDVvqBbClxo4MLvK8gnxV5mXcxFxoCYsMQAvD_BwE
Grape Crush is one of my all time favorite finishes, but that Black Rock is freaking awesome! Wow
.
That's pretty typical of EBMM finishes. Under stage lights my Amethyst Sparkle goes from purple to pink to silver while my HD Yellow sometimes looks orangey especially with red lights. My Smoked Chrome always looks like a galaxy far, far away.
I too have noticed the surprise element to the EBMM Special finishes . There is always more than you expected. Some more obvious than others . Especially on limited runs. Check some of the Sweetwater exclusives and the short scales . You have to scroll through pics to see the different hues in the light exposure angles .
Agreed. EBMM Special finishes can be quite surprising when you have them in your hands. I sometimes wonder how the Harvest Orange would look in person?
Every time I see these Sweetwater-exclusive finishes I get very jealous and frustrated that I can't (easily) get ahold of these!
Maybe you can come across a used one on Reverb or here on talkbass where the seller would be willing to ship.
That's an amazing first foray into StingRays!
