drTStingray

In reality there's not a vast difference between the Musicman 2 band and pre 2018 3 band. The main differences are:- 1) The 3 band has a high pass filter which cuts frequencies right at the bottom end which can be boomy in some situations 2) The 3 band Musicman mid frequency needs to be cut - possibly about 50% below centre to get a 2 band sound (boost the bass and treble a little as well). I do this and then turn the mid up as a tone control dependent also on the frequency of the other instruments. Worth trying this!! All that said one of the best recorded 3 band sounds I've heard had all three controls on full boost!! A bit of compression from the desk and what a sound! It was on a modern rock song. The latest 3 band (Stingray Special) is quite different - the EQ is more like a single pick up Bongo with the amount of bass available but the mid is centred lower than the previous 3 band in terms of frequency - but then has more cut and plenty of boost available - plus neodymium pick up magnets and an 18 volt pre amp.

They're in the section of their website called 'The Vault' and available in the US only as I understand. As you all probably know Musicman only do these things as limited, and in set finish combinations (in effect they're pre built for stock). Gone are the days of a configurator - even when it was available lots of people apparently asked for stuff not on there (wacky colours etc). It's a bit like Fender, except they will do other configurations - at CS Masterbuild prices usually to get your exact spec....... I read somewhere that manufacturing is very marginal and even the addition of a matching headstock add significant cost, especially if offered on an all colour basis. I think we should be thankful they give the range they do on Stingrays!! A lot of colours there.

I too don't like gold hardware generally (I like it on Warwick Streamers) - I think it fits this limited Musicman colour perfectly - in fact complements it well. Perhaps since having an aqua blue sparkle Stingray 4HH my acceptance of 'in yer face' colours has increased. To me the pink champagne sparkle is great - it also has a figured roasted maple neck which will add to the 'exclusivity'. If you're wondering whether I'm having great trouble not pushing the button on one of these, you're absolutely correct 😄😍😍😍

Some of the SR4 Fretless issued last winter were like that (but not all - I did have my eye on one at the time). Thank the Lord!! There are only 85 worldwide - wouldn't pay for too many to order one 😏 😂 @hiram.k.hackenbacker yes an interesting and possibly predictable reaction - several ladies have asked to have their photo taken with my coral red Stingray Classic - one of them is left handed and held it the wrong way up...... 😬 I don't know if you know but they have some SLO neck profile Stingray Specials available (only in the US), along with lefties as well. Im seriously contemplating the Stingray pink champagne sparkle 😍

You could always buy a black plate - would look great with the gold screws. I prefer the pearl white on this colour. The SR5's rather nice as well. This always happens when I'm seriously thinking about ordering a Wal - Musicman issue something I don't actually need, but can't resist for less than half the price 😧😊

I really want one of these 😯😬 There's also an SR5 fretless without pickguard 😎 https://www.music-man.com/bfr/july-2020?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=july_2020_bfr

I played Saturday afternoon at an outdoor private party - we had our own open fronted marquee and were able to generally get 3 m apart from each other so singing and brass could all happen. The audience were at tables outside with very large table umbrellas. Of course, Saturday was host to probably the largest amount of rain seen in months in the south east of England but it all went fine and we went down well. Every band member complained of aches and pains the following day and severe tiredness - 15 wks without a gig, then, 2 X 1 hr sets took its toll!!! My bass gear, ready to play - the stuff in the background is all the singer's...... don't ask - Antiques Road Trip influence I think!! Nice saxes! We did a nice version of Bueno, by Morphine and that Baritone was put to great use!

I also played that guitar and it was very nice indeed - great tone as well (I think it was in Regent Sounds when I saw it). A colour of that era on Stingrays and Precisions, maybe other Fenders was walnut, as demonstrated by that bass. The neck profile on the Stingray was one element which I found perfect (for me) when I bought one new at the end of the 70s. The Precision's neck profile was one element that put me off buying one. As has been said, it is the profile as well as the width which counts. Modern Stingrays have an 11" radius which gives them a shallow feel and as they are all hand finished with a super slick oil and wax (no laquer) finish. They are particularly good - and the roasted maple of the Specials seems to make them feel even slicker to me. The Classic Rays and Old Smoothies have a more curved radius (7.5 in) and a lacquered finish so feel much more like the 70s Stingray. They feel quite different from other makes of basses, and even those with the same width at the nut. Radius, width and profile are the keys to this IMHO, and finish is the other core element to the feel.

