Quatschmacher

Well, I was in GuitarGuitar in Newcastle at the weekend and had a very quick go on the Classic Stingray they've just got in (white/maple). So disappointed that the neck is just as uncomfortable for my tiny hands as a regular Stingray. I was gutted and so didn't even plug it in. There's no use falling in love with the sound and be tortured that I'll never be able to play it. On the plus side, it'll save me the money and the lusting. It really looks like the SLO Special is going to be the one for me, if I can find one in the UK!

That is pretty. Thanks for the pics and congratulations on your new bass.

I know what you mean; when I bought my Stingray there were only ever about three MM basses in any one shop. I rang around and ended up getting it from Sound Control (they shipped it from a branch in Scotland to the Sheffield shop) in the exact specification I wanted. Unfortunately it had a very unresponsive E string (even with new strings) so I returned it. When I went looking for a Sterling there was only one in the whole city, at least it was enough to try it out to see if I liked it. I then ended up finding one I wanted on ebay and imported it from the USA. Saved soooo much money by doing this. I agree that finding a SLO or classic may well be much harder, both because they'll be scarcer in the UK and there'll be less used ones floating around the USA due to their just having been released recently. I will buy a SLO Stingray as it is the ideal combination for me, just don't want to shell out a ridiculous amount for a new one so I'm going to have to wait for quite some time yet.

I too thought the Sterling Classic was a bit of an odd idea, maybe it was Sterling Ball's way of showing that he wasn't just doing a reissue of the ray, but adding a twist. The 5-string classic ray is what they should've done all along, it looks great. The normal SR5 look OK but I always thought they should've called it something else as it doesn't look like a ray. I'd love to check out the 4 string classic ray, I'm intrigued as to whether the more rounded fingerboard (lower radius) would make the wide neck more manageble for me. Anyone seen these in the UK shops yet? Or the SLO?

Just discovered this fact yesterday while looking at something else. It is great news. Wish the option had been around when I bought my first Stingray (took it back to the shop) and again when I ended up buying my Sterling a few years back (because I liked the neck, though preferred the Stingray for tone and body shape).

That looks pretty. I was surprised that it doesn't seem to be available in natural (yet). But that ought to save me some money! Been looking on the EBMM forum to see if I can find some more. I'd love get my mitts on one to try. Just found some pics of the slo special on the bass central website!

Holy cow, I don't know what planet I've been living on lately but I was completely unaware that Ernie Ball have released some amazing new basses. Firstly I saw that they have remade the classic stingray with the (almost) original decal, through-body stringing, nice bird's eye maple on the necks. The other thing I spotted which nearly made me wet myself is that they've got a neck option on the normal Stingray called slo special. This is a Sterling profile neck! i.e. 1.5" nut but still with the Ray-sized headstock. This is SOOO cool. When I bought my last bass I really wanted the Stingray because I preferred the sound and the body shape and size. However, I still couldn't get on with the neck so ended up with the Sterling because it the neck was more comfortable and I could get a sound which was close. My question is, has anybody got either the Classic Stingray or the Stingray slo special (or physically seen them anywhere)? I really want to check them out!

There are loads of great pro jazz bassists playing on the London scene. It might be worth checking a few gigs and finding someone whose tone and technique appeals to you and ask them if they'll teach (or they may pass you to one of their better students).

Hey NeonMig, thanks for the links to Renaud Garcia Fons, I'd never heard of him before, but I definitely will be checking out his music! Incidentally, have you heard of Avishai Cohen? He's a bass player (I say this because there is a trumpeter with the same name). If not, check him out. Inspirational.