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Stingray popularity decline?

#241
LkS said:
I'm a big StingRay fan (can't afford one, plus I can't really play a 43 mm nut, so I happily settled on a SBMM Ray34CA). But I must say that the new specials for 2018 seem like they had the soul of a SR taken away - at least for me. I always thought of a SR as this heavy-duty, a-real-players-kind-of bass (if that makes sense), both sonically AND physically. It was the humbucker, the bridge, the tuners, and the sound all had this .. mass to it. Seeing the SRs now with the slimmed up bridge, the tiny tuners, I know weight is a big factor, but it doesn't seem like a StingRay to me somehow ... Well that's just my 2c.
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The StingRay Classic is still available, you know.
 
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#242
If my recent experience means anything, it doesn't seem like there's a popularity decline. In the course of an afternoon at a local music festival, I counted five Music Man basses: two five-string HH Rays, two four-string Rays (for one band), and a Cutlass. (I saw one Fender P.)
Ric5 said:
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That's the tone! It seems like people forget the zing thing is just one of the options.
 
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#243
fermata said:
If my recent experience means anything, it doesn't seem like there's a popularity decline. In the course of an afternoon at a local music festival, I counted five Music Man basses: two five-string HH Rays, two four-string Rays (for one band), and a Cutlass. (I saw one Fender P.)

That's the tone! It seems like people forget the zing thing is just one of the options.
Click to expand...

And there it is. That why I love my Stingray, I could never get that note definition from my precision no matter what pickup I tried (and I tried many). It can be a highly misunderstood instrument, it’s not all clank and zing or a bass for slappers.
 
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#244
corndog said:
And there it is. That why I love my Stingray, I could never get that note definition from my precision no matter what pickup I tried (and I tried many). It can be a highly misunderstood instrument, it’s not all clank and zing or a bass for slappers.
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Yeah my SR5 wears old La Bella flats and is a thumper, not a zinger.

Also--not sure if it's been mentioned already in this thread--but Sweetwater can't keep these new Stingrays in stock. So if that's any indication, they are selling very well.
 
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#246
jd56hawk said:
You might be interested in this.
$999 and worth every penny!

View attachment 3097596

SPLIT BRICK NECK
Strong lows and highs, open mids. Like a vintage P bass pickup but with more beef, yet retains clarity. 43 gauge wire, ceramic magnet, 8.5K ohms.

THICK BRICK BRIDGE
Warm and thick with strong mids. Output and punch like an active, but more organic sounding. 42 gauge wire, ceramic magnet, 7K ohms.
Click to expand...

I have a Reverend Mercalli 5 FM, with those same pickups. I love that bass. But while it does have a MM style pickup at the bridge, it doesn sound like a stingray at all. First of all the pickup in the reverend is placed a whole incho closer to the bridge than the stingray. Second, its coils are wired in series, instead of the classic Stingray paralell wiring (yes, I know SR5s have the series option, but the classic sound is the paralell wiring). 3rd, its ceramic instead of the classic alnico stingray sound.
Sounds nothing like a Stingray.
 
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#247
Anhg77 said:
I have a Reverend Mercalli 5 FM, with those same pickups. I love that bass. But while it does have a MM style pickup at the bridge, it doesn sound as an stingray. First of all the pickup in the reverend is placed a whole incho closer to the bridge than the stingray. Second, its coils are wired in series, instead of the classic Stingray paralell wiring (yes, I know SR5s have the series option, but the classic sound is the paralell wiring). 3rd, its ceramic instead of the classic alnico stingray sound.
Sounds othing like a Stingray. And I love my reverend.
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Why post that in this thread?
 
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#250
Love me some Stingray. I had a fiver with the Calilfornia burst which was my go-to bass for years, but it had it quirks as well. The tone was everything I wanted, but it was super heavy, the balance wasn't great, and no matter how I had it setup, there was always a 4-string bass plus a B-string kind of thing going on.

After deliberation, I had my friend (and luthier) Brady Muckelroy build me a bass that's that's aesthetically his, but essentially his version of the Stringray with a few tweaks that I wanted (wider string spacing, passive electronics). This instrument is amazing. The single passive Delano pickup is amazing, and when you flip the pickup from parallel to series-- look out.
 
#252
I think times are a changing - it is true that many television appearances in the UK (though by no means all) have either Jazzes or Precisions - that they are often fairly inaudible in modern times is also a point noted by many in Basschat in respect of a regular UK live music television show.

