Passive Music Man Basses Update

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I see that the EB Army are so brainwashed that they cannot see sense. I cannot understand why EB ever brought them out as they are just a P Bass and a J Bass in disguise. If a punter wants a P Bass or a J Bass they will probably buy a Fender. You have just got to laugh at EB's Marketting tactics, which is another"FAIL" they are hilarious.

The Caprice is nothing like a J bass and it is not a P/J. It is a P/H. It has that inline humbucker in the bridge .
Yes you can solo the P pickup and have those precision bass tones. But solo that bridge pickup or blend it and adjusting the tone offers you do much more. Not to mention how great passive basses work with pedals . But if people don’t know that because they make assumptions it’s their loss. I’m glad that I was open to trying new things. Worked out in my favor.
Not everyone is looking for a J bass or a P bass. I sure wasn’t. I was looking for something with a fuller tone and lighter weight with a fast neck that was passive.
The Caprice checked all the boxes for me. The fact that it also was a great Pbass was a bonus. So I sold off my Jazz and Pbass . Why? Because I only like 1 setting on a jazz bass which is both pickups full on. The Caprice gives me so much more . I also find the body size and shape more comfortable than the larger p and j body sizes.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I never had the pleasure of seeing a Caprice or Cutlass in person. I would have loved to try one, but would not have been a potential buyer unless there were 5-string versions.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I bought a couple of K1000s back in the mid-80s when I first took interest in photography.

Did you know that there is a mirror lockup "feature" on the K1000? If you very lightly tap on the shutter release button the mirror will lock up (it takes a bit of practice to get it right) and the camera is ready to make a photo when firmly pressing on the release. Works best with the camera on a tripod.

Pentax probably made some money licensing their K-mount to just about every indie lensmaker out there. Chinon & Ricoh bodies took them, I know for a fact.

Count Panavision among them (the film making equipment company, not the royalty from Panama ).

Given the discussion of raising prices, Pentax was quite relevant to me. I have only owned a 645 and several lenses and accessories back in the early '90s, but I have used their 67 many times, going back as far as the late 1960s up through the mid/late 1990s. We do still have my SO's late father's Spotmatic and some lenses that are still perfectly usable. Although I have owned many different camera systems over the years (Canon, Leica, Nikon, Pentax, Hasselblad, Wista, Linhof, Ebony, Graflex, Primo, Busch, Rollei, Horseman, Plaubel Makina, Minolta) I have mostly been a diehard Canon user for 35mm/digital. I still have my Pentax Digital Spotmeter!

Nikon had the real-deal Sports Illustrated/Nat'l Geographic cred...

Note the Nikon users in this photo.

I would have been interesting in one of those passive EB basses if they didn't look like Fenders. Sometimes I would run my old 2013 SR4H passively (battery removed). It needed more gain from the amp but the tone was superb.

 

[Briton]

Please stay on topic, we are not talking Cameras here!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I'm sure this has been said. I was all into getting one and to my complete shock I go to the Sweetwater site and the price jumped up $500 from the previous day. Same bass same serial number, $500 more that's ridiculous.

Wait it out. Buy used or at clearance price. GC started phasing these out about a year ago and dropped prices . I haven’t seen them restocking new ones since . That’s why none of this caught me by surprise .

 

[user362432]

Mod edit: no politics , please

 

[RBrownBass]

Please stay on topic, we are not talking Cameras here!

Boooooooo

Say "Cheese"!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Boooooooo

Say "Cheese"!

 

[SLO Surfer]

I would have been interesting in one of those passive EB basses if they didn't look like Fenders.

I wished they just stuck with the standard EBMM headstock on the caprice and cutlass. The oversized headstock gave these instruments neck dive, sacrificing feel and function for appearance.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I wished they just stuck with the standard EBMM headstock on the caprice and cutlass. The oversized headstock gave these instruments neck dive, sacrificing feel and function for appearance.

I’ve not noticed any neck dive on my Caprice.

 

[RBrownBass]

Did you know that there is a mirror lockup "feature" on the K1000? If you very lightly tap on the shutter release button the mirror will lock up ( it takes a bit of practice to get it right) and the camera is ready to make a photo when firmly pressing on the release. Works best with the camera on a tripod.

Thanks! They're long gone now, but I used the tripod when necessary, without locking the mirror.

