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Musicman Pre EB Stingray Information

#21
smcd said:
I'd say, price wise, the "B00" models have a 20% premium over ours.
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Such great information and knowledge. I appreciate it man!! As a pro-bassist and owner of Musicman, would you be able to give a general estimate of what mine could be worth? Never intending to sell it as I am a producer and could always use more tools, but curious for my insurance purposes and peace of mind as well. Maybe 1.5K? 2K? in this condition?
 
#22
cj1973 said:
Such great information and knowledge. I appreciate it man!! As a pro-bassist and owner of Musicman, would you be able to give a general estimate of what mine could be worth? Never intending to sell it as I am a producer and could always use more tools, but curious for my insurance purposes and peace of mind as well. Maybe 1.5K? 2K? in this condition?
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$2k is about right. But in the condition your bass is in, it would be higher. By at maybe 25% or more.
 
#23
smcd said:
$2k is about right. But in the condition your bass is in, it would be higher. By at maybe 25% or more.
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Thank you. I really appreciate all this information.
Curious to know what Amp you use this with or if MM is famous for? (disclaimer.. I am a synth guy and producer, so this is more for the studio recordings..)..
I have two basses already (82/83 Fullerton both 62 RI JB and PB) and typically do a REDDI to Neve 1073 to LA2A type chain. I have my friend's Ampeg SVT PRo3 which is ok. I also am getting a Musicman 115B-120 Amp (solid state) for mic-ing and blending in with DI signal.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. My primary use for this is probably going to be for Pop music and some Thumping/Slap stuff.
Thanks.!!
 
#26
Here's a couple of pics of my early '79 pre EB Stingray with my newer SR5.
048.jpg

046.jpg

The Pre EB has a 3 bolt neck and string thru bridge and a date stamp in the pocket and on the neck. The maple neck is highly figured and every thing is original including the hard case and original hang tags. Its in very good but not pristine condition. I bought it from the original owner a number of years ago and would put its current value between $2000 and $2500 sale price and between $2200 and $2600 asking price.
These are going up in value so it's a keeper from an investment standpoint, if yours is all original and looks as good in person as it does in the pics and you have the original case it should be worth about $2500. The only watch out I've heard of on the pre EB basses is a bad batch of necks that were made in or around 1980. They apparently had no relief or any way to properly adjust the neck relief due to an improper truss rod installation. However most of those were repaired or replaced by the factory.
Congrats on your new bass acquisition and welcome to the Pre EB family.
 
#27
Thank you GBnorth!! I appreciate the information and the comparison notes. Yours look pretty dope!! Both of them. The new EB looks fantastic too. Is there much of a difference in tone/sound? How about pick-up strengths and so on?
With 'bad batch', would I be able to tell by the way it may be or is there a way to recognize these batches of basses from the 80s with the poor build quality? Does EB help with identifying issues (if any)? Thanks!! What is the chance of that? 50/50 I guess in reality but would love to be prepared for worse case. Thanks again!
 
#28
cj1973 said:
With 'bad batch', would I be able to tell by the way it may be or is there a way to recognize these batches of basses from the 80s with the poor build quality? Does EB help with identifying issues (if any)? Thanks!! What is the chance of that? 50/50 I guess in reality but would love to be prepared for worse case. Thanks again!
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It wasn't poor build quality, it was neck problems. You'd be able to tell if your bass had this issue because your neck would be unplayable. The neck problems didn't occurr until after MM discontinued the string through body, so your bass never had this problem.

EB didn't buy MM until the mid-80's, so they'd have no input on MM basses from that era. The vast majority of basses from the problem era are fine. Most, if not all of those basses were returned for repair. Any bass that is still around now from the early-mid 80's is fine. Neck problems aren't going to appear 30 years after the fact.
 
#29
smcd said:
It wasn't poor build quality, it was neck problems. You'd be able to tell if your bass had this issue because your neck would be unplayable. The neck problems didn't occurr until after MM discontinued the string through body, so your bass never had this problem.

EB didn't buy MM until the mid-80's, so they'd have no input on MM basses from that era. The vast majority of basses from the problem era are fine. Most, if not all of those basses were returned for repair. Any bass that is still around now from the early-mid 80's is fine. Neck problems aren't going to appear 30 years after the fact.
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Spot on!
 
#30
cj1973 said:
Thank you GBnorth!! I appreciate the information and the comparison notes. Yours look pretty dope!! Both of them. The new EB looks fantastic too. Is there much of a difference in tone/sound? How about pick-up strengths and so on?
With 'bad batch', would I be able to tell by the way it may be or is there a way to recognize these batches of basses from the 80s with the poor build quality? Does EB help with identifying issues (if any)? Thanks!! What is the chance of that? 50/50 I guess in reality but would love to be prepared for worse case. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

IMHO there is a significant difference in sound between the Stingray 5 string 3 band and the Pre EB Stingray 2 band bass. So much so that I sold off my SR5 and am looking for a newer 2 band 4 string to replace it with. Some like the 3 band preamps better and some don't, so try both to see which one you like best if buying another Stingray. There are entire threads on TB dedicated to the topic. Obviously you'll want to keep your Pre EB Stingray all original, so no modding that one:smug:
 
#31
GBassNorth said:
Obviously you'll want to keep your Pre EB Stingray all original, so no modding that one:smug:
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Yes Good Sir. No modding. What I'm getting seems to be in almost new condition, so I am excited to have her and work with her. Hopefully no major issues overall.
In your opinion, is Stingray an 'all round' type bass or more specific for that huge round bottom and the thump ability and so on? I have a Fullerton 82/83 JB and PB but surely this would be another beast on it's own.
 
#32
Hi fellas
Thanks you for all the information.
Got the bass, set it up. Amp shop in LA were completely all over it based on it's action and sound. It was just amazing!! One thing that concerned me was the date stamp, or the lack of it. Not sure why, but would love to get some thoughts.
Bass_zps0d4529dd.jpg
 

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