drTStingray

This looks very like a better version of the Carlos Robelli bass Joe played occasionally - true bitsa then - Musicman neck, G and L bridge? I haven’t tried a Joe Dart bass but they are now available to order direct from the Musicman vault (internationally) - I have been tempted but frankly if the short scale control-less version was made available I would hit the order button immediately!!

Not far short of the new price then 😬 Yeah absolutely - I also prefer active basses - indeed can nail his tone on other variants of Musicman bass, but so what - I can nail Jaco’s as well - but Vulf’s whole approach, I find quite fun and anarchic, yet they are also great musicians as well. In fact Joe Dart, far from being a loser demonstrates a level of musicianship not seen these days (since a lot of recorded bass is keyboard, or in a lot of cases passive bass going by various stages, in the direction of inaudible). It’s notable that Messrs Dart and Stratton so focus opinion that every thread on either Basschat or Talkbass on these signature basses has a massive response. Must be good for business for them. It’s even mentioned in comments on the Joe Dart Jr video that a number of Talkbass members have been shouting at clouds about it 😂 Must be a facet of bass fora!!!

And a mid heavy sound with what sounds/looks like strident plucking of the strings.

Yeah Big Als are rare beasties - not many many made - sound great from what I’ve heard though (early production have alder bodies, replaced by mahogany later). TBH my SR4HH gets a good Classic Ray tone (the Bernard Edwards version) amongst others - the SR5 ceramic bridge H (parallel) also but as you say, it has a certain bite to it - unmistakably Stingray though - i make both of those comments based on hearing them in band settings and from You Tube videos.

I understand they have ceramic pick ups (if you mean the SBMM one). Can’t comment on the ‘upgrade’ - think they’re pretty good straight out of the box with the stock EQ - I’ve yet to try anything Darkglass, having been curious about their amps - I’ve relaxed and back to Markbass for gigs (what few there are) and ABM for ‘bedroom/home’ use. Now I know you shouldn’t believe everything - or should that be anything - you read on the internet (only today I read that a type of bass of which i have three and have no problems playing any genre on - indeed are a bit of an industry standard in their field and have been around for 34 yrs, apparently have a serious design fault causing the complainants to push strings off the edge of the fretboard - now either I’m a technique wizard (which I’m not) their technique is fundamentally flawed, possibly agricultural, or they’re overstating something for reasons only known to themselves) - BUT...... Darkglass are said to be the darling of the metal scene - this may be as untrue as the example given above, but as I associate metal with heavily scooped sounds and bass guitar disappearing amidst an onslaught of crunch guitar, perpetual drum solos and the equivalent of someone apparently attempting to prolapse their throat in a singing style as stereotypical as Vic Reeves’ erstwhile ‘singing in the club style’ - meaning 70s social club crooning - my curiosity has sort of waned a little. With apologies to metal fans and musicians everywhere and particularly Darkglass, who may have been internet/forum flamed by ‘Fender or other actors’ (in the way ‘foreign actors’ are sometimes blamed for IT hacking)!! 😂

I nominate this - more lavender than purple. Top rate in my view 😎

By your logic, my bass would require more volume and/or EQ than a standard Ray, but it does not - the settings I use for this bass are the same as for any of my standard Stingrays - so the point is incorrect. The redesign of the Ray Special bridge (for weight loss reasons) and pick ups (neo and 18 volt) enabled the string alignment to pole pieces to be improved (for aesthetic reasons) - all purposes as described by EBMM (note the new look is most apparent on a bridge pick up on an HH version on the E and A string). People’s EQ choices on active basses, pick up settings on passive ones and amps/FOH are what creates scoop (enhancement of bass and treble frequencies, suppression of mid range frequencies, and thus generic bass guitar audibility in certain settings). Having watched the video several times now since it was released, the bass actually sounds excellent to me! I just wish you could actually order one!!

Cool bass. I have a Stingray fretless fitted with the very cool Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwounds, and the wraps are purple, the ball ends are not colour coded (photo attached).

I generally use 100-45 EB Hybrid Slinky (pink pack) on my Stingrays - they actually ship with these from the factory so I’ve presumed they think those gauges work best with their basses. Rightly or wrongly, I think they give better string to string balance and avoid the E overpowering the other stings (given the potential to super scoop the sound on a Stingray with the (actually working and quite powerful) EQ) notably the bass and treble controls. I even did this with my SR5, using a 125 B through 40 as well. It sounds great to me with those. Ive tried heavier gauge and lighter gauge on them as well. The light gauge were particularly good for the mid 80s bass and slap sounds. Hearing @Stub Mandrel talking about string bends, has anyone ever noticed the fabulous sound created when bending a low note on a Stingray - I sometimes bend the E or A 3 semi tones. Watch it if you’re recording - it’s very fat and loud!!! 😀

I think it’s probably a trick of the camera angle but as there’s a video, judge for yourself - sounded fine to me (actually excellent)!! I was worried this would have a weak every string - but it’s absolutely fine!!! In fact wonderful 👍😬

I like it (or whatever electronic gizmo it is) on this song by Rita Ora - comes in after about a minute - in that section her voice fluctuates between normal and basso profundo electronically - nice synth bass in that bit as well - doesn’t seem to want to embed unfortunately https://youtu.be/ksdAs4LBRq8

Yeah that’s right. But you can get a feel for the way MM basses with HH pick ups and the 5 way switch sound in the different settings compared with an H. The only MM basses with ceramic are SR5s (1992 ish - 2008/9) and Sterlings. Possibly the Big Al and Reflex also.

