drTStingray

The Stingray 5 Specials are post 2018. There are lighter SR5s around from earlier times but you have to search - my 2003 one is about 10.5 lbs - however it balances really well on a padded strap so I’m able to do 2 x 45 with it - even at my advanced years!!! Sounds great as well.

My latest Bongo 5 is under 8 lbs and Stingray 5 Specials are generally under 9 lbs - mine is a little over 8 lbs.

For those who do like short scale Stingrays, black, maple and tort, this more affordable version has been announced. Full blog is here https://blog.music-man.com/news/sterling-by-music-man-new-for-2022/

I think the big point here is that very major change happened around the mid 70s - for many people (I’m talking semi pro/aspiring pros) the Fenders had ceased to be the bass of choice whereas they always had been. The 80s almost split into two halves as well ( maybe even the 90s). So the ‘bass of the decade’ doesn’t really work in respect of history. In terms of a collection, I guess people collect what appeals to them. I don’t own a Fender currently and maybe won’t - my current ‘sort of’ wish list includes a Jaydee Supernatural and a Wal!! They’re probably both basses of the 80s!! I mentioned the Shadows and their influence on 60s players - it’s worth remembering their inspiration was Buddy Holly and the Crickets, hence the original, Cliff Richard imported Stratocaster and their subsequent use of Fender instruments in the v early 60s for a couple of years - they were emulating their idols!! Mo Foster’s book includes some commentary from Hank Marvin about issues with that Strat - which the Burns overcame!!!

With one or two exceptions, 5 strings were not really around until the late 80s (SR5 was 1987/8).

I saw this a couple of days ago - these potted histories are very good - there are couple of errors in it but it’s generally v good 👍

Excellent - and pre Brexit 🥴 bargains are often possible with luck and perseverance!!

Indeed - not my cup of tea either but we’ve all heard about the love for tort amongst some bass players - some have even done their toasters, allegedly 😂

The normal new price of say, a Musicman Classic Sabre at this time was circa £2k so I would expect a Bongo to be similar, unless very very NOS on clearance reduction.

They’ve not been that price new since the 2000s - that’s 20 yrs ago 😀!! Seems amazing, I know. I bought a new SR5 in 2003 for £1295 - at the same time I was considering an immaculate Inca silver 77 pre Ernie Ball Stingray at the Bass Centre - previously owned by a famous musician - it was £1700 - there are only around 130 Inca silver pre EB instruments recorded in the CLF days. However a good portion of the price hike on new instruments has been since the world has gone a bit mad, over the last couple of years.

Thank heavens for that!! Forum software glitch??? 😂

I guess no worse than a 1960s/70s Fender Jazz or Les Paul guitars. Manufacturing techniques and materials are all light years ahead so they should be significantly better!! According to the thread on Talkbass these basses have already sold out!!

I got the feeling the likes of the Pistols etc were set up with whatever the management thought was appropriate at the time. Knowing Messrs Weller and Co (by their own admissions) were deliberately trying to recreate very early Who material, but worshipped the Beatles also, that Rickenbacker instruments figured should probably be no surprise!! But for unsigned bands I’d agree!!! The likes of Colin Greenwood (Radiohead) and Alex James (Blur) used Stingrays and SR5s respectively in the studio quite extensively. I also think the Thunderbird is an oft overlooked bass that is quite popular amongst rock and grunge genres.

Yes, agreed.

I’ve fixed the link - goodness knows why it added code!! Yeah agreed, pricey. I think from the Vault they’ll be well cheaper than a dealer.

I’ve definitely missed out punk and ska from the late 70s - early 80s. Often Precisions but also Rickenbacker (the Jam for instance) - thus not active basses. A bit like Brit pop from the 90s on.

The problem with this ‘basses by decades’ thing is it didn’t actually work like that. For those of us around during the 60s and 70s it went a bit like this:- 60s - 1) bass was pretty inaudible on pop records until the late 60s - we could hear some quite interesting stuff on Motown records (but fairly indistinct - loud enough to be influenced/attempt to copy) - no idea who the bassist (s) we’re at the time 2) Very mixed up ideas on what make sounded best - Gibson EB3 made a very nice sound in the hands of people like Andy Fraser especially live - Fender players like Leo Lyons and John McVie sounded great on record (post 16 track recording and deep vinyl grooves (literally)) - not very good live in comparison - Paul McC sounded less plummy on his Ric than his Hohner but Chris Squire sounded a bit clanky and tinny on his (especially live) 3) Many U.K. famous players influenced by the Shadows and their earliest bass players - particularly Jet Harris - who had a bass solo on their first album (incredibly the fiesta red Precision (to match the Strats) was only played for about 18 months before they moved to matching white Burns instruments (incidentally the basses sounded far better than the Precision - watch Mark Griffiths on the Shadows Final Tour to see/hear this) 4) Many pop players in the 60s in the U.K. used Epiphone Rivoli or Gibson EB2s - as an amplified attempt at a double bass sound this was possibly the closest available 5) Jazz players - electric basses were few and far between, mostly upright. I wouldn’t like to guess what the bass of the 60s was - possibly, owing to the prevalence of the Beatles, the Höfner or Rickenbacker should win. 70s early The early 70s is probably either a Fender Jazz or Precision - rock bands using Fenders never sounded much cop live, bass wise. However, R and B bands did, and the bass took an important role - players playing Jazz and Precision basses hard, and precisely got a good sound - examples of stand out players of this ilk for me were Louis Johnson (with Billy Preston), James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt (Motown), Boz Burrell (Bad Company - Precision fretless), Alan Spenner (Grease Band; Alvin Lee; Kokomo); Alan Gorrie (Average White Band); Colin Hodgkinson (Back Door) 70s mid to late At this point, people had started to look for better bass sounds to enable better studio sounds and better live sounds. As hi fi music systems for home use had become prevalent, and the multi track recording systems in studios had enabled ever increasing standards of fidelity, the idea of recording woolly-sounding bass had disappeared The Alembic bass, the Musicman Stingray and the Wal all, of which incorporated active electronics to give the player far more control over their sound - became used by most of the players previously mentioned. Also, the Yamaha BB and Ibanez RS type basses were introduced, largely covering the same ground. It would be the early 80s before Fender even attempted an active bass!! I would give this part of the decade to the Stingray with the Wal and Alembics highly influential. Many of us who had learned to play to a reasonable standard wanted to sound like Stanley Clarke (who in turn had been influenced by Colin Hodgkinson) - Alembics were massively expensive though - but seen and heard to great effect with bands like Rose Royce, Fleetwood Mac - and I saw Louis Johnson using one live with the Brothers Johnson. Examples of remaining ‘hard hitting’ passive Fender players - Robert ‘Pops’ Popwell (The Crusaders; Olivia Newton John), Norman Watt Roy (Ian Dury and The Blockheads). 80s The decade of the synth bass and where bass player’s and guitarist’s jobs were under threat….. 5 string bass guitars invented to combat synth basses Influential basses were Steinberger, Ibanez Musician, Aria, Musicman Sabre, Wal. Jaco (Fender Jazz passive fretless) and Pino (Stingray active fretless) were very influential (Jaco since about 1977) 90s 5 string basses become ubiquitous - Lakland, Warwick, Musicman. Flea is hugely influential with various basses but especially Stingray, Wal, Spector, Alembic - and then Modulus. Many new ‘boutique or boutiquish makes like Overwater, Ritter etc etc. Wooly vintage bass sounds become popular again thanks to Brit pop bands like Blur and Oasis 00s Much as 90s but Fender basses become very popular again. It appears many producers have forgotten how to produce bass for non high wattage sub speaker consumers leading to accusations of xxxxx without bass becoming prevalent (eg place Jools Holland BBC show instead of xxxxx). 10s Much as 00s - I went to see both Jamiroquy and Level 42 ‘without properly audible bass sound’ at the beginning of this decade (note I’m a big fan of both Paul Turner and Mark King and placed the problem fairly and squarely with the people in charge of FOH sound). Even Flea had a go at using a vintage Fender Jazz and live soon replaced it with a Modulus - the Jazz did not produce the 80s/90s aggressive RHCP bass sound!! Fender basses very popular in this decade. Dingwall multi scale basses become popular especially (but also elsewhere) in metal. 20s The world has gone bonkers owing to Covid and warring dictators leading to astronomical price rises for musical instruments and a couple of years of hiatus for pro musicians owing to lack of public performance opportunities. It appears the importance of bass has become recognised again and artists like Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa have top selling singles and albums with bass akin to Bernard Edwards’ 1979 Stingray sound!! Active basses seem to be having a bit of a come back although many famous makes are now at previously boutique prices!!

Yeah agree - maybe we’ll see an LE one sometime - unfortunately at an eye watering price I guess 😂

This is a new Short Scale Stingray BFR recently offered - appears to be available in the on line shop (The Vault) - rather nice - deep breath before looking at the price 😀 https://shop.music-man.com/ernie-ball-music-man-short-scale-stingray-4-bombshell.html I’m not interested in one of these personally, but did notice a couple of BFR Stingray 5s available for international purchase…….. now if I hadn’t just incurred £1200 damage wrecking an alloy wheel and brand new tyre hitting a brick in the road taking my car for service this morning aaaarrgh 🥴

For anyone with an orange Bongo, the pg on mine is an OE one, back in the days when they offered a lot of variants - the swirls are orange and black - called tiramisu, I think they’re still available from Chandler (Pickguard Planet) in the US - they are EBMM’s supplier - must get a new black one for my Sabre - current one is heavily scuffed from use!!! PS you can get cheap Stingray pgs on the internet but judging by the standard of a white pearl one that came on a used 1993 Blueburst Stingray I bought (the pg delaminated within a few months) it’s worth paying the extra for a decent one IMHO.

For me it’s so embarrassing if I’m playing a song with bits of slap in, and because I’m using a bass I’m less accustomed to, my accuracy goes to pieces - I think it’s just practice but using any sort of 5 string has sometimes made me have that feeling of panic!!

BFR Neptune Blue Sabre - they were mostly Bongos and Stingrays - a guy in the US contacted me as he has a Classic Stingray in BFR Neptune blue.

They take a little bit of getting used to with the 24 feet neck - I sometimes used to find myself getting a little lost above say 14th/15th fret - partially because of being unaccustomed to the extra length of neck above 12th fret. In terms of slapping, I play several songs which have it - I’ve now mastered doing this on a two pick up Musicman bass and of course the Bongos are both fives, which add another complexity. The single H Stingray is, of course, a monster bass for slapping and so much room available to do it - I think it’s really a matter of practice getting used to doing it on an HH.

Scott Ball said he didn’t recall them making many!! Station Music had a Sterling in this spec a few years back - I think that was probably unique as well.

Thanks @AndyTravis I’ve had a few unsolicited offers to buy it - I’ve never been able to get it confirmed but i think it may be unique and if not, super rare. It has a mahogany body and a very early version of the roasted maple neck. Some day, if one crops up, I might get a 30th Anniversary Ray - they also have a mahogany body - but few and far between with the original case etc on the used market these days. What is a bit odd about the purchase of that bass is I tried to get a Diego blue one but S and T had one of every colour in the U.K. EXCEPT that one!! A few months later EBMM announced the Neptune blue PDN offering - so I immediately ordered the Sabre - couldn’t be happier about it in every way 😀