Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

I was fascinated buy those and almost bought one a couple times.

Never owned or played a MM Stingray, but I'd probably like the sound of one.

 

[dagrev]

My P/J
It's wonderful. Fender did a great job on these. Feels like it was a custom shop bass. But I do find I use just the P pups more than both. 60/40ish.

Finish: Sunset Orange Transparent
Neck: Graphite Reinforced Maple Modern “C” Shape
Nut: Bone
Fingerboard: Maple, (9.5” Radius/241 mm)
Pickups: 1 “New” Hot-Vintage P-Bass, 1 “New” Hot-Vintage Jazz
Bridge: Deluxe Bridge (Top-Load/Strings-thru-Body)
Controls: 250k Solid Shaft (2 Volumes, 1 Tone)
Rolled Fingerboard Edges

 

[Engle]

Awesome - yes, no lefty Performers were made. Kudo's for doing a sorta' lefty version on the 'spear" hs. The Performer neck aside from being a full 34" scale 24 fret fb was a J nut-width to more of a Gibson width heal. (narrower than a Fender) It was familiar but different and I really dug the narrower spacing at the bridge. People say the pu's were lacking but I found them pretty tasty. It also came with the Fender TBX stacked tone pot, which is still available today and is a useful (passive) upgrade in the tone dept.

I like 24 frets. I'm playing my Burny Swanky Spider a lot lately: 24 frets, 32" scale, Tbird pickups is a great combination!
One of the smart design features is the neck extends another inch or so under the pickguard.

 

[Engle]

Never owned or played a MM Stingray, but I'd probably like the sound of one.

I am Stingray curious for sure. My friend has a newer 5 string MM that is reasonably light, with a beautiful roasted maple neck. I should find out what model that is to see if there's a 4 string version.

 

[MCF]

My P/J
It's wonderful. Fender did a great job on these. Feels like it was a custom shop bass. But I do find I use just the P pups more than both. 60/40ish.
View attachment 7443178

Finish: Sunset Orange Transparent
Neck: Graphite Reinforced Maple Modern “C” Shape
Nut: Bone
Fingerboard: Maple, (9.5” Radius/241 mm)
Pickups: 1 “New” Hot-Vintage P-Bass, 1 “New” Hot-Vintage Jazz
Bridge: Deluxe Bridge (Top-Load/Strings-thru-Body)
Controls: 250k Solid Shaft (2 Volumes, 1 Tone)
Rolled Fingerboard Edges

Which neck?

 

[JIO]

I like 24 frets. I'm playing my Burny Swanky Spider a lot lately: 24 frets, 32" scale, Tbird pickups is a great combination!
One of the smart design features is the neck extends another inch or so under the pickguard.
View attachment 7443180View attachment 7443181

I also like 24 frets, I have short, medium and full-scale basses with 24 frets. Do I utilize every fret? No... sue me.

 

[GBassNorth]

I am Stingray curious for sure. My friend has a newer 5 string MM that is reasonably light, with a beautiful roasted maple neck. I should find out what model that is to see if there's a 4 string version.

If you want the classic 2 band stingray sound at a lower cost look for one of the early 2000’s S.U.B. Stingrays. Built like a rock, sounds exactly like the preEB stingrays and looks the part as well.
https://reverb.com/item/91831355-st...Q.YQTf1iPOendLFoqLZusW5lv3XAzpXwK47V5VIBRJuj8
Dont confuse them with the newer SUB stingrays. The original S.U.B. Was such a good copy of the MM Stingray it was siphoning off sales and got discontinued.

 

[Lammchop93]

First gig with the new band went GREAT. Great crowd that stuck around all night. It was rockin in there. The new NR went the whole set and did not dissapoint in the slightest. Here's a terrible picture snipped from a video. I haven't seen any good quality pictures yet.

