krispn Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 A local shop has two stingrays in at the minute. Played them both (unplugged) yesterday and while one of them was quite nice the other felt much heavier. The guy in the shop claims the lighter model is a '99 model, has a 4 bolt neck and I guess he's right. The 2nd one was admittedly beat to hell with lumps out of the neck, chips in thr paint buckle rash and some very noticable damage to the g side of the fret board - like its been repeatedly dropped or gnawed by a big rat! Its also very evident on the left hand and Im not sure anything could be done to repair it other than a 'new' neck. Anyhow the point is this 2nd beat up bass felt considerably heavier and had a 6 bolt neck, metal battery cover etc and it was dated 89/90. The bridge appeared to have mounts for the mutes as well but they we long gone. Would the woods have been different in these two models? I am tempted but the cost of the new neck is putting me off as I cant get the guy to budge from about £550 - not a good deal considering the damage to the neck Cheers for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) [quote name='krispn' post='895028' date='Jul 14 2010, 08:19 PM']A local shop has two stingrays in at the minute. Played them both (unplugged) yesterday and while one of them was quite nice the other felt much heavier. The guy in the shop claims the lighter model is a '99 model, has a 4 bolt neck and I guess he's right. The 2nd one was admittedly beat to hell with lumps out of the neck, chips in thr paint buckle rash and some very noticable damage to the g side of the fret board - like its been repeatedly dropped or gnawed by a big rat! Its also very evident on the left hand and Im not sure anything could be done to repair it other than a 'new' neck. Anyhow the point is this 2nd beat up bass felt considerably heavier and had a 6 bolt neck, metal battery cover etc and it was dated 89/90. The bridge appeared to have mounts for the mutes as well but they we long gone. Would the woods have been different in these two models? I am tempted but the cost of the new neck is putting me off as I cant get the guy to budge from about £550 - not a good deal considering the damage to the neck Cheers for any help[/quote] Not an expert but quickly: 1. 4 bolt necks went out fairly early in Ray's so this is the older of the 2. 2. The age of the second bass sounds probably about right. There shouldn't be a date on it tho - just a serial (on the bridge at this age IIRC). In the condition you are stating on the second bass - if it was in vgc I'd say £750 - 850 (depending on the level of figuring on the maple). £550 sounds steep if you're going to have to do a neck swap. There are plenty of decent ones out there - there's a minter on here for £650 in trans red ash (so shouldn't be heavy). Not my sale btw - but if I was in the market for another fretted ray I'd have it! Edited July 14, 2010 by martthebass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 Any idea on the wood types ? Would they both be the same or did MM change or do different types? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 EBMM state "Select Hardwood" for the body on their site, necks are maple, that means the wood for the body has been given the latitude to change as mfr may require. Wood, being natural, is also quite varied in terms of hardness, density, which is why it is important to buy from a good shop where they have a few versions of the model you want, to sit and play and get the vibe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 Hi just to clarify I said the bass was dated I meant it was via the serial number. Thanks for all the advice so far. I was guessing that the woods were different but wasn't sure if that was just a supply thing or a specific run. I'll try and get a chance to play them through an amp and hear if there is any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Depends on the dates and colours. The trans finishes used to be made of ash, whereas the solid finish ones were alder, though they stopped doing that a good few years ago. If the lighter one is a trans finish and the heavier one is a solid colour, that would make a lot of sense. All stingrays are made of ash now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 My 1990 Fretless 'Ray 5 is Poplar, which was used at the time under some solid colours. Alder is the more common alternative. I've never seen a Translucent or Natural bass that wasn't ash.. Special/Limited editions have been made from other woods, such as Mahogany or sport Maple tops etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbass1 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 My '79 sunburst 'Ray is a very lightweight alder. Basically, ash and alder can vary tremendously in weight and the ash models are often heavier on 'Rays. Here's a good site for finding out about the features introduced in different years: [url="http://www.musicmanbass.org/PageEmail.htm"]http://www.musicmanbass.org/PageEmail.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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