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SBMM Stingray Short scale

#2,225
revroy said:
I'm a gig bag kind of guy. All of my instruments live in gig bags and I've owned scores of them - Mono, Reunion Blues, Glenn Cronkhite, Body Glove, Access, Protec, Levy's, Gator, SKB...

I was really happy when I learned that a number of guitar bags were long enough to accommodate my short scale stingrays. My EBMM short scale stingray lives in a Gator Pro-Go guitar bag. I like everything about that bag except the interior color = white. It fits that bass perfectly, has great features, and is a reasonable weight. I was able to get one a few months ago when the price was running at $129. Since then the going price on that bag has been $169 which I couldn't justify for my SBMM stingray short scale. I was looking seriously at the Gator transit - a level below the Pro-Go. Going price on Reverb is $109. Someone here mentioned the Levy's level 200 bag as fitting and I saw one on Reverb for $84. I liked the Levy's bags I'd had before well enough so ordered it. It arrived today.

First observation - you get what you pay for. It is not nearly as substantial as the Gator but one can't expect it would be. The padding is a little less dense. There is no way to remove or hide the straps. There are only two pockets which seem to be reasonably sized. It would be nice to have another smaller pocket at the headstock.

Here's the biggest issue. The interior area at the headstock is a bit too tight. The tuning machines push into the padding on both sides. The treble machine is particularly bad as it hits at the joint between the two areas of padding. Bang that part of the bag against something and I expect you'll damage the tuner. The fact that the padding is less dense may actually be a positive here as that lessens the pressure on the machines during normal use.

So... I pulled out the EBMM and the Gator bag to compare. The headstock area on the Gator bag is a little larger, but not much. The biggest difference is the shape and size of the tuners. They stick out about 1/2 inch further on the SBMM compared to the EBMM. I hadn't thought about that difference between the two basses. If/when I replace the tuners on my SBMM, I'll likely go with the lightweight EBMM tuners for that reason.

Back to gig bags - would I purchase the Levy's again? I'd probably spend the extra and try the transit although it may or may not have any additional space compared to the Levy's.

FWIW, the Glenn Cronkhite is my favorite bag. He has retired and sold the company since I bought my bag but it is a great bag, custom fit for each model of instrument. My Lowden acoustic lives in one. The Protec Contego is my next favorite although the guitar bag will not hold our basses and the bass bag is 34 inch scale size. So they're out for us. I had a Mono M80 and liked it well enough although I think they're overpriced. My understanding is that the short scale stingrays fit in the mono guitar bags.

View attachment 4393939 View attachment 4393942
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Agree Mono = $ Way Overpriced $
 
#2,226
loucook said:
I only use gig bags for my basses, for rehearsals and gigs. I don’t have any roadies—no one handles my basses but me. I’m very careful, so for me it’s less important for the gig bag to be super-protective.
If anyone else did handle my basses, they would be in hard shell cases.
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I'm a Hardshell Case guy. I work hard to Set-up and Intonate my instruments. I want them Protected to the Max, when I take my babies out for a show !!!
 
#2,228
Moonskunk said:
Anyone replace the stock Sterling tuners with EBMM light weight tuners as are on the American made Stingrays. I was just wondering if they would be any easy swapout for the Sterling shortscale or if there would be lots of extra work involved and exactly what that would be? Any other suggestions on tuner replacement.
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If you find-out - please let me know (just in case).
 
#2,229
EF30930C-BEFE-4A85-84F3-BF98DA692176.jpeg
Mods are coming along nicely. Dropped the selector knob and wired it in permanent series mode, as well as, switching the push/push volume for a standard pot. Works and sounds great still!

I had already made the brushed aluminum pick guard and control plate, and made a second control plate for this mod/one less knob.
 
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#2,230
Michael - NYC said:
I have done A Ton of Research on this Bass and a proper Case. This is ( 8 ) I've come up with:
1 - PRS ACC-4290 Premium Gig Bag = 43” and Cost $99.00
2 - Gator Cases Deluxe ABS Molded Case for Extended Length/Extra Long Electric Guitars; (GC-ELEC-XL) $129.95 I've Ordered 9/21/21 ( still waiting )
3 - Road Runner RRMEG ABS Molded Electric Guitar Case – this one fits 100% = $149.00 at Guitar Center
4 - DOUGLAS BGC-200 3/4 BK SHORT SCALE BASS CASE – FITS 100% $95.00 AT RONDO MUSIC
5 - Gator Deluxe Hard Wood Tweed case fits 100% $110 @ Sweetwater
6 - I can confirm the Gator ProGo Deluxe Electric Guitar Bag fits it as well. = Soft Case $150
7 - Gator Transit Electric Guitar Gig Bag – Tan Fits 100% $129
8 - I've also heard: it fits in a Mono Vertigo guitar bag perfectly.
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Believe it or not, this also fits snugly in my Ibanez Mikro Bass gig bag. It fits better in my PRS Gig Bag and is much better protected, but for anyone wanting the cheapest alternative, the Bass Mikro Gig Bag is currently $25 at Musician's Friend. I originally bought mine for my Mikro on Amazon when they were the only ones that had it for $35. Personally, if I had the money, I'd buy a hard case, but I keep buying pedals or more basses instead of hard cases when it really comes down to it.
 
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#2,235
spike42 said:
Just FYI - the Vintage Sunburst SBMM shortie seems to not only be in stock at GC, its on sale for $449

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Sterli...MImdbs48O98wIV_weICR1vWwueEAQYDSABEgKzjvD_BwE

I also noted that they jumped the blue one to $599 at GC online, making this
even more attractive (IMHO)
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That's a great deal. I bought my blue one as a demo last year for $459 and thought that was a great deal. On top of that, I think I like the sunburst with the maple neck even more than my Daphne blue one.
 
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#2,237
dralionux said:
I removed the Neodymium pickup on my SBMM Stingray short scale, installed it on a 34" scale Ibanez GSR200 (pickup wired as parallel humbucker, with the onboard preamp bypassed). To my surprise, the pickup sounds brighter. Can anyone explain this?
View attachment 4432276
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Maybe because it's 34" scale? No idea, really just wanted to say cool looking bass
 
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#2,239
dralionux said:
I removed the Neodymium pickup on my SBMM Stingray short scale, installed it on a 34" scale Ibanez GSR200 (pickup wired as parallel humbucker, with the onboard preamp bypassed). To my surprise, the pickup sounds brighter. Can anyone explain this?
View attachment 4432276
Click to expand...

Different pot values? Different wiring scheme?

Is the pickup in the same place, proportional to the length of the strings, as it was on the SBMM? If you installed it at the same distance from the bridge, then in effect it's closer to the bridge than it was originally, because the scale is longer.
 

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