Always love seeing a different opinion. Mine also came horribly set up but once I got it through a good setup it was night and day. Now it's my number one.
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Short scale Stingray!
- Thread starter BigBigGuy44
- Start date
Always love seeing a different opinion. Mine also came horribly set up but once I got it through a good setup it was night and day. Now it's my number one.
No doubt. A proper set up would have given me the chance to really put it through the paces, but not much I could do about that at the time. For me personally, I just don’t think the bass was going to ergonomically fit me.
I think 2k was a bit much but figured it was a short run and it was in part about that. However if it were to become a regular run I really think 1699-1799 is far more reasonable given the price on the specials. It hasn't been love at first play for me either. I had a hard time getting it to sound the way that I wanted going through several string changes.
That said it fits me really nicely but I'm 5'4" and my arms are 20" from shoulder to wrist. I always have to stretch to reach the last tuning peg for the G on a 34" Fender.
That said it fits me really nicely but I'm 5'4" and my arms are 20" from shoulder to wrist. I always have to stretch to reach the last tuning peg for the G on a 34" Fender.
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The setup on mine was atrocious. Fretting at the first fret had almost a full 1/8" of string travel. The upper frets were bad, and desperately needed a serious leveling. This was made more difficult as they are stainless. Between this and the retailer incorrectly listing it as a Ball Family Reserve, I got a $300 rebate, which brought the price down to a reasonable point. But getting it set up was almost war. I can't really say the effort was worth it, but it's done. I like it enough to not have buyer's remorse, but I can't say I'm madly in love with it either. Maybe I will, after I forget what it took to get it playable.
Thanks JoeWPgh for your assertiveness with the retailer. Your story gave me some initial hesitation, but I ended up buying from them, too. Mine seems fine to me, possibly as a result of your action... : )
I'm really happy with mine, it's the perfect complement to my Rob Allen Mouse, which I've been looking to find for a while, since recovering from a shoulder injury. It's a much more comfortable than long scale and the string tension seems to be the same as my long scale basses were, not rubbery at all. Very happy that I found this bass!
I'm really happy with mine, it's the perfect complement to my Rob Allen Mouse, which I've been looking to find for a while, since recovering from a shoulder injury. It's a much more comfortable than long scale and the string tension seems to be the same as my long scale basses were, not rubbery at all. Very happy that I found this bass!
So after re-engaging in this thread, I played mine for a bit today. Last week I changed the strings to Cobalt flats. They're long scale, but I was able to make them work. After a week, they've settled in very nicely. They tamed the 'zingyness' without giving up much punch. Enough so that I could raise the pickup to regain some of that 'zinginess', while staying within the roll off of the passive tone. I'm definitely warming to this bass.
My feeling is this bass needs some attention to find the right set up for each person. Obviously some people have loved it right out of the gate with nothing else needed. That wasn't true for me and for a few others here. It was simultaneously too boomy and too zingy for me. I liked those same strings on the Special (though the EB super slinky rounds are a bit rough on the fingers) but just loathed them on the short scale oddly enough. Some basses I have just require less tinkering to get them where I want them and it isn't always contingent upon price. My Fender MIM player P bass was more what I wanted straight out than this SR SS or the Fender Elite. Or at least that has been my experience so far which is far more limited relative to a lot of bass players here.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I have no idea why you would consider keeping that bass. At that price. Bad frets on a brand new $2000 bass (even with a $300 discount) would be unacceptable to me. Also, if purchased from Musicians friend there's be a $300 discount anyhow - with the 15% off they offer every other week.
I also feel the need to say that that's never been my experience with any MM bass I ever owned (a Big Al, Stingray, 2 Sterlings, 4 Bongos, and the SS Stingray). That's actually never been my experience with ANY bass I ever owned, and I've owned well over 100. Maybe I'm less meticulous about my setup, too.
My Stingray needed a quick setup when I got it (I like low action) but I tweaked that in about 5 minutes and it plays like a dream.
