1993 Stingray 5.. Status Series 1 classic deluxe 5 or Human Base max 5..

[Jaybeevee]

Sorry, I know it's largely un-answerable, but buying a bass without ability to try, and these three are in my price range.. and I fancy all of em

I would appreciate any opinions, suggestions, oe experience etc

They are different beasts, but like many of us, I'm an ´enthusiast´ and enjoy new stuff and and the process of making them fit in etc.

But it is my first pop at a 5 string..

I have a 4 string Stingray fwiw

I´ll use the bass in a project which is I guess groove based pop/funk.

All comments welcome.

Cheers

Jay

 

 

[itu]

For me it's the neck: thickness, width, scale length... and definitely not with a maple fretboard! Then the playability (ergonomics) of the whole instrument. If there are nice details but the instrument itself sounds dull (with my preferred strings, of course), I cannot go with one. To buy without test drive... complicated. But I have succeeded twice.

[dub_junkie]

Can't speak about the other two, as capable as they no doubt are, but the StingRay 5 is such a good five string imo. My overriding feeling about them is I can't help but notice how well they sit with everything. 

My own personal choice is for the basses with the ceramic pickups as opposed to alnico (a little bit more bite imo). I'm consistent with this as I prefer the USA Sterling tone with ceramic to a 3EQ StingRay 4 which is alnico.

I have three StingRay 5s - all ceramic - '96 blueburst fretless, '05 Buttercream LE and an '05 Rolls Burgandy. I don't have any experience of the neodymium pickups on the StingRay Special 5 other than on Bongo 4 and 5 strings I've owned and liked. Together with the 18v on the Specials, it's going to be a different sound from the old style 9v preamp but I'm sure the core tone is still there.

String spacing is a bit tight for some and the B and G strings are close to the fingerboard edge which requires a bit of adaptation. Pre 2018 they can be weighty so be sure and ask.

For all that I think they feel solid, dependable and how a industry standard production bass should feel. They also have a superb sounding B string for a 34" scale length and I find them inspiring to play.

[Jaybeevee]

Thanks for the input.

I ended up going for the Status. It just appealed after an amount of deliberating. the Stingray was a lovey natural finsh which looked killer, but was a bit overpriced and pictured in a filthy state.. put me off tbh.

Also the Status offered a little wider string spacing which appealed as it's my first 5er. 

Again chers

jay

[OliverBlackman]

29 minutes ago, Jaybeevee said:

Thanks for the input.

I ended up going for the Status. It just appealed after an amount of deliberating. the Stingray was a lovey natural finsh which looked killer, but was a bit overpriced and pictured in a filthy state.. put me off tbh.

Also the Status offered a little wider string spacing which appealed as it's my first 5er. 

Again chers

jay

Nice, there are lots of stingray 5s about so even if you decide the status isn’t right in the long term, you’ll have no problem finding a stingray. Hadn’t heard of Human Base before, not something I’d buy blind.

[Misdee]

Don't know anything about the Human Base.

 

The Stingray 5 is a great bass in many respects.  However, potential pitfalls, depending on your personal preference, are the weight, the 17.5 mm string spacing and the G string having a tendency to slip off the edge of the fingerboard.  

 

The Status is a great bass too, but very different. They've got their own inherently modern tone and feel. I seem to remember 18mm string spacing, so a bit wider than the MM 5. 

 

Either would be eminently suitable for pop/ funk, albeit in slightly different ways.

Edited June 4 by Misdee