Y'all are seriously making me reevaluate my love for bursts and naturals. 
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EBMM StingRay Special Club
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
Since the expensive, US Stingray didn't work out, I decided to try the opposite end of the spectrum. I'll be sure to post a nice comparison on the quality, sound, and neck geometry / setup ease.
Passive, short scale Sterling. The Fallout green is new for '26: (my exact bass)
They had 5 in stock right now, so I had my pick of weight and neck/headstock wood grain. This was my favorite. 8lbs, 2oz. Even, beautiful neck grain.
And ordered this from EBMM (hopefully it fits!)
Then, it will have the GOLD silks of the EBMM SS flats....going to be tasty indeed.
Passive, short scale Sterling. The Fallout green is new for '26: (my exact bass)
They had 5 in stock right now, so I had my pick of weight and neck/headstock wood grain. This was my favorite. 8lbs, 2oz. Even, beautiful neck grain.
And ordered this from EBMM (hopefully it fits!)
Then, it will have the GOLD silks of the EBMM SS flats....going to be tasty indeed.
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Yeah, I realized that and canceled the order. I forgot the specials are much different, and the short scale USA is a stingray special.
Question for the class. I see I can get a brand new EBMM Stingray Special 5H for $2,119 before tax. Where would you rank this in terms of a deal on this bass new?
I don't need it, but I'm honestly considering getting this and returning my Sterling Ray34 and eating the shipping cost to help fund the purchase.
I don't need it, but I'm honestly considering getting this and returning my Sterling Ray34 and eating the shipping cost to help fund the purchase.
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
A local GC has a 5HH in stock. I'll run over and try it tomorrow to see how the body feels.
I know you are all going to say, "yes", but I imagine the step up in quality is worth the price differential? I understand the Special Ray 5H is different than the Sterling Ray34, but talking just general quality.
I know you are all going to say, "yes", but I imagine the step up in quality is worth the price differential? I understand the Special Ray 5H is different than the Sterling Ray34, but talking just general quality.
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The neck will be much nicer. The weight will be lighter. The tuners will be smoother. They both sound like Stingrays in a band mix, but you will hear a difference playing at home solo. The Special will sound smoother while the Ray34 will sound more aggressive. I like them both a lot, but the Special is my large stage / select venue bass while the Ray34 is for everywhere else.
Just a couple gig pics from last weekend! First couple shows with the Stingray and absolutely love it. I can't get over how good the neck on this thing feels. Like a well worn baseball glove. Had to revisit my amp settings post show but got it dialed in now and I have another show tomorrow 
Attachments
Went to Guitar Center tonight to try out the Stringray Special 5HH they had in stock. Employee got the ladder out and unlocked it for me. I plugged it into one of the smaller Fender amps and gave it a good 10-15 minute test drive.
this is the model/color I was playing with:
GC - EBMM Stingray 5 Special HH
A couple of observations:
All that said, not sure what I want to do at this point in terms of upgrading or standing pat with my Ray34.
this is the model/color I was playing with:
GC - EBMM Stingray 5 Special HH
A couple of observations:
- The action was pretty high, but I was still able to get a decent feel for the instrument. This can obviously be fixed with a proper setup.
- I was kind of shocked at how sharp the fret edges were. My Ray34 is smoother than a baby's butt where as this was super jagged and sharp along almost all the frets. For triple the price I was expecting more.
- Tonally I liked it a lot. There's a lot of ambient noise in Guitar Center so I struggled to hear differences in the neck pickup vs the bridge, but I played it mostly just using the bridge pickup to get an idea of what the 5H would sound like.
- Probably hard for me to actually back this up, but the highs felt less nasally/harsh on the Special vs my Ray34.
- I liked the B string.
- Very light instrument. I brought my strap and it felt comfortable standing with it.
All that said, not sure what I want to do at this point in terms of upgrading or standing pat with my Ray34.
I can tell you that I don’t typically find the pickup selector on basses very useful, however, on my EBMM SR special the selector is its secret weapon. Combined with the 3 band eq it becomes a Swiss Army knife. I use it all the time.
I’d say don’t worry about not hearing the differences in a cacophonous environment like GC, (I can barely hear a single note played in there), rest assured it will work for you in a real world setting.
Plus that Jackpot color is freaking incredible.
Thank you. I'm looking at the 5H currently since I can get one new for $2,100. The 5HH is all they had in stock locally so I wanted to try one out to get a feel for the build quality, weight, tones, etc.
I have 4H and for about month last year I could feel fret edges do to enviromental effects but they are well rolled and smooth Zero sharpness or being jagged also fretboard edges being hand rolled are smooth
I haven't heard much complaints in that area from users which are many
But from what I have heard online and in the wild if I was to try a 5"er it would be Special 5H would not even consider any others
I had 2018 Ray34 for short time it sounded fine and played OK but my Special is in another league in Quality, Fit/finish, tone, Playibility/feel and Value to me
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I’ve said this recently, if you play your Ray34 and never touch a Special you’ll be perfectly content with it…until you play a Special.
Just yesterday I grabbed my Ray34 first when I went to work on some things, it has been a while since I played it. After about half an hour I decided to swap to my special and there is just something, um…Special, shall we say, about it. I couldn’t go back to the 34 after that.
Just yesterday I grabbed my Ray34 first when I went to work on some things, it has been a while since I played it. After about half an hour I decided to swap to my special and there is just something, um…Special, shall we say, about it. I couldn’t go back to the 34 after that.
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
I’ll just chime in that any instrument can have fret sprout, but it’s an easy fix. My Mustang has always been fine, for example, but my cheapest and most expensive basses (Sire and EBMM) both needed fret edges filed a little over a year ago because of the change in weather.
For sure. Anytime I play an instrument at Guitar Center, I go in knowing that this is probably the least well maintained version of that instrument possible. I try to not let that taint my feelings too much.
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Here is where I’m leaning right now:
Place the order for the Stingray Special 5H.
Test it out once it arrives. As long as it has no major flaws, keep it, and begin the return process on my Ray34. If it arrives with issues, either exchange it for another Special 5H or just keep my Ray34.
Biggest reasons why I’m leaning towards the Special 5H:
- I’m starting to really dig 5 strings over 4 strings as I become more experienced. Not having to shift as much is beautiful.
- Price. $2,100 new is pretty hard to beat. Used I’m probably only saving $300-400 based on Reverb. This model also includes a HSC.
- Weight. I don’t know why, but despite being in shape and having quality straps I simply cannot tolerate periods of length standing with a heavy bass. This bass felt so light standing with it.
- Resale value. Down the road if things don’t work out I imagine I can unload this thing quite quickly.
Any last minute thoughts before I order today?
I had a Ray35 before I got my Special 5H, and I think it's definitely worth the jump in quality. It's a more versatile preamp and pickup
I still think buying EBMM basses used is the way to go though. I paid $1600 for the Special 5H as new old stock. My used BFR Bongo was $1900.
$2100 isn't a bad price but factor in taxes etc.
You can get used from GC and still have return window
Just my two cents, I get that some folks just don't like used.
