Pino Palladino Signature Stingray

[Chiliwailer]

9 minutes ago, Grassie said:

I bought it used earlier this year from Bass Bros. Candy Apple Red, 2eq, soft case, 2010 model…:

 

£1500

 

😬

Sorry to read that. 
You may be able to find the original advert, via Google cache - it may say ‘ash’ as the body in the spec, which they still list for all Stingray Specials despite EBMM stating something like ‘select hard wood’ in the spec for a few years now. So if yours is a Poplar one, you’ve been misled, albeit perhaps not intentionally - but I do notice they get body wood wrong from time to time, which I find quite annoying. 
The EBMM serial database may help, or an email to the distributor Strings and Things, who are good folks.  

Edited yesterday at 11:35 by Chiliwailer

[Grassie]

Just now, Terry M. said:

The Bass Gallery sold one a while back for a similar price also. If it's any consolation you'll get your money back if you decide to offload it.

Phew! To be fair I had no idea about these limited models or their price point. I kind of shrugged off the fact that it came with a soft case as I just assumed the previous owner preferred it over a hard case.

One thing I will say about it is that it is heavy, (10lb) - it was listed as alder, but it’s heavier than any jazz bass I’ve owned.

I’ve also replaced the pickup (weak G output, as per…) with a Nordstrand MM4.2.

[Terry M.]

20 minutes ago, Grassie said:

Phew! To be fair I had no idea about these limited models or their price point. I kind of shrugged off the fact that it came with a soft case as I just assumed the previous owner preferred it over a hard case.

One thing I will say about it is that it is heavy, (10lb) - it was listed as alder, but it’s heavier than any jazz bass I’ve owned.

I’ve also replaced the pickup (weak G output, as per…) with a Nordstrand MM4.2.

Probably a genuine mistake. Poplar is often preferred under solid colours by certain companies as it's said the grain isn't overly attractive. Squier even did it with the CV 70s Jazz Bass,the solid black option is poplar-bodied whereas the natural finish is maple-bodied. 

[mikebass456]

I'm hoping to be famous late in life, so I can see how G**son would get on trying to make a signature copy of this.....

It's a combination of 40 year old hardware from Touchstone Tonewoods, a mantlepiece from next doors house renovation, and some oak shelves....😎😆

[Grassie]

19 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Probably a genuine mistake. Poplar is often preferred under solid colours by certain companies as it's said the grain isn't overly attractive. Squier even did it with the CV 70s Jazz Bass,the solid black option is poplar-bodied whereas the natural finish is maple-bodied. 

Thinking of moving it on if anyone is interested…. 😂

[Terry M.]

45 minutes ago, Grassie said:

Thinking of moving it on if anyone is interested…. 😂

Oh no. Because of this revelation or?...

[Grassie]

Just now, Terry M. said:

Oh no. Because of this revelation or?...

No, because I’ve struggled with it generally. I’ve always wanted one since I started playing, but the neck and weight of it has put me off. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely example, but I’m now at an age where I don’t really want to be fighting it for 2+ hours while gigging it.

[mikebass456]

2 minutes ago, Grassie said:

No, because I’ve struggled with it generally. I’ve always wanted one since I started playing, but the neck and weight of it has put me off. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely example, but I’m now at an age where I don’t really want to be fighting it for 2+ hours while gigging it.

I had always wanted one too.  Had an OLP version for a while, then moved up to an MM in sparkly candy apple burst sort of colour off eBay.

Had it refinished in gloss black by John Shuker, but for some reason just couldn't get on with it.......

Ended up moving it on.

[Terry M.]

18 minutes ago, Grassie said:

No, because I’ve struggled with it generally. I’ve always wanted one since I started playing, but the neck and weight of it has put me off. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely example, but I’m now at an age where I don’t really want to be fighting it for 2+ hours while gigging it.

I have a strange relationship with Rays. I don't have one,I want one. I have one,I don't want it.

[Lozz196]

17 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I have a strange relationship with Rays. I don't have one,I want one. I have one,I don't want it.

Same for me, a pattern that I’ve repeated several times over the years.

[Kev]

21 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I have a strange relationship with Rays. I don't have one,I want one. I have one,I don't want it.

I have the exact same relationship with Rics.

