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EBMM StingRay Special Club

#141
I’d like to hear more on the 30th Anniversary and the Special 5H comparison.

I’ve played the 30th Anniversary and the Special 5H side-by-side in stores. First impression is the Specials are much lighter. Tone-wise, I’m struggling with the Specials — I haven’t been able to coax the upper-mid bite out of the Specials that I can get from the Anniversary (and the 5HHs I currently have). I prefer the Anniversary, but is that only because it’s familiar?

I thought it was a done deal that I would pick up a Special, but the Anniversary really has my attention.
 
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#143
pickles said:
I have a special 4 and the 30th 5. The 5 definitely has more of an aggressive electronic sound in the upper mids and highs. The special is warmer and more organic/passive sounding.
Click to expand...

That’s exactly my take as well. I’ve always liked SR’s but could never get along with the aggressive top end - but they sound great when other folks play them. I had a 30th anniversary years ago but eventually sold it for that reason.

Fast forward to this week, I stopped by a GC to check out a used bass I saw online; while I was there, I pulled down a beautiful Special 5 - but only with intent of seeing if I could get along with narrower spacing on fivers in general...

Well, I was totally blown away with the tone of the new pickups and electronics. Very organic sounding, great B string. The preamp was quiet, and all three bands sounded very musical - more on the subtle side, but in a very good way. The lighter weight and new body contours felt great.

I’m good with the narrow spacing so a Special 5 out is now at the top of my GAS list.

I can see how die hard SR folks might find the Specials too mellow sounding, but I think folks like me that found the regular ones too harsh, as well as those that like current SRs as well as more classic sounding instruments - will really dig it.
 
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#144
Exactly. I’ve always liked Rays but they never made it into regular rotation with my P and J derivatives because they just put a little too dramatic of a stamp on the sound. I think the special has a shot at changing that. The SR5 30th is special in its own right as well. Curious to see if I can get more gig time from that one too with the more fendery middle selector setting. They’re both really great basses.
 
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#145
pickles said:
Exactly. I’ve always liked Rays but they never made it into regular rotation with my P and J derivatives because they just put a little too dramatic of a stamp on the sound. I think the special has a shot at changing that. The SR5 30th is special in its own right as well. Curious to see if I can get more gig time from that one too with the more fendery middle selector setting. They’re both really great basses.
Click to expand...
Very Fendery with selector switch on the HH
 
#147
hyp.spec said:
Well I was going to take my new 5HH to my gig tonight but it's going to have to stay home.

The way the strap buttons are designed, I can't get my trusty old rubber washer straplock trick to work.
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Doing crazy tricks or just paranoid about dropping your instrument?

Not trying to condescend but I’m usually pretty cavalier about the strap that I use, and I never straplock.
 
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#151
My Black/Roasted Maple 4H arrived today. I had it shipped to my local Guitar Center so I picked it up and took it home on my lunch hour. I only played it for about 5 minutes. It is so comfortable and the roasted maple neck is just awesome. It sounds great too! I actually love how the highs are a little more subdued than older Stingrays. I'll be taking it to rehearsal tonight so we'll see how it sounds in the band mix but I'm sure it will be awesome.

I don't know the exact weight but it feels very light, probably in the 8 to 8.5lb range. I'll post some pictures when I have a chance.
 
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#152
I walked into my local GC this afternoon and one of the salesmen said, "Have you seen the new bass we got in?" He pulled out a StingRay Special in Burnt Apple. It had been used only long enough for the original owner to put flats on it, play it once or twice and put it in his closet until the 45-day grace period expired. So I got a fundamentally new bass for a used price! I did some horse trading with two other basses that weren't getting much use, and I ended up basically just paying the tax out of pocket.
I think the Special will be exactly what I have been looking for in a StingRay. It's lightweight, plays like a dream, and it's not as harsh-sounding as other Rays I've tried. And what a looker! Can't wait to spend some time with it.
 
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#153
All this talk about Specials being smoother, less aggressive in the upper mids/highs and more passive sounding is similar to what I've said about hearing in the demos - it reminds me of my Stingray where I've installed John East MM Preamp and Nordstrand MM4.2 pup (to get that 70s Stingray tone). So I guess these sound a bit more old school? Wouldn't surprise me as a lot of folks are looking for a bit more rounder, tamer tone nowadays, and EBMM guys did mention exactly that in this video:

 
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#154
Here is my Ivory White 4H Special that arrived yes6
 

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#156
TrentB said:
Here's my new black 4H that arrived yesterday. I took it to rehearsal last night and it sounded so good! It's really a joy to play. It came set up perfectly out of the box too. I've got some nickel lo riders that I'm going to put on this bass but the stock strings sound pretty good.
View attachment 3124918
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Yup, my favorite color combo (my next bass is gonna be that, be it J or a new Ray). Congrats!
 
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