Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Ok, so they have reissued 'Old Smoothie', a prototype Stingray. Maybe this isn't such a shock. This might be: [url="http://blog.music-man.com/instruments/cutlass-and-caprice-basses/"]http://blog.music-man.com/instruments/cutlass-and-caprice-basses/[/url] Cutlass and Caprice passive basses...! Quote
cocco Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 They look pretty cool! I'm probably late to the party but i didnt realise there was now a neck-thru stingray either. Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 The Neck-Through models are lovely! I don't intend to buy one but it's a cool idea. Quote
Cato Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Has anyone got a picture of the whole basses? Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 I have seen them on the EBMM forums, but I can't get to them on this computer (blocked). Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 http://static.music-man.com.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website/images/instruments/instrument-63.png Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 http://static.music-man.com.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/website/images/instruments/instrument-62.png Quote
Happy Jack Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Am I the only person to think that posting close-ups of just part of the basses is deeply [i][b]meh[/b][/i]? Far from leaving me desperate to see more, it makes me keen to avoid being played for a fool, and in so transparent a manner. Quote
Machines Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 A total break from the history of Musicman, straight into the history of Fender. Quote
neepheid Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 So it's their P and PJ bass? OK, suppose everyone else is at it so why not EBMM too? Quote
Ghost_Bass Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 So they went for a PJ and a P in a J and P type bodys... where have i seen that? From the close ups i was hoping that they would look more like the Sabre basses, in body shape. Quote
Machines Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 [quote name='Machines' timestamp='1453386138' post='2959013'] A total break from the history of Musicman, straight into the history of Fender. [/quote] Actually, the sense of this has just hit me. Musicman history IS (Leo) Fender history. So it's all OK. In fact, all of the big brands are copying each other now. Fender copying G&L L-2000 with the Dimension, and now Musicman copying Fender with these P/J types. How long until Fender ends up copying itself ?! Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 Sadly I think EBMM may have come to the conclusion that although the Ray will always be a popular bass, the market is currently swaying towards indie bands playing passive P and J basses. The huge popularity of the P bass (yes, it has always been a popular bass, and probably the one we all associate with electric bass, but recently the whole superjazz popularity has dropped for a simple P bass) is probably something they wanted to experiment with. If the tone Is anything like the Big Al in passive mode, they could be excellent. Quote
krispn Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Yeah if it sounds like the Big Al that's no bad thing. They're just a bit ordinary but they could play great. Price will be interesting...... Quote
Cato Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 I normally associate a certain wow factor with Music Man basses. Even when it's 'wow, what the hell is that'. First impressions, these just seem a bit generic. Quote
keefbaker Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Cos there's a massive shortage of people making P and P/J basses out there? Er no... Meh. 1 Quote
Chiliwailer Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Ugly, and yet another confusing name that's already been used. Miffed. Quote
stoo Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Does the old smoothie have truss rod access at both ends? Or is that just a dark plug at the headstock end? I can't imagine that moving the string tree across to the g string would have enough effect to justify it unless you needed access to the rod? Had heard about the 10 pole pickup in an early prototype before and wondered if it would ever make an appearance... I wonder if it's a stock 5 string pickup? Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 The 10 pole piece pickup has been engineered from the original - same with the preamp. They should sound quite different. Quote
drTStingray Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 [quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1453392066' post='2959096'] The 10 pole piece pickup has been engineered from the original - same with the preamp. They should sound quite different. [/quote] Also has an alder body according to the spec list. Quote
drTStingray Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 As for the Caprice and Cutlass basses, it will be very interesting to hear how these sound and feel to play. I like the look of the split P type pick up with large exposed poles - reminiscent of one of the earliest Stingray prototypes. If they are as good as the Big Al then that will be excellent. I'm not sure about people saying meh on the basis of one or two pictures - oh I almost forgot - it's a bass forum where such things are de rigeur..... Quote
Musicman20 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 Apparently the 10 pole piece pickup was originally two pickups that were joined somehow and changed. I've just read that the bass still punches like a Stingray, but is mellower,smoother and fatter sounding. Quote
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