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StingRay replacement neck - budget edition

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Derek5272, Jun 25, 2020.

  1. Jun 25, 2020 #1
    Derek5272

    Derek5272

    Dec 6, 2007
    Alberta, Canada
    I have a 13 year old StingRay. After a few years of being ill attended, the neck dried out and twisted. I took it to a luthier, who said it was irreparable, and recommended contacting Music Man about a replacement neck. They require the original neck to be sent back before they will produce a replacement, and with the 2 way shipping I would have been looking at about $1200 Canadian for a new neck, on a bass that originally cost me a little less than $1400. Yikes.

    After looking for aftermarket options, I decided to try the neck from a Sterling by Music Man Ray4 - a $400 CAD bass. The neck is slightly different (more comparable to a Jazz neck), but it fits on the StingRay. I have yet to try swapping the original StingRay hardware to the new headstock, the fingerboard now sits about 1/16" higher, and the nut isn't the greatest (getting a quote from the luthier on a new one), but for (so far) $800 less than a factory neck, I'm not complaining. I have no doubt it will play better than it was a week ago.

    Thought I'd share in case anyone else is going through a similar situation. The old neck is getting defretted, and hopefully can be sanded and lacquered to provide a decent fretless experience on the Ray4 body.

    Thanks for the help, Dad :)

    (Obligatory NBD photo) Ray4.jpg
     
  2. Jun 26, 2020 #2
    HalfManHalfBass

    HalfManHalfBass

    Jan 21, 2003
    Nice bass and an intelligent solution!

    I found myself in the same situation but ordered a replacement graphite neck from Status Graphite in the UK.

    It worked out at around 400 euros for the neck although I did add some extra custom features.
     
  3. Jun 26, 2020 #3
    Kirk Bryant

    Kirk Bryant

    Aug 23, 2004
    Aloha, ..Or., not nearly as tropical as it sounds!
    Good move I’d say.
    I’ve been swapping out bass necks since the 60’s. Many aftermarket necks can be good too. I’ve used Mighty Mite necks two or three times with good success as well as many Fender And Squier necks.
    Sometimes you change a neck and the bass isn’t as good as it was, but, sometimes it’s actually better. That could be for different reasons, profile, frets, width, depth, finish. GLWTS (good luck with the swap) !! Hope you get many more miles out of your ax.