Finish cracks and delaminating.
Hi all. I’ve owned many Musicman Stingrays over my 35 years of playing and love them in general.
However I’ve recently had a really. Ad experience with a used one I bought locally.
It was a std 2 band eq black Stingray 4 with maple board.
I noticed a crack in the paint running from corner of the battery compartment. It was about 4” in length and it was a clear split in the black paint right through to the bare wood underneath. You could put a knife underneath on each side of the crack. I attempted to seal it with nail polish and then gently sand it back a bit. Slightly crude but this was on the back so as long as it stopped the cracking from spreading I do mind.
Job done, or so I thought.
I soon discovered other smaller cracks and realized that the finish was lifting from the body. Air was gathering underneath and then the outer finish was cracking.
I removed the neck and found the whole area of paint around each side of the neck pocket was lifting away.
You could get a flat head screwdriver down between the body wood and the black finish on each side of the neck pocket.
The paint was lifting from the body at the lower bout, if you pressed your finger there you could feel the paint press in and out against the body.
In the end I called Ernie Ball and was advised that they had no examples of this ever happening before. I admitted the bass was older and used but this could have halls new bass.
I had to pay $450 for a full refin of the body.
The Lithier advised that whatever sealant was used on the body had over time begun to react with the paint and it caused it to come away.
He didn’t sand the body
enough his first attempt and the remaining sealant caused his re spray to fail. He eventually stripped it enough so that the new coat of paint took.
I ended up selling the bass at a loss as I wasn’t happy with the quality of the refin.
I just thought this was a blip until I recently saw one in my local shop with similar issues with the paint. Splits that weee bit caused by wear and tear. The kind of splits that would peel off if they caught on your jkt or belt buckle etc…
I’m now very wary of this going forward when looking for my replacement Stingray.
Has anyone any similar experiences?
Hi all. I’ve owned many Musicman Stingrays over my 35 years of playing and love them in general.
However I’ve recently had a really. Ad experience with a used one I bought locally.
It was a std 2 band eq black Stingray 4 with maple board.
I noticed a crack in the paint running from corner of the battery compartment. It was about 4” in length and it was a clear split in the black paint right through to the bare wood underneath. You could put a knife underneath on each side of the crack. I attempted to seal it with nail polish and then gently sand it back a bit. Slightly crude but this was on the back so as long as it stopped the cracking from spreading I do mind.
Job done, or so I thought.
I soon discovered other smaller cracks and realized that the finish was lifting from the body. Air was gathering underneath and then the outer finish was cracking.
I removed the neck and found the whole area of paint around each side of the neck pocket was lifting away.
You could get a flat head screwdriver down between the body wood and the black finish on each side of the neck pocket.
The paint was lifting from the body at the lower bout, if you pressed your finger there you could feel the paint press in and out against the body.
In the end I called Ernie Ball and was advised that they had no examples of this ever happening before. I admitted the bass was older and used but this could have halls new bass.
I had to pay $450 for a full refin of the body.
The Lithier advised that whatever sealant was used on the body had over time begun to react with the paint and it caused it to come away.
He didn’t sand the body
enough his first attempt and the remaining sealant caused his re spray to fail. He eventually stripped it enough so that the new coat of paint took.
I ended up selling the bass at a loss as I wasn’t happy with the quality of the refin.
I just thought this was a blip until I recently saw one in my local shop with similar issues with the paint. Splits that weee bit caused by wear and tear. The kind of splits that would peel off if they caught on your jkt or belt buckle etc…
I’m now very wary of this going forward when looking for my replacement Stingray.
Has anyone any similar experiences?
