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drTStingray

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  1. I just noticed this pop up - 2018 Stingray Special on Descending https://youtu.be/L7DEIgDl-8Q?si=H4gIvgb2CnM2p-64
  2. The HH (and discontinued HS) basses are 4 band EQ - the rarer H version is 3 band (note the John Myung signature is quite different). That is a very good price and a nice colour. As previously stated, you could easily get your money back and more possibly. Bongos are very versatile basses and can do quite traditional bass sounds (in the right hands with the right technique) and very modern sounds - they’re very versatile and quite the looker, in a live setting. In terms of playability the neck is very similar in feel to a Stingray 5 but with 24 frets. Very nice bass.
  3. Alan Spenner’s sound on Roxymusic albums (eg Avalon) is a classic Wal sound - makes use of the Q control (see also the Scotts Bass Lessons feature on them and on Flea - they also conclude the Q control gets that unique sound). Otherwise, to me, they sound very Stingrayish (dual pick up version) or Sabre-like - perhaps a little more powerful. Re @Misdee query regarding Alan Spenner’s Wal, I saw him playing a gig at the beginning of the 80s with the Kokomo line up - during the gig he played a couple of solos one of which was slapped - I would say, from the sound, he was using roundwound strings. Also they covered a couple of Rose Royce songs and he got that Alembic type of sound famous on those later songs. From the mid 70s few people in the U.K. were interested in a flatwound bass sound (I don’t even remember them being readily available in shops) although its almost certain Bernard Edwards’ Stingray had the GHS flats which these shipped with until 1978 production (went to GHS rounds). His bass was/is a 77.
  4. I haven’t seen Alan Spenner or Percy Jones mentioned but they got/get a specific sound and were probably amongst the most prominent of players of Wals. Alan Spenner can be heard on many Roximusic tracks but the Wal sound appears on the late 70s ones such as Avalon and Jealous Guy. Percy Jones is on the Brand X stuff and got a very distinctive sound. I was lucky enough to see both of them live in the late 70s/early 80s and they sounded excellent. I followed Alan Spenner’s career from the late 60s - he was a Precision player until getting the Wal in the mid 70s. Whilst he sounded good on a Precision the Wal made his playing really come to life as you could actually hear the detail of his playing. Leo Lyons also used one on a mid 80s live performance with one of the several reformed versions of Ten Years After - this one with the original line up - same effect - you could hear the detail of his playing and it was a fuller sound compared with his customary Jazz. Stingrays get reasonably close to Wals in the right hands but the Wal really scores with the ‘Q’ control - in fact the Scott’s Bass Lessons feature on them discusses this - it is the stand out difference between a Wal and anything else and also features on those Alan Spenner tracks (PS is it just me or is Scott appearing with basses which are more and more wrecked looking - they all appear to need a decent repaint in my view - just look decidedly tatty and old fashioned 😀😉) I would still like a Wal (I prefer the detailed and full sound rather than the current fad for bass sounds where much is inaudible or even worse, plodding in the background). However some of the prices are eye watering - we have the sh*te exchange rate to blame for that, as it’s quite attractive for Americans to buy them - silly political choices eh……..
  5. V nice - the Bongo looks great in very bold colours - I never understood why they didn’t offer HD yellow on it (was one of a range of Stingray Special launch colours in 2018). The maple fretboard on a Bongo isn’t quite a first - I’ve got one (one of 67 limited edition from 2019!!) although it’s a flamed maple fretboard. 😀
  6. The Stingray 5 Specials are normally in the 8lb ish range. My Cruz teal 5 HH is 8 lbs. My 2019 crescendo (very white) Bongo 5HH is under 8 lbs so I think you’d stand a good chance. Re the string spacing etc, I guess it’s part of the design to have 5 strings on a fretboard of that width - I have five Musicman five strings, have gigged all of them (some very regularly) and have really only seldom pulled the G string over the side of the frets - and only at home practicing (noodling). I guess it’s something you get used to and is offset by the ability to play easily and quickly across the neck. One of the reasons I bought my original SR5, having tried a range of different makes was the slickness of the neck and the ability to play a five string but with relatively small hands. I have to say, I found some makes to have less manageable wide fretboards. None of the others got the sound I was after!!
