40hz

I have to confess, I never, ever used to believe this or buy into it when seeing it discussed on here. Recently however, my beliefs have been shook to the core! Having purchased a Warwick Streamer LX4 from 2004 and absolutely being bowled away by it, it got me to thinking just how different it is to my 2009 Streamer LX and Stage One that I owned. The bass is much more alive, dynamic, smoother sounding, punchier with a really singing musical top-end. Compared to the 2009 which was a very twangy, bright sounding instrument, if a bit light on the bass. My Stage One which was pure bark and brittleness and sounded a little unrefined in a live setting unless you really dialled back the treble. And again, the 3 Fleas I've owned. Some very noticeable differences ; Flea 1 (a 2004 model in black) sounded like an electronic synthesizer, with a real, nasal 'electronic' growl and edge to the notes. Which I absolutely loved. Flea 2 (a 97, silver flake) didn't have a nasty edge to it and was super clean, crystalline and full ranged, a totally different beastie. Flea 3 (2004 in blue flake) is hugely nastier and funkier with more growl and grit and balls than the other two. A whole different ball park. With my (not so) stunning revelation, has anyone else had similar experiences with the same models?

Haven't we got to a point where country of manufacturer is borderline irrelevant? The advent of super advanced CNC machining means quality will be uniformly good across the board from most reputable manufacturers. The origin of manufacture may have meant something 15-20 years ago and beyond, but now? . . . I don't think so. Any issues nowadays tend to stem from time taken to finish and set up, and that's not something that is location specific, but rather £££ specific.

That's not strictly true. The valve stuff came very late in the day in his Jamiroquai tenure. He was using standard AH series heads live and in the studio all the way up to 96ish. I don't agree with it being an brand of a specific decade. If anything I'd say Trace weren't just 80's amps, but 90s too. People are still using them, much in the same way people still use SVTs. Do we call people who use SVTs 'stuck in the 70s' or even as a more modern example, do we call people who use Markbass, stuck in the 00's? A good amp is a good amp regardless of when it came out. I use a Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 600 from 2006/7 and it makes absolute mincemeat of anything I've owned including a multitude of 'modern' amps. My point is, Trace are extremely famous. Known the world over to bass players irrespective of your age. They pretty much owned the bass market for 20 years and then were mothballed. They were THE amp. Peavey allowed it to stagnate and almost die out to terrible product management and lack of interest in developing the brand, and, IMO they're still not doing it right. Their current offerings I would argue have limited appeal.

I wasn't referring to Zenders studio tone. More his live rig. I know studio tones are rarely anything to do with the amp. I also don't think it's fair to denigrate players and sounds you personally may not like. I happen to think Kim Deal is a wonderful player and had a great live tone myself.

Quite right. Trace Elliot to me (a 34 year old) is Stuart Zender and Kim Deal.

I second this. It's truly embarassing.

When I started playing back in 2003, standard Stingrays were £899 at GAK for the standard and natural finish. It's laser printed on my mind because I remember trying and failing all summer to save for one!! Diego Blue Sabre though! WOOF! always been on the lookout for that specific bass as IMO, it's the most beautiful looking bass EBMM have ever made!

Aren't the examples you provided of the special editions that would have cost a fair bit more than a bog standard Stingray at the time?

Quite right you are. I just don't like 5ers. Plus it makes the bass look less sleek and svelte. Imo of course.

That's the one! If I just buy a secondhand Streamer Stage 2 and have the work done myself, you'd be talking around £3500 all in. This is the plan!

I love Spector so much but they are seriously missing a trick by not offering the Euro series in a J/J config. A Jazz bass on steroids with the EMG/Hazlab/Tonepump flavour is something I could very much get on board with. In White with Black hardware too 😍😍. Sadly the USA models and custom shop are way, waaaay out my price range.

Warwick and Musicman are my favourite bass brands, which is frustrating. I enquired with Warwick Custom shop about having a Stuart Zender Iroquai Streamer made. Was quoted £10,000. Absolute and utter insanity (you might even say Virtual Insanity). I quietly closed that email.

FFS. This bloody autocorrect! very much edited now 😂

Just playing devil's advocate here . . . I often think, will there come a point in the not too distant future, where sales of brand new Stingrays just absolutely bottom out due to the year on year increases (for varying reasons of course) to the point where they are flat out un-affordable to most people? What will Ernie Ball do this scenario? In fairness to Ernie Ball, it's not just them. Many, many manufacturers (Warwick basses another culprit of insane pricing) are hiking prices at an alarming rate over the last few years (massively out of sync with inflation) Where does it stop? Will the UK just not be a concern of manufacturers in the not too distant future?

