drTStingray

I dig the evil twin!! Love the stealth look 😎

Ive had a little more playing time with the bass - it feels great and the light weight is unbelievable - my back is applauding both this and the TC Stingray - the Bongo is slightly lighter (the TC Stingray is approx 8 lbs). 
 

The fretboard has no markers which is a nice clean look, lovely grain and figuring.  However (and thankfully), it has markers on the top - quite discrete as they are light coloured. Some more gratuitous pics!! 

3 hours ago, owen said:

It is not a real Bongo until it has a dink at the end of the headstock. Get to it. 

Spookily it arrived with a large piece of foam around the end of the headstock and the Bongo case has a piece of leather fitted in the case to prevent the headstock from making contact with the aluminium on the inside of the frame of the case. 
 

I guess I could play with the big piece of foam on the headstock 😁

Anyway, another piece of info - it appears to weigh somewhere less than 8 lbs - which is excellent. 

Thanks for the comments guys - it’s a great bass - only 66 made, I believe. It’s called a Bongo Crescendo - and has a BFR neck plate. 

My NBD arrived yesterday - a rather tasty MM Bongo. Plays beautifully and looks the biz - it has a subtle light sparkle in the colour!! The fretboard is roasted and figured maple and there’s no pickguard. It appears to have taken exactly 10 days from build to reaching me - this was a direct order through their ‘Vault’ on line system - as was the long scale TC passive Stingray I bought - seems to be a seamless process. I’m sure it’ll be first choice for wedding gigs 😀
 

Fabulous - and that bass sound is so warm and defined. 

10 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Nice idea (I already have a USA Ray to act as donor) but I'd be paying for a body + routing + finishing and to get a light weight bit of timber I'm guessing I'm paying premium money... which leads me back to the total cost potentially being more than selling my Ray and purchasing one that I know for a fact is the correct weight.  

 

Saying that, all of that is doable IF I can source a good body blank that I can guarantee is going to give me the gross weight I'm after.

Couldn’t you simply order a custom body from Warmoth or similar - the Stingray body is pretty similar to a P bass body but with different (and less extensive) routing? 

4 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Cheers for the info.  However, please tell me you didn't string that one on the left... unless you were intoxicated at the time.    

Aha - I wondered how long it would be before someone noticed that……. I put my hands up to that - having been taken in for years by the ‘all the top players use flatwounds and don’t change their strings ever’ bass forum stories, I’m so out of practice changing strings that I hadn’t realised that bass guitar strings are supplied to fit 50” scale length, it seems - however it sounds fine and I was worried if I remove them and trim the length one or other would break in the process (as has happened to me in the past trimming the length of strings with silk wraps…….). Ps no intoxication but quite a few swear words were expended 😂😂😁

There are light Stingrays around from pre 2018, but they’re more likely to be 9.5 lbs plus. However the Stingray Specials (and particularly the 4 strings) are usually in the 8-9 lb range and often at the lighter end and below.
 

I’ve just got a Tim Commerford signature ash bodied Stingray - it’s a bit of a hybrid as it is normal scale, has the lightweight hardware throughout, except the steel bridge with strings through and mutes as per a Stingray Classic - and passive electronics - but it weighs 8 lbs. NB it (along with the Stingray Specials) has a 5 bolt sculpted neck joint (as opposed to the 6 bolt joint used from circa 1991-2018). 
 

The point is these latest EBMM basses are generally very light, even at standard 34” scale. I’m guessing the short scale, downsized ones are even lighter. And all have the classic MM headstock referred to. 

18 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Went to a Prom at the Albert Hall with my 21 y/o last night, lovely night out. Maybe all the more special as it was the first such outing in 18 months. Everyone was asked to show either a negative lateral flow test or a vaccination card before entry; didn't seem too onerous.

This sounds great.

However having caught the news headlines last night which covered Man U’s 5-1 win over Leeds - and seemingly a capacity crowd (and all other Premiership matches having a similar situation) I wonder whether similar precautions re Covid are taken, will this will be a super spreader situation followed by a huge spike in infections in a couple of weeks? Time will tell I guess. 

