• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan
Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

New Stingray in the wild!!

C

cybersnyder

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
110
Location
MD
Had a chance to play a new, out of the box 2018 Stingray today at Guitar Center.

Wow!

I was concerned that it wouldn't be as good as the old versions, but that was incredibly wrong. Kudos to the design team. You nailed it!
 
E

Edmang

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2016
Messages
453
Was at GC today. Noticed two SR5s HH hanging up high on the wall listed at $1499. Guess they are trying to move old stock before the new arrivals.
 
Grugenhagen

Grugenhagen

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
113
Location
Minneamapolips, MN
My local GC is the same way. A couple of SR5 HHs that have been there a while (one in Pace Car Blue!). Unfortunately, they both have major fret sprout issues and are in dire need of a setup.
 
C

cybersnyder

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
110
Location
MD
It's worth a trip. With the roasted woods, these instruments have a vintage feel to them - you know how when you pick up a 50 year old instrument and it feels "solid" more so than a new instrument? These have that vintage feel to them, IMO. My only minor quibble is that it will probably be awhile before Hipshot makes a d-tuner that fits the new tuners. If that's it, not bad.
 
Bass Control

Bass Control

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2007
Messages
748
Location
Chesapeake, Virginia, United States
I stopped by my local GC today hoping that they maybe had one or two to try out before they are released next week, and they did happen to have two. Holy smokes, you guys knocked it out of the park with this one. The neck feels smoother than I remember a brand new neck feeling, the new contour feels amazing, and these things are STUPID light. The new hardware is solid; I don't feel like I'm playing with a expensive bass with cheap parts. The GC had a used Stealth Stingray on hand. I grabbed that bass for comparison and put it back on the rack about two minutes later to go back to the new Stingray. These things are the real deal and I can't wait to place my order for a Stingray 5 this summer.
 
G

GregP

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2017
Messages
191
Just played a Stingray Special at GC...easily the most comfortable Stingray I've ever played. The neck feels much easier to play, the balance is dead on, and this thing is LIGHT!. Congrats....they've done it again!

Now I'm wondering, will the EBMM Sterling 4 get the 18V Circuit/Neo pickups too? It seems to be the only active bass left in the line w/a 9V preamp. As a Sterling is my main bass...I'm excited for the future ;-)
 
five7

five7

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
4,292
Went to local GC this morning, they had an SR5 and 2 rays. Played the SR5 and tone was all Sterling says it is. Beautiful! Oh, and it was the sparkle silver color with black hardware. Stunning with the roasted neck. In need of a setup though, strings were about 1/2 an inch off the fretboard. Will own one someday.
 
C

cybersnyder

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
110
Location
MD
Picked up a SR5H in natural today. Absolute killer bass! The changes are subtle when you're playing, but earth shaking as a sum of the whole. The neck is perfect. Close your eyes and you would swear you're playing on a vintage bass. The body contours are very comfortable. The tone is all you would expect in a Stingray and then some. My bass is 8.25 lbs - that's incredible. I'm picky and always looking for an issue or a problem in everything - it makes me a pretty good IT pro. I don't think I'd change a thing on this bass. Sure, I might get greedy and wish it had a P pickup or something crazy like that, but then it wouldn't be an SR5.

Kudos!
 
E

Edmang

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2016
Messages
453
GregP said:
JNow I'm wondering, will the EBMM Sterling 4 get the 18V Circuit/Neo pickups too? It seems to be the only active bass left in the line w/a 9V preamp. As a Sterling is my main bass...I'm excited for the future ;-)
Click to expand...

To me the biggest difference between a Stingray and a Sterling is the Alnico vs Ceramic pickups. Changing a Sterling to get the "18V Circuit/Neo pickups" would not end up different from a Stingray Special.
 
S

stu42

Well-known member
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
562
Location
Calgary, Alberta
Edmang said:
To me the biggest difference between a Stingray and a Sterling is the Alnico vs Ceramic pickups. Changing a Sterling to get the "18V Circuit/Neo pickups" would not end up different from a Stingray Special.
Click to expand...

Well...one major difference between the Stingray and the Sterling is in the difference between Parallel vs Series wiring of the different pickup combinations. On an SR HH, all of the pickup combinations are wired in Parallel whereas on the Sterling the wiring is in Series for most of the pickup switch positions (that is, for 2 pickup models anyway).

One thing that would be super awesome on one of the new SR Specials would be a switch or button to change between Parallel and Series.

In any case, I can't wait to try out one of the new SR Specials. I have a friend who is waiting on one so I'm looking forward to checking it out. I haven't had any G.A.S. for a new bass for a long time but this new one has me seriously interested.
 
Holdsg

Holdsg

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
1,320
Location
Alta Loma, CA
Played one today at Sweetwater, the surf green one. Played superb, although I would set up differently. Very easy to get several tones I would find useful. Mostly (for me) using only the mid and bass bands. Much superior to a reg Stingray IMO as to useable tone. I am not a fan of the clank, although is a way to cut thru a dense mix, for sure. I bet they sell a ton of these.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Papa Het's Signature Guitar Strings
Top Bottom