Pre Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray, sort of...

[Oliade677]

Hey all, new to the site. Picked up what is supposed to be a heavily modified pre-EB Stingray the other day. The neck is dated 1980, while the body has a date of 1983 scribbled on it. The neck is a legit pre-EB fretless Musicman Stingray neck, but I'm not positive on the body. It appears the guitar was refinished, as the holes that were filled can be seen beneath the finish. It has been modified from it's original 4-string setup to a 5-string setup. There was also a thin veneer placed over the headstock, though no idea why. The bass is loaded with a Bartolini pickup with Di Marzio pots and Marcus Miller TCT preamp. What was once a proud instrument is now, well, not quite sure exactly. I don't play bass, but I've been searching for a quality instrument to learn on. Hopefully this will do the trick.

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[PortlandBass77]

The neck looks like a Rogue. It seriously looks like a fretless version of my Rogue 5 string. The body might be legit, I think the bridge was replaced though. It could also be a Japanese copy sense there is no logo/serial # on the headstock.

 

[PortlandBass77]

LOL the next thread I clicked on has a video with a Pre-Ernie Ball Stingray: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/renew-your-bass-strings-no-boiling-no-alcohol.1082149/ sorry to tell you but it looks nothing like yours.

 

[Oliade677]

Sorry, cleaned up the OP. The neck is legit; Pre-EB fretless MM Stingray neck. The body is a different matter. Mostly curious to see what people think should be done to the guitar, if anything. I'm considering removing the veneer and reverting it back to a 4-string setup.

 

[handofseven]

The body looks totally legit to me. You can see through the refinish where the original bridges mutes were mounted through the bridge, and the large threaded inserts on each side. No reason to have those details on any other kind of body. I'm pretty sure there are no aftermarket copies of this kind. Even the shape of the pickup rout is correct. I hope you got it cheap so you can do a sweet restoration! =)

 

[Oliade677]

Thanks hand, that seems to be the general consensus. I've been looking up pricing on stingray bridges, flirting with the idea of at least bringing something original back on board. Mostly people have been telling me to leave it as is, though.

 

[handofseven]

I collected OEM Stingray parts over the years and had John Kallas build be a Stingray... OEM bridges are extremely hard to come by and not cheap... I recently sold an '80's non string through bridge for $200 and I'm "almost embarrassed" to say I paid a little over $350 for the string through model I used for the build. Keep your eyes peeled and you might find one eventually.

 

[narud]

I collected OEM Stingray parts over the years and had John Kallas build be a Stingray... OEM bridges are extremely hard to come by and not cheap... I recently sold an '80's non string through bridge for $200 and I'm "almost embarrassed" to say I paid a little over $350 for the string through model I used for the build. Keep your eyes peeled and you might find one eventually.

pfft, i think i did 250 for that bridge! haha

 

[narud]

if you ever want to sell it hit me up! ill drive out there.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I saw that on CL, thought about it but I dont play 5 strings or fretless.

 

[Shedua511]

Body and neck seem genuine to me too.
I guess the question is: how does it sound in its current state?
The modifications have been so extensive that I doubt it would be possible to restore it (at least it would be very expensive!).

 

[handofseven]

pfft, i think i did 250 for that bridge! haha

I WISH! Two bills. Shipped. I still haven't seen another one... Where do they go anyway? If I had $5 for every frikkin' 'Ray I've seen without its OEM bridge...

 

[narud]

I WISH! Two bills. Shipped. I still haven't seen another one... Where do they go anyway? If I had $5 for every frikkin' 'Ray I've seen without its OEM bridge...

shoot, i got a better deal than i thought then. when i put up my new style ernie ball ray bridge up for sale, i priced it at 120 because i could have sworn i paid 250! bonus

 

[PotsdamBass8]

Is there a veneer on the back of the headstock too? Otherwise shouldn't you see the screw holes from the original tuners?

 

[Oliade677]

I don't believe there is. I think they may have tuners with a similar footprint. I'll take a closer look though.

 

[Oliade677]

I don't see any evidence of old screw holes on the back of the headstock. The placement of four of the tuners looks pretty close to the original tuners. Might have a local tech check it out and see what he thinks.

 

[narud]

I don't see any evidence of old screw holes on the back of the headstock. The placement of four of the tuners looks pretty close to the original tuners. Might have a local tech check it out and see what he thinks.

back of the headstock would have absolutely needed to be capped as well to avoid the visible screw holes from the original tuners. it looks like they did a better blending job on the back veneer.

 

[mmbongo]

Pre-EB tuning keys look like this (without the D-tuner):

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[Oliade677]

Oh boy, not sure how I missed that. Here's a better pic of the back of the headstock. Definitely a veneer on the back as well. Man, I'd love to see this thing without the veneers. Is it possible they used the old mounting holes for 4 of the 5 tuners? I would imagine the integrity of the headstock would come into question if 5 new holes were drilled into it.