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New MusicMan Stingray BFR - thoughts?
- Thread starter facetsquared
- Start date
That's too expensive, period. These companies are sure getting greedy. They charge $850.00 for replacement necks as well. I'm not really fond of them lately.
100 basses will sell to the loyal followers but even if I had the funds a 4H stingray of any sort doesn't appeal to me.
I'm not feeling it. At least throw a nice pickguard at it. Darken the neck wood a bit. The bridge is a nice touch. But this is in the price range of their short scale signature (Ridiculousness series) basses.... and ya just know there's a Tribute model coming out in the fall for $800.
I'm a big Stingray fan and a big burst fan, so I think it's pretty cool and I love the look.
Keep in mind that this isn't a production bass, so a price that's even more expensive than their current production models isn't unreasonable (that's not saying the price actually is reasonable or that their production prices actually are reasonable, just that a limited run will almost always be significantly more expensive than a production model).
But, the target market isn't really those who would buy production basses. These are for the fans who love MM's in general and Stingrays in particular and who are willing to spend the money on a relatively rare, supposedly collectible piece. My prediction is that they'll easily sell all 100 and will accomplish exactly what they expected to with this bass.
That being said, I'm not (yet
) at a point where I'd casually make a $3500 purchase on a toy and not think twice about it. I also think the features on my Stingrays, a 2007 ceramic and a 2019 Special, make them better players. Plus, I paid a combined a 80% of what this new bass costs for the two of them. I'd eagerly accept this one if it was given to me, but I'm also happy, very happy actually, to stick with the ones I have now.
Keep in mind that this isn't a production bass, so a price that's even more expensive than their current production models isn't unreasonable (that's not saying the price actually is reasonable or that their production prices actually are reasonable, just that a limited run will almost always be significantly more expensive than a production model).
But, the target market isn't really those who would buy production basses. These are for the fans who love MM's in general and Stingrays in particular and who are willing to spend the money on a relatively rare, supposedly collectible piece. My prediction is that they'll easily sell all 100 and will accomplish exactly what they expected to with this bass.
That being said, I'm not (yet
) at a point where I'd casually make a $3500 purchase on a toy and not think twice about it. I also think the features on my Stingrays, a 2007 ceramic and a 2019 Special, make them better players. Plus, I paid a combined a 80% of what this new bass costs for the two of them. I'd eagerly accept this one if it was given to me, but I'm also happy, very happy actually, to stick with the ones I have now.
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Very cool that EBMM is doing vintage reissues. What a great looking bass- just a tad too expensive for me. I hope they do more of these historic reissues.
Looks like these are going to be sold through dealers. Click find dealer button.
As an EB fanboy, I’m feeling kinda “meh” on this one. 
Instead of some of these BFR’s I wish EB would offer a menu of build options instead, even at a premium cost like this bass is (ie. colors, fretted/Fretless, 2-band vs 3- band preamps, 9 volt vs 18 volt, alnico vs ceramic pickup, standard bridge vs mute bridge, etc). I’d happily pay an up charge from the standard model cost if I had options available to do so.
I really miss this company pre-pandemic when they had a bit more variety to their line with the classics, standards and still innovated occasionally (Game Changer, Bongos, etc.). Not to mentioned when they still offered fretless options as standard and more than 3 colors at a time on base models.
Instead of some of these BFR’s I wish EB would offer a menu of build options instead, even at a premium cost like this bass is (ie. colors, fretted/Fretless, 2-band vs 3- band preamps, 9 volt vs 18 volt, alnico vs ceramic pickup, standard bridge vs mute bridge, etc). I’d happily pay an up charge from the standard model cost if I had options available to do so.
I really miss this company pre-pandemic when they had a bit more variety to their line with the classics, standards and still innovated occasionally (Game Changer, Bongos, etc.). Not to mentioned when they still offered fretless options as standard and more than 3 colors at a time on base models.
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As an EB fanboy, I’m feeling kinda “meh” on this one.
Instead of some of these BFR’s I wish EB would offer a menu of build options instead, even at a premium cost like this bass is (ie. colors, fretted/Fretless, 2-band vs 3- band preamps, 9 volt vs 18 volt, alnico vs ceramic pickup, standard bridge vs mute bridge, etc). I’d happily pay an up charge from the standard model cost if I had options available to do so.
I really miss this company pre-pandemic when the had a bit more variety to their line with the classics, standards and still innovated occasionally (Game Changer, Bongos, etc.). Not to mentioned when they still offered fretless options and more than 3 colors at a time on standard models.
An Ernie Ball Mod Shop would be awesome and I’d happily pay more to get the exact bass I want.
So they changed the knobs and made the truss rod access worse and that's worth more than the SR Classic?
I dislike the idea of spending lots of money on "retro" styled instruments that lack a lot of newer improvements. Yes, I know that Stingrays in the 70s had battery compartments that needed to be unscrewed to open, bullet truss rod nuts at the headstock, and three bolt neck attachments. But those things do not improve an instrument, and I am not going to be fooled into thinking that this is an actual '76 instrument just because those old designs are copied onto a new model.
