kyuuga

As others have said there's no right answer here. Whenever I see these discussions I tend to remind people that more important than the bass you're using is what guitar/amp combination your guitarist is using, what drums is your drummer using and if there's any keyboard parts involved. All of those make a huge difference. If your guitarist is using a Marshall, which is very mid-heavy, a Stingray or a Jazz Bass fit perfectly because of their presence and more defined low-end. If your guitarist is more into using cleaner tones a P-Bass does wonders because of those low mids that sit perfectly in a cleaner mix. Also the most important thing is the arrangement of the music. If you're playing a Rock song and there's two guitar parts playing power chords on the lower strings then there's no bass/amp/pedal in the world that's gonna make your bass "cut" through the mix, there's way too much sonic frequencies in the same place. Any bass can work in any genre, in music it's all about the SONG and each one is different. I know this isn't the right answer for the marketing guys who'll say "oh just get X bass + amp + pedal and you'll be HEARD!" but this is simply just not true, there's a lot of variables at play each time.

Honestly, it all boils down to consumer's perspective. To me, a mass-produced bass should NEVER be worth more than 2.000£. I think the Stingray Specials are a notch above the USA made Fenders and I believe they should be more expensive but right now the Stingrays are ALMOST DOUBLE the price of a USA Fender. That is just bonkers, no matter how you put it or what excuses they give. I have no idea why and I'm sad they didn't even bother to explain. In my perspective, that makes me not want to buy a Musicman product as of right now. Will see how the market responds but hopefully it doesn't cater to these expensive price jumps - otherwise we, as the consumer, will be in trouble.

I love Musicman basses but what is up with those prices? They literally jumped from 2k to 3k in a year? Sorry but there's no way a mass produced bass is worth 3k, even if it's formidable and has those lovely colors (some of the best I've seen btw).

Musicman pulling a Gibson on this one - pretty sure it'll backfire, bass players are usually way more conservative money-wise than guitar players...

Personally I dislike signature basses. I think they're just marketing moves and having someone's "signature bass" doesn't make you play or sound like them. And it's certainly not very different from having a regular bass of the same kind (which is what exactly the signature bass was before it touched the player's hands). I loved Musicman's approach of "no signature pieces" when it came to their basses, it really struck out to me because everywhere I looked (*ahem* Fender) there seemed to be a ton of signature basses which provided virtually nothing new from normal basses. HOWEVER, I do understand that companies need to make money and signature basses for them are almost "guaranteed" sells, especially when it comes to a giant band like AC/DC which has millions of followers. And I think MM took a first step into the signature world with their Joe Dart Musicman Bass which was quite refreshing (different from any Stingray/Sterling bass) and they made few copies - very overpriced, but still... I just hope they don't go the same way as their guitar deparment which is bloated with signature models from players who I had never heard of (nothing against them, just saying) and they offer virtually nothing different. All the power to Musicman though, it's their company and I'll support them as long as they don't go out of their way to create signature pieces just for money and leave the original basses behind (ex: Fender between the late 2000's and now...the Mexican Precision bass was severely left behind while they kept creating innumerous signature models for no reason).

Thanks guys! Glad to have some positive feedback, tone is very important to me as a bass player.

So, my band headed to the studio a couple of months ago to record some new music. One of them was this highly-energetic, bass-driven punk/alternative rock song that really required a tone that "cut through" but at the same time supported the guitars & drums. I ended up using my #1, a Musicman Stingray from 2004, into a Kemper profiler that emulated a good ol' Ampeg and a Darkglass plugin to get that extra grit. The result can be seen below, but especially from 2:02 onwards since that's where the heavy bass-driven bridge starts (and there's also a distinctive bassline in the chorus with a nice little fill in the last chorus). Let me know what you think - do you like the tone? Do you think it fits well in the song? Or is it too harsh/trebly?

I appreciate all kinds of musicians - no matter what instrument they play. I find that video fascinating and mr. Lewis is an excellent MUSICIAN, takes a whole lot more than being a drummer to get on that level. I do agree with @Leonard Smalls though. In this day and age of YouTube and Instagram, I've seen and heard a ton of instrumentalists who really aren't musicians lately. Unfortunately, while a few years ago this trend seemed to be reserved for guitarists, it has now plagued a ton of drummers all over the world. I've grown tired from all the "drum chops" videos with all their clinics and sponsorships (the drummer market is really weird...). Find it refreshing when, once in a while, I come across a drummer who also understands there's other musicians in the band. And a big part of drumming, for me, is playing with the song and accentuating what everyone else is doing. Be it either with the kick drum to help the bass, the snare to help the riff, the cymbals to nail singer lines, etc etc.

Or maybe it rises up the Cutlass in terms of priority since the re-sale value only tends to go up 😏

The first time I heard Rage Against the Machine's debut album I was blown away by how good the bass sounded. So agressive, in your face and punchy. "Take The Power Back" is an amazing example of that... And then the distortion tones, oh god. "Know Your Enemy" that last part is insane and obviously also "Killing In The Name" when everything kicks in. Tool is another band that really blew me away with the bass tone. "The Pot" in particular - think it was the first song I heard by them - is incredible. That verse tone still leaves a smile on my face everytime. The bass tone on "Suck My Kiss" by RHCP also is incredible - it's so punchy!

Damn that's insane. And how does it play? Is the neck good?

Wow, that's amazing! Beautiful bass... I wanna do that as well. Where did you get the body/neck?

As I always say: people don't know how to use Stingrays and then get surprised they "sound bad". Seriously, everytime I listen to a demo like this, the bloke who plays it has to go and boost the EQ all the way up (creating that sizzly, mid-scoop tone that NO ONE uses) and call it a day. I don't see him boosting the EQ all the way up on the other basses, why did he have to do it on the Stingray? Anyhow, rant over, for this type of 50s/Motown music obviously the Fenders will sound amazing because that's what our ears are used to. Instant Jamerson vibes as soon as he started playing. Maybe a more neutral genre would have made more sense. Thanks for sharing.