drTStingray

Dare I say it also - more sustain. The 60s and 70s Precisions did not feature string through bridges and those 60s players often played with foam rubber under the strings and very heavy gauge flatwound strings. But that was the 60s. The original Precisions (51 onwards) had string through body bridges also IIRC.

I find the way I can't refer to Di*k Emery, Van Dyke or Betts without it changing the word to Richard mildly amusing (and also idiotic frankly) - the best one of all is the replacement of co*k as in co*k and bull by pink torpedo - this is surely worthy of a Carry on Film or Monty Python sketch - however if this is what it takes to keep the forum owners out of the courts who are we to moan - it does seem quite barmy when there must be far greater chance of litigation by annoyed CEOs of guitar making companies. Come to think of it his first name is slang for lavatory in the US (sorry for any offence to anyone from the US - bathroom) - perhaps the word John should be added to the profanity filter 😂

@stewblack forgive me if you already know this but the highly acclaimed track Donna Lee on Jaco Pastorius's first album is him playing a Charlie Parker solo piece on bass.... not sure if your FB mates might be sending you up? 😯 For the 12 keys, you could start at any note you like but if it's a 4 string bass maybe E as the first key - then each key based on the next note in ascending order (eg F, F#,G etc etc) until you get to the next E octave - you'll have covered all 12 then dependent on whether your solo is in major, minor or whatever mode it might be in (please - any theory guru correct me if I'm talking ballcocks!!) 😬👍

She's really good and has such groove and style in her playing. Her version of Hair by GCS inspired me to learn it for the first time (despite having been a Larry Graham fan since the first GCS album appeared in the UK in the mid 70s and they appeared on a CBS sampler album along with other newbies, Earth Wind and Fire and Kokomo 😀) - based on the fact she says she is now 19, she was 14 when she posted Hair - and it's an absolutely brilliant interpretation 😳 better and more accurate than the SBL version in my view. https://youtu.be/vSyKWnxPfFQ There are loads but the other stand out one for me currently is Dua Lipa Hallucinate - the groove, and her impro on that is so tasteful and accomplished 👍 https://youtu.be/f40HDIwho_E Both are well worth a listen - very inspiring stuff.

If you mean the 2 band Musicman circuit, then that is boost and cut (but doesn't have a centre detent). Ive also seen it described as a Baxendall type circuit.

Some of the things you raise here are a wider debate eg onboard active v outboard pre amp pedal v completely passive (but still electric) - or even onboard active PLUS outboard pre amp pedal (as advertised with the Sadowski pre amp pedal at one time)!! As I said many of these designs date from when it was either not possible or certainly not desirable to have an active bypass with switchable passive ability for one reason or another - the reliability and functionality of some active basses (and especially lower priced budget ones) has always been questionable - however this doesn't just extend to active basses - the switches, pots and most particularly the Jack socket connections have sometimes been unreliable in even expensive basses where you wouldn't expect it - it's unlikely you will have this as a general issue either with the general electronics, or the active circuit on a quality bass like a Wal, Alembic or Musicman. Of course, if this was the 60s, many of the bass die hards of the day 🤔 would tell you this is a good reason for using an upright!!! There was a lot of upright v electric bass snobbery back then, especially in jazz. With regards to your bass suddenly dying mid song, this is generally not how active circuits behave - if the battery discharges it's usually gradually over a period of time resulting in the controls being less responsive and the bass generally sounding a bit compressed, and eventually a bit far*y sounding. I think you must have had another fault as well there (I've had that with a dodgy lead before now).

Haha!!! It doesn't like the work D*ck either - heaven knows what you do if you want to quote Richard Van Dyke haha!!

@Stub Mandrel and the four likes - a number of active basses around currently were designed at a time when it was the direction of travel for basses - fatter, more lively sound altogether, and more hi fi if desired - back then (the mid/late 70s/early 80s), the idea someone would want to pay the extra price and then play say a Wal, Alembic or Musicman in passive mode would have been somewhat laughable. Look at the trouble Marcus Miller went to make his 77 Jazz usable for his requirements at the end of the 70s!! The pre amp was often, in any case part of the whole system design, and the pick ups may have been lowered in output to compensate, thus rendering switching out the pre amp (if anyone had taken leave of their senses) somewhat a solution to a largely non existent problem (battery failure), because the drain on the charge (in most basses) is so small - and the bass may not have worked as well without it switched in. Frankly if my active basses did have an active/passive switch, I wouldn't use it (same as if my car had some gizmo to turn off the turbo - it does have one to turn off the aircon part of the heating/ventilation system but I've never pressed the button once). If I felt the need to aim for the exact sound of a bass designed 60+ years ago into a scenario where bass was a barely audible component of popular music, then I wouldn't be playing an active bass designed to get the all together more beefy bass sounds of the later 70s-late 90s at all 😏 So it's a largely non-existent problem which only arises if you make a c*ck up, as per @ProfJames - best bet is carry spares like you and I 👍

I've carried two in my lead box for years - so long that I've rotated them into basses and put new spares in the lead box. Ive had three failures of active bass batteries in 40 yrs of using them - and non were mid gig - you get more warning than that - each time has been before the start of a gig. One was in a situation where I didn't have spares - luckily the singers had a box of spares for their radio mike equipment. Avoiding active basses because the battery might run out is about as invalid a reason as refusing to use lighter than a 50 gauge G string on a bass in case it breaks!!! (Or not using radio mikes!) I find the batteries in my Musicman basses last for several years - so much so that I replace them on a rota basis. The moral is carry spares and don't leave the bass plugged in for lengthy periods when not in use 👍

This one is a Stingray Special - neo pick ups, 18 volt circuit, revoiced preamp. They also have different body contours as well as the light weight. Although they are single pick up versions, see juliaplaysgroove's channel on You Tube - she does Hair by GCS on an SBMM Sub and Hallucinate by Dua Lipa on a Ray35, which are really cool examples and show how close to a Stingray sound these basses can get.