However the basses I see in the hands of local pro and semi pro bass players is completely different - Musicman or SBMM are popular, Rickenbackers are far more popular (and sound far better and varied) than you would ever expect based on posts on Bass forums so it is a much broader spread.

I'm afraid that I have been completely sold on a fat, focussed bass sound a la my heroes like Bernard Edwards, Pino Palladino and the like.

I play in blues bands with a hint of R and B, funk, jazz and rock and am lucky enough to be able to choose which bass I take to each gig (mine are all Musicman of one sort or another) - there's no 'I don't like red basses because they remind me of communists' or other idiosyncratic control freakery bordering on personality disorder issues :roflmao:drool

As its that time of year with sunny afternoons and evenings, outdoor gigs playing through large PAs to larger audiences I'm starting to make different choices including a Bongo a couple of weeks ago (sound guy came and asked me what bass and model it was it sounded that good!!). Anyway last weekend I made a very bold choice (I thought) - Stingray Fretless - I apologised in advance to the sax player stood next to me on the outdoor stage for the possibility of nearly (or barely) in tune playing - and let rip through my LM3 DId into a very large PA - the DI button carefully set to 'post EQ' - there's no way I'm letting the sound guy remove my mids whilst I'm playing Fretless - well at least not before he's received them!!

Anyway the gig went very well - I had forgotten there are a coupe of songs with slapping and the Fretless Ray sounded very similar to a fretted one when slapped - so no problem there. After we'd finished the sound guy (actually also a good bass player) said the bass sounded absolute quality - all Paul Young at times (he was referring to Pino's sound of course).

So there you go - the Stingray remains a great and versatile bass capable of a 'quality bass sound' to quote the independent (of our group) sound man - I've known that since the late 70s when I first had one!!

I don't think they've particularly lost popularity - if anything the new Specials sound like they've stoked a lot of interest - I'm looking forward to playing one of the new Specials when they arrive here - I'm sure they will be equally good if not better - that Fretless sound was so good last weekend though!!

image.jpeg
 
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#255
rashrader said:
What gets me is the 5 String SR which is virtually topped with nothing but a pickguard....
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Some of us love it some don't

Here's mine - looks quite classy to me and plenty of nice ash on display also - you can always get the SR5 Classic if you wanted a traditional looking one - you can take the pickguard off the Classic if you don't like it (no routing under it)

image.jpeg
 
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#256
drTSTingray said:
Some of us love it some don't

Here's mine - looks quite classy to me and plenty of nice ash on display also - you can always get the SR5 Classic if you wanted a traditional looking one - you can take the pickguard off the Classic if you don't like it (no routing under it)

View attachment 3100164
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I Like the pickguard shape a little more than the oval style. This looks more classy to me. Not that there is anything wrong with the oval. Lol mother of toilet seat. Those basses are too nice. Where do these guys come up with this stuff. Too funny.
 
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#257
"Mother of toilet seat" was a term we used long ago to refer to pearl-ish guards which were of course made of plastic, nothing pearl at all about them. Language changes over time and I guess now it is something else entirely, but it was widely accepted (on the Dudepit and here as well as other bass-centric forums) that it was simply a pearl guard.
 
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#258
I think it's a couple things. First, as many have mentioned, tone wise, it's just not the sound that's in right now for some genres. Second, there is quite a bit more competition. There just wasn't the boutique market in the 90s that there is now, and MM is priced at this point within spitting distance of the low end of the boutique market. Last, people seem more concerned about weight than they used to be, and Rays have a reputation for being heavy. Mine is exactly the same weight as my J, but somehow feels heavier.
 
#259
LkS said:
I'm a big StingRay fan (can't afford one, plus I can't really play a 43 mm nut, so I happily settled on a SBMM Ray34CA). But I must say that the new specials for 2018 seem like they had the soul of a SR taken away - at least for me. I always thought of a SR as this heavy-duty, a-real-players-kind-of bass (if that makes sense), both sonically AND physically. It was the humbucker, the bridge, the tuners, and the sound all had this .. mass to it. Seeing the SRs now with the slimmed up bridge, the tiny tuners, I know weight is a big factor, but it doesn't seem like a StingRay to me somehow ... Well that's just my 2c.
Click to expand...
I agree, I have a 2016 Stingray which I love, but the new specials seem a little sanitised.
 

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