birdy

[quote name='Marcus' post='145925' date='Feb 24 2008, 11:36 AM']Hi Guys, I've been gassing for a Ray for a while now, there's been a couple of nice modern Ray's on here for like £650 - £700 while for a pre EB we're talking £1500 + leaving aside the historical significance and investment potential, and thinking from a playability, tone & feel perspective are the Pre EB Ray's that much better ? I know individual instruments from both era's will vary greatly but in general what are your experiences ? Cheers Mark[/quote] Hi Mark, I have owned 3-4 post EB stingrays from the late 80s through to the 00s and one pre EB stingray. The pre EB stingray was very nice but VERY HEAVY. The playability of it was not as good as the more modern ones although its sound was probably the best out of all the rays I have owned but in a very subtle way that not all would agree with. I think its generally considered that the late 80s, early 90s rays are the best value for money but I am sure others will chime in. If you buy a Pre EB it should in theory appreciate in value more so than any of the others which may make it a good choice for you. Steve

Thanks Guys, The new price varies from around £1500 upwards depending on options etc. There is a full price list on Marks website detailing what you can get. The 4 strings are cheaper than 5's etc. Considering they are in the same league as Sadowsky, Roscoe, F Bass etc etc they seem pretty good value. Flanker has the Roscoe, an F Bass, a jazz and a precision but I think there could be more suprises in store ;-) His F Bass is a real beauty. I think I am as bad as he is when it comes to swapping basses. As you have seen I am having a clear out and am on the verge of ordering another Nordy 5 from Mark possibly with swappable pickups so I can switch between P/J and J/J with relative ease. The other great thing about these basses is the customer service. Even though I bought this bass from Flanker making it second hand I contacted Mark with some queries about pick up combinations and Nordstrand have sent us a set of pick ups FREE OF CHARGE as I had an earlier model and they had made some improvements! I was amazed by this as they are not cheap. Steve

I was pretty impressed with bass_ferrets fretless GB but if you heard me play fretless you wouldn't let me near it :-) Other than that SlapHappyGarrys red stingray was a beaut and although I haven't seen it I would guess Jebo's CAR 66 Jazz is pretty special! Steve EDIT: I forgot to mention Flankers F Bass - thats some bass that I keep trying to prise away from him :-)

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='143870' date='Feb 20 2008, 05:45 PM']You have been a busy boy. Presume the Roscoe has gone in the other direction.[/quote] Yes thats right! Very busy and its not over yet ;-)

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='143779' date='Feb 20 2008, 04:02 PM']I've played this bass - it's a stunner. Envious of Preston. :blush:[/quote] I think we have been in a similar boat for a while dabbling with fivers and not finding one that suits. I happened to play one over at Marks (bassdirect) and thought wow, I wonder if the necks are like this on all of them and that was that. I think once you get to a certain level of bass its not about anything being better its about personal preference as to what suits you better but you could do worse than get one on order :-) Steve

Here is my new to me Nordy VJ5 which I recently got from Flanker in a trade. The first 5 string that I have felt confident enough to gig with, what a neck. This is the reason for my clear out in the for sale thread. I will shortly be ordering another one, check them out at bassdirect! [attachment=5782:20022008269.jpg][attachment=5783:20022008270.jpg][attachment=5784:20022008271.jpg][ attachment=5785:20022008272.jpg][attachment=5786:20022008275.jpg][attachment=5787:20022008273.jpg]