Ernie ball music man

[jmooda]

What's the difference between an Ernie ball music man and other music man basses?

 

[mntngrown]

Check Wikipedia
Leo Fender started Music Man sold to Ernie Ball. Sterling Ball developed the newer models including the Bongo.
When you see "pre Ernie Ball Stingray" or similar posts they are talking Fender era. Leo Fender started G&L after that. Busy guy.
The above was not researched or fact checked.
I love the California bass connection product development!
Just the sound on 99% of recorded blues and rock.
Also not fact checked

 

[lpdeluxe]

Leo Fender, Tom Walker and Forrest White who were, respectively, the owner, a member of the sales force, and the plant manager of Fender, started Music Man under another name after all three had left the CBS-owned Fender company. The three developed a line of amplifiers, manufactured by the company under the new name of Music Man, and basses and guitars, made by Leo's CLF Research. CLF built the instruments according to sales orders from Music Man. In the early 1980s, quality problems began surfacing, with poorly applied finishes and improperly plated hardware first noticed. Then a batch of Sting Ray bass necks were made with straight truss rods, making them impossible to adjust. The Japanese importer went so far as to saw a neck in half, which proved the existence of the problem (a good friend of mine bought a used Sting Ray from that era and broke the truss rod trying to adjust it -- he also told me the bass had electronic glitches).

There was a lot of acrimony among the partners and between the two companies, and Fender started up a new company called G&L, named for himself and longtime employee and associate George Fullerton. Music Man, with no instruments to sell, ended up being sold to Ernie Ball, who had long been manufacturing strings (and had gotten into the bass building business with the Earthwood acoustic bass, designed with Fullerton's help).

The EB company improved quality and did some redesign on the existing guitars and basses, and introduced new ones. The pre-EB StingRays, for example, had slab bodies; EB contoured them and introduced the StingRay 5.

I just recently bought a '99 SR 5, and it's a gem. Many of the CLF Music Man StingRays were gems, too, but they are heavy and the lack of contouring makes them less comfortable.

 

[spufman]

I've never picked up an EBMM instrument that wasn't impeccably built of fantastic materials. If you're talking Sterling by Musicman, etc., those are import builds licensed by EBMM. The ones I've played have been nice, but I like the California builds. Very reasonably priced on the used market, especially considering the quality. Love their fretwork. I have two early Sterlings at this point (fretted and fretless) and both are great.

 

[drTSTingray]

Leo Fender, Tom Walker and Forrest White who were, respectively, the owner, a member of the sales force, and the plant manager of Fender, started Music Man under another name after all three had left the CBS-owned Fender company. The three developed a line of amplifiers, manufactured by the company under the new name of Music Man, and basses and guitars, made by Leo's CLF Research. CLF built the instruments according to sales orders from Music Man. In the early 1980s, quality problems began surfacing, with poorly applied finishes and improperly plated hardware first noticed. Then a batch of Sting Ray bass necks were made with straight truss rods, making them impossible to adjust. The Japanese importer went so far as to saw a neck in half, which proved the existence of the problem (a good friend of mine bought a used Sting Ray from that era and broke the truss rod trying to adjust it -- he also told me the bass had electronic glitches).

There was a lot of acrimony among the partners and between the two companies, and Fender started up a new company called G&L, named for himself and longtime employee and associate George Fullerton. Music Man, with no instruments to sell, ended up being sold to Ernie Ball, who had long been manufacturing strings (and had gotten into the bass building business with the Earthwood acoustic bass, designed with Fullerton's help).

The EB company improved quality and did some redesign on the existing guitars and basses, and introduced new ones. The pre-EB StingRays, for example, had slab bodies; EB contoured them and introduced the StingRay 5.

I just recently bought a '99 SR 5, and it's a gem. Many of the CLF Music Man StingRays were gems, too, but they are heavy and the lack of contouring makes them less comfortable.

There was a period after Fender left and before EB took over when the basses were made by Charvel/Jackson - during that period the Cutlass basses (with graphite necks) were produced. Allegedly one of the points which Leo Fender disagreed with and contributed to his parting with the company.

 

[RickenBoogie]

They are also building StingRay "classics", with the original 2 band eq and slab bodies. These are also great basses, with impeccable necks and very distinctive tone.

 

[jmooda]

How would I know if I was looking a a later model that had a straight truss rod? Is there a particular marking on the bass or specific years I should stay away from?