As much as I really love Stingays, even the previous prices of around £2200 were insane. Let alone £2700-3000.

I've never actually listed mine on any topic. This will be fun. Since I started in 2003, in order (sure I've forgotten a couple though). • Aria STB JB - Solid, functional, great starter instrument. • 1985 E-Series Squier Precision - Vintage, aged, resonant and growly. Neck as orange as Trump. •Warwick Rockbass Streamer 5 - Honky, funky, weak output. • Yamaha TRB4II - Heavy, professional, studio bass. Big presence in the mix. • Epiphone Thunderbird - Bizarrely the best slap tone I've ever had • Washburn AB10 - meh • Fender Geddy Lee Japan - 12lbs in weight and badly built. But still great. • Sterling Ray 34 - Identical to a Stingray for a third of the price. The brightest bass tone I've ever had. • 2010 Mexican Fender Jazz Bass - Beautiful weight, lovely smooth satin neck, could never make it sound anything but grindy. • Sandberg Basic 4 - Lovely, lovely, lovely. Will get another at some point. Like a classy Stingray. • Musicman SUB USA (Status necked for a while) - Still have it. Growl, thump, snarl. Indestructible. FUNK • Spector Euro 4 SE5 - The best of the best. Perfect in every way. EMG and Tonepump = sonic nirvana. • 2004 Modulus Flea (Black) - My first Flea. Had a synthy, electronic tone. • Warwick Streamer LX4 (Red) - Light, comfy, impeccably built. Growl in spades. • Warwick Streamer Stage One - Brittle and barky, found it hard to get usable tones. • Vintage Icon 74 Fretless - Perfectly serviceable fretless. • 97 Modulus Flea (Silver Flake) - Clean, clean, clean. Full-range tone. Masses of clarity. Gigged the life out of it. • Fender Marcus Miller Japan - Great for slap, not great for anything else. Zero midrange anywhere in it. • 2004 Modulus Flea (Blue Flake) - The most aggressive Flea of the 3. Absolutely insane poke and presence in a mix. The most individual tone of any bass on the planet. • Fender Classic Series 50's Precision - Classic rock sound. Total tonal authority and muscular delivery. Lovely baseball bat neck. Works for everything. • Warwick Streamer LX4 (Black) - Light, beautiful carving/shape. Super sweet, rich top end tone. Growly with a tonne of warm presence. 00s neck not as bad as people say. In short, I like Streamers and Flea Basses! 1 - Spector Euro SE5 2 - 2004 Modulus Flea 3 - Black Streamer LX4

I really like them. The colours are just so drab though. Some nice pastels and I'd be right on one!

It's really nice looking, but it is a lot of money for what is essentially a bitsa.

I'm in the same boat at the moment with my LX4. Although Warwick are my favourite brand, It it has to be said, the MEC preamp has a horrible treble freqency selection. It's just pure clank and brittleness. But, it's part of what gives Warwicks that signature tone in a live mix. I'd imagine an EMG preamp would make for good bedfellows as MEC p/u's are essentially EMG copies.

Without doubt one of the ugliest basses ever built. But, I still kinda want one.

Also, also reported.

Going slightly off topic, any other USA SUB owners noticed or have had an issue with how thin the Black paint on the neck is? Mines starting to wear away and I've seen so many online with the same issue.

Hopefully Trace have been sold. It's probably one of the top 3 most famous Bass brands of all time (IMO of course) The name still carries a lot of weight, (pun fully intended!) and I've always found it strange how such a internationally renown brand was mothballed (bar the Elf series) for no apparent reason. Imagine if they came out with a range of lightweight class D heads, using the SMX pre-amp, with some form of UV type lighting as a nod to their heritage. Coupled with modern, lightweight cabs with high performance design/drivers etc. They'd make an absolute killing.

Correct! I did buy it from you all those years ago! It's one of the very first ones built, within a month or so of manufacture beginning.

If I am correct, the USA SUBs are wired in series, as opposed to parallel on the Stingray? My SUBs definitely got a bigger, low mid, bottom end punch going on than my old Stingray did. My originals band members always ask me to use my SUB over and above my Modulus Flea, Warwick Streamer LX and Fender Classic 50's Precision.