Would yourself, @AndyTravis and one or two others be what is colloquially called 'statistical outliers' amongst us more elderly members? 😬 you're making me feel positively ancient which I do (achingly so) anyway after playing two 1 hr sets Saturday afternoon for the first time since March!! Ps the Sadowski's absolutely wonderful, Musicman sublime but Wal is er well, sort of exquisite!! 😊

PS if I bought used, it would have to have exactly the spec of @TrevorR 's Wal with book matched ribboned top (in fact if I ordered a new one I would ask for exactly that!!).

So on the general question of build times extending (in general) I don't know if anyone's suspected that this may have been affected just a bit (or maybe a great deal) by Covid. On the question of prices, as we know there is an economic crisis in most industries and everywhere in the world - as a completely unrelated example, I like making pasta sauce but for about six weeks or two months couldn't get hold of either pasta or tinned chopped tomatoes - I can get both now but the tinned tomatoes are now £1 per tin - I seem to remember them being 30 odd pence a tin not long ago - hmmmm I wonder why 🤔 So I'm not entirely sure why everyone has overlooked or is surprised the supply and pricing of our favourite instruments have not remained immune from these unprecedented external influences? Ps I've also been thinking of ordering a Wal and it too will have to be a mk1..... the mk2 and mk3s are wonderful basses but for me a Wal is a 4 string mk1, no matter how irrational that idea is 😬 Looks like I'd better hurry up and place an order!!

But that's not true is it - the OP sent it 6th July - the thread has been running for 17 days with numerous members wading in with their own impressions of the supplier's standards of customer service and everything else - so it is Basschat members who've dragged his name through the mud in reality? I'm still astonished that for an issue that's happened during Covid lockdown (the OP was 3rd July) not anyone has even recognised that this might have been a factor in lowering customer service standards - considering virtually everyone on this forum is not performing currently because of Covid, do you not recognise every business, everywhere is affected to one level or another. I'm not sure why this is surprising in sons ways as a similar lack of awareness seems to be applying on Talkbass as well 😮 I agree though that the supplier's response has apparently been lamentable.

They're few and far between used 😏 Anyone who thinks they can resist the sparkle - this is my 4HH - that colour has an ebony board and black hardware. It's just about 2 yrs old now - weighs around 8 lbs. That said, the silver's v nice @BassApprentice How are you getting on with the SR5 Specials, @Old Horse Murphy ?

I don't know much about this case but surely the current 'unprecedented' times might have an influence - one only has to look around to see household names cutting back on retail outlets and others going into receivership. At this time I would not expect anything like normal service unless I was buying something which was already in stock in a retail outlet or on line store. That doesn't excuse the issues here but I suspect it has a bearing on it. Just remember that musical instruments are classed as luxury goods and usually the industry demonstrates that when a recession starts - we are entering/already in the mother of all economic crises so problems should not be totally surprising.

Great - remember to post some pics when you get it 👍

Congratulations on your new basses. I would echo what you've said about the Specials - I've got two as well, a 4 and a 5 - both are very light, both HH configuration and have bright colours - the 4 being that same Aqua sparkle - it's a great colour - I've had them nearly two years now and am still very smitten - the aqua sparkle looks absolutely great (v nice under lights) - as Musicman colours go probably only second to the fuschia sparkle offered on Bongos (as well as Aqua sparkle) for in your face beauty!! 😬 I agree as well on 5 strings - whilst I got into them to play Stevie Wonder stuff I also couldn't be without a 4, so I've I have, and play both in rotation. I've recently been re-learning/practicing Stevie stuff (Boogie on Reggae Woman; Higher Ground and You Haven't Done Nothin') - I prefer playing all of them on 5 string owing to the keys or voicing. I don't quite agree on your comment about the pre Special MM SR5 being boomy or thin - my (quite weighty) natural ash SR5H sounds fat and punchy - I reckon the ceramic pick up, coil switching, 3 band EQ with high pass filter all contribute - the 2 band Classic Ray can be boomy (no high pass filter) dependent on location/ room dynamics and settings (and if the PA operator is too tuned in to sub frequencies rather than mid for bass guitar....). What songs will you be playing in the new 80s band - I must admit I really like 80s stuff as well.

