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Music Man StingRay Club | PART FIVE

#6,724
My very first Stingray after 40 years of Fender (and others):


last night I used it at a gig next to my 2 Fenders and I loved it! Very punchy and articulate. I use flats and have the bass and treble at zero!
 

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#6,727
brian579 said:
Long shot here but, does anyone out there own or know where to get a late 80s SR in the rare Peach 🍑 color? Thanks much
Click to expand...
HeavyJazz said:
Do you mean the "Barbie Bass" color? Was that even a standard finish for a time? I was unaware..
Click to expand...
brian579 said:
Yes! To my knowledge they were a factory color but very rare.
Click to expand...

Peach was one of the 'Special "Feature" colors' EBMM were offering at the time. It was produced between 1987 and 1989 in very small numbers.

I've developed a bit of an obsession with this finish over the years. Back in 2009, I read about it on the EBMM forum where someone mentioned they just saw a Peach bass in a shop in London. I went there, looked at it and was intrigued. It was a 1988 StingRay, 2-band, maple neck with some beautiful figuring. However, it was rather expensive - a lot more than you would have expected to pay at the time for a StingRay from those years in similar condition. So I hesitated too long and one day it was gone.

I was kicking myself for not buying it (still am!) and started looking for another. I had no idea how rare these are!

It took me almost five years to find another one for sale, also a 1988 StingRay, on a UK classifieds site. It was already reserved for someone and I started kicking myself again but that buyer pulled out, so I pounced. And – typical! – only a few days later I saw another one, a 1989 StingRay5, advertised on the website of a German shop. I bought that one, too.

About a year later, in January 2015, a new user on the EBMM forum posted some photos of a SR5 with some unusual features requesting help to identify his bass, sparking a lively discussion. Someone from EBMM chimed in and forwarded the photos to their chief design engineer who authenticated it as one of the SR5 prototypes.

The owner put it up for sale a few years later and I bought it from him.

Later that year, I found a 1988 Sabre on Ebay. That's probably the rarest of the lot – I've only ever seen one other Peach Sabre which is the one Tony Levin played on some songs in the 1987 Peter Gabriel Live In Athens concert, a beautiful 3-band with a maple neck. Allegedly that bass got destroyed in a fire.

So, I managed to acquire four Peach instruments over a period of 17 years. I've seen a few more, some for sale, others not, but it's a small number. They can be found though!

My notes contain about 20 to 25 instruments (owner-confirmed serial numbers, entries on musicmanbass.global, unconfirmed sightings etc) although there might be some overlaps. Plus there's bound to be some I haven't seen yet, of course.

Unfortunately, the Peach finish as such isn't specified in the EBMM online serial number database. Entering the serial number of a Peach instrument - like with other 'Special "Feature" colors' - will only produce a record of SPECIAL for the finish without further specifying the colour. So we don't actually know how many of these were produced overall.

Here are mine:

1987 StingRay5 prototype, 1988 StingRay, 1989 StingRay5

1987 Peach SR5 proto, 1988 Peach SR, 1989 Peach SR5.jpg


1988 Sabre (unfortunately didn't have the original pickguard anymore)

1988 Peach Sabre (no guard).jpg


The quest continues.
 
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#6,728
liverbird said:
Peach was one of the 'Special "Feature" colors' EBMM were offering at the time. It was produced between 1987 and 1989 in very small numbers.

I've developed a bit of an obsession with this finish over the years. Back in 2009, I read about it on the EBMM forum where someone mentioned they just saw a Peach bass in a shop in London. I went there, looked at it and was intrigued. It was a 1988 StingRay, 2-band, maple neck with some beautiful figuring. However, it was rather expensive - a lot more than you would have expected to pay at the time for a StingRay from those years in similar condition. So I hesitated too long and one day it was gone.

I was kicking myself for not buying it (still am!) and started looking for another. I had no idea how rare these are!

It took me almost five years to find another one for sale, also a 1988 StingRay, on a UK classifieds site. It was already reserved for someone and I started kicking myself again but that buyer pulled out, so I pounced. And – typical! – only a few days later I saw another one, a 1989 StingRay5, advertised on the website of a German shop. I bought that one, too.

About a year later, in January 2015, a new user on the EBMM forum posted some photos of a SR5 with some unusual features requesting help to identify his bass, sparking a lively discussion. Someone from EBMM chimed in and forwarded the photos to their chief design engineer who authenticated it as one of the SR5 prototypes.

The owner put it up for sale a few years later and I bought it from him.

Later that year, I found a 1988 Sabre on Ebay. That's probably the rarest of the lot – I've only ever seen one other Peach Sabre which is the one Tony Levin played on some songs in the 1987 Peter Gabriel Live In Athens concert, a beautiful 3-band with a maple neck. Allegedly that bass got destroyed in a fire.

So, I managed to acquire four Peach instruments over a period of 17 years. I've seen a few more, some for sale, others not, but it's a small number. They can be found though!

My notes contain about 20 to 25 instruments (owner-confirmed serial numbers, entries on musicmanbass.global, unconfirmed sightings etc) although there might be some overlaps. Plus there's bound to be some I haven't seen yet, of course.

