gazhowe

Check out the money back guarantee offered by Thomann who have great customer service and are happy for you to try things out and return with no questions asked. You would obviously need to be careful to ensure that the item is returned in pristine condition but it's well worth considering IMHO. https://www.thomann.de/gb/helpdesk_moneyback.html

They look decent. If possible, it would be good to have lights at either side of the stage to ensure good coverage. You could always get those and add a 2nd one later if necessary. 😎

That looks decent bang for buck. If it’s placed at the rear of the stage the band will be in silhouette so you will probably also need something to the side and/or slightly in front to illuminate you all. As @taunton-hobbit said, you need to be careful with lasers but class 3R looks like it can be used with minimal risk.

TBH I think you might struggle to light up both the stage and dance floor for that budget. I would prioritise lighting up the band rather than the dance floor if you need to compromise. If i was looking to spend that budget I would go for the LEDJ Q Colour to provide a colour wash for the stage. One on each side of the stage, mounted on stands, would work well and provide ample coverage for a 4m x 3m (and bigger) stage. That would leave a couple of hundred quid to provide effect lighting that could further add to the stage show and also light up the dance floor. There are quite a few Chinese made moving head lights on eBay that offer a lot of functionality for the money. You could probably pick up 5-6 units for the remaining money. I'm assuming that you are using some type of lighting controller to operate your lights via DMX but all of the above can be used with in-built programs without a controller. FWIW, my band uses the following setup: LEDJ Q Colour x 2, LEDJ 7Q5 x 7, ADJ Inno Pocket Spot x 2, Equinox Slender Beam Bar Quad. Airstream DMX controller (via iPad) Gaz

Tort

I run all of my lights via DMX (using an ADJ Airstream Bridge and iPad) as I've found that most inbuilt shows would result in the lights pointing in the wrong direction 50% of the time!

Thanks again @EBS_freak. I've got some moving heads that do beams (2 x ADJ Inno pocket spots and a Equinox slender beam bar quad) so a couple of these will be nice alternative to enable me to vary the effect lighting in our lighting setup. 😎

Thanks for that @EBS_freak. Have you tried using it with smoke or haze yet? I'm interested to know whether the output is a fairly well defined beam or more of a wider wash-type effect.

I’ve not tried them but they appear to offer a lot for what they cost and worth a punt. I’ll be getting a couple (or similar) when I need to replace the floor standing lights we use to light up the drum kit.

I've just sold a Musicman Stingray to elteha (Marcin). Marcin was great to deal with from the outset and even arranged the courier pickup to ship the bass to him in Poland. Communications have been very good throughout the whole process which has been straightforward and hassle free. You can deal with Marcin with confidence. 😎 Gaz

I’m interested in trying different (45-100 gauge) strings on my Stingray’s. I’ve been using Ernie Ball Slinky’s (Nickel) and D’Addario NYXL’s lately and found I much prefer the tone and tension of the Slinky’s. Can anyone shed some light on how the DR Sunbeams and Fatbeams compare to the above please?

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.