On 09/08/2021 at 19:19, Eldon Tyrell said:

Looks like EBMM either made one more available (maybe one originally sent to a social media influencer) or someone returned his/her TC long-scale & passive bass as one is back in stock! 

 

Still available earlier today!!

How are you guys getting on with the passive electronics? I really like the way the bass is voiced - pure Stingray sound!!

@Eldon Tyrell I guess the figuring on the natural bodies is somewhat luck as to what you get - I would have preferred more figuring on the front on mine but hey ho!! The back on mine is quite nice but there again only I’ll know that unless someone sees a photo!! 

8 hours ago, andyep said:

You got yours yet Eldon? I got my passive shorty on Friday 😁 (even though it was supposedly delayed until Monday!)

16 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Yep, arrived safely today. Here are some photos:

 

Well, what can I say. Great bass. Very light and the neck is, as always for EBMM, super smooth and a dream to play.

As expected, the TC sounds different from my other two SRs (2014 Stingray 4H and 2018 Stingray Special 4H). I especially like the series mode. Reminds me a bit of the OMG mode on my G&L L1k.

It came even more to life when I engaged my trusted Sansamp and used it as a preamp. Man, the bass suddenly started shaking my living room's walls and windows. Killer. Maybe it is just me, but I really needed that oomph, that going to 11 😉  

Speaking of 11, I am also glad that I got no 11 out of 50 as 11 is my lucky number (birthday). However, I do have to say that I like the wood grain on @drTStingray bass more. Well, you cannot have it all 😉 

Congratulations guys - both basses look great - @Eldon Tyrell yours looks a very light colour like mine. These are excellent basses in my view and very rare in the U.K. I’m thinking 😊

3 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

 

#2 turned up recently. Another case queen. You're on the list of interested parties 👍.

That TC looks great. I hope you're enjoying it.

Just looked at that Kingpin at Bass Direct. Bit pricey, but looks lovely.

Decent weight for an HH as well at 8lb 6oz.

👍 yeah I’d probably be interested - have another bass on order currently……

The TC is really nice and with passive electronics, which are really good. The Kingpin is nice (but about £700 more than if you bought it on line from EBMM - it’s supposed to be an on line exclusive!!!) 

6 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Below that weight, I have a couple of NAMM Stingrays that are both 10.5 lbs give or take a couple of ounces

 

 

 

The rest of my basses are in what I would class as the generally acceptable 8/9 lb weight bracket.

For me balance is more important than weight as I count myself fortunate in not having any issues with my back.

Wow 😳 I knew you had one of these - when did the other turn up?? As I’ve said before, if you ever think of selling one……(now you have two of them 😏)

This is my lightest bass - I don’t know the exact weight but it’s near as damn it 8 lbs. I agree re heavier basses - as long as they balance they’re fine with me (although I don’t have a bad back - just advancing years)!!

Thanks guys - I’m really loving this bass - it will be used at my next gigs at the end of August 👍 can’t wait to hear it at gig volume but it sounds great at home practice level (and a bit louder when I tried the volume boost/cut). 

11 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Ah plastic saddles - later, 66? 
 

god knows - don’t know gibbo bass half as well as fender.

But the sound is fabulous - sounds very Jack Bruce. Interesting to hear Neil Murray on bass on Politician as well. 
 

I don’t know if it’s just me (I’ve not followed Jethro Tull for years) but Ian Anderson appearing like an aging middle class country gentleman but still sounding fairly similar to how he did back in 1970 (when he looked rather like a manic long haired country type hippy) was a little incongruous. 

My basses have a range of weights and frankly, if this was 1980 I would have absolutely no interest in how much a bass weighed!!! The sound and look was what I was after so for example:-

1) pastel shade guitars and basses were totally unhip (and had been since the Shadows were passé in the mid 60s - in fact they’d become almost a variety act but were just having a resurgence (with Alan Jones playing an active bass).

2) Fender basses were totally passé - you needed to be able to slap (would probably fail auditions if you couldn’t), and get a fat sound like a keyboard (bassists, guitarists and drummers were losing jobs to keyboard players and machines!!) - they were ok for punk and ska

3) the weight of a bass had no bearing as far as I remember!!!