Unfortunately, the Peach finish as such isn't specified in the EBMM online serial number database. Entering the serial number of a Peach instrument - like with other 'Special "Feature" colors' - will only produce a record of SPECIAL for the finish without further specifying the colour. So we don't actually know how many of these were produced overall.

Here are mine:

1987 StingRay5 prototype, 1988 StingRay, 1989 StingRay5

View attachment 7462364

1988 Sabre (unfortunately didn't have the original pickguard anymore)

View attachment 7462365

The quest continues.
Click to expand...
Interesting! Apparently that color varies quite a bit, or maybe it's to do with how the color ages under certain conditions? The one on the left, the '87, looks closer to Tony's bass to me.
 
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#6,729
IronLung1986 said:
Interesting! Apparently that color varies quite a bit, or maybe it's to do with how the color ages under certain conditions? The one on the left, the '87, looks closer to Tony's bass to me.
Click to expand...

It could have something to do with the yellowing of the clear coat. Some Peach instruments seem to look more orange, others more pink. Not the easiest colour to photograph anyway, a bit like Fiesta Red in that respect.

I had the necks off on the 1988 SR4 and the 1989 SR5 at the same time a while ago and next to each other the unfaded colour inside the neck pockets looks virtually the same.
 
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#6,730
liverbird said:
...Someone from EBMM chimed in and forwarded the photos to their chief design engineer who authenticated it as one of the SR5 prototypes.

The owner put it up for sale a few years later and I bought it from him.
...

1987 StingRay5 prototype, 1988 StingRay, 1989 StingRay5

View attachment 7462364

1988 Sabre (unfortunately didn't have the original pickguard anymore)

...

The quest continues.
Click to expand...
SR5 Proto bridge is interesting; looks like it might have been fashioned from a blank SR4 bridge plate...
 
#6,731
liverbird said:
Peach was one of the 'Special "Feature" colors' EBMM were offering at the time. It was produced between 1987 and 1989 in very small numbers.

I've developed a bit of an obsession with this finish over the years. Back in 2009, I read about it on the EBMM forum where someone mentioned they just saw a Peach bass in a shop in London. I went there, looked at it and was intrigued. It was a 1988 StingRay, 2-band, maple neck with some beautiful figuring. However, it was rather expensive - a lot more than you would have expected to pay at the time for a StingRay from those years in similar condition. So I hesitated too long and one day it was gone.

I was kicking myself for not buying it (still am!) and started looking for another. I had no idea how rare these are!

It took me almost five years to find another one for sale, also a 1988 StingRay, on a UK classifieds site. It was already reserved for someone and I started kicking myself again but that buyer pulled out, so I pounced. And – typical! – only a few days later I saw another one, a 1989 StingRay5, advertised on the website of a German shop. I bought that one, too.

About a year later, in January 2015, a new user on the EBMM forum posted some photos of a SR5 with some unusual features requesting help to identify his bass, sparking a lively discussion. Someone from EBMM chimed in and forwarded the photos to their chief design engineer who authenticated it as one of the SR5 prototypes.

The owner put it up for sale a few years later and I bought it from him.

Later that year, I found a 1988 Sabre on Ebay. That's probably the rarest of the lot – I've only ever seen one other Peach Sabre which is the one Tony Levin played on some songs in the 1987 Peter Gabriel Live In Athens concert, a beautiful 3-band with a maple neck. Allegedly that bass got destroyed in a fire.

So, I managed to acquire four Peach instruments over a period of 17 years. I've seen a few more, some for sale, others not, but it's a small number. They can be found though!

My notes contain about 20 to 25 instruments (owner-confirmed serial numbers, entries on musicmanbass.global, unconfirmed sightings etc) although there might be some overlaps. Plus there's bound to be some I haven't seen yet, of course.

Unfortunately, the Peach finish as such isn't specified in the EBMM online serial number database. Entering the serial number of a Peach instrument - like with other 'Special "Feature" colors' - will only produce a record of SPECIAL for the finish without further specifying the colour. So we don't actually know how many of these were produced overall.

Here are mine:

1987 StingRay5 prototype, 1988 StingRay, 1989 StingRay5

View attachment 7462364

1988 Sabre (unfortunately didn't have the original pickguard anymore)

View attachment 7462365

The quest continues.
Click to expand...
That '87 five on the left is totally my thing. Let me know when you're ready to sell it! ;)
 
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#6,735
Preach Peach!!!
This is an '88 lined fretless rosewood peach 2 band Stingray I have hundreds if not thousands of hours on. Was my workhorse in several Punk and Rock bands, also some RnB and Funk/Disco bands. I mostly play a 2000 3 band SR4 fretted in my current band.

It's seen a lot, and I love her for her flaws. The cutouts were done by previous owner, who is a known musician. The current is the original, same with preamp.
This bass sings like no other bass I've played, and it's ruined my taste for bass tone to the detriment of my wallet.

I included a closeup where some clearcoat has been worn off, a lot of folks wonder about the paint color being more pink or more orange, I hope this helps clear (lol) things up. To me it looks like the clear coat has darkened and added an orange tint to the finish over time.
P1100648.jpg
P1100648.jpgP1100649.jpgP1100650.jpgP1100651.jpgP1100652.jpgP1100653.jpg
 
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