 

[JIO]

My P/J
It's wonderful. Fender did a great job on these. Feels like it was a custom shop bass. But I do find I use just the P pups more than both. 60/40ish.
View attachment 7443178

Finish: Sunset Orange Transparent
Neck: Graphite Reinforced Maple Modern “C” Shape
Nut: Bone
Fingerboard: Maple, (9.5” Radius/241 mm)
Pickups: 1 “New” Hot-Vintage P-Bass, 1 “New” Hot-Vintage Jazz
Bridge: Deluxe Bridge (Top-Load/Strings-thru-Body)
Controls: 250k Solid Shaft (2 Volumes, 1 Tone)
Rolled Fingerboard Edges

Never one to set up camp around one bass over another - if it is made well, looks good, is balanced, feels good, plays well and sounds good - who cares what brand or style of bass it is. Certainly not me. "Damn it Jim... I'm a bass-player not a (Gibson/Fender etc) endorsor!"

 

[Miles_ONeal]

My only FSO. Needs a bridge saddle. $20 in unplayable shape years ago. Much experimentation, two Dimarzio SDS-1s (some of the very first available in Atlanta). Switches are neck p/u in/off/out (phase), bridge pu same, parallel/series. The second guitar I owned and the first I bought. My favorite guitar neck ever.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Odd, when I checked today, google indicated 268,000 Japanese yen was about $1700 to $1800 USD depending on the exchange rate for the day. If that’s correct it’s not a bad price, but shipping and import fees might make it a lot more.

Yeah, the just below $1500 I got was for the one p/u model (228,000 yen).

 

[RedVee]

Well I guess I’ll jump in.

Classic white on white as used by many. But a Feider not a Fender.
Chromes on it work very well,


And this one that I’ll keep trying to learn on. But a SX not a Fender.
New D’Add strings on it now, I went up in thickness a little. 10s.

 

[ectoflanger]

Focusing more on your question - 5 string basses seem like a popular choice with players. First started commonly appearing in the early '80s, and because of that some music made after its debut hinges on that low B. But most music doesn't. Their players say they can play 1st position notes lower (toward the body) on the fb which they claim is an advantage. Ok, sure... whatever works. My recent 5-string that I made (the Meteor-lite) is the first 5-string I feel comfortable playing specifically because I designed it for me. Will I play it live in either of my bands? That would be no, but possibly for a future recording where I deliberately incorporate that low B into the composition. There's a few basses every bass player should have at least one other than a 4-string; a hollow-body, a fretless, and a 5'r. (a 6'r is for those frustrated guitar players who are 'stuck' playing bass...)

View attachment 7443154

I pursued the Low B due to four of five songs that enticed me to play bass in the first place- but I didn't know until I started playing in 2009. And all of those bass lines were fretless. So I soon realized that after I bought my Warwick Corvette fretless four, Icehouse's "Paradise" was the only one I was going to be able to play until I got a five string bass.

I thought of buying a second Corvette fretless 4 at the Guitar Center who at the time was selling them at clearance prices and tuning to BEAD but someone form the Warwick Forum talked me out of it. And it was all for the best. And so I special ordered the Corvette Five through Bass Northwest. By the way, Steve Fossen was the one who took my credit card info and placed the order!

I primarily use the Low B for the low notes from open B to D. I've not only played the single notes but some really interesting double stops where the fundamental is dropped by an octave down from the usual note, or octave double stops where the lowest one is two octaves down instead of one, which I have discovered to have a timbre to be reckoned with.

I would use my much later acquired 2017 Thumb NT5 fretless live because I have at least one original song that uses the effect of the low B and I've rehearsed with a prog metal guitarist's original compositions where the fretless effect, along with the low B can be quite effective. In this case, it's such a nice instrument to play that I'll use it for just about anything that calls for the fretless style, whether or not I intend to use lower notes.

 

[godofthunder59]

II Hot.

I do like those blue IIs

 

[godofthunder59]

I just remembered the brand - Lea and Perrins.

