Delamitri79

OK decision has been made and its time for a little confession. 

I own the rosewood one and I had the opportunity to swap it for the maple. 

I've decided to keep my own rosewood ray5. I was very fortunate to be allowed to hold onto the maple board ray5 for a week or so (many thanks Ian) but now having played it I realise that the darker tones do it for me, all be it by just the tiniest of margins. Both basses are spectacular and easily would be right at home in any gig. 

Many Thanks for all your great comments and input. I greatly appreciated them and they helped on my way 

Keep her lit low enders 

10 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

My 2003 SR5 ash/maple sounds great recorded, in a live band - has that balance between a warm vintage sound and more modern focus, so it's great for most genres including Motown and Stax - as I say I'd go ceramic. This is mine - really my favourite bass. 

Of course, they've now gone neodymium/18 volt - still a great bass. In this case, ebony!

They are both beautiful basses. The natural finish with the maple board is out of the world 

28 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Sounds like a decision made to me. I have to agree, that maple one looks stunning. If it’s as comfortable as the rosewood to play (personally, I have found EBMM maple ‘boards more chunky than rosewood ones, at least on 4 stringers) then go for it. Either way, it’s s nice dilemma to have.

When you say more chunky, do you mean more space between the strings. Ive found the maple one to be easier to negotiate between the strings 

It's a hell of situation ain't it 😂. They're both gorgeous and I've played both. Aesthetically the maple neck is absolutely killing it for me. I love it. The ceramic pickups are pretty much 100% to the tone I want from a ray5. The rosewood one looks killer with the aged white pearl pickguard and it has that darker tone and its only 6 years old and has the alnico pickups which I'm not fully sure about. I really do think Ernie ball should've kept the ceramic pups in the stingray line and not worry about the sterling thing. To me, ceramic IS the Ray sound. I've to make my mind up soon. 

4 minutes ago, leschirons said:

Yup.

That's gorgeous. 

This is the choice I've got 

This is me at a local gig recently 

12 hours ago, leschirons said:

I've got a 2000 Ray 5 with maple neck. 

I love it, it's a keeper,  so playable compared to my later rosewood 5. Not so dark tone-wise as the rosewood but can cut through any mix. Seem to have a much wider tone palette with the maple and can easily achieve any thing from Status quality hi-fi cleans to Bernard's  Le Freak however, the preamp has been changed. 

Bottom line, I  love it. And, a Ray looks seriously cool with a maple board.

I did a gig on sat night with the maple board ray5 and the sound engineer asked if I had the volume up full as he thought there was a low output from it. It does have fairly old dead strings on it which I'm changing tomo so that could've been the problem. Have you ever known a ray5 to have a low output 

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

For reasons too long to put into words, if you like how they both play, then revert to the lowest common denominator, which is the visual aesthetic.  Which one looks the nicest, which one do you think would look better on you and which one do you want to keep picking up time and again.

Born from a discussion as whether Geddy used a Rickenbacker or a Fender Jazz on Farewell To Kings, Gary/cetera and I put on a bass blind shoot out at last years SE Bass Bash; 25-30 attendees tried to select the correct bass from the fifteen that were submitted for the test.  The highest mark was 3.5/4 out of 15, there were quite a few zeros with some people not even recognising how their own basses sounded.  It's highly unlikely that once you're in a band environment the nuances that you're applying will make any difference.

 

I was always a great believer in the aesthetics of a bass regardless of how it sounded, it has to look good. 

11 hours ago, chris_b said:

My first 5 string was an SR5 with a one piece maple neck and f/b. I didn't get on with the sharp edges. I prefer a fret board with rolled edges, which you get with the rosewood. .

I genuinely haven't noticed any sharp edges on the maple board. 

11 hours ago, Bolo said:

No SR5 has ever lacked cut through. Low-middy tonal character plus very effective preamp will always let you be heard. Just check the truss rod, look for any warping or dead spots on the neck. If both are fine buy the pretty one.

Cheers mate. Thanks for the tips. I'm trying out both this week at different gigs 

12 hours ago, leschirons said:

I've got a 2000 Ray 5 with maple neck. 

I love it, it's a keeper,  so playable compared to my later rosewood 5. Not so dark tone-wise as the rosewood but can cut through any mix. Seem to have a much wider tone palette with the maple and can easily achieve any thing from Status quality hi-fi cleans to Bernard's  Le Freak however, the preamp has been changed. 

Bottom line, I  love it. And, a Ray looks seriously cool with a maple board.

There's just something about the maple isn't there. 

13 hours ago, ead said:

Go with your heart.  If you gig a lot nobody will be able to tell the difference in any case or maybe

"go with you heart"   I hear ya brother ❤️

13 hours ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

If you want the classic Ray tone then the 2013 every time Imo 

I'm not sure if it's the classic Ray tone I like. I got hooked onto bass with Tim commerfords bass tone on the 1st RATM album and that's what I love. 

Alright folks. I've the opportunity to buy a 1999 stingray 5 with a maple neck or a 2013 stingray 5 with a rosewood neck. 

I've played both and I'm still torn. I like the bite of the ceramic pups from the 99 but I like cut through of the rosewood on the 2013. 

Someone put me out of my misery. 

Bump 

Bump 

Bump 

Bump 

Hi

What year is it and how much does it weigh 

Cheers 

I just put it on the scales and it's exactly 4.3kg 

Hi. 

Thanks a million. It weighs approx 4.5kg 

Up for sale here is my beautiful 2013 Stingray 5 

Kinda can't believe I'm parting with her but I'm going back to 4 string and some lucky person will grab an absolute beast of a bass. I recently had it setup by Michal Langner and let me tell you, she's a dream to play. Both pickguards included in the sale. 

I'm very interested in trading for a 4 string stingray. 

There is a hardcase with it. I still feel a bit reluctant letting this go but sure let's see what happens 👍

Could we see a few more pictures

Still available? 

this is beautiful. have you any price on shipping to ireland