EBMM StingRay Special Club

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Back in the early 80's I procured a '78 Music Man Stingray (swapped a Thunderbird for it). It was my main bass for about twelve years. I painted it various colors over the years and converted it to fretless (blame Pino). Eventually I sold it, but I always missed it. Thirty years later, and back in a band for the first time in decades, I got another Stingray--and there was that familiar tone I had missed all those years. But the weight proved to be too much for me and I reluctantly sold it after a few months. So I'm thrilled to have just ordered the third Stingray of my life: this (much lighter) Special. It arrives on Thursday.

View attachment 3307287 View attachment 3307288 View attachment 3307289 View attachment 3307291

Enjoyed the walk down memory lane. Nice Stingray history!! Maybe this one will keep its frets and original finish .

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Here's my incoming. If it stays, it will get a new pickguard:

View attachment 3306998 View attachment 3306997

When does it arrive? Looking forward to your review. What a great first 5 string!!

 

[Zack K]

Charging Green! Here’s one of the Sweetwater pictures of mine:
View attachment 3307299

Welcome to the Charging Green club! Got mine back in August and I love it more every time I pick it up. I followed someone’s advice way back in this thread and put TI flats on it, which soundand feel so silky smooth and amazing especially with the incredible neck on this bass, but I miss the huge growl this thing had with the slinkies that came on it. Tough to decide.

 

[Will S.]

Welcome to the Charging Green club! Got mine back in August and I love it more every time I pick it up. I followed someone’s advice way back in this thread and put TI flats on it, which soundand feel so silky smooth and amazing especially with the incredible neck on this bass, but I miss the huge growl this thing had with the slinkies that came on it. Tough to decide.

Thank you! It really is a great color. I’ve actually a set of TI’s sitting in my desk drawer but I love how it sounds with the slinkies too much to change.

 

[HD007]

When does it arrive? Looking forward to your review. What a great first 5 string!!

Tuesday should be arrival. It might take me awhile to see how I like all 5 strings - total newbie at that.

Sweetwater should open a portal to our club thread. Roll up the delivery trucks and start pouring!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Welcome to the Charging Green club! Got mine back in August and I love it more every time I pick it up. I followed someone’s advice way back in this thread and put TI flats on it, which soundand feel so silky smooth and amazing especially with the incredible neck on this bass, but I miss the huge growl this thing had with the slinkies that came on it. Tough to decide.

If you haven’t already, try some Cobalt Flats . Give you some of that Slinky growl back . Give time for the sticky feeling to wear and enjoy.

 

[bumble yeti]

It might take me awhile to see how I like all 5 strings - total newbie at that.

There is bit of an adjustment period so be patient.
EBMM fivers have a narrow nut width so the strings are closer together. The B and G strings are also close to the edge of the fingerboard. No problem for the B. But, if you like to fly all over the place, you may have a tendency to pull the G off of the fingerboard for a while (me!). Take your time and understand that you can't pull down on the G, only push up, and you'll be just fine.
Although it's great having those lower notes, for me, the coolest thing about fivers is the economy of reach and motion.
Ex.: Two octave G scale = 4 positions on a 4 string but only 2 positions on the 5 string.
A five string bass is truly it's own instrument.
Welcome and Enjoy!!!

 

[Will S.]

Here's a short clip I put together of my 5H I put together - my attempt at a Fenderish neck pickup sound with the hum split, treble all the way down, and mids all the way up. One of my favorite parts about the bass is how useable all setting of the preamp and pickup selector are. Let me know what you think and I'll see if I can put some more clips together!

 

[keto]

Here's a short clip I put together of my 5H I put together - my attempt at a Fenderish neck pickup sound with the hum split, treble all the way down, and mids all the way up. One of my favorite parts about the bass is how useable all setting of the preamp and pickup selector are. Let me know what you think and I'll see if I can put some more clips together!

Nice growly tone!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

There is bit of an adjustment period so be patient.
EBMM fivers have a narrow nut width so the strings are closer together. The B and G strings are also close to the edge of the fingerboard. No problem for the B. But, if you like to fly all over the place, you may have a tendency to pull the G off of the fingerboard for a while (me!). Take your time and understand that you can't pull down on the G, only push up, and you'll be just fine.
Although it's great having those lower notes, for me, the coolest thing about fivers is the economy of reach and motion.
Ex.: Two octave G scale = 4 positions on a 4 string but only 2 positions on the 5 string.
A five string bass is truly it's own instrument.
Welcome and Enjoy!!!

Very good advise. Once you get the feel for it , it’s easy. You will play differently than you do on a 4. It’s great to be fluent on both and have both in your collection.
Some people find it beneficial to only play 5 string for a few months to build up muscle memory and grasp the concept mentally. Worked for me.
Then when I brought my 4 back out, it was riding a bike. You never forget.

