Music Man StingRay 4 Short scale bass

[Alberto Rigoni]

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I've changed my mind on these now I've seen this. To me it just looks weird and out of proportion. EBMM should have made it with a body shape designed specifically for the shortscale like Leo did with the mustang rather than scaling down the body of the familiar stingray and making the proportions look out of whack.

[grayn]

I don't think it looks out of proportion but it does look a bit weird, being so small.

The whole Stingray presence is based on being a substantial bass.

That looks a bit toy like, even if it's quite a pretty toy.

I'm sure, with a decent player and set up, it would sound very good.

But what's telling for me is I am an EBMM fan and have been looking at short scale basses but wouldn't get this one.

[Cuzzie]

I quite like it, but can’t help thinking that us fussy folk (well a proportion at least) if it had been redesigned would be in the other camp saying how I can’t believe he changed the stingray shape.....

Edited November 11, 2019 by Cuzzie

[songofthewind]

Perhaps the Sterling shape would suit a short scale better.

To me, Mustangs etc look like toys.

[Alberto Rigoni]

17 hours ago, grayn said:

I don't think it looks out of proportion but it does look a bit weird, being so small.

The whole Stingray presence is based on being a substantial bass.

That looks a bit toy like, even if it's quite a pretty toy.

I'm sure, with a decent player and set up, it would sound very good.

But what's telling for me is I am an EBMM fan and have been looking at short scale basses but wouldn't get this one.

 So I’m a crap player

[Cuzzie]

Reckon I am worse than you

[three]

Thanks for the review Alberto, as a short-scale player (mainly) it's good to see a run through of this model.  Some very useful tones and I'd suspect playability is impressive.  I'm not too sure about the shape but for me, it's actually ergonomics, playability and tone that really matter.  On the basis of the review, I'll be seeking to try one of these soon. 

As for the 'decent player' comment, I'm sure this wasn't intended as a criticism, just an unfortunate construction in context.  I'm with Cuzzie on this, you're certainly a better player than me

[pineweasel]

It's an interesting bit of branding from EBMM. Their last forays into passive designs (the Caprice and Cutlass) were discontinued fairly quickly, so I guess the thinking is to stick with a familiar name and shape for this one. But no pre-amp? It's not the short-scale Stingray many would expect.

I wonder if we will see a passive long-scale Stingray using this circuit one day? 

[burno70]

I'm definitely interested in this bass. Anyone have any idea of the price range?

[three]

11 minutes ago, burno70 said:

I'm definitely interested in this bass. Anyone have any idea of the price range?

About £1800 (from a quick check)

[burno70]

 

3 hours ago, three said:

About £1800 (from a quick check)

Hmmm, my interest has cooled somewhat!

[theplumber]

That's the weans christmas sorted.....toytown indeed!!

[RaNoFuNkY]

Mine came through today. Really good fun. Here's a quick demo having spent 5 minutes with it:

 

[drTStingray]

This sounds really good. For a short scale, lightweight, passive bass it's very full sounding, and plenty of variation available with the pick up settings and tone control. But most of all, it does a very nice Stingray sound. 

Excellent demo (and Alberto's).  

[scrumpymike]

8 hours ago, drTStingray said:

This sounds really good. For a short scale, lightweight, passive bass it's very full sounding, and plenty of variation available with the pick up settings and tone control. But most of all, it does a very nice Stingray sound. 

Excellent demo (and Alberto's).  

+1 Very impressed!

[fretmeister]

I like that.

It's too damn expensive, but I like it.