Musicman Classic Stingray 5 string

[JK_Turin]

I've been looking to pick up a backup bass for playing live and these have really caught my eye mostly for the look and tone. jsut wondered if anyone owns one and whats their honest opinion about them?

Also has anyone done any mods to their Stingray? i.e. new pups, upgraded pre-amp? if so was it easy and has it improved the tone?

 

[Down_Low]

Don't own a Classic, although do agree that they're cool as shite. Not sure why you'd want to upgrade a Classic though, unless you find that the 2 band pre amp isn't for you for some reason. Either way, I don't think anything could be considered an 'upgrade', rather something 'different'.

But, there's a real good thread here on Music Man sound and pickups, where some people have changed out their electronics.

 

[Musicman20]

I've just got one new at a really good price....natural/birdseye maple/black guard. Absolutely stunning to look at...seriously beautiful.

I wouldn't change a thing about the bass.

 

[jallenbass]

My SR5 Classic is the workhorse in my stable. Great for everything I do. The only change I made was to put flats on it. For me it's perfect as is.

 

[dkelley]

ya don't normally mod stingrays or anything musicman related.

why? because they already do the musicman tone better than any other bass in the world. it seems obvious, but when you look at jazz and precision basses you can see how one might assume upgrades will help them - fender basses are wildly inconsistent in tone from line to line, year to year, version to version of the same "type" of bass (precision, for example). hence lakland and 50 or so other company's primary product lines being improved versions of fender bass designs.

musicman basses are already as improved as they can be.

you can mod them so they are no longer purist musicmans, but changing the pickup will either result in very little or no change (if you get a great after market pickup... it'll be as good as the original with possibly slightly different voicing). or you can get something that sounds unauthentic and use that instead (like a bartolini pickup in your stingray).

stingray classics are kind of the elite vintage musicman bass. they're made in usa by people who care, use top tier parts, the sought after 2 band preamp and basically ideal parts in all ways other than arguably the fact that they choose to be REALLY authentic and not put in body contours, which irks some folks because it's not quite as comfy a bass on your body as many others are, even non-classic stingrays have body contours, but "classics" don't because they're a modern version of the classic vintage stingray.

Coupled with the fact that they are already very expensive basses for production models (classic fives are often around the $2000 and higher range in my local store), and they have excellent resale value in the used market, means modding one will cost a lot for likely little or no improvement and will actually devalue the bass.

EBMM has been very clever about their parts sales... they try to only sell to you if you can prove that you own a real EBMM bass and are searching for a replacement for a broken part. It's challenging, nearly impossible in fact, to buy aftermarket authentic EBMM stingray pickups and preamps.

Hence the aftermarket versions you can buy from other companies... which are typically compared against the originals in the classic stingray (or similar) to see how close the aftermarket versions get to being "authentic".

It's SO different from fender and other companies...

 

[2string1]

Being there is only a bridge pu,can you get warm full sound out of a STR5? I play 60's rock and country and use a pbass. Will I like the STR5 for that style music?

 

[jlepre]

STR5? Do you mean Sterling 5? My experience with the Sterling 5's have been that they are a little MORE aggressive. I would suggest putting some EBMM Group IV flats on and SR5. That's what I do with mine.

 

[thebassbuilder]

Being there is only a bridge pu,can you get warm full sound out of a STR5? I play 60's rock and country and use a pbass. Will I like the STR5 for that style music?

Yes, that bass can do any type of music. As a lot of the Musicman players here do, add flat wounds to it and it will smooth the tone out even more. But they have a very good pre-amp so boosting and cuting will help you with the tone you want as well.

I am also with dkelley, in the fact that the SR5 does not need any upgrades only changes if that is not the tone you want. If that zingy tone is not for you but you love a Stingray, you can could change the pickup to a Bartolini and it will change the tone completely. Bart's make the tone very smooth and fat but with out the zing. Sounds great but it does not sound like a Stingray. I have a bass I built with the Bartolini and I do not hate but it does not sound the way I want. It is too fat and not aggressive enough for me (no grind), I have the MMC version.

 

[boristhespider9]

I prefer the feel of back of the neck on the standard versions (no gloss -- standard oil/wax combo) to the Classics which are glossed. Just a personal preference, but something to consider.