...I have used their 67 many times, going back as far as the late 1960s up through the mid/late 1990s. We do still have my SO's late father's Spotmatic and some lenses that are still perfectly usable. I have owned many different camera systems over the years (Canon, Leica, Nikon, Pentax, Hasselblad, Wista, Linhof, Ebony, Graflex, Primo, Busch, Rollei, Horseman, Plaubel Makina, Minolta) I have mostly been a diehard Canon user for 35mm/digital. I still have my Pentax Digital Spotmeter!

You got me beat there... I'm only 54
The bug bit in undergrad school in 1987, and I was pretty much into something else by the early 90s. But I still miss it a bit. I had an FG, two F2s with motor drives, a Graflex Norita and three lenses for that (I forget the focal length of any of them). I would have loved to be a sports photographer.

I would have been interesting in one of those passive EB basses if they didn't look like Fenders. Sometimes I would run my old 2013 SR4H passively (battery removed). It needed more gain from the amp but the tone was superb.

I don't think theylook like Fenders much, but I see the '57-present P and the J shapes as very specific. The Caprice shape reminds me of an Epiphone, but I'll have to Google to remember which one.

Okay, it was the Rock Bass. Ignore the guard and control plate. that designer should have been fired.

 

[FugaziBomb]

Yet another fail by Ernie Ball!

Man is this post popular

 

[SLO Surfer]

I’ve not noticed any neck dive on my Caprice.

That’s good to hear. Other people here on TB have mentioned slight neck dive in these basses, and the few I played in the store had it too. A few people have even replaced the stock Caprice tuners with lighter ones to resolve the issue.

I’d still rather have seen the normal (smaller) size EBMM headstock on these instead of a larger Fender style, both for appearance and to reduce neck weight.

 

[knight of ni]

how do you manage to survive or progress when your lane is no longer popular?

You're out of business, see Kodak.

How are companies supposed to innovate when they are pigeon-holed into limited products/models?

You're supposed to design a product that is so obviously better/useful everyone wants one, if possible without predating your current market (eg iPhone). But it seems the bass market is very conservative (IMO) and when Scott Ball says guitar player are even more conservative, it seems to be pretty hard to innovate in the overall bass/guitar market...

 

[GroovyBaby]

That’s good to hear. Other people here on TB have mentioned slight neck dive in these basses, and the few I played in the store had it too. A few people have even replaced the stock Caprice tuners with lighter ones to resolve the issue.

I’d still rather have seen the normal (smaller) size EBMM headstock on these instead of a larger Fender style, both for appearance and to reduce neck weight.

So I’ve been considering a PJ and just started looking at the Caprice (like yesterday) when I saw this thread this morning. I’ve played one in the store before but not with a strap and my only hesitation is this neck dive issue. I’m sure if I bought a heavier one (closer to 9 lbs) that neck dive would not be a problem but I like my basses about 8lbs. As soon as I looked at the design of the headstock I wondered about neck dive with an 8lb bass For those of you that have these, do you notice neck dive? If yes or no, how much does your bass weigh? Did the lightweight tuners fix the problem?

I’ve seen a few around 8lbs and am tempted but I’d be buying online and there isn’t anything close to me (the pleasure of living in rural America).

 

[rashrader]

As a guy that played StingRay Basses almost exclusively for 18 years (1990-2008), I have to truthfully say, I barely recognize this company anymore.... I am sure they are fine instruments. It is an identity thing for me. Oh well. Call me a stick in the mud. Lol.

 

[CapnSev]

Man is this post popular

The troll posts usually are.

 

[REV]

Would a passive /active switch be too much to ask? Maybe a push/pull switch on the volume control?

 

[bovinehost]

I’ve played one in the store before but not with a strap and my only hesitation is this neck dive issue.

I've got a stock Caprice and notice no neck dive at all nor is it particularly heavy. I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong but - for ME - with a decent (wide) strap, never even thought about neck dive.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I don’t think the innovation in bass guitars is there anymore, nor does it really need to be for every company.

If you hit on an inconic bass, ride it. That’s better than most companies ever do. The Stingray is so awesome, I’d just make different variants of it. Mess with a passive version, mess with more hybrids of the sterling and ray - just use that iconic shape and look.

I think that’s what really matters at this point - the look of the bass defines it. That’s why we see so many Fender copies - the shape of the P and J bodies are legendary. I believe the Stingray is up there as well. It’s also why Fender doesn’t really blow it out of the park when they stray too far from the P or J.

Anyway, I do think EB can still pull off the passive bass. I just think that the combo of theirs using Fender style pickups, plus the odd shape probably kept a lot of people from giving it a look. As stated before, majority of players pick up a bass on impulse and not hours of research on TB.