  7. I’d imagine £3k plus. I paid for just under £3k for both my BFR Bongo and Tim Commerford long scale passive Stingray. When you consider that a Pino Signature team built Fender Custom Shop Precision is £4.5 k, this seems reasonable - a standard Musicman is on a par with these - picking special options is somewhat better - all the necks are hand finished in terms of shape and finish and the bodies, and the woods are picked for character if they’re going to form part of a figured neck or transparent body finish. Last time I looked, people were asking £9k for a nice used Wal so £3-4 k for a specially selected fretless, for instance sounds ok to me. I can imagine getting something like a fretless HH in a smart colour - however I do already have too many basses lol 🤣🤣 where the hell does one store all the cases!!!! And I don’t have any of those ones with huge cases like Alembics!!! Great news for lefties as well 👍
  8. As it says in the title - page to the bottom for the new custom design selection service - includes fretless, SLO neck profile, left handed, 30 unique colours - to be available via the on line shop (The Vault) https://blog.music-man.com/instruments/ernie-ball-music-man-new-at-namm-2024/
  9. What you mean you didn’t notice the slap bass on their 2nd song - I thought that one was great - oo hang on I forgot - slap bass is as verboten as Rick**bo**er on Basschat 🤣🤣😀 To pick up on another of your points, I thought Dave Swift’s bass sound was great all night (and the drummer wasn’t irritatingly high in the mix as is usual in post 1995 live performances) - however Dave appears to have succumbed to BGRS (bass guitarist regression syndrome) - in his case he’s got back to upright bass (not P with flats or Rivoli or EB2 with flats - even further) he played upright ALL night - and it sounded great. I do wonder when some bassists with BGRS will revert back to 14th century bass instruments - or further - I guess it’ll come at some point…….. 🥴😀😀
  10. Me too - I thought it was far better than usual to be honest - there again I like hearing the band arrangements (which were quite stunning at times) and the female singers they had on were really special. I like the way this thread on Basschat (along with quite a number of others) feels like walking into alternative reality 🤣
  11. I once looked into buying a Fender Precision but amongst the eye watering range of apparently the same instrument from relatively cheap to eye watering prices, I couldn’t decide which one to get………. apparently there’s even one called a Vintera (without Vintera on the headstock) and an Ultra, an Ultra 11, American Professional, American Professional 11 - and various other baffling models. As per @warwickhunt I concluded Fender, along with Warwick, Musicman and probably several other companies making guitars have very confusing marketing strategies which involve updating their models every couple of years and issuing umpteen variants. Probably Fender is the most confusing to those who don’t follow their activities on a day to day basis. But they all seem to be doing OK!! Now the Stingray is quite straightforward - there are just several variants (currently) and have been several variants in the past. Best bet is to find a shop with some in stock and try playing them and pick the one you like. If you want to know what’s available now, the best bet is to go on their web site and look!! The Stingray has been around for nearly 50 yrs - during which time there’ve been a lot of different variations on the same concept.
  12. This is true - the slab body being the other difference from a 90s era Stingray. The early EB ones are pretty much as the later pre EBs, but with a contoured body. They’re all excellent!!
  13. That’s exactly what the Stingray Classic was, hence the highly figured necks (which most 90s Stingrays also had). The only difference was the bridge having strings through, a feature dropped on Stingrays originally around 1980/81, and the truss Rod wheel finished in chrome (these features were not on the Sabre Classic). It’s meant to be a period correct 1970s Musicman - if you want the 90s version, you could get a used one or a used Stingray Classic. For me, there’s some advantage in having a period correct new 70s Stingray rather than a worn original one - although there are good condition original ones around, there are also those which are quite badly worn. I guess it’s a similar comparison as original Fender bass v Custom Shop. There appears to be a market for both!
  14. Most likely, yes - this is GB after all (and even Nigel’s broke (relatively!!😀) according to banks!!). Looking at the more expensive stuff in Marketplace it seems you’re right.
  15. It appears the Peach ones have been sold. Judging by the apparent lack of interest on Basschat (compared with Talkbass where there have been about 300 replies to the thread…) I can only assume this is because BC may have ceased to be a beacon of what’s going on, basswise these days - or maybe the U.K. has stagnated, bass wise!!! 🥴🤣
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