Glad you're liking it now, but for me it wouldn't have been worth all that hoop jumping. Have to guess you have much more money to play with than I do
.I liked the weight at just under 6.5 lbs, which was the lightest I'd seen. It was more of a struggle than I had originally thought, so in hindsight, yeah. I should have returned it. But the flipside to it is that I actually like doing that stuff. I've had more than a few new basses where I re-leveled the upper fret for falloff.I have no idea why you would consider keeping that bass. At that price. Bad frets on a brand new $2000 bass (even with a $300 discount) would be unacceptable to me. Also, if purchased from Musicians friend there's be a $300 discount anyhow - with the 15% off they offer every other week.
I also feel the need to say that that's never been my experience with any MM bass I ever owned (a Big Al, Stingray, 2 Sterlings, 4 Bongos, and the SS Stingray). That's actually never been my experience with ANY bass I ever owned, and I've owned well over 100. Maybe I'm less meticulous about my setup, too.
My Stingray needed a quick setup when I got it (I like low action) but I tweaked that in about 5 minutes and it plays like a dream.
Glad you're liking it now, but for me it wouldn't have been worth all that hoop jumping. Have to guess you have much more money to play with than I do
I love the light weight and mine does not neck dive. Pretty amazing considering what I expected. My 2019 USA EBMM Sterling neck dives quite a lot.
I just tracked a new song with the SS Stingray though and the bass got pretty lost in the mix compared to the songs I tracked with my Reverend Wattplower and American Pro P. It was really hard to get it to sit in the mix properly and in the end we couldn't get rid of that signature "klank." I'm keeping it in the mix though, just to remind me what this thing sounds like (haha). Every song we do I like to remember what I used to see how the mix engineer handles it.
Right now I think I might only use this SS Stingray live (since it's light, feels great, and looks cool) but use my other basses for tracking.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I had a similar experience.
I'm in the middle of laying down tracks for someone, and it's old school, bluesy kind of R&R. I REALLY wanted to use the Stingray, but my Rickenbacker was sitting next to me and it was an easy decision.
The artist I'm working with wanted dry, bare tracks, and the Stingray just wasn't fitting. Had they been my own recordings I'm sure I'd have made it work, but a Rickembacker is a MUCH different bass, and much more suited to the music I was doing.
I'll add that I wasn't using the Ric in a Chris Squier way (I'm not a fan of that tone), but rather in the full blown ballsy tone that I never even knew Rics were capable of (see Joe Lynn Turner video in my sig
).I will never get rid of my Ric.
I will never get rid of my Stinray. I've played no other bass live since getting it and have no desire to whatsoever.
I'll be getting my MM short scale bass on the 29th. 6lbs 11oz. Fell in love with it at NAMM. Been looking for one under 7lbs found one. Bad accident I had need 30" scale. All healed up but never the same. Going to see if she will be able to take the custom CB bass a run for her money. Stay tuned.LOL Merry Xmas to me.
Yeah it was. Fretting hand was having or still having trouble reaching 1st position. Had to go with 30" thank God they make these babies.
Just Got my Music man stingray Short scale bass today. Very light, bright. I'm very impressed with this bass. Didn't have much time to play it . Have Family matters. But little I got to play it, Love the tone. Didnt even have time to get some pictures of this baby. Here's from NAMM show.
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So I've gotten mine into nice playing shape and got to use it at a rehearsal/jam with 3 guitars, keys, drums and vocals. It acquitted itself very nicely. But, I can see that this is not a bass for critical use, such as recording. Played alone, in my living room, this bass leaves a little to be desired, compared to the authority of it's bigger brothers. That's not a polite way of saying it's awful. I mean it just as I said, it leaves a little to be desired. But in a live setting, that little all but disappears. And it's light weight more than makes up for it. Alone in the living room, or in a group setting, it does present itself more as a 34 incher than what you'd expect from the typical short scale. I think this is due to the architecture of the instrument, with the bridge positioned near the 'butt' as they are with 34s. I noticed this same effect on a bass I made on a Strat body a few years ago. The 2 do not sound alike, but they are similar in that both have more of the 34" sound than typical 30s where the bridge is a few inches in from the 'butt'. So now I'm quite happy with it, and have gotten past it's dreadful out of the box experience. It performed just as I'd hoped in a live setting. Now, I need to think through what strings might best suit it. I'm thinking a heavier gauge with a little more tension might be the ticket. I hated the strings that came installed. I have some snipped down cobalt flats on it now. As much as I'm sold on those in general, I'm not sure those are the best solution here.
