I'm considering buying a Music Man Stingray 4HH as my first serious bass (I'm 16) and pretty convinced that I should spend 15 hundred on a guitar because it's got it all. But a couple questions still boggle me.
1st I don't see as much on the music scene, considering it's just as good as fender and probably even better than anything out there.
2nd could you play it in jazz? it's the best funk machine hands down for slapping and finger playing with that signature thump, but could you play anything beyond that on a machine that just wants to shoot solid funk bullets? better phrased, is it suited for a maturer way of playing be it jazz or anything else that necessitates a thorough knowledge of music? silly question since you could play any genre on almost any bass (almost), but the Stingray doesn't exactly say "hey let's chill the hell out and play some jazz", it's aggressive and punchy by nature, and bound to that signature "thump" (really don't know what to call it else than "thump")
3rd is it really worth spending that much on an instrument? would i be better off on some mexican jazz bass (way cheaper)?
I plan on studying music and particularly the bass and well I want to have a high end instrument and not keep upgrading from bass to bass one step at a time and end up spending way more than 15 hundred (economically speaking). I might be young and inexperienced and whatever else you may say but I'm in love with music and that low end register which is often overlooked. So help a rookie out.
1. Yes, the Stingray HH would be a good all round choice. It's going to give you several sounds which will be adaptable for many situations, but at the end of the day there's no substitute for actually going round the stores and specialist dealers and actually playing the instruments. It's the best way to find the bass for you. I recently drove a 250 mile round trip in the summer and bought a nearly new Classic Series MM Sabre. I only made the deal because as soon as I played it (plugged and unplugged), I loved the transmission of vibrations through it and how it felt in my hands. That's how you tell which bass is for you.
There are always better basses out there, though. If we're talking mass produced, yes a Ray is pretty much the nicest thing out there, but it's all down to individual opinion. There are other great sounding instruments like Status-Graphite, Human-Base, Sadowsky, Mike Lull in the more specialised fields, but they are all admittedly a little more money than you're looking at.
2. Yes, you can use a HH for Jazz. It's the most versatile pickup configuration. You can move your right hand over the end of the fingerboard and get a nice double bass style effect if you're running the neck pickup alone and you can use the full range of the bass for a more pointed sparkling sound, even backing off the treble and soloing the bridge pickup for solos will sound good.
One feature I'd personally be looking for in a jazz instrument is easy access to the upper registers - That and possibly a 24 fret neck (a really useful feature for higher end playing.)
3. Speaking as a professional musician, it's worth spending as much as you can on the RIGHT instrument for you. It pays off in the end. My main bass has been with me since new and even though it's a high end Status bass, it's only just recently been back to the maker for a quick service, seven years after it's original purchase. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Yes, there's always the used market too, but I'd always go for the best you can afford at any given time.
Good luck with your ambition of becoming a professional bass player - It's a good life all in all
