The first person I can think of is Tom Hamilton playing his Honeyburst/Maple Ray at Houston on June 24, 1977. Can anyone think of seeing a person (in a famous band) playing one?
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First Stingray user?
- Thread starter birdman14
- Start date
Louis "Thunder Thumbs" Johnson who worked with Leo Fender on development of the StingRay, and Carl [DEL]Bradley[/DEL] Radle with Eric Clapton who talked about it coming to the market in a Guitar Player Magazine interview, along with the fabulous Freebo.
John
Edited to correct Carl's name. Dang Android "autocorrect"!!!
John
Edited to correct Carl's name. Dang Android "autocorrect"!!!
Freebo was one of the first.
Also Carl Radle with Eric Clapton.
He had a MM Stingray proto-type in 1976. Carl said MM made him give it back, then gave him a production model.
From Bass Player - December 2006 Interview of Lonnie Turner (Steve Miller Band)
Is it true you changed basses right before these sessions?
Yes! I had been playing a 1957 Fender Precisionand I loved it to deathbut I started to feel like it didnt really sparkle, like it didnt have the punch I wanted. So I took it into the shop and found out the pickup windings had gotten pretty thin. The guy offered to replace the pickups, but then he told me, Wait, a guy here was just at the NAMM show, and he saw a whole new line of basses Leo Fender is getting ready to release through his new company, Music Man. So I got my hands on one right away, and it was a thing of amazing beautyexcept, whats with the battery? I had no idea. But then I hit a G, and then an F#, and then an Fand you could actually hear the difference!
Unfortunately, this new miracle bass was $600without a caseand I had never paid that much even for a car. But I decided it was worth it, and Ive never regretted it. I still own that bass; its serial number B002-123, so its the second-ever Music Man bass. I used it to cut all of Eagle and Book of Dreams, as well as the first couple of Eddie Money albums.
Lonnie Turner, Gregory Isola
Is it true you changed basses right before these sessions?
Yes! I had been playing a 1957 Fender Precisionand I loved it to deathbut I started to feel like it didnt really sparkle, like it didnt have the punch I wanted. So I took it into the shop and found out the pickup windings had gotten pretty thin. The guy offered to replace the pickups, but then he told me, Wait, a guy here was just at the NAMM show, and he saw a whole new line of basses Leo Fender is getting ready to release through his new company, Music Man. So I got my hands on one right away, and it was a thing of amazing beautyexcept, whats with the battery? I had no idea. But then I hit a G, and then an F#, and then an Fand you could actually hear the difference!
Unfortunately, this new miracle bass was $600without a caseand I had never paid that much even for a car. But I decided it was worth it, and Ive never regretted it. I still own that bass; its serial number B002-123, so its the second-ever Music Man bass. I used it to cut all of Eagle and Book of Dreams, as well as the first couple of Eddie Money albums.
Lonnie Turner, Gregory Isola
I was re-visiting an '80s Guitar Player mag today. I read a feature on Joel DiBartolo (Tonight Show bassist for eons). Here's a snippet-
"...DiBartolo worked closely with Leo Fender to improve the design of the original Music Man bass...created a crisp, bright sound that has since influenced a generation of bassists".
Just wanted to throw Joel DiBartolo out there...hardly ever mentioned at Talk Bass. He's a monster player.
Love the Lonnie Turner anecdote, too!
"...DiBartolo worked closely with Leo Fender to improve the design of the original Music Man bass...created a crisp, bright sound that has since influenced a generation of bassists".
Just wanted to throw Joel DiBartolo out there...hardly ever mentioned at Talk Bass. He's a monster player.
Love the Lonnie Turner anecdote, too!
The first time I actually NOTICED the sound of a bass on TV and said "That's a great sound!!" was the first time I heard DiBartolo on the Carson show. StingRay (this was before he got the graphite necked Cutlass) through the HD-130/212RH combination. He's the reason I tried GHS Brite-Flats on my first 'Ray too.
Thanks for the memory jog!
John
Happy Birthday Carol Kaye
“Carol, you’re the greatest damn bass player in the world.” – Brian Wilson Carol Kaye is one of the most prolific session bassists in the history of pop music. Starting in t…
blog.music-man.com
My first association with StingRay will always be Flea. He was the first person I saw play it and I will remember it forever.
The Ernie Ball company is not aware of how much it is losing, i.e. not gaining, by not agreeing to his conditions for a signature model and by losing him as an artist.
The Ernie Ball company is not aware of how much it is losing, i.e. not gaining, by not agreeing to his conditions for a signature model and by losing him as an artist.