I'm astonished no one has picked up on the requirement for singers to have a 3m exclusion zone around them (unless people stand back to back, for instance if you have two singers) - same for brass! And that's outdoors (I think)! 😧 The virus is still around running at 650 new cases a day in the uk. Below is the data by age and sex - quite startling really. And if you're in the US the deaths are on the up again Just saying - you sometimes get the vibe the problem is over 😐

The Ray4 (cheapest version) and Ray 24 both have 38 mm wide necks at the nut (this is similar to a US Sterling or US Ray with the SLO special neck) - the Ray 34 has a 43 mm wide neck at the nut (as per US Stingray, US Sub). The Ray4 has a surprisingly wide range of colour options.

Absolutely - vintage guitar prices are stratospheric compared with basses - 50s Strats are also silly money. Just shows that groupie was right - on this basis the guitarist (or at least their vintage guitar) is worth more than 10 times the value of the most expensive bass!!

You've probably picked one polar opposite here - early stack knob Fender Jazzes have some of the highest values of all vintage basses (but apparently quite reasonable compared to some vintage guitars)!! Vintage Fender Precisions are usually less valuable than a Fender Jazz from the same era (the stack knob Jazzes are really outliers in terms of value). I agree that perusing vintage instruments can really be quite a dangerous pastime for your finances, Ive been tempted more than once!! I've not succumbed so far, only having relatively new basses.

Worked fine on my v old iPhone too - i got 12/15 - got the double bassist wrong and a couple of others (black single pick up plus one other which I can't remember)!

I have less of a problem with the 'professional' question (several in the band I'm in are fully pro, and we are indeed doing it for gain) than I have with the requirement for:- 1) Singers to be at least 3 m from other band members and the audience. 2) Wind instrument players having the same distancing requirement So that's the front line being spread over 6 m laterally (over 18ft in old money), which is clearly not going to happen in a pub garden (our gig a week Saturday). An alternative is for two of them to stand back to back - reducing the spacing requirement. Similarly the band will need a depth of 6m to accommodate two lines of players and a drummer (we all also sing) - an alternative is for none of the second row or drummer to sing - or the drummer could face the back...... All sounds quite difficult to me. 😧

I don't know - you'll need to look on their web site for the specs and also could look at Musicman to compare. Certainly the Ray 34 has a neck very similar to the MM Stingray, if not the same. The discontinued Ray34 CA had a narrower neck profile, so it's possible the Ray 24 has (as I say, worth checking before you commit. A used Ray 34 or Ray 34CA would be another option. Let us know what you decide, with some pics 👍

The Ray 24 is a budget version of a 2 band Stingray - it has an improved bridge and other fittings over the SBMM Sub, which is more of an entry level bass. They both have a 2 band EQ with ceramic pick up - which will mean they will produce a punchy sound. I read some while back that the EQ for the Ray 24 was based on the Musicman Old Smoothie EQ. I think the Ray 24 also has a slab body (similar to the Musicman Stingray Classic). Both will give you a sound similar to a US Musicman (watch juliaplaysgroove on You Tube - she uses an SBMM Sub on a lot of videos and sound great). An alternative would be a used USA Sub - these are quite sought after and basically a slab bodied, 2 band US built Stingray with cheaper finish (textured paint on the body, black painted neck, non Musicman stamped tuners (but basically the same standard). They were only made between 2003-6 (as 4 string and 5 string - beware - some are passive - an active would be required to get the full Stingray sound).

The main thing in the section 4 guidance concerns singers and wind instruments (other instruments don't have the following requirement) - it says where there are no other mitigating measures, there should be at least 3 metres between a singer or horn player and audience or other group member (it calls them team but is obviously generic, covering for instance choirs as well) - this all presumes outdoor performance as well. As we all do backing vocals, the drummer may have to forego his mike or set up facing backwards 😁😂 (he is quite loud) - I think the back line probably will all have to forgo backing vocals and leave that to the two singers with the sax player alongside them at the front - and all of us as far apart as possible (3m) and at least 3 m from the audience. And at a reasonably low volume (to avoid people shouting to speak). As its in a pub garden this is all going to be very interesting..... Not for 10 days yet!!