SeriesMusic Man StingRay

Second hand purchase, Parks Music, Western Australia, $2000 (approx $1400 US). I went in looking for prices on a 2x10 or 4x10 box and walked out with this. Wasn't looking or even thinking of buying a 5 string Stingray - yes wanted a Musicman, yes wanted a 5 string. Tried it and had to own it. what can you say? It's a Musicman :) The neck: As a 5 string this neck plays better than many 4 string basses that I've owned/tried and after a few minutes it felt like I'd played this bass for years. I'm not much in to slap/pop playing but a fellow bass player (who owns pre EB Stingray and Sabre basses) picked it up and was straight in to his funky "Louis Johnston" riffs and delivered high praise for the neck (and an offer to buy the bass - cheeky bugger) The sound: truely awe inspiring! Even on my practice amp (a 60 watt Berhinger) it boggies. Through Labsystem, Hartke and Marshall amps it delivers solid lowdown punch, the relativly long scale neck give the low B "extra" string usable tone and clarity It packes a lot of bottom end and the actives give it useable bright (and some times excessive) top end. Though a chorus unit you get an A1 deluxe tone for just about any style of music that grooves. excesive boost on treble produces too much sharp "stabbing" top end, roll it back, use with care or pull it in with compression and/or deep chorus Lack of usable middle range tone meens it doesn't "sing" like say a rickenbacker does. So if you're after a more front and center rock & pop oriented bass sound (Beatles/Who) it maybe not your number one choice. Body weight's a little light and it (the body) vibrates excessivly. Doesn't feel as solid/stiff as one would expect for a top of the line unit like this (see below). Almost but not quite A1, a high B+ or a straight A maybe. I guess this bass is mid/late 90's and doesn't feel as solid/stiff as the earlier Musicmans. feel & quality is not up there with my Rickenbacker or even Washburn basses. This all comes down to the body - it just doesn't feel as solid and stiff as it should, when played hard and loud (think "The Clash" punk thrashing) it vibrates enough to cause slight but noticeable intonation changes. If <insert deity/mythological hero of choice> played bass this would be his stick. If it weren't for the slight intonation issue when playing extra hard I'd rate it a perfect 5/5 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

I paid about $800 for a clean used bass at Parkway in Clifton Park, NY. I saw it and it said "Play me". I played it and it said "Take me home." It's very solid, comfortable, and has a very fretless sound to it. I keep the action pretty low, which increases the amount of whine and also makes it so comfy to play. It speaks well of the quality of the bass that I can set the action that low and not turn the whine into a ruinous rattling buzz. The controls are very simple. It also *looks* very simple. Mine is a plain clear finish and unlined fretless board. I think the funk- oriented "StingRay Sound" emphasises the same frequencies that support the whine of a fretless. I'm not a slapper-popper and don't think that I'd want a fretted version of this same bass. Our guitar-and-fiddle player heard this bass and declared that if he had one, he'd give up guitar, fiddle, and mandolin and just play all bass. BTW, I don't do special tricky sounds and I'm no virtuoso. This bass just sings. Like many great-sounding well-built basses, it's not light. Be aware that it's not a "24 fret" neck . This bothers me less than on a fretted because my intonation skill up there is not very good, but I wish it were the longer scale so I could learn to work on my higher intonation. I wish it had a second pick-up, just to make it more versatile even though it's already got a beautiful singing voice. This is a solid a bass as you will ever encounter. The neck is not laminated, so only time will tell about its stability . It has the "Fender Style" pegs and a nice solid bridge . The finish is attractive and so far seems durable. The wood seen through the finish has very even attractive grain . The fingerboard is a very smooth, dark, densly-grained rosewood or similar wood. The few knobs and the jack are all on a small chromed front plate. A tiny chromed cover on the rear hides the 9v battery. The big oval pick guard is smooth and not wavy at all. Everything about this bass makes you feel you can always count on it. The feel, the sound, the appearance. It has mainly one voice, a blend of fretless whine and punchy but not harsh bass . Other voices could be had with other strings of course, but once strung, you get only one personality. OTOH, the one- voice thing fits well with the simple no-nonsense appearance. I'm rating it less than a five only because of the less-than-24 fret scale and lack of a second pickup. If those don't bother you, it's then a big 5. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com