It's nice to live in a world where there are choices. Very happy with my SR5 HP. As the owner of two vintage SR's they're different animals but yeah that BFR is a sweet find.
Year zero is a scary concept.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Music Man StingRay Club | PART FIVE
- Thread starter fivestringgecko
- Start date
-
- Tags
- club
Year zero is a scary concept.
Terrifying, actually. I used in only with the greatest irony.
Opinions clearly vary on this. I've never liked the oval guard or the curved metal control plate. The guard on the SR5 is a huge improvement in my eyes.
My first bass what a white SR5 with a white pickguard, and I thought it looked great, still do. Over time, I've come to favor the oval. Opinions must always vary (I'm a fan of choice), and idiots like myself will always spout energetic opinions about things that will never happen, like "pickguard authoritarianism" and should remain free to do so!
Thanks. I actually sold the 210 but it really is a great cab. I bought this instead...
Justin is one of my fav on-Italian reds. Been a member of the society for about 8 years. Love Isosceles and their reserve. Check it out if you haven't already...
This is my 1976 Pre-Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray B002414, all original. Played only by me and David Thumbs Johnson of Nantucket. Bought it in 1984 at a pawn shop for $400. Had no idea what I had, just new it was awesome.
Beautiful condition. Congrats on a sweet find. Sure mine's not "virgin" to me, but still low miles.
So that's what she looked like new! Amazing. Wow.
Cool story. My band Destiny opened up for Nantucket back in 1983 at The Club in Rocky Mount, NC. David had joined the band when Pee Wee Watson left, but both of them played Musicman Stingray Basses. David came over after our set and was so cool. He was really complimentary on my playing and was a genuinely nice guy. About two years later I saw the Stingray on sell for $400 in a Raleigh pawn shop. The owner literally had just moved it to the floor and I bought as soon as I saw it. I had no idea it was David's former bass. It was 20 years later when I was buying a replacement pickguard that I figured it out. He definitely put some miles on her. I had the frets dressed once a few years ago and I had to replace the input jack, but she is still all original. Nothing sounds like a '76 Musicman Stingray!
Amazing backstory. I have a '66 Sunburst Rosewood Jazz I picked up in a pawn shop in Hattiesburg Mississippi while in college.
My only pawn shop find. Don't know the history on the '76, other than it was from a collector. B003930. Other than slight body checking and tuning machine fade it appears to have been a case queen its entire life. I ran it into my GK 700rb II flat EQ and got cold chills. As if it were made of glass I placed it back in the case and it's only been out twice since. Have an '88 Rosewood Blueburst in similar condition neither have been used even in living room practice. I envy those guys that have a vintage SR with some Mojo that gig them out and get the spectacular tone but I just can't bring myself to do it. Not with these beauties.
I was young and dumb. Mine was well broken in when I got her. All I knew was she sounded amazing and I could thump her like no bass I had ever played before. It was 25 years later when I was ordering an original pickguard to replace the mirror my predecessor had installed that I realized I had a '76 and a few months later when I traced it's origin to my buddy with Nantucket. She really is something special. I'm proud to own her. Wouldn't sell her for anything.
Funny you should mention the "thump her like no bass I had ever played before" bit.
Years ago, pre any Ray purchases, I happened into a Houston GC and saw a white Stingray
hanging on the wall. Out of curiosity I pulled it down to find it was heavily checked with
a darkened maple neck. Two band. I knew nothing of the MM history, but found myself
playing runs and slapping like Clarke/ Caron. I couldn't believe what my hands were pulling
off like no other bass I'd ever played in my life. I immediately went to an ATM round the corner
and within 10 minutes returned to find the bass GONE. Probably the loudest scream of
anguish short of the 2016 election. "Two kinds of people in this world: The quick and
the dead." I'll never forget that bass and my total heartache.
I feel ya. When the owner went in the back to ring me up, the bass player from another local band wandered in and immediately picked her up and was going crazy. I walked over and said, sorry dude she's mine, you are 5 minutes too late. I'm sure you know exactly how he felt.
I admire your fortitude for keeping your hand off yours. She is a real beauty.
I admire your fortitude for keeping your hand off yours. She is a real beauty.
I've seen the name Paul Denman an awful lot since reading this thread, and others related to SR basses. Can anyone recommend any particularly good video with the man Denman playing a SR? Or recordings that show the greatness? I admit to falling out of currency with the Sade thing, so I'm behind the times.
Well, for a start, here's the original video for "Smooth Operator", where you can see Denman with a StingRay.
Could listen to it ten times in row, love it and love her ... I cover that with one of my bands too, with a classic Stingray of course. But for a 2020 taste the bass is a bit thin in the video. So I beef it up a bit with a little more bass EQ but tamed by a compressor. We've also doubled the bass solo passage; I guess my band must love me