These days, most of my basses are 9-10 lbs but I have a Stingray 5 which is a bit heavier - more recently, new basses I’ve bought have been 8 lbs of a bit over. To be honest, weight of basses still only really affects my thinking if I have a long gig to do. There are other considerations - will it be a very dark stage? If so definitely not fretless and possibly maple board will be easier to see.

For v long gigs I would either take more than one bass or a very light one - however I don’t udder from a bad back so can’t comment on that - but with a decent padded strap and a well balanced bass, a heavier bass won’t make a big difference to me - I’d probably pick a lighter bass if I’m doing a long gig - probably my age makes me think like that!! 😬

5 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

Congrats on securing such a Fantastic bass. I love the subtle, classic appearance.

Thanks - I’m spending another afternoon playing it!! 😁👍

I was pleasantly surprised how good the passive electronics sound - I think I’ve said elsewhere, I really like the series pick up setting with the tone set around the centre of its travel. Just a really nice bass all round, and (the version I have) mixes the classic Stingray natural body/large bridge with black hardware and the Stingray Special neck and neck/body joint. 

30 minutes ago, steantval said:

Currently on - The Doobie Brothers, Let The Music Play.

 

The story of the band.

Yeah I’m watching it - it’s very good - I never realised that they recruited Willie Weeks when Tyrone Porter left the band, towards its initial end. Nice film of him playing an LPB Precision 🙂

17 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Checked the UPS tracking website and it still stays "Delivery: Monday, Aug 9th".

My TC is now in Tamworth, which is just 40min from me. C'mon, UPS, do me a favour and quickly hop over 😉 

Monday will be here soon enough!! I’m sure you’ll love the bass when it arrives 👍😊 - as you may know, those of us buying new, limited or unusual Musicman models have been used to waiting 6 months plus to take delivery (certainly was with my 5HH Special!!) so just over a week is unheard of unless buying from dealer stock!! 

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

A very classy bass! Love it. These haven't been out long and there aren't many available if I remember rightly, you've done well to snap one up! 

I bought it within a day of announcement!! But this variant sold out quickly!! 

I can only think that those retailers have bought on line and are selling them from their shop (which would explain the BD price). 
 

Re the short scale basses, the Tim Commerford video (on the EBMM site and You Tube) gives an explanation of his like for these (along with the mute pads for use with drive, and the ramp). 
 

It’s all good, but I really wanted a natural with black hardware - the fact it has all these other variations is great!! 

1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

How did the delivery go? Interested to hear whether the EB’s pre-charging of duty and VAT speeds up customs clearance as it seems to have turned up very quickly

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

+1 This should be of interest as pre charging seems the sensible way forward for all sellers (at least large organisations).

Absolutely no problem - in fact I had notifications re shipping and then it was going to be delayed till Monday, but it still turned up yesterday!! 
 

When you order they give you a warning it may take up to four months but they charge you including the shipping and tax but guarantee the price. 
 

I guess it depends how much you want the type of instrument on offer. 
 

On this occasion I guess I got one of the already made batch of instruments!! 

9 hours ago, michele said:

Classy... my favorite among the TC line. Enjoy!

 Where did you get it?

Thanks - these TC signature basses are on line exclusive from the EBMM shop (The Vault), which can be bought internationally 😀

https://www.music-man.com

Cheers guys. It certainly meets expectations! 

My TC Signature StingRay arrived this afternoon. I must say I’m really very pleased with it. 
 

It has passive electronics (series; parallel; single coil pick up settings. Boost on the volume control (or cut if you use it that way round), and passive tone control.

It weighs around 8 lbs, has a nicely figured two piece swamp ash body, roasted maple neck with a very dark ebony board. All the hardware is black, including the hardened steel strings through bridge with mute system.

The sound through my Mark Bass LM3 and 2 x 10 Traveller is great - I think I prefer the series with the tone control around centre. It has a perfect Musicman sound, looks, feels and plays excellently - the neck is, as always with roasted maple and the Musicman oil and wax finish, incredibly slick!! Some photos……