gazhowe

Great job Johnna, that’s absolutely fantastic! 😎

Is that a spirit level in the middle? If so, I’m not sure if that’s are good or bad thing for those of us with OCD. 😳😆

I think the bass control on Stingray's is voiced slightly differently than on the Status S2. I have several Stingray's and a Status S2 and gig them all but I haven't found the bottom end to be lacking on any of my Ray's (4H 3 band EQ, Classic and a Special). The signal from the S2 is hotter than from any other bass I've owned (all active) but that is easily addressed by increasing the input gain on my amp(s) when using another bass. It was the opposite for me when I owned a Stingray and a Spector Euro. I preferred the sound I was getting from my Euro but I found the neck to be too chunky and uncomfortable so I eventually sold it and kept the Ray. Are Musicman Stingray's overrated? - I certainly don't think so but, like any bass, its obvious not everyone will feel the same way. There have been some rather sweeping statements made on this thread about general build (design?) quality that don't match my experience, or that of other contributors. Whilst the Stingray may not meet an individual's quality expectations it's not reasonable to state that there is a widespread issue when clearly not everyone shares the same view. I have preferred using other basses to a Stingray due to personal preference at that time - my Status S2 was my 'go to' bass for 10 years until I got my Stingray Special. At the end of the day, it's all subjective and good that we all like different gear.

There’s nothing I’ve hated but the following were spur of the moment buys that all disappointed. In no particular order: Esh Various - nice looking bass and neck but I thought it had a weak sound, no matter how I tried to set the eq. Fender Geddy Lee Jazz - felt nice in the shop but the neck was a little too narrow for my taste. Sounded weak and bland compared to my Stingray and Status S2. The guitarist in my band threatened to burn it if I brought it to another gig. Overwater Aspiration Deluxe 5 - other than feeling as heavy as a boat anchor this was a really good bass that I thought sounded great. I quickly realised that I wasn’t comfortable with the weight, wide neck and extra string.

I’m 50 and starting to feel it after gigs and the next day, but the above comment sums up how I feel about it perfectly. As long as I’m happy with my band I’ll put up with aches, pains and tiredness for as long as physically possible as I know how much I’ll miss it when I stop gigging.

Best purchase for me has been my Musicman Stingray Special. It’s been my only major purchase this year so I’ve luckily not had a ‘worst’.

I do the lights for my 4 piece band and have found the following approach work well. All lights are LED. - 3 par cans with white light on stands at side/front of stage, one for each band member except drums. These are permanently on and are pointed at chest height to avoid shining in our eyes. We found this to work better than having these lights on the floor pointing upwards. Colour and effect lighting is then to the rear and side as follows; - Colour stage washes on stands at sides. - Contrasting colour lights on floor to sides and on drums. - Moving head lights to sides on floor and on stand behind drums. Gaz

That’s a MarkBass MoMark amp. It’s a modular system where you can change the pre-amp, EQ and output modules. They come with four different powered amp frames. I recently owned two of these and still have a 500w one as my spare amp. Very underrated IMO but you don’t see many about and now discontinued.

I’ve got a 2005 3EQ, a Classic and one of the new Stingray Specials. All are great basses and build quality is top notch on each one. I tend to use them all without boosting or cutting the on board EQ but occasionally slightly boost the bass and/or treble on the Classic and Special. I haven’t had an issue with G string volume and think that’s probably due to not excessively boosting bass and treble. I agree with previous comments that the Low end is very focussed (in a good way). If you are able to I suggest trying both a Classic and Stingray Special, particularly if you are considering buying new. They are both great but different in many ways (eq, neck profile, body shape, weight). I’m gigging with both and at the moment am using the Special more.

The LEDJ Q Colour is a good light if you just want one per side to provide a stage wash. They are too heavy to velcro to PA cabs but you could get a bracket to fix them to PA speaker stands/poles.

I’ve just received a 25ft Ernie Ball cable too following registration of my new Stingray Special. Even though I don’t need another cable and the cost to Strings and Things is probably very little it’s a really nice touch and I really appreciate the gesture.

Pretty much like for like replacement for me: Aguilar AG700 amp, Bergantino 410 cab. I'd replace my Stingray's (Special and Classic) but would consider upgrading my Status S2 Classic to an S3.

My Charcoal Sparkle 4H is very comfortable with a very smooth and fast neck. Build quality is excellent as you would expect for a bass costing £2k+. I've just done the first two gigs with mine this weekend and it just sounded fabulous. So far, and probably with a bit of bias because its new, I prefer the sound of this to my other Ray's (a 3EQ and a Classic). The bass control isn't at all boomy when boosted and it is easy to dial in a variety of great tones. The biggest difference IMO is that it doesn't have the top end raspy quality of the 3EQ which was a planned approach according to the Musicman promo video. I've been using my Ray's as backups to my Status S2 for years but this is so good I think I'll be using this as my main bass for a while. 😎

The last item that made a real positive difference to my sound was the Aguilar AG700 I bought last year. The last item I bought was a Stingray Special in Charcoal Sparkle on Saturday. I’m gigging with it this weekend so don’t know yet if it will make a positive difference to my sound but it will make me look more sparkly. 😎

My Charcoal Sparkle 4H arrived today and...wow! The neck is fantastic and the bass looks and feels great overall. When I first lifted it out of the case I was very (pleasantly) surprised at how light it felt. I've just weighed this in at 8.2lbs, against 9.6lbs for my Classic Ray. 😎

Likewise, I’ve just ordered the same from Andertons. My need for shiny and sparkly new things is killing my wallet. Damn you Basschat! 😂

Thanks for the clarification.

I’ve got two MoMark modular Markbass amps (500w and 800w). I’d always thought that the 500w was Class A/B and the 800w was Class D. I recently took the 500w to an amp tech to have it checked over and was surprised when he told me it was also a Class D. 😳 Both amps sound great, as does my Class D Aguilar AG700. If you try an amp and it sounds good to you then I don’t think it matters what’s under the bonnet. 😎