Stingray crack- structural or superficial?

For 700 bucks I'd absolutely drive out to check it out. If it plays well and doesn't have any noticable acoustic irregularities I would probably buy it. Crack's on the back after all.

 

NOTE: my TRB 6 has a sizeable crack between neck pocket and first pickup, only on the surface. No other issues. That's my personal experience with cracked instruments. YMMV, but if it's an actual MusicMan and not a Sterling that's a fair price.

 

That's a good price, and it's most likely just a crack in the finish (looks to be, though I've never seen one that long).

Personally, I'd want to inspect it, because that is very close to where the two halves of the body join (though I don't want to scare you off a probably perfectly good instrument).

 

^That, for sure. It is right where the body would be glued together (if it even is), but I suspect it's just a finish crack. Do you think the owner would take the neck off and send you a picture of the pocket?

 

Get the serial number and email Ernie Ball and ask if it’s a 1 piece or a 2 piece body.

If it’s a 1 piece it’s unlikely to have any structural significance an will be the finish

 

Every Music Man I've seen with a transparent finish has been 2-piece, but that doesn't really apply here. If I had to guess, I'd say the safe bet is all of them are 2-piece.

 

I'm looking at the pic in OP. It looks like a scratch. Like it took a fall or someone let the drummer touch it. Reason is a structural crack at a joint 'might' be more linear or maybe not. But the the 2 small lines to the upper right and the longer one to the lower right? That's not how a body would crack unless it got run over by a truck or a drummer. Let us know when you see it. If it was a break in the wood, there are 4 lines visible, you would probably see more signs than that.
It's absolutely the right thing to bring a Ray into the world. So go take a look at it.

 

If it opens at all when manually flexing the body, its probably in the body itself. If no movement at all, its probably in the finish. Odd sized crack to be from checking though.

 

To me it looks like what would happen if the drummer says "hey, lemme see that bass" and he drags it over the top of his kit. That's just normal drummer behavior so it's possible. Just saying it's worth a hands-on look. Hate to see a Ray just sitting there in front of someone's cheap Halloween decorations that are still up in June. And a mismatched D string! This Ray needs a real forever home.

 

I'm more concerned about the way that skeleton on the right is starring at your Stingray. Even the skeleton on the left looks concerned.

 

I agree. Those bony fingers are a nightmare on those finishes.

 

At worst, it's a stress crack from the body pieces separating, at best it's just a finish crack from temperature extremes. At a guess, it looks like the latter, but, just a guess.

I'd ask for a better pic, or just plan for a drive.

 

Get a solid, straight on shot of the front and see if the crack extends to the front at all. Looks like glue joint crack to me but i cannot center the body up from the image. Talk him or her down another hundred.

 

And love the maple neck!!!!!

 

I would be all over that for $700. That crack looks like it is just on the paint.

 

Really hard to tell from that picture, but for $700, might be worth driving to look at it in person. If it's a finish crack, wouldn't there be a little bit of paint chipping at where the two cracks intersect?