Hey everybody, Ive got a killer stingray classic bass that I love but cant keep at 10.5 lbs being too heavy. Everything about the bass clicks for me but the weight, can anyone recommend someone who can work with me to create a light weight replica body??? ...any help would be much appreciated...
I can recommend Keith Horne, whose shop is right across the hall from me in the same building. We're in Fillmore, not far from you. Keith even has a Stingray body in there right now for some work. He's made plenty of chambered, complex bodies. Keith can be reached at: [email protected] and 213-400-6702
It's funny, because the Stingray body that Keith has right now is there because the owner's son (back in the '90's) bored it full of big holes. Swiss Cheese style. The owner sent it to Keith to plug all the holes and repaint it. Maybe we should put you in touch with him and you could just trade? Just kidding, it's pretty hideous. I'm going to be machining some poplar plugs for it in the next few days. My quick recommendation, and Keith will probably agree, is to build you a new body from poplar, with heavy internal chambering and a thin maple top. Identical shape and fit of the hardware, but maybe extend the upper horn a little bit to make sure it doesn't become neck heavy. That might get two pounds out of it, and keep the look, feel and sound.
He'll build a StingRay body? I thought most builders refused due to the copyrights. I might have to keep this contact info.
He'll build a one-off customized replacement for someone who owns a real Stingray. But he won't build replica Stingray bodies for people wanting to build their own Stingray copy.