 

[Will S.]

Unfortunately some bad news - I noticed that 14th fret of the G string was either making no sound or sounding one note above what it should. I took the bass to Mike Lull (he is local to me) and he advised that with how much it would cost to true the frets in that area of the neck I should exchange it for a different model, so that’s currently the plan. Deciding between a couple different colors, as the remaining green ones in stock are heavier than I’d like.

 

[Chiliwailer]

Unfortunately some bad news - I noticed that 14th fret of the G string was either making no sound or sounding one note above what it should. I took the bass to Mike Lull (he is local to me) and he advised that with how much it would cost to true the frets in that area of the neck I should exchange it for a different model, so that’s currently the plan. Deciding between a couple different colors, as the remaining green ones in stock are heavier than I’d like.

Gutted to hear that. How about a neck swap?

 

[Stranger Danger]

Unfortunately some bad news - I noticed that 14th fret of the G string was either making no sound or sounding one note above what it should. I took the bass to Mike Lull (he is local to me) and he advised that with how much it would cost to true the frets in that area of the neck I should exchange it for a different model, so that’s currently the plan. Deciding between a couple different colors, as the remaining green ones in stock are heavier than I’d like.

SW has a dropped copper 5H at 8.3 lbs.

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

There is bit of an adjustment period so be patient.
EBMM fivers have a narrow nut width so the strings are closer together. The B and G strings are also close to the edge of the fingerboard. No problem for the B. But, if you like to fly all over the place, you may have a tendency to pull the G off of the fingerboard for a while (me!). Take your time and understand that you can't pull down on the G, only push up, and you'll be just fine.
Although it's great having those lower notes, for me, the coolest thing about fivers is the economy of reach and motion.
Ex.: Two octave G scale = 4 positions on a 4 string but only 2 positions on the 5 string.
A five string bass is truly it's own instrument.
Welcome and Enjoy!!!

And that in a nutshell, is what I love about a 5er. You find that your neck hand position can hover around the 4th or 5th fret instead of down in first position which effectively makes the reach easier and the scale seem shorter. Having those extra low notes like C and D is just icing on the cake. Just be careful to not over do it with those newly discovered low notes.

 

[HD007]

There is bit of an adjustment period so be patient.
EBMM fivers have a narrow nut width so the strings are closer together. The B and G strings are also close to the edge of the fingerboard. No problem for the B. But, if you like to fly all over the place, you may have a tendency to pull the G off of the fingerboard for a while (me!). Take your time and understand that you can't pull down on the G, only push up, and you'll be just fine.
Although it's great having those lower notes, for me, the coolest thing about fivers is the economy of reach and motion.
Ex.: Two octave G scale = 4 positions on a 4 string but only 2 positions on the 5 string.
A five string bass is truly it's own instrument.
Welcome and Enjoy!!!

Very good advise. Once you get the feel for it , it’s easy. You will play differently than you do on a 4. It’s great to be fluent on both and have both in your collection.
Some people find it beneficial to only play 5 string for a few months to build up muscle memory and grasp the concept mentally. Worked for me.
Then when I brought my 4 back out, it was riding a bike. You never forget.

And that in a nutshell, is what I love about a 5er. You find that your neck hand position can hover around the 4th or 5th fret instead of down in first position which effectively makes the reach easier and the scale seem shorter. Having those extra low notes like C and D is just icing on the cake. Just be careful to not over do it with those newly discovered low notes.

Thank you all for the excellent advice! I appreciate it and look forward to this new excursion.

 

[HD007]

Unfortunately some bad news - I noticed that 14th fret of the G string was either making no sound or sounding one note above what it should. I took the bass to Mike Lull (he is local to me) and he advised that with how much it would cost to true the frets in that area of the neck I should exchange it for a different model, so that’s currently the plan. Deciding between a couple different colors, as the remaining green ones in stock are heavier than I’d like.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you’ll find one that works. Lull knows his stuff so it’s good you have him to check things out

 

[Stranger Danger]

 

[eyeballkid]

What are those strings?!

 

[Stranger Danger]

What are those strings?!

La Bella Game of Death Limited Edition tapes. Wish I had more sets. Not available anymore.

 

[eyeballkid]

So although i got the bass a month ago or more last night was the first time I got to use it at band practice. We had been in the middle of recording some demos and I had started that process with another bass, so it was the one I had to keep taking to practice. but.. that is done so i was free to use my new Special. The long story short is Im hooked! It sounded GREAT!! It fit in very nicely with our sound. I didnt really notice until playing it for 2 and half hours how much easier it is to play than my regular Stingray and how freakin light it is!! yeah. it was a good purchase!