Make it sound like a classic model, pick a classic color scheme, fine, none of those things affect the usability of the instrument. But don't make me unscrew a battery compartment in 2023. Ernie Ball clearly knows how to use truss rod wheels, let's use that.
Maybe if I had been around in the 70s and had very fond memories of a bass that looked exactly like this, I'd get the nostalgia factor more. But I started playing bass 22 years after this design hit the markets. I personally have no use for "new vintage" instruments like this, especially if they're going to cost me north of 3 grand.
Look, I've been buying/selling/playing Musicmans since the mid 90's. Their 100 run BFR's are always distributed the same: 50 stay in the States, the other 50 go to remaining countries. Thats why I said "roughly" one per State...yes some of the large dealers will get more than one, and some won't get one at all.
As of last night, EBMM reported all of them are now spoken for. I'd say they did extremely well with this!
Looks like they took a page out of the Fender book: "No new ideas? Remake a limited run of something old and double the price! Yeah!"
This! I would love to at least spend hours using whatever website design tool they have and not actually buying anything.
It is not an Old Smoothie. Old Smoothie is modern construction with a few tweaks (pickup and small frets, for the most part).
This new thing is as close to a vintage-accurate pre-EB reissue as EB has ever done, and possibly ever will do. Three hole neck plate and skunk stripe/bullet neck! Reissues are not EB's thing, but I have always wished that they were. Well, this one's for me.
It’s what EB should have been making all along: pre-EB specs, but EB build quality. It’s going to be a better bass than the Leo-era ones, which were brilliantly designed and drop-dead gorgeous, but were plagued with build quality issues. It will have “the look” and “the feel,” but will be built better, brand new, under warranty, significantly less expensive than an original, and WILL hold its value well.
Bullet truss rod and micro-tilt are big selling points to me. They make setup so nice and easy, not to mention that they look 1,000X better than the modern neck attachment and truss rod. These construction elements are in no way actually disadvantageous to their modern equivalents – only in people's minds.
Lots of comments about how insane or greedy the price is, but I don’t see it. $3,500 isn’t a ton of money for a well built tool that ticks all your boxes, has never been available before, and might not be available again…especially when the closest equivalent on the market is almost 50 years old, very rare, twice as expensive, not as well built, not as playable day-in-day-out, and not company or dealer supported. On the contrary, I was surprised by how fair the sticker price is. I expected five or six grand. Those who want something this special for $2,000 also must not want their countrymen working for EB to earn a living compensation package for their skilled labor, or want the company to survive.
To me, it was a no brainer. This is the bass I have always wanted from EB, and I feel that the price is beyond fair. I ordered one within 15 minutes of finding out about them…and I already own a “real” ‘77 that I have been playing since 1988, and that is the bee's knees. This new bass easily falls in to place with a very specific type of market demand that has been there for almost 40 years. They could easily sell more than 100 of them, for $1,000 to $2,000 more each.
Now, if only they’d give the Sabre Bass the same treatment! It’s a better bass than the Stingray, IMO.
This new thing is as close to a vintage-accurate pre-EB reissue as EB has ever done, and possibly ever will do. Three hole neck plate and skunk stripe/bullet neck! Reissues are not EB's thing, but I have always wished that they were. Well, this one's for me.
It’s what EB should have been making all along: pre-EB specs, but EB build quality. It’s going to be a better bass than the Leo-era ones, which were brilliantly designed and drop-dead gorgeous, but were plagued with build quality issues. It will have “the look” and “the feel,” but will be built better, brand new, under warranty, significantly less expensive than an original, and WILL hold its value well.
Bullet truss rod and micro-tilt are big selling points to me. They make setup so nice and easy, not to mention that they look 1,000X better than the modern neck attachment and truss rod. These construction elements are in no way actually disadvantageous to their modern equivalents – only in people's minds.
Lots of comments about how insane or greedy the price is, but I don’t see it. $3,500 isn’t a ton of money for a well built tool that ticks all your boxes, has never been available before, and might not be available again…especially when the closest equivalent on the market is almost 50 years old, very rare, twice as expensive, not as well built, not as playable day-in-day-out, and not company or dealer supported. On the contrary, I was surprised by how fair the sticker price is. I expected five or six grand. Those who want something this special for $2,000 also must not want their countrymen working for EB to earn a living compensation package for their skilled labor, or want the company to survive.
To me, it was a no brainer. This is the bass I have always wanted from EB, and I feel that the price is beyond fair. I ordered one within 15 minutes of finding out about them…and I already own a “real” ‘77 that I have been playing since 1988, and that is the bee's knees. This new bass easily falls in to place with a very specific type of market demand that has been there for almost 40 years. They could easily sell more than 100 of them, for $1,000 to $2,000 more each.
Now, if only they’d give the Sabre Bass the same treatment! It’s a better bass than the Stingray, IMO.
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Do the BFR models in general sound all that different than your standard Stingray?
Or, are they mostly fancy duds on similar specs?
I'm not looking to start any strife, but am curious as a non-Stingray player how different they are from the 'normal' models.
Or, are they mostly fancy duds on similar specs?
I'm not looking to start any strife, but am curious as a non-Stingray player how different they are from the 'normal' models.
