I might have an opportunity to pick one of these limited 76 Stingray basses up. Can anyone who has one comment on the sound in comparison to a special and previous Stingray basses, obviously a different beast. Can anyone tell me about the bullet truss rod compared to a heel installed truss rod. I get the point this is meant to be period specific. Debating on this one or a special although this limited run is very cool.
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New MusicMan Stingray BFR - thoughts?
- Thread starter facetsquared
- Start date
I’d jump on this one. Plenty of Specials to be had if this one doesn’t work out for you. You won’t lose money if you decide to move it on later.
You might even make a few extra dollars.
Well put - that’s a reason to spend money on gear that’s actually practical!
… and Happy Mother’s Day!
Thank you!!Well put - that’s a reason to spend money on gear that’s actually practical!
… and Happy Mother’s Day!
Absolutely get one if you can, I love the pre eb and eb eta sabres I got and all of them except the classic are bullet truss rods. The bullet truss rod necks are single piece maple necks and they play and sound gorgeous, the only hole in that neck is the route they carve for the truss rod, imo it’s a Bette sounding way to make a neck than a composite neck. They don’t drift out of whack or anything and they’re great. The three bolt and microtilt can be hard to set up if you’re not used to it but you can easily have the microtilt removed and replaced with a shim, If you ever wanted to go back to a microtilt you can just have them put the washer back in. Shouldn’t be necessary to do given that the bass will likely be perfectly matched to the neck
I haven’t played one in person but Sound wise the only difference between a real 76 and this will be age and age alone. All of the components are matches down to the period specific capacitors and pickup magnets, if someone is saying they’re vintage pre eb sounds different from this than they’re essentially arguing the aging of the wood makes that much of a difference! Which is debatable but on paper; it should sound exactly like a 76 stingray.
controversial but I’d buy this before I bought a special 10 times out of ten, and that decision is entirely based on that pickup which there is no aftermarket or stock equivalent to. The only pickup like that is the 76-78 stingray pickups of which it’s an exact copy of!
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Thanks for the reply everyone. Sounds like a no brainer at this point!
You’re effectively getting an under warranty pre eb for 1/3 the cost lol, it’s a steal lol
I have one and absolutely love it! If the price isn’t an issue then I think you’ll like it.
Just curious how close the preamp cavity is to an original 76 Stingray seeing how much pain staking effort they took to make it as close to the original as possible.
First gig with mine will be Sunday. Have been taking it to band practice for the past month.
I almost immediately changed to GHS Precision Flats, and just today re-intonated the 12th fret after letting the strings settle for three weeks/three band practices. Haven't changed anything else on it. (I was going to back off the truss rod nut a little with the stock strings, but the switch to the higher tension GHSs did the work for me.)
There's a lot to be said about it, but the bottom line is that it is a truly outstanding instrument – and I am picky as #%&@ when it comes to build quality. It feels, sounds, and looks spectacular. And with the value they will hold and likely gain, it's basically just like setting money aside for the long term, not like "spending" it.
Anyone even slightly questioning why or whether they should get one, should not get one. This was aimed at a very specific market: the pre-EB people. And we knew immediately that this was the bass we'd been wanting EB to make for close to 40 years. This has very, very close to the same specs as the classic basses we love, but brand spanking new, almost certainly without the neck issues that the originals are infamous for, and under warranty – for less money than an original, and likely not ever going down in value. After a month with this bass, I think I actually like it better than my early '77 white pickup – and I've been playing that bass for my entire bass playing career of almost 40 years.
I almost immediately changed to GHS Precision Flats, and just today re-intonated the 12th fret after letting the strings settle for three weeks/three band practices. Haven't changed anything else on it. (I was going to back off the truss rod nut a little with the stock strings, but the switch to the higher tension GHSs did the work for me.)
There's a lot to be said about it, but the bottom line is that it is a truly outstanding instrument – and I am picky as #%&@ when it comes to build quality. It feels, sounds, and looks spectacular. And with the value they will hold and likely gain, it's basically just like setting money aside for the long term, not like "spending" it.
Anyone even slightly questioning why or whether they should get one, should not get one. This was aimed at a very specific market: the pre-EB people. And we knew immediately that this was the bass we'd been wanting EB to make for close to 40 years. This has very, very close to the same specs as the classic basses we love, but brand spanking new, almost certainly without the neck issues that the originals are infamous for, and under warranty – for less money than an original, and likely not ever going down in value. After a month with this bass, I think I actually like it better than my early '77 white pickup – and I've been playing that bass for my entire bass playing career of almost 40 years.
Does anyone know where one could acquire knobs in this style? My classic and smoothie would look great with a set.
If anyone is interested, there's an ex-demo one (small chip on the lower bout) in the UK, for £4k
Buy the Music Man BFR Nitro StingRay Retro '76 Burst (Ex-Demo) #CB00122
Buy the Music Man BFR Nitro StingRay Retro '76 Burst (Ex-Demo) #CB00122
Yes why won’t they make this retro 76 remake as a stock Stingray line? for the same price as a standard or a little higher. And with the option of several finishes. If think they will sell a lot. Why should Musicman not do that?
I want one!
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