[mikebass456]

22 minutes ago, Kev said:

I have the exact same relationship with Rics.

Now you come to mention it, I've not had mine out of the case in months......🤔🤔

[snorkie635]

2 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I have a strange relationship with Rays. I don't have one,I want one. I have one,I don't want it.

Exactly my relationship with wives!

[snorkie635]

1 hour ago, mikebass456 said:

Now you come to mention it, I've not had mine out of the case in months......🤔🤔

See comment above.

[drTStingray]

17 hours ago, Grassie said:

I think I have one of these limited edition ones, and given what you’ve said about them, I may well have paid over the odds for it….🥺

The only difference between these basses and a standard 2 band Stingray of that era ordered in any one of those three colours (candy apple red, metallic blue and white) was the lack of a hard case and substitution of an EBMM gig bag instead. 
 

They were certainly sold cheaper at the time (£995 IIRC) but that was because Strings and Things had a bulk order for them and used the slightly cheaper gig bag (nevertheless the gig bags are reasonably expensive - I bought one for a used Stingray which came in a very cheap cover). They are red, white and blue as they also celebrated an anniversary of Strings and Things, the U.K. Distributor. So don’t feel you’ve been done - it’s a standard full fat Stingray. This is rather similar to the fact that certain finishes (such as natural and sunburst) had a higher new price than say, a solid colour - despite this they often don’t seem to command commensurately higher used prices….. 

 

Poplar was used on most solid colour basses made up until the Stingray Specials in 2018, which all had ash bodies for the first couple of years. Poplar was also used on the late 80s/early 90s blueburst basses (as well as the US Sub basses made in the early 2000s). Alder was used on most translucent red basses. Ash was used on most natural finishes and original sunburst/ honeyburst basses. 

Edited 18 hours ago by drTStingray

[kevin_lindsay]

Typical  - these appear when I'm skint !!!

Time for me to sell some of my existing surplus basses. 

 

Here's what Pino's original bass looks like these days (pic taken by Pino's wife, Maz)

 

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by kevin_lindsay

[Bagman]

On 10/07/2025 at 20:28, Bass Direct said:

You will be paying for the nitro finish, hand aging, signature, exclusivity etc etc... And yes Pino does still play his  

 

I think now is a good time, I have had a LOT of customers chasing for fretless StingRay basses over the years, especially one that gives a nod back to the Pre-EB basses that Pino plays.

it took me a touch over 3 years to find an unlined 2EQ Stingray Fretless - managed to secure one March 2021

it was $2400 NZD + 1070 UK Pounds

[Chiliwailer]

3 hours ago, drTStingray said:

The only difference between these basses and a standard 2 band Stingray of that era ordered in any one of those three colours (candy apple red, metallic blue and white) was the lack of a hard case and substitution of an EBMM gig bag instead. 
 

They were certainly sold cheaper at the time (£995 IIRC) but that was because Strings and Things had a bulk order for them and used the slightly cheaper gig bag (nevertheless the gig bags are reasonably expensive - I bought one for a used Stingray which came in a very cheap cover). They are red, white and blue as they also celebrated an anniversary of Strings and Things, the U.K. Distributor. So don’t feel you’ve been done - it’s a standard full fat Stingray. This is rather similar to the fact that certain finishes (such as natural and sunburst) had a higher new price than say, a solid colour - despite this they often don’t seem to command commensurately higher used prices….. 

 

Poplar was used on most solid colour basses made up until the Stingray Specials in 2018, which all had ash bodies for the first couple of years. Poplar was also used on the late 80s/early 90s blueburst basses (as well as the US Sub basses made in the early 2000s). Alder was used on most translucent red basses. Ash was used on most natural finishes and original sunburst/ honeyburst basses. 

Interesting, I always thought pre-Specials were mostly Ash, with the occasional Alder (like trans red), and that Poplar was just in some brief instances. For example, this old page from EBMM simply states Ash as the body wood, which is how I recall it for years, but I may well

be wrong; wondering where you got the info about Poplar?

 

 https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/stingray

 

 

[Chiliwailer]

3 hours ago, drTStingray said:

The only difference between these basses and a standard 2 band Stingray of that era ordered in any one of those three colours (candy apple red, metallic blue and white) was the lack of a hard case and substitution of an EBMM gig bag instead. 
 

