Stingray 5 Club!

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

New to the club with this 2000 SR5 in trans-orange. Needs some setup work but it sounds amazing. Glad I went with the ceramic pickup as I was looking for something that can get aggressive.

I recently played an SR5 Special at a store and found it much more tame than my bass. I'm sure I could have gotten there if I spent more time, but the inherent voice of the Special is smoother for sure.

One other observation is that the pre on my bass can get pretty extreme and that happens even with very small changes to the EQ. The EQ on the Special on the other hand seemed more subtle and the taper was easier to work with as it wasnt as sensitive.

View attachment 7293735

Nice finish!!! Your description seems spot on on the Specials vs pre Special / ceramic era models. They do all have that inherent StingRay sound. It’s nice to have options to fit players specific needs. Wise decision in going with what suits your style. Enjoy!!

 

[mikeswals]

This was from my gig over the weekend, ampless; my 1993 SR5 through a Finally as a tube preamp.

I don't know why TB loads the pic upside down, they're all right-sideup on my phone.

 

[shirojiro]

New to the club with this 2000 SR5 in trans-orange. Needs some setup work but it sounds amazing. Glad I went with the ceramic pickup as I was looking for something that can get aggressive.

I recently played an SR5 Special at a store and found it much more tame than my bass. I'm sure I could have gotten there if I spent more time, but the inherent voice of the Special is smoother for sure.

One other observation is that the pre on my bass can get pretty extreme and that happens even with very small changes to the EQ. The EQ on the Special on the other hand seemed more subtle and the taper was easier to work with as it wasnt as sensitive.

View attachment 7293735

Nice bass!
Congratulations on your purchase.

I have a similar SR5 from the same era, and I agree that the pickup and preamp are pretty aggressive. It gets a great range of tones though, and I love the trans orange finish.

I also have a USA SUB Stingray and a Sterling Ray34 and they’re both definitely mellower than the SR5.

The most surprising thing to me was that it gets a reasonable burpy Jazz bass tone in single coil mode with a little
Mid boost.

 

[Paradilum]

This was from my gig over the weekend, ampless; my 1993 SR5 through a Finally as a tube preamp.

I don't know why TB loads the pic upside down, they're all right-sideup on my phone.

View attachment 7293870View attachment 7293871
View attachment 7293875

Was the gig in Australia?

 

[Gecko 5]

I just picked up this 2005 SR5 2 weeks ago.
I got a crazy deal I could not pass up. Absolute perfect condition for a 20 year old bass
I have not owned one of these in quite a while.
The string spacing at the bridge is tighter than what I'm used to, but I have 2 other higher end 5er's I've just been unhappy with.
Took me a while to figure out how to replace the battery....

 

[PrimitiveMan]

New to the club with this 2000 SR5 in trans-orange. Needs some setup work but it sounds amazing. Glad I went with the ceramic pickup as I was looking for something that can get aggressive.

I recently played an SR5 Special at a store and found it much more tame than my bass. I'm sure I could have gotten there if I spent more time, but the inherent voice of the Special is smoother for sure.

One other observation is that the pre on my bass can get pretty extreme and that happens even with very small changes to the EQ. The EQ on the Special on the other hand seemed more subtle and the taper was easier to work with as it wasnt as sensitive.

View attachment 7293735

Exact finish and bass that a friend had in highschool, that started my lust for Stingrays!

 

[bassboysam]

Exact finish and bass that a friend had in highschool had, that started my list for Stingrays!

Yeah trans orange is nice, I was holding out for a cherry burst to match my 2 band 2006 SR4 but it was too good a deal to pass on, $1400 USD all in.

 

[shirojiro]

Mine is a 2003. I don't know how/why they decide on matching headstock or not.
I have the original case and tags and what not, but it's not much of a collectors item.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Mine is a 2003. I don't know how/why they decide on matching headstock or not.
I have the original case and tags and what not, but it's not much of a collectors item.



View attachment 7294001

Not yet it isn’t ….hold out a few years.

 

[mikeswals]

Was the gig in Australia?

Seattle area.

Edit; I should elaborate since you probably see some costumes.

We are a karaoke band, and we were playing a company party, and the company folks were dressed in costumes. Some came up and sang as who they were dressed as, some sang other songs.

 

[mikeswals]

Mine is a 2003. I don't know how/why they decide on matching headstock or not.
I have the original case and tags and what not, but it's not much of a collectors item.



View attachment 7294001

Musicman doesn't build instruments for stock, their builds are from store or customer orders. So the matching headstock was decided by whoever ordered it.

 

[bassboysam]

Musicman doesn't build instruments for stock, their builds are from store or customer orders. So the matching headstock was decided by whoever ordered it.

When I bought my SR4 in 2006 through L&M I had the choice of a bass in stock at the store/warehouse or place a custom order through the store with Musicman. I was able to specify the finish, neck and fretboard as well as the headstock and preamp (2 vs 3 band). And back tjen, custom orders cost the same as buying something in stock.


Here it is. I sold at some point but was able to track it down and rebuy it more than a decade later.

 

[mikeswals]

I did the same thing during the 2000's when I was only playing Musicmans; I was special ordering whatever I could as a 2-band, and several SR5's in LE's.
Unfortunately never kept any of them....sure wish I had kept my bluedawn 2eq SR4, and the dargie delight 1 2eq fretless, and of course my first Big Al.

 

[bassboysam]

I'd love to find a fretless 5 in burnt apple next!

 

[dave64o]

New to the club with this 2000 SR5 in trans-orange. Needs some setup work but it sounds amazing. Glad I went with the ceramic pickup as I was looking for something that can get aggressive.

I recently played an SR5 Special at a store and found it much more tame than my bass. I'm sure I could have gotten there if I spent more time, but the inherent voice of the Special is smoother for sure.

One other observation is that the pre on my bass can get pretty extreme and that happens even with very small changes to the EQ. The EQ on the Special on the other hand seemed more subtle and the taper was easier to work with as it wasnt as sensitive.

View attachment 7293735

Very nice! I love the white pickup cover on the white pearl pickguard.

I have a 2007 ceramic HH and a 2019 Special HH and agree with your assessment. The ceramic does have a more aggressive inherent tone than the Special, which I find to be more ... polite? Subtle? Tamer? I'll just say less aggressive and leave it at that.

However, I do find that the EQ on them has enough range that they can overlap quite a bit and both work equally well in my classic rock and blues band. Honestly, I can't pick one over the other and they both get a big chunk of my gig time. The only real competition they get from the rest of my small collection is from my Big Al (a rare a jack of all trades that's also a master of all of them!)

 

[HeavyJazz]

I just picked up this 2005 SR5 2 weeks ago.
I got a crazy deal I could not pass up. Absolute perfect condition for a 20 year old bass
I have not owned one of these in quite a while.
The string spacing at the bridge is tighter than what I'm used to, but I have 2 other higher end 5er's I've just been unhappy with.
Took me a while to figure out how to replace the battery....

Great color with the white pups and guard! Nice score there.

 

[Paradilum]

Seattle area.

Edit; I should elaborate since you probably see some costumes.

We are a karaoke band, and we were playing a company party, and the company folks were dressed in costumes. Some came up and sang as who they were dressed as, some sang other songs.

Between the union jack and the upside-down pic, I figured it it had to be down-under. : )

 

[mikeswals]

Yeah, that was the other possibility I thinking you asked

 

[Barticus]

Excited to join this club, by Friday it will be official (as long as Big Brown comes through as scheduled).
Are there club #s?

8.5lbs and the heavy metal knobs are coming off as soon as it arrives


I think these Bacote knobs will look great on there, and will reduce the weight a bit too.

 

[Barticus]

Excited to join this club, by Friday it will be official (as long as Big Brown comes through as scheduled).
Are there club #s?

8.5lbs and the heavy metal knobs are coming off as soon as it arrives
View attachment 7328774View attachment 7328773

I think these Bacote knobs will look great on there, and will reduce the weight a bit too.
View attachment 7328777

Well, it arrived and the finish on this thing is amazing. I’m swapping out the strings and setting up the action so it’s playable for my hands.


And I had to order different knobs. The Bacote knobs I already have (ordered for another bass) with 6mm holes are too small for the Stingray.


I’m planning to gig it Saturday night along with my normal Spector 5.