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Tony Levin: Stingray Special 5

Can anyone explain why there’re loads of used SR Special in the classifieds and reverb then? Looks like people tend to get rid of them very soon after they buy them. I took one of them off the EB booth at NAMM and was impressed how light and balanced it was! 8,5 lbs or so for a fiver! But I didn’t have a chance to plug it in so I have no idea how it sounds. But when I saw two batteries compartment I didn’t care about it as I generally prefer passive basses or 9V preamp as maximum. Never understood that “bigger headroom” thing, always been happy with 9V pre, but it’s me again. Also, I haven’t heard anything good about neodymium pickups so far, strange choice of magnets material after glorious tone of older ones with Alnico magnets...
 
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Wow..gorgeous bass.. I'm currently considering a 4 or 5 string Sterling by music man ray.. the cheapest ones they have.
At this point in my life it's all purely fun and hobby.
I had a Sterling ray34ca that I really didn't hold on to long enough but I lived playing it.
I'm really stuck on the decision between 4 and 5 string..
My main bass is currently 5 string.
 
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First guy I met at NAMM, back in '09...nice guy! I asked him if/when LTE would do another album. Well, 11 years later, and it's going to come true! :hyper:

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Years ago, I had to learn two albums' worth of his bass lines when I got a gig in the live band of an artist who had used him in the studio. I learned a *ton* just from that experience. And yes, I was amazed by the amount of different tones he could get out of a Stingray (and Sabre). It was an inspiration. I don't own one currently, but I've played them successfully in various genres including rock, blues, soul, country, folk, and Americana since then. Not on Tony's level, of course!! He's truly amazing.
 
Can anyone explain why there’re loads of used SR Special in the classifieds and reverb then? Looks like people tend to get rid of them very soon after they buy them. I took one of them off the EB booth at NAMM and was impressed how light and balanced it was! 8,5 lbs or so for a fiver! But I didn’t have a chance to plug it in so I have no idea how it sounds. But when I saw two batteries compartment I didn’t care about it as I generally prefer passive basses or 9V preamp as maximum. Never understood that “bigger headroom” thing, always been happy with 9V pre, but it’s me again. Also, I haven’t heard anything good about neodymium pickups so far, strange choice of magnets material after glorious tone of older ones with Alnico magnets...

Couldn’t tell you anymore than to say that I’ve noticed that trend as well. But, I would caution by adding that EBMM basses are one of the most popular brands after Fender. From that alone you’re likely to see more Specials on sale than other things because a lot more of them have been bought than Yamahas, etc...
 
Well noted regarding sales volume, agree. But anyway I've noticed that namely used Specials are for sale.

On Reverb about a week ago there were 80 EBMM basses made in the 2010's for sale, 80 from the 2000's, 21 from the 1990's, 13 from the 1980's, 16 from the 1970's. I didn't look at 2020 because it's only one year and skewed by COVID.

Based on the number of specials that are available for sale and the number of new specials for sell, it looks like 20% of the Specials purchased are sold within a year or two. However, that is likely very, very skewed by people needing to sell some gear to make ends meet in the wonderful year that is 2020.
 
OK, fine. So it's an updated Ray in all its glory with a point and shoot tone that is unstoppable with the 3EQ preamp. So Tony Levin basically defined the tone for multiple genres of music and happens to have King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd in his bio.
What else you got? Am I supposed to be impressed that one of the all time most influential bassists is playing a better version of one of the best basses ever made? I mean, big deal, you throw a guy on a bass that is one of the most recognizable instruments in popular music and he happens to be the guy that easily 1/3 of the world's bassists try to sound like whether they know it or not, and then what? I'm supposed to want a new EBMM? Really? Just because it's awesome and he's awesome? Does it even come in blue?
 
Years ago, I had to learn two albums' worth of his bass lines when I got a gig in the live band of an artist who had used him in the studio. I learned a *ton* just from that experience. And yes, I was amazed by the amount of different tones he could get out of a Stingray (and Sabre). It was an inspiration. I don't own one currently, but I've played them successfully in various genres including rock, blues, soul, country, folk, and Americana since then. Not on Tony's level, of course!! He's truly amazing.
I tip my hat to you for handling that gig!