They were certainly sold cheaper at the time (£995 IIRC) but that was because Strings and Things had a bulk order for them and used the slightly cheaper gig bag (nevertheless the gig bags are reasonably expensive - I bought one for a used Stingray which came in a very cheap cover). They are red, white and blue as they also celebrated an anniversary of Strings and Things, the U.K. Distributor. So don’t feel you’ve been done - it’s a standard full fat Stingray. This is rather similar to the fact that certain finishes (such as natural and sunburst) had a higher new price than say, a solid colour - despite this they often don’t seem to command commensurately higher used prices….. 

 

Poplar was used on most solid colour basses made up until the Stingray Specials in 2018, which all had ash bodies for the first couple of years. Poplar was also used on the late 80s/early 90s blueburst basses (as well as the US Sub basses made in the early 2000s). Alder was used on most translucent red basses. Ash was used on most natural finishes and original sunburst/ honeyburst basses. 

 

1 minute ago, Chiliwailer said:

Interesting, I always thought pre-Specials were mostly Ash, with the occasional Alder (like trans red), and that Poplar was just in some brief instances. For example, this old page from EBMM simply states Ash as the body wood, which is how I recall it for years, but I may well

be wrong; wondering where you got the info about Poplar?

 

 https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/stingray

 

 

Looks like this is a sensitive topic for Sterling Ball…

 

 

[Beedster]

I'm not sure where I got this from (either here or TB I imagine), but when I bought my EBMM US SUB in around 2005 I read that EBMM were using bodies for the SUBs that were considered of insufficient quality for the EBMM 'rays (weight/grain etc), and as the SUB bodies were polar I'd assume the same was true of at least some of the rays. Happy to be corrected, but given that the PP is also poplar it suggests that there's some truth

[Chiliwailer]

What a rabbit hole - I’m leaving this well alone now 😂

 

 

[Terry M.]

4 hours ago, drTStingray said:

The only difference between these basses and a standard 2 band Stingray of that era ordered in any one of those three colours (candy apple red, metallic blue and white) was the lack of a hard case and substitution of an EBMM gig bag instead. 
 

They were certainly sold cheaper at the time (£995 IIRC) but that was because Strings and Things had a bulk order for them and used the slightly cheaper gig bag (nevertheless the gig bags are reasonably expensive - I bought one for a used Stingray which came in a very cheap cover). They are red, white and blue as they also celebrated an anniversary of Strings and Things, the U.K. Distributor. So don’t feel you’ve been done - it’s a standard full fat Stingray. This is rather similar to the fact that certain finishes (such as natural and sunburst) had a higher new price than say, a solid colour - despite this they often don’t seem to command commensurately higher used prices….. 

 

Poplar was used on most solid colour basses made up until the Stingray Specials in 2018, which all had ash bodies for the first couple of years. Poplar was also used on the late 80s/early 90s blueburst basses (as well as the US Sub basses made in the early 2000s). Alder was used on most translucent red basses. Ash was used on most natural finishes and original sunburst/ honeyburst basses. 

I thought the LTD 133 Rays were only available in red blue or black. I don't remember seeing any white ones.

[drTStingray]

5 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I thought the LTD 133 Rays were only available in red blue or black. I don't remember seeing any white ones.

I think they were red, white and blue - UK flag colours (UK distributor anniversary). 
 

I notice one or two demos of the Pino Stingrays are starting to appear on You Tube. 

[Terry M.]

8 hours ago, kevin_lindsay said:

Typical  - these appear when I'm skint !!!

Time for me to sell some of my existing surplus basses. 

 

Here's what Pino's original bass looks like these days (pic taken by Pino's wife, Maz)

 

 

 

Complete with his son's name Rocco on the body. Can't work out the other word though. 

[Hellzero]

14 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Complete with his son's name Rocco on the body. Can't work out the other word though. 

It was in fact signed by Francis Rocco Prestia, and what you can't read is Kyda, meaning Keep Your Dreams Alive.

 

Yes, Pino's son is named Rocco after Francis Rocco Prestia, who was the idol of Pino Palladino, ... small world when you think he also was Jaco Pastorius' idol too.