There's a reasonable amount of variation as well as not all Rays are equal - I suspect what's being referred to are the standard production models in the more standard of colours in good original condition. For a Stingray Classic (2 band EQ, mute bridge, strings through, highly figured lacquered neck etc), they will be more costly - factor in rare, sought after colours or limited editions with cool features, and this will change the value. Stingray Specials are more expensive used and this reflects the £2000+ new price. As I said before, some of this will depend how desperate the seller is fur a quick sale (and dare I say it - time of year - just like cars purchases like basses around Christmas may be low on people's priority lists, so anyone wanting to sell may be willing to lower prices - applies to new as well). For those wanting a mellow sounding Ray, but still with access to the in yer face stuff, a two pick up version helps a lot and can do a lot of other cool sounds at the flick of a switch - they've been around since 2005. Rays are one of the most sensitive basses to plucking intensity and position - move your hand closer to the neck for the mellower stuff - and don't pluck as hard. As I say, the two pick up version gives you broader palette but still the single pick up in your face ability. Hey @ped you'll have to do an NBD with pics for us 👍

From 2005 MM introduced twin pick up Stingray 4 and 5s. I tend to use these as my 'versatile' instrument (now Stingray Specials) - it's wierd, on the twin pick up Rays I use I tend not to use the single pick up settings. I guess used prices will fluctuate with supply and demand. Even US Sub Stingrays will cost £500 + these days (they were cheaper than that new and were dropped partially because a used full fat Ray was only marginally more (we're talking 2003-6). At that time I had the opportunity to buy an immaculate 1977 inca silver pre EB previously owned by a famous player - for £1700 - as there were only about 150 of the inca silver basses made, this was really rare - and for standard coloured pre EB you would pay £2-3 K now. Prices have simply increased!

They're pretty consistent throughout - one of the areas Ernie Ball sought to improve was consistency and quality of manufacturing. They have always had a level of hand finishing (eg necks) that put them on a par, manufacturing/ quality wise with say Fender CS team built, or PRS more recently. The basses up to about 2000 often have heavily figured necks - as do the 2010-20 Stingray Classics. In terms of price of the Stingray Special, for anyone who has played/owned them, they have exquisite necks and really are excellent basses. The price of new instruments has generally risen over the years - apparently a factor of market conditions and manufacturing costs - even some Mexican Fenders are well over £1000 these days (a decade plus ago that would be unbelievable). This site has a lot of info on the gestation of the Stingray over the years/decades. http://www.musicmanbass.global/

You will miss that ceramic pick up MM sound! I used to use my 2003 SR5 still quite often especially on outdoor gigs - v versatile for a single pick up bass. I shan't sell it though I've got a 2 pick up SR5 Special which is my more regular 5 string.

The Stingray Specials are over £2k new - that probably has a bearing on used prices. They tend to have risen as the new prices have risen. I have said it before but my 93 fretless was £725 new. I suspect the low priced used ones are either being sold by people who want a quick sale, have had some modification, or are in poor cosmetic condition. Some finishes are more sought after than others. However, whatever, you get a rock solid, well built, quality pro level bass. The earlier post about the short scale one was presumably a SBMM rather than a US MM (which are around £2k new).

How old is the SR5?

Wow very nice 👍

Wow, that looks great - trans red usually (from that era) has an alder body so a little mellower sounding than an ash bodied one. As I said in the other thread, matt white would be the period correct pg if you can get it. You should be able to approximate to a 2 band sound if you cut the mids by about 50% and noisy the bass and treble a little. Hope you enjoy it anyway (Boz is one of my favourite bass players as well 👍 )

I think there may be slight differences during the production period, in the relative positions of bridges and control plates and the scratch plate - may only apply to the earlier production (a lot of interesting info on this site - in the section on bridges some differences in relative position with scratch plates are shown http://www.musicmanbass.global/ ) However the later pre EB are possibly the same as the EB ones up to the changeover from 4 bolt to 6 bolt neck with wheel truss rod adjuster (beginning of the 90s) and may be available from EBMM or Chandler.

An early 90s original spec will be matt white - Chandler may do them (certainly used to).

You should be able to order one through a Musicman dealer (eg Andertons/Gak), or contact the UK distributor, Strings and Things. If you want to be a bit more adventurous, Chandler/Pickguard Heaven in the US have a large range available (including many of the variants like Abalone that EBMM stopped doing). These are good quality OEM spec.

That's sounds great - nice playing - what is the pre amp (appears to be a 2 band but a Ray 34 would have a 3 band).

We will need to!!! It works the same way for manufacturers as their product will increase in price in the EU (and anywhere the currency bombs), making exports less competitive and more difficult. I guess this is just one of the prices to pay for becoming 'a proud and strong independent nation like we always were'......😁 No doubt there are advantages, but I have yet to hear any that will impact me personally - buying bass gear will almost certainly become more expensive for makes from the EU.

It depends what you call a sensible tempo and as important, the quality of the tone in the sustained notes. I can think of several songs which require long notes and if I was playing them would pick certain of my basses over others. Mr Big by Free is an example (that is an EB3 through a large valve rig and is a particularly fat sound, as is most of what Free played - he also plucks mostly right next to the bridge) - during the guitar solo section. A number of ballads I can think of do (Anita Baker springs to mind - that has both staccato notes and much longer held ones). Its not uncommon to require notes to sustain on a bass guitar.

Ouch - does that mean the Flea has an ill fitting scratch plate or is it actually naked and showing it's latter day Fender Jazz under the pickguard routing (or body lightening features dependent how you view it) 😯