Music Man StingRay 4

I play the bass for 16 years now in a various bands. Most often I play rock, blues, jazz, funk and sometimes classical music. My favourite genre of music is rock (I like it from 8 ears old).

I bought this Stingray 1 month ago at www.musiciansfriend.com for 1365 USD.

I like almost everything about it. My bass is transparent gold with maple neck. Very good looking, extremely good rocking sound, awesome slap sound, active electronics (9 V power supply) with treble, middle and bass controllers, which gives you more tonal variations from solid and massive to sharp and high sound.

Unfinished neck. I affraid that it will become dirty after some time Anyway this natural maple is wery nice for my left hand.

Very strong, good done. I think it won't break even cracked to the wall.

It's probably the best bass I've ever had. Since I really like to play rock, Music Man Stingray is right bass for me.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

i purchased this bass guitar from rimmers home of music, leyland, england. it cost £1030

the playability was unreal. slapping wasy ace!!!

the pole pieces on the pickup went rusty after 6weeks, and the neck seemed untreated as it was filthy after 6 weeks!

average

biggest mistake i ever made! i went from a fender pbass (mexican) to a music man stingray simply because id heard so much about them and when i played it the in shop i was satisfied! then i got to know it and disliked it! i have now just traded it in for a fender usa precision bass with a maple neck and this is so much better! however, it cost me the musicman stingray and £115 for the usa pbass. so in truth, i paid £1145 for an £880 bass guitar! but i had to have it!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

My old bass fell apart because I used it so much. I needed a bass that would stay together and sound good at the same time. I also need a bass that was perfect for slapping. I then walked into a local music store to see what they had. I picked up this bass and played it. The following weekend I went back to the store and bought it. It cost somewhere around $1400 (I had been saving for a while), but you can get them cheaper.

The sound and playability. It's active, which just adds to the great single humbucker tone. That's right! No neck pickup to get in your way. The string spacing is wide, so it's perfect for slapping. It has a nice, low action which is also perfect for slapping. It also has really BIG fret markers.

The 3-1 headstock takes some getting used to, but once you do, you'll love it.

I have rammed the headstock into the wall at least 20 times (I need to be more careful) and it has taken THREE MAJOR FALLS! IT STILL PLAYS PERFECTLY! This bass will probably live longer than i will.

The tone cuts through a band like a hot knife though butter. It's extremely easy to play. The bass is built so well, you could probably kill someone with it.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Humbucking pickup. 3 band EQ. Maple neck. Alder body. Schaller tuners. Yep. What else to say?

UTILIZATION

I went to get a bass for my studio and didn't really have a price point. Just basically I was thinking to get the best bass I could find and not spend over 3k. My primary goal was to find something really versatile. I didn't expect to get a humbucking only bass. The first thing I realized when I picked it up was how ridiculously good it felt. It looks quite heavy but it isn't as heavy as you would think. The neck has an oiled finish that feels better and plays faster than pretty much any neck I've ever played. Action is amazing. The bridge is wonderful. Tuners are good. This thing never...and i repeat never goes out of tune. I know it sounds like I am really praising the heck out of this bass but it is seriously that good feeling.

SOUNDS

The humbucker pickup is misleading because it suggests this bass is a one trick pony. The truth is that by using the eq knobs you can make this sound like anything. P bass or jazz bass or whatever. It can do those sounds if you dial it in right. I think a lot of single coil players get turned off by the look but try it and I bet you will love it. It has a very full and rumbling tone overall. Not high gain. You can't help but love the sound through a good half stack cranked up. It's just face melting. I use it in the studio most of the time with a number of direct boxes and DI amps. It always sounds great. I do think this bass sounds even better played loud in a live situation and I am sad I can't play it out much.

OVERALL OPINION

I think my favorite thing about my stingray is how ridiculously fun it is to play and how good it feels in the hands. Seems like whenever i pick it up I feel like I'm having fun. It's just a fun instrument for lack of a better word. Kind of like a good les paul feels. It is not your classic fender bass design or anything. It's very modern in feel and sound. So I can't say bass purists are going to love it. Still...it's worth anyone checking out. You don't see these used as much as you used to. It's a shame. Seems like music man keeps making them better every year.