I would hope a Company of EB Status would not put reject strings on 2500+ Basses for Players to try, Demo', purchase Etc.
On my 'Special' OEM Slinkys sound great still after 2 1/2 months as did the ones on my EBMM 25th Anniversary[AKA Reflex] back a while
Even on my 2019 Fender Ultra P the OEM 7250's were fine and sounded excellent
But my guess is most buyers will swiftly replace Slinky Rounds with their favorite Flats
Mine will likely get DR Pure Blues. I'm not a fan of flats on Stingrays. Well, actually I'm not a huge flatwound fan at all, but with the addition of EB cobalt flats a few years ago, I have been using those on some of my basses. They sound pretty decent.
They 'sorta/kinda' tried that with the Classic and many here on TB seemed to like it but alas not enough
Read a post on EB Bass Forum where EB Rep said Specials/3 band pre Specials out sold Classic's 10-1; He also said that the Classic may return but not as it was; this was maybe a couple years ago so here we are.
I remember that statement a couple years back.
Interestingly, they did do at least one "special run" of Stingray Classics over the past few years and, as far as I know, were only sold over the Music Man website. I bought one from a guy here on TB that had recently bought it new from Music Man website. When he told me that it was new, I was a bit suspicious because that was after the normal "Stingray Classic" had been discontinued. But I checked with EB and yes, it was new (the guy I bought if from only had it for a couple months). But then like a moron, ended up trading it off. It was a great bass.
Strikes me as a smart business move.
Fender has been reissuing period correct P's and J's over and over at ridiculous (to me) prices for years. It makes sense for EBMM to cash in similarly on its legacy. There are rather few manufacturers who can pull this kind of stunt off but EBMM is definitely one of them.
Heresy, perhaps, but I have hunch that due to improvements in construction techniques and overall QC the EB 76's will probably be better built than the original MM run.
Yes... I've been a huge, huge fan of Fender's reissues over the past ten years or so. It's pretty much all I've bought from Fender. My latest is a Fender CS 55 Precision that is freaking amazing. One of the best, if not the best bass I've ever had.
As for the QC on the new Stingray reissues and the original Stingrays, no doubt it will be way better and way more consistent. There were some great Pre EB Stingrays, and... there were some downright crappy ones.
As for the comparison of between the Stingray Special and various reissues (this one and the classic series), I'll always go with the reissues. I have nothing against the Specials and they are great basses... but, part of the "Stingray sound" is bred out of them. They may be more versatile, but they just do not sound as good to me. Ultimately, to each his own. All preference. For just an all around "do everything" bass, I'll generally take a Fender Jazz. But if you want a "stingray sound" it's got to be a Stingray (or clone).
was 3 years ago and 40-1
