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I can't find any aftermarket Stingray control plates in aluminium so looking at other options. My fall back plan is to hand-cut one from 1.5mm aluminium sheet but machine or laser cutting would be much better. If anyone on BC has the capability to do this and would be up for a small one-off project please drop me a PM. Cheers, Ian

I think we might be getting our wires crossed here! All Stingray bridges have studs (except the new post-2018 specials) but only early versions (pre-EB and up to 1994 ish) had mutes. The pre-EB you were playing would have had mutes, so they must have been missing.

The studs are just for the bridge mounting, the mutes are a separate component of early bridges. The studs carried over onto the later bridges without mutes.

A quick google for "rustoleum not curing" brings up a lot of other unhappy people experiencing similar issues. Ditching Rustoleum and starting again with something else may be the way to go...

Hold the string somewhere up by the nut while tightening, making sure to keep it loose over the saddle and through the body ferrule until the very end of the tensioning process. Give the string a quick wiggle before it starts to tighten over the saddle to get rid of any twist.

Just collected a Musicman SUB USA from Brendon, great bass, very nicely set up and plays superbly. Clearly a chap who knows how to look after his basses. Seamless transaction and top chap to deal with. Many thanks!

They screw into threaded inserts in the body as part of the bridge mounting mechanism along with the three screws at the tail end

The pole pieces on a standard hum-cancelling '51 style pickup won't line up with the narrower string spacing of the Musicmaster. Although you can slant the pickup to get proper alignment (see pic below). Aero and Sentell both make drop in replacement pickups for the Musicmaster with the correct pole spacing. Both are single coils though. I have a Sentell 'Big Sis' in my Bronco (great pickup) and it's generally hum free unless I face the amp and get too close. Herrick make custom pickups so may be able to rustle up a hum-cancelling Musicmaster style pup for you with the correct pole spacing. https://www.herrickpickups.com/ https://www.sentellpickups.net/bass.html (scroll down for the Lil Sis and Big Sis) https://www.aeroinstrument.com/pickups.html (scroll down for the MusicMasterer)

That's good to hear! You'll only need to make very small adjustments now that the relief is close to where it needs to be. If you feel it needs another tweak then do it 1/8 of a turn at a time and let the neck settle for a good few hours (or overnight) before deciding if it needs more. If you feel you've gone a bit too far just back it off 1/8 turn and let it settle again. You'll soon have it playing just how you want it to.

Can you post a pic? Sounds to me like the neck might just have a little too much relief, which would fit with the trussrod being slack. Have you tried tightening the trussrod to straighten the neck out a little? That would lower the action so you might also need to raise the saddles a little to compensate.

Detailed explanation here - http://www.earvana.com/in-depth-1.html It's mainly used to improve the intonation of chords on a six string guitar. The extent to which it has any noticeable effect when playing single notes on a bass is questionable, but scientifically speaking it should improve overall tuning and intonation.

I was about to mention the slight difficulty in finding 5 string Ric pups and bridges when I spotted this at the Bass Centre https://www.basscentre.com.au/products/used-5-string-rickenbacker-4003s-w-case

Ah, a bit more like this then? Slightly less nauseating I have to admit!

Hmm ....

This article provides a useful summary of factors affecting human perception of tension and compliance/stiffness, but it's a recurring topic with many differing viewpoints so be prepared for an animated debate! https://www.liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm

Everyone's 'normal' is different when it comes to setup lol! Here are the measurements for my '72 and a few pics by way of comparison. Action at 17th fret: G - 2.2 mm, D - 2.0 mm, A - 2.0 mm, E - 2.6mm (I measure using a 64th inch ruler, these are mm conversions) Distance of strings from pickup poles (with strings depressed at last fret: Neck pickup: G - 3.0mm, D - 4.8mm, A - 4.8mm, E - 3.6mm Bridge pickup: G - 3.2mm, D - 4.8mm, A - 4.8mm, E - 3.6mm Pickups are an old set of Fender Custom Shop 60's

Magnetic field intensity is inversely proportional to the square of distance from the source (ie. it decreases exponentially ). The D and A strings are around 2mm further from the poles on a 7.25" radius neck and that's enough to make a measurable difference in the output of those strings. There are other factors involved though, such as the strength of the magnets, the distance they are from the strings (the greater the distance, the less pronounced the differential effect), the gauge of the strings etc. How much of an issue it is will vary from bass to bass. On some it's hardly noticeable, on others more so. I can detect it on my '72, but it's easy enough to play round once you know it's there.

Uneven string balance is a pretty common feature of small radius necks with flat pickups. Winding the pickups down a bit can sometimes help to even things up a little. Otherwise just adjust your playing touch and dig in a little more with the D and A (or ease off on the G and E). It's pretty easy to get used to. I've got a couple of vintage Fenders and have become quite fond of their little idiosyncracies!