ianrendall Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Took the pickup out of my 2000 'Ray the other night to give the pole pieces a clean and found these numbers underneath. Any idea what they mean? Also took the neck off to have a look - looks like the body is '99 and the neck is '00. [attachment=200424:A.jpg] [attachment=200425:B.jpg] [attachment=200426:C.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 In my experience manufacturers of all sorts of products use labels and other marks to track the identity of component parts - doing so is vital for stock control, quality assurance, change control and general manufacturing management. In many plastic injection moulded or metallic cast parts for example you'll see the part number moulded in. So your Stingray label is almost certainly one used for internal manufacturing process control. As to what it means, who knows. It was important at the time the instrument was built but probably of no significance afterwards. Same with the neck and body having different date stamps. It's all about the manufacturing process. Almost certainly, necks and bodies are made on different lines, after which they'll be held in stock till needed. When an order is received to build a bass, a body and a neck will be brought out of stock and bolted together on the assembly line. So there'd be nothing odd at all about the body and neck having different date stamps. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I think the stamp TRANS refers to the finish, i.e. transparent so that the grain is visible, rather than a solid colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) [quote name='ianrendall' timestamp='1441879131' post='2862488'] Took the pickup out of my 2000 'Ray the other night to give the pole pieces a clean and found these numbers underneath. Any idea what they mean? Also took the neck off to have a look - looks like the body is '99 and the neck is '00. [attachment=200424:A.jpg] [attachment=200425:B.jpg] [attachment=200426:C.jpg] [/quote] The 110 70 20 02 is the build code - model; colour; neck; pick guard (02 is white I believe). The other number is the works order code. For anyone who has had a new Musicman delivered in the factory shipping box the codes appear on the labels on the box along with the serial number and other info. The abbreviated body colour is normally stamped in the neck pocket and trans means a clear colour that you can see the wood grain through. If you're interested in getting the full details on the bass EBMM Customer Services will give you that if you give them the serial number - similarly, you could post in the serial number thread on their bass forum. It's seems to be very rare for the necks and bodies to have the same dates exactly as they both appear to be pulled from stock to match the order - presumably for the more popular colours like black, natural or sunburst, this would be especially likely. Edited September 11, 2015 by drTStingray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrendall Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Thanks for the replies chaps! Also, why so many holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 [quote name='ianrendall' timestamp='1441959748' post='2863209'] Thanks for the replies chaps! Also, why so many holes? [/quote] They moved production to Switzerland for a little while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Steve Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1441976496' post='2863444'] They moved production to Switzerland for a little while... [/quote] Oh, very good. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 [quote name='ianrendall' timestamp='1441959748' post='2863209'] Thanks for the replies chaps! Also, why so many holes? [/quote] Some of them are where they hold the items on a stick during manufacturing process (eg painting). Not sure about the Swiss facility....... 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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