No @TheGreek 😂😂 I have a new iPhone that’s so damned clever it implements short cuts without me even knowing and is a dab hand at changing English which is grammatically correct into gibberish - usually converting everyday words to the nearest name in its coding!!! I’ll admit I just didn’t notice!!! Anyhow, here’s the albino pick up version.....😀

The series setting on the single H is good but certainly with my SR5 (the H one is ceramic) I’m usually in parallel mode - the series gives you a bit more mid range presence. However because it’s ceramic it’s not quite the alnico single H parallel Stingray sound. I wouldn’t have bought another just to get that as the series single H is a good sound anyway. Get a used Stingray 5 H 2008/9-2018 if you want to get that. As I’ve said before I use all my dual pick up Musicman basses generally in HH mode 90% of the time (in the case of the Sabre Classic it’s bridge H plus neck single coil - which I dubbed the Lakland - meaning 55/94 - setting)! If you or @SteveXFR are looking at these - try them out if you can. Even an SBMM dual pick up bass will give you an idea of the available tones - the 3 band EQ helps a lot with both pick ups operating - the fact the Sterling has ceramic pick ups adds presence in my view and the series settings further enhance that. My Sabre, although a dual pick up MM bass, is 2 band so I tend to boost the upper mids a touch on the amp with that bass in two pick up mode.

Worth mentioning the SR5 from around 1992-2008 had ceramic also - changed to alnico when the Sterling 5 was introduced. I really love the sound of my SR5. On Stingrays and Sterlings, the bridge pick up is in exactly the same place as on the H models - however if the Sterling 5 HH bridge only setting is in series, you would lose the closest sound to an H Stingray (which is the parallel setting - this is the one I use most on my ceramic SR5H) - you would get that on an H version owing to the 3 way switch. Are we sure the bridge H soloed on the HH is actually in series? Both the Stingray and Sterling HH versions are even more versatile and I tend to use both humbuckers together whenever I use an HH version, and as @FDC484950 said, with the mids boosted a bit. The only initial downside is the pop area of the slap/pop position being reduced by the bridge H - there is still plenty of room to do this however. Both great basses whichever you choose 👍

I don't usually like gold hardware but these seem good to me. Purple or pink sparkle? 😬👍

I’ve always wanted one (from seeing Alan Spenner and Percy Jones using them in the late 70s). In fact previously, I wanted a Precision to sound like Alan Spenner. The Wal sounds great though. I still want one and failed to order one several times over the past 10 yrs or so, being distracted by various offerings by Musicman (which I was hooked on from hearing Bernard Edwards, Louis Johnson and various local bassists who bought them in the latter part of the 70s). I fear the Wal is becoming unobtainium in newly built form (both in terms of price and build time) - which I would need to get the combinations I want - unless very lucky with a used one - presumably the prices of used ones will also increase?

Not sure - but it sure reminds me of late 50s P basses with adonised pickguards - with the exception that this design of pg is actually elegantl!! 😬 I think it’s an inspired choice and judging by the response on Basschat and Talkbass, the bass has shaken many contributors into the internet equivalent of pen and paper - some sounding like Man United fans commenting on a recent Man City triumph 😂😂 The sold out 50 guitars (note Joe and Jack don’t refer to them as pieces......) seemingly have sold to people amongst the vast majority of bass players who DON’T participate in bass fora!! Unless the forumites are keeping quiet about their purchases 😬

I’ve been tempted since it’s been available as well - I might wait and see if the short scale version has a second run - love that white/gold adonised look.

It pains me to say it but I suspect the target demographic may not be the tilted slightly towards geriatric one of bass guitar fora..... I know the weight of an instrument was the least of my worries when I was sub 30 yrs old!!! I just watched the video again - that sound is great (has some reverb on the whole mix at times though). If it hadn’t sold out (in 3 hrs 😳) I would be tempted. They’re right as well - I remember people moaning about the knob on the standard version - so what better than removing it - priceless 😂

Nod to late 50s Precisions (adonised pick guard, white body)? They sold out in a few hours!! Price obviously not a problem to some people. The regular Joe Dart bass now available in satin black also.

Yes I think it sounds great (in his hands) - short scale no controls - Wow!! Great colour combo as well. According to the video, production funded by Jack S as well.

These sound interesting (especially the Bongo). Let’s hope they’re available via The Vault!!

To add to HKH’s post, there’s nothing wrong with bass players being able to play a 12 bar with consistent root 8th notes at metronomic tempo. Or Rock and roll bass parts similarly. I once learned the bass part to Pictures of Matchstick Men - and then realised it was the very early use of phase on the bass which created that ‘psychedelic’ feel (along with the way the group had been dressed when they appeared on TOTP). Not a bad bass part as well!! Funny how musical snobbery can result in quite interesting things being totally overlooked - I also agree they were a great rock and roll band - I have on vinyl Down The Dustpipe (single) and Piledriver (album) from their first release. They were also trendsetters for a lot of shuffle rhythm based music in the 70s - like it or not, from Abba (Waterloo) to Wizzard (various), to Mud, Suzy Quattro, The Sweet etc etc. I suspect worshipping them is a tad too far in my book but they have a lot of fans that do!!!

Nice bass on this - back in the days when it was mixed at a decent volume - none if this ‘bass should be felt but not heard nonsense 😂)!! However I disagree with you - from what I hear on the car radio these days there’s some really nice pop stuff around currently (eg Dua Lipa) - I guess it depends on individual taste. I was first subjected to the Spice Girls album when my daughter had it - along with En Vogue, All Saints and a string of others (Take That and Backstreet Boys were others). I thought they often had interesting bass parts as well!