 

[2string1]

STR5? Do you mean Sterling 5? My experience with the Sterling 5's have been that they are a little MORE aggressive. I would suggest putting some EBMM Group IV flats on and SR5. That's what I do with mine.

Sorry I mean't a 2002 stingray5

 

[dkelley]

The bassists from aerosmith and acdc have almost always recorded with stingrays. Hope that helps with your decision. . String choice is huge with stingray basses.

 

[Burwabit]

Being there is only a bridge pu,can you get warm full sound out of a STR5? I play 60's rock and country and use a pbass. Will I like the STR5 for that style music?

I was worried about this before I owned a my Stingray Classic (it's a 4, but should the same for this question). I thought it was a one-trick pony but I had a lot of versatile basses so I bought one to try it (and because it's so damned pretty).

One thing I didn't understand was how awesome the pre-amp is and how much variety it has. I was naive to this but after playing it a month or two, I'm totally blown away. It wears flats, and that helps it too. I'd recommend it for these styles.

 

[2string1]

I was worried about this before I owned a my Stingray Classic (it's a 4, but should the same for this question). I thought it was a one-trick pony but I had a lot of versatile basses so I bought one to try it (and because it's so damned pretty).

One thing I didn't understand was how awesome the pre-amp is and how much variety it has. I was naive to this but after playing it a month or two, I'm totally blown away. It wears flats, and that helps it too. I'd recommend it for these styles.

Good, I just hope the Luthier that's doing a fret job on my pbass excepts my offer. He has a 2002 trans teal blue fiver that I fell in love with when I pick it up. I never played nor heard one before. Bass players around here don't use them. It was not for sale but I think he may part with it. He's had it since new. I'm paying him 250 for the fret job, i'm going to offer him 1200 for the fret job and bass.

 

[Britbonic]

I have an SR5 that I got last fall. I'm normally a P and J guy so I will admit to it taking some adjustment to learn how to get the sounds I'm looking for. One thing for sure - the Stingray is it's own animal. It doesn't sound like a P or a J. Yeah, you can get close and just when you think you're close, you switch to a P and realize you're not.

Now that I've played it a bunch, there isn't anything it can't do. I use it for all styles I play - soul/r&b/blues/funk/rock and even some jazz. The 3 band EQ gives you tons of flexibility. Though much debate on the 2 vs 3 band EQ you can search the Musicman forum and find a great thread on a guy who recorded multiple MM basses with 2 and 3 band EQ. See if you can hear a difference.

I dig the look of the Classic but with the slab style body they will be a bit heavier. Also prefer the neck finish on newer Stingrays.

 

[2string1]

How can you tell if it's a classic or slab style body?

 

[nurnay]

How can you tell if it's a classic or slab style body?

Classic *is* the slab body. If it has contours, it's not a classic. Also, the PG on the classic looks like the 4 string Ray (sorta egg shape), the regular Ray 5 has a totally different PG.

 

[dkelley]

And the classic has string mutes you can turn on.

It also has often different, and sometimes fancier, finishes I think.

And it has a 2 band preamp instead of 3 which does behave differently from the 3 although you can cop the 2 sound pretty close with a 3 band... Not so much the other way around.

Older sr5s were more like sterlings than stingrays.... Newer ones at least use alnico pickups like stingrays... Classics always use true stingray magnets and wiring. Non classic 5s have pickup mode switch for series parallel single... Classics are series iirc.

 

[2string1]

The one I'm looking at is a 2002 or 2003. Which PU does it have? It has the different PG not the egg shaped one.

 

[dkelley]

The one I'm looking at is a 2002 or 2003. Which PU does it have? It has the different PG not the egg shaped one.

It's not a classic then, must be a sr5? How many knobs does it have? Prob has ceramic magnet which is still great but slightly different from tone of the classic 5

 

[boristhespider9]

The one I'm looking at is a 2002 or 2003. Which PU does it have? It has the different PG not the egg shaped one.

Classics weren't made back then. They came out about 2-3 years ago (aprox).

Look on Bass Central and The Perfect Bass web sites. Plenty of photos so you can see all the differences. Of course, you can also learn a lot from MM's web site.