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Gimme an A! (Cliff Williams Stingray)


Doctor J

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Personally I dislike signature basses. I think they're just marketing moves and having someone's "signature bass" doesn't make you play or sound like them. And it's certainly not very different from having a regular bass of the same kind (which is what exactly the signature bass was before it touched the player's hands).

I loved Musicman's approach of "no signature pieces" when it came to their basses, it really struck out to me because everywhere I looked (*ahem* Fender) there seemed to be a ton of signature basses which provided virtually nothing new from normal basses.

HOWEVER, I do understand that companies need to make money and signature basses for them are almost "guaranteed" sells, especially when it comes to a giant band like AC/DC which has millions of followers. And I think MM took a first step into the signature world with their Joe Dart Musicman Bass which was quite refreshing (different from any Stingray/Sterling bass) and they made few copies - very overpriced, but still...

I just hope they don't go the same way as their guitar deparment which is bloated with signature models from players who I had never heard of (nothing against them, just saying) and they offer virtually nothing different.


All the power to Musicman though, it's their company and I'll support them as long as they don't go out of their way to create signature pieces just for money and leave the original basses behind (ex: Fender between the late 2000's and now...the Mexican Precision bass was severely left behind while they kept creating innumerous signature models for no reason).

Edited by kyuuga
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17 hours ago, kyuuga said:

Personally I dislike signature basses. I think they're just marketing moves and having someone's "signature bass" doesn't make you play or sound like them. And it's certainly not very different from having a regular bass of the same kind (which is what exactly the signature bass was before it touched the player's hands).

I loved Musicman's approach of "no signature pieces" when it came to their basses, it really struck out to me because everywhere I looked (*ahem* Fender) there seemed to be a ton of signature basses which provided virtually nothing new from normal basses.

HOWEVER, I do understand that companies need to make money and signature basses for them are almost "guaranteed" sells, especially when it comes to a giant band like AC/DC which has millions of followers. And I think MM took a first step into the signature world with their Joe Dart Musicman Bass which was quite refreshing (different from any Stingray/Sterling bass) and they made few copies - very overpriced, but still...

I just hope they don't go the same way as their guitar deparment which is bloated with signature models from players who I had never heard of (nothing against them, just saying) and they offer virtually nothing different.


All the power to Musicman though, it's their company and I'll support them as long as they don't go out of their way to create signature pieces just for money and leave the original basses behind (ex: Fender between the late 2000's and now...the Mexican Precision bass was severely left behind while they kept creating innumerous signature models for no reason).

Not all Sig models (across different companies) are just production models with a name tagged on, they are different. Doug Wimbish Spector has its own neck profile, Sandberg models have subtly different pick up placements and bits compared to the ‘standard’ model it is based on.

For me, I’ll assess something on its merits sig or not

 

This bass looks cool - congrats to him

Edited by Cuzzie
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Not a fan of the Stingray bass but am massive fan of Cliff's no nonsense solid playing. In fact he did some pretty interesting lines on Back In Black and For Those About To Rock. He's the main reason I took up bass in the first place. He thoroughly deserves this recognition, none more deserving  IMO. 🤘 

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It looks like it may be an exact copy (3 bolt, headstock truss rod) - in terms of price, given that Fender charge well over £3500 for the team built Pino Precision, then a similar price for one of these, which is easily as good if not better than a team built CS in terms of quality and comparative level of manual input would not be out of order, if this rather than a Precision tickles your fancy -  we'll have to see what it retails for. 

All very interesting - and talking of Pino, how far from the Cliff Williams 79 to a well known fretless sunburst 79? Mmmm (not that I have any info - just wild day dreaming). 

I also happened on the spec of the Mike Herrera signature Stingray and mistakenly thought it was a special blue paint job on a standard 2 EQ Stingray - it's not - the electronics are different - wired straight to the Jack socket, bypassing the EQ. So an interesting twist and all these signature models are different from standard (including the John Myung six string). 

 

Edited by drTStingray
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20 hours ago, drTStingray said:

... in terms of price, given that Fender charge well over £3500 for the team built Pino Precision, then a similar price for one of these, which is easily as good if not better than a team built CS in terms of quality and comparative level of manual input would not be out of order, if this rather than a Precision tickles your fancy -  we'll have to see what it retails for. 

Any Musicman picked straight off the production line will be as good/better build quality than 'team build' CS Fender bass.  I've yet to see or hear of a Musicman that wasn't superbly finished and put together. 

Oh and I'm no fan-boy with a Musicman bass to sell or to inflate the value of; I've simply owned a few of them in my time and they are (very) well put together.  ...in fact I may retract this statement as I'm trying to source a reasonably priced USA Sterling at the moment.  :)  

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23 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I also happened on the spec of the Mike Herrera signature Stingray and mistakenly thought it was a special blue paint job on a standard 2 EQ Stingray - it's not - the electronics are different - wired straight to the Jack socket, bypassing the EQ. So an interesting twist and all these signature models are different from standard

It’s a bit cheeky to charge an extra few hundred dollars to leave out the preamp and controls!

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18 hours ago, EdLib-3 said:

That's the most pristine, least DIY punk rock set of gnashers I've ever seen.

 

7 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

4 seconds. That’s all I could listen to. Teeth 😂

I'd strongly encourage you both to see past those beautiful American pearly whites and give Goldfinger a go, one of my favourite bands. Feldman is a great frontman and there's some nice bass parts too. Punk rock is a lot prettier than proper punk. 

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On 29/09/2020 at 22:51, Lozz196 said:

It’s certainly ignited my Stingray lust again. Never had a 2eq Stingray, may well look into that as love the playability of the Stingray but the 3eq ones I’ve had I just couldn’t tame the Rayness, maybe easier on a 2.

Well just to update re this, have managed to score a 1987 2eq in my favoured black/maple colour scheme on the ‘bay. 

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