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SBMM Stingray Short scale
- Thread starter dralionux
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- short scale bass
I love her. Her smile and big ears are irresistable.
It looks great! The lines are much crisper than mine. In my avatar you can see the tang ripples.
Looking forward to the full report!
My tech - John Mooy - is meticulous. He warned that the rosewood they use in the Indonesian factories tends to chip when you pull the frets but he would do his best to avoid that. Looks like he did a darn good job.
I think it would be harder to cover any chips in the maple board than the rosewood too.
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I've only had it a short time, but I really like the Levy's bag. Seems very good materials: stout fabric, some leather trim, good padding which is not too soft. I look forward to carrying it to gigs some day.
Edit: it has a wear-resistant area right where the lower strap button goes, and the neck block is velcro-secured, and has a flap over it that holds the neck to the block.
Yep, found that with the Gator Transit series bag I tested the little Ray in. It has an extra foam block at the bottom which needed to be moved in order to get the bass to fit. With that removed, there is no extra protection at the strap button location. Having had to spend weeks repairing a bass where it took a hard hit on the strap button which cracked and chipped off the paint, I'm pretty cautious about what happens at that end of the instrument. It's where they most often land when someone drops them.
I also bought the Levy’s bag (Amazon)—it was delivered yesterday. I agree 100% with the comments above. In addition, the price (about $100) is right compared to the Gator and Mono bags.I've only had it a short time, but I really like the Levy's bag. Seems very good materials: stout fabric, some leather trim, good padding which is not too soft. I look forward to carrying it to gigs some day.
Edit: it has a wear-resistant area right where the lower strap button goes, and the neck block is velcro-secured, and has a flap over it that holds the neck to the block.
I do wish it came in black, though. The tan color will probably get soiled over time.
Many are. But many aren’t. You are correct. Never assume.
We still have a lot more choices though since we can always put a short scale into a longer case. Might need some extra padding.
For me, the tan color was what I was looking for. I have a bunch of black gig bags, so the color was what tipped it in Levy's direction.
So... I got to play the fretless SBMM alongside the EBMM a bit today and I continue to be really impressed with the SBMM. It sounds and plays so much like the EBMM. Yes, the hardware is much better on the American made bass and some of the woodworking is a bit more elegant. The neck on the EBMM is AMAZING while the neck on the SBMM is just very, very, very nice. Any difference in volume and growl from the pup is likely due to adjustment as much as differences in the pickup. Some folk have observed a difference in feel of the pots. I didn't notice that.
On mine, the weight is very similar between them - both in the mid 7 lbs range. Very comfortable.
Now to the fretless conversion. Bottom line is that it works. I know lots of folk do that conversion themselves but I decided to go with my tech - John Mooy in Santa Barbara. John is meticulous. Until Covid his primary jobs were as tour manager or guitar tech for a lot of big acts. With Covid, he took on more repair jobs so I was lucky enough to get on his list of clients. I gave up a fretless Bee that I loved due to pain from the longer scale and didn't want to find myself regretting having sold that bass any more than I already did.
I was concerned that with the difference in overtones on a short scale I might lose the mwah. It is all there. I was concerned that I might have a little difficulty with intonation given the different scale... but no issues at all. One of my favorite fretless sounds has been Pino's from the time with Paul Young. I can get very close even without going to flatwounds (I have Stringjoy 45-105's roundwounds on it). I was never able to get as close with the Bee.
I am thrilled with this bass.
On mine, the weight is very similar between them - both in the mid 7 lbs range. Very comfortable.
Now to the fretless conversion. Bottom line is that it works. I know lots of folk do that conversion themselves but I decided to go with my tech - John Mooy in Santa Barbara. John is meticulous. Until Covid his primary jobs were as tour manager or guitar tech for a lot of big acts. With Covid, he took on more repair jobs so I was lucky enough to get on his list of clients. I gave up a fretless Bee that I loved due to pain from the longer scale and didn't want to find myself regretting having sold that bass any more than I already did.
I was concerned that with the difference in overtones on a short scale I might lose the mwah. It is all there. I was concerned that I might have a little difficulty with intonation given the different scale... but no issues at all. One of my favorite fretless sounds has been Pino's from the time with Paul Young. I can get very close even without going to flatwounds (I have Stringjoy 45-105's roundwounds on it). I was never able to get as close with the Bee.
I am thrilled with this bass.
I've always been a roundwound type of person... having that fretless rosewood board without a coating that you see in my previous post, my tech recommended half round strings or that I go to flatwounds.
Any of you using half round/ground round/pressure wounds? If so what do you think? And which flatwounds are folk using? Should I bite the bullet and buy a set of T-I's or is there something less dear that I should try first?
Any of you using half round/ground round/pressure wounds? If so what do you think? And which flatwounds are folk using? Should I bite the bullet and buy a set of T-I's or is there something less dear that I should try first?
D'Addario XL Chrome flats are good and relatively inexpensive; La Bella Deep Talkin' flats are a bit pricier but are great if you favor a thumpy '60s sort of sound; T-I Jazz flats are expensive but there's nothing else like them. I love them, and obviously many other people do too, but some people can't stand them.
I have the EB cobalt flats on my SR5. They are very smooth and plenty bright. Don't know if they are offered in short scale. On another note, I looked at a sbmm ss last week at a guitar center. Pretty nice, but the e was kind of boomy. Of most concern was that the a string seemed weak. Didn't get to spend too much time with it and didn't look at pickup height. I thought the nut material was not dense or hard, maybe cut too deep on the a. It was weird that the maple neck had no finish and seemed thick compared to the mustang I've been eyeing.I am really interested though and am going back for another look when I have more time. Has any one else seen similar issues.
When my tech defretted my SBMM, he said the nut was crap - so soft he could make dents in it with his fingernail. He said it felt like rubber. He replaced it with bone.
I use d'addario tapewound on mine and am quite fond of it!
