Stingray Classic - What to do?

[pudgychef]

sweet score - congrats! ....these Classic SRs give me intense, brutal gas....

 

[Jeff K]

This one:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-ft-ebmm-stingray-4-classic-series-796230/

Congrats! I remember lusting over that one when it was for sale...

 

[Thornton Davis]

These are great basses. I love my Classic Stingray 5.

TD

 

[craigc]

Buy a good G & L. You will be a lot happier.

 

[cassius987]

It's overpriced garbage IMHO. I owned one and then saw a used regular Stingray for half the price, same sound.

Wow, really? They feel and sound quite different from a "regular Stingray" in my experience. For me the neck finish alone (which I LOVE) makes it a totally different bass, but I also vastly prefer the 2-band EQ. I often go to GC and play every MM in stock... and the Classics consistently win out.

 

[jallenbass]

A friend of mine has a nice USA G&L and while I like it very much it would not make me happier then my current Stingray Classic.

I've tried for years to like Stingrays and it wasn't until I played one of the new Classics that I finally found the sound that I really like. If you can't hear the difference then good for you because you won't need to spend as much money.

 

[Bottoms_Up!]

For the older bridge you'd have to find an Ernie Ball era from 93-95. That's because they have the offcenter mounting like the newer bridges do. So that one *should* just bolt right in with only 4 holes needed being drilled instead of 8.
The earlier 81-92 top loader bridges are center mounted, so those won't quite work.

For sh!ts & giggles, I tried to swap my 1993 mute bridge with the bridge on my 2010 SLO. While the screw holes and anchor bolts lined up, the saddles were WAY out of alignment. So I ended up putting my SLO neck onto the 93.

To the OP, in the last year, I have picked up no less than three early to mid 90s Rays from between $800 and $850. If you dig the Classic, I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for one of these puppies. They are completely badass. The difference between Rays from this period and the modern Classics is: no string-through bridge (though it is of the high-mass mute variety), body contours (a plus in my book), and a 3-band (another plus in my book). My favorite era of Ray by far...too bad the SLOs are a better fit for me. And all three that I picked up here had killer birdseye maple necks!

Example: