Stingray owners help please

[rubis]

Hi everyone
I am about to start on a self build bass and would appreciate some help frome any Stingray owners out there.

I have plans/blueprints which are easily obtainable for a P bass and figured that would be a good place to start (everyone who followed Leo Fender did in a way anyway!)........ and then just tweak the shape to make it more elegant looking.

I am going to build a 34" scale bass with two interchangeable necks.....one fretted and one fretless (I'll be using threaded inserts to make changing over easier) and have began gathering bits and bobs and exotic pieces of wood as they catch my eye.

I wanted to make the shape a bit more attractive than a P bass and always liked the look and sound of Stingrays.....they look more curvy at the bottome like the Wal I used to have, and the 3+1 headstock looks more elegant and practical too. So a Blingray it shall be!

Now here's the problem..........plans or blueprints for a Stingray are seemingly non-existant, so I copied a picture of a Stingray body into MS Paint and scaled it up till it more or less fitted into the dimensions I have already found, IE body width 34cm, neck width at the heel 63mm. Then I traced out the body shape onto clear plastic and did some more measuring, and this is where any Stingray owners out there can be of great assistance in confirming or correcting some of the dimensions I have taken.

The thing which struck me (and has me wanting to double check the dimentions, which I,m 90% happy are correct) is how much smaller the body looks when a tracing is placed over that of a P bass, about 5cm shorter in length, and yet when you see someone wearing a Stingray it doesn't look "diddy". This is even more pleasing to me as it will reduce the overall weight a bit........the body blank I have is a nice one piece american walnut lump but it weighs 9lbs.......my dodgy shoulder's aching already!!

Anyway, am I right?

I make out the length of the body from where the bottom strap button is to the end of the neck pocket to be 37cm?
The length of the neck pocket to be 10cm?
The "mythical sweet spot" for the pickup position to be 85mm from the centre of the saddles to the centre of the pickup?

Obviously this will not be a direct clone of a Stingray and will not be badged up or passed off in any way as one ( just in case there are any Musicman lawyers reading!) but it will be noticeably influenced by one and will have other features not found on a Stingray

I will be grateful for any help or advice

[mcnach]

[quote name='rubis' post='1203605' date='Apr 18 2011, 02:04 PM']The thing which struck me (and has me wanting to double check the dimentions, which I,m 90% happy are correct) is how much smaller the body looks when a tracing is placed over that of a P bass, about 5cm shorter in length, and yet when you see someone wearing a Stingray it doesn't look "diddy". This is even more pleasing to me as it will reduce the overall weight a bit........the body blank I have is a nice one piece american walnut lump but it weighs 9lbs.......my dodgy shoulder's aching already!!

Anyway, am I right?

I make out the length of the body from where the bottom strap button is to the end of the neck pocket to be 37cm?
The length of the neck pocket to be 10cm?
The "mythical sweet spot" for the pickup position to be 85mm from the centre of the saddles to the centre of the pickup?

Obviously this will not be a direct clone of a Stingray and will not be badged up or passed off in any way as one ( just in case there are any Musicman lawyers reading!) but it will be noticeably influenced by one and will have other features not found on a Stingray

I will be grateful for any help or advice[/quote]

I had my Stingray next to a P and they don't seem shorter, not by mch, so I measured it.

Rather than 37cm from bottom of the body (strap hole) to end of neck pocket, I measured 41cm.
Length of neck pocket just over 10cm (103mm, I measured)

30.6cm from bottom of neck pocket to bottom of the body.

102mm from centre of pickup (between the two rows of polepieces) to middle of saddle on the E string
90mm for the G string.
But this will depend on the intonation adjustments, which in turn depend on the string gauge and action...
So, for a MM bridge, I measured the distance between the metal bit with the holes from which the strings come out, to the bottom of the pickup, and it's 97mm.
Anothr measurement to place the pickup: the distance between the 12th fret (the fret itself) and the top of the pickup is 32cm. I would use this last measurement to make sure you get the pickup in the right spot. Then place the bridge wherever it suits allowing you enough room to adjust intonation (with 97mm as above being in the ballpark of what you should aim for)

I hope this helps.

[rubis]

McNach you are a gentleman, sir

Stirling advice (fnar fnar)