Funny you mention Lea & Perrins. Back in the 60s-80s my family spent several weeks every summer up in Canada in a cottage on the shores of Lake Erie, Long Beach just West of Port Colbourne. The Dominion grocery store chain offered these old time advertising mugs and they became a staple at the cottage and at home. I ended up with Lea & Perrins and was pleased with the tenuous Slade connection (bassist Jim Lea for those who don't know). Just so happens I'm having my morning coffee with it.

 

[ectoflanger]

Funny you mention Lea & Perrins. Back in the 60s-80s my family spent several weeks every summer up in Canada in a cottage on the shores of Lake Erie, Long Beach just West of Port Colbourne. The Dominion grocery store chain offered these old time advertising mugs and they became a staple at the cottage and at home. I ended up with Lea & Perrins and was pleased with the tenuous Slade connection (bassist Jim Lea for those who don't know). Just so happens I'm having my morning coffee with it. View attachment 7443355

A heartwarming memory in more ways than one- thank you for sharing! About to brew some coffee of my own-

 

[MCF]

I am Stingray curious for sure. My friend has a newer 5 string MM that is reasonably light, with a beautiful roasted maple neck. I should find out what model that is to see if there's a 4 string version.

I mentioned recently I’m becoming Bongo curious. But the EBMM is just so expensive. Although they’re certainly well made.

But there is this now:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...ric-bass-guitar-firemist-purple-satin/reviews

Reviews are sorta positive with the usual gripes about crappy SBMM tuners and preamps. Maybe.

 

[MCF]

If you want the classic 2 band stingray sound at a lower cost look for one of the early 2000’s S.U.B. Stingrays. Built like a rock, sounds exactly like the preEB stingrays and looks the part as well.
https://reverb.com/item/91831355-st...Q.YQTf1iPOendLFoqLZusW5lv3XAzpXwK47V5VIBRJuj8
Dont confuse them with the newer SUB stingrays. The original S.U.B. Was such a good copy of the MM Stingray it was siphoning off sales and got discontinued.

I have one hanging on the wall. It’s a heavy mother. I find it to be pretty pedestrian. But it’s a change of pace…

 

[ectoflanger]

I pursued the Low B due to four of five songs that enticed me to play bass in the first place- but I didn't know until I started playing in 2009. And all of those bass lines were fretless. So I soon realized that after I bought my Warwick Corvette fretless four, Icehouse's "Paradise" was the only one I was going to be able to play until I got a five string bass.

I thought of buying a second Corvette fretless 4 at the Guitar Center who at the time was selling them at clearance prices and tuning to BEAD but someone form the Warwick Forum talked me out of it. And it was all for the best. And so I special ordered the Corvette Five through Bass Northwest. By the way, Steve Fossen was the one who took my credit card info and placed the order!

I primarily use the Low B for the low notes from open B to D. I've not only played the single notes but some really interesting double stops where the fundamental is dropped by an octave down from the usual note, or octave double stops where the lowest one is two octaves down instead of one, which I have discovered to have a timbre to be reckoned with.

I would use my much later acquired 2017 Thumb NT5 fretless live because I have at least one original song that uses the effect of the low B and I've rehearsed with a prog metal guitarist's original compositions where the fretless effect, along with the low B can be quite effective. In this case, it's such a nice instrument to play that I'll use it for just about anything that calls for the fretless style, whether or not I intend to use lower notes.

But note that my bass purchases since then - with the exception of some Steinberger's (for portability on the boat and impromptu get togethers) have been four string models. I do prefer a four string when I don't feel the need for a low B, particularly if a Hipshot X-Tender will do-

 

[JIO]

My only FSO. Needs a bridge saddle. $20 in unplayable shape years ago. Much experimentation, two Dimarzio SDS-1s (some of the very first available in Atlanta). Switches are neck p/u in/off/out (phase), bridge pu same, parallel/series. The second guitar I owned and the first I bought. My favorite guitar neck ever.

View attachment 7443271View attachment 7443272

I found and installed that vintage Haggy whammy-bridge on a vintage Silvertone guitar mash-up for our guitarist Paul. I love when he breaks it out!