Ernie Ball Sting Ray Bass / Original bridge buffers

[Pittylabelle]

Hi there,

I'm from Germany, and have an original "Ernie Ball Sting Ray Bass", 4 strings, Bridge-Serial-No.: B027260.

It was bougth probably in 1991, but I'm not quite sure.

1. The original black "bridge buffers" are missing.
2. Also the original transparent pick guard has some flaws at the screw-point areas.

I searched for a long time now, so, my question is:
Is there a chance to get in touch with some original buffers and a new transparent pick guard?

Thanks in advance!

Michael

 

[J Romano]

Michael, string mutes can be ordered thru customer service. Transparent PG, I think, are after market and would have to be ordered thru a PG maker. Many have used them here to place designed paper under them. Some one will post and let you know where they got them.

 

[drTStingray]

Some of the 1980s basses had transparent pickguards from new, especially trans red and trans blue. You should contact Customer Services about both points.

You will definitely be able to get a replacement transparent pick guard from one of the specialist suppliers.

In the meantime it would be great to see pictures of your bass if you could post them.

 

[Pittylabelle]

Well, here it is: Post Pics Of Your MM Instruments.

 

[liverbird]

Michael, do you have a pic with the original clear guard?

I'm not a fan of tort guards on green or blue finishes but whatever you do, keep the original guard! I assume it has some cracks around the screw holes, that's very typical for the clear guards back then as they were very thin (around 1.5mm). The replacement clear guards you can buy these days tend to be much thicker. Once again, definitely hold on to the original!

Here is my 1987 Trans Red, also with many cracks around the screw holes on the clear guard:



As for the mutes, you can buy a replacement assembly from EBMM, not sure though whether you can get the mute pads on their own.

 

[Pittylabelle]

Yes, I still have the transparent pickguard and I always keep everything that's original anyway.

You're right, there are a lot of small cracks around the drill holes, but in my case they were not the reason for replacing the pickguard.

A few older pictures when I still had the transparent pickguard screwed on. On the one picture you can see that the bass was slightly dusty, but it is still in mint condition - the camera was merciless here. ;-)

As you can see from the pictures, I was able to order the mute pads somewhere back then.

 

[Pittylabelle]

I even still have the original brochure, an 8-page folder, with which the basses were advertised back in 1989 here in Germany.

The text is in German, but I think the pictures speak for themselves.

The bass Tony Levin is clutching was probably only painted for the advertising stunt. ;-)

 

[liverbird]

Michael, that bass looks fantastic with the clear guard! Your choice, of course, as long as you keep the original!

I only just realised that your original post in this thread was from 2012, glad you got the mutes sorted!

I have seen pictures of that German brochure before and wondered what year exactly it would have been released. Late '80s would have been my guess, as it features the StingRay 5 that was introduced in 1987 and was first available in 1988, while all the 4-strings pictured have the bullet truss rod adjuster which was phased out in the second half of 1990.

The one strange thing though is that the hardware specs for the SR4 list the 6-point neck plate which only started around mid-1990 together with the truss adjuster wheel but was never used on the bullet truss SR4s pictured in the brochure. (The SR5 had the 6-point neck plate right from the start, of course.)

 

[Pittylabelle]

Judging from the serial no. my bass was built in January 1989, as described in the picture thread. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly when I bought it, I can't find the invoice, but I bought it from a specialist dealer here at "Musik Produktiv" and they had ordered it especially for me from the USA supplier. So it was a current model. But I remember that the brochures were also on display there and I took a few of them with me on the day of purchase.

The 1988 release date of the brochure may well be correct. If you take a closer look at the Music Man lettering on the headstock of the basses in the brochure, they still have the older logo version with the large "M" of the two "Music Man figures" and just like on your red bass headstock. My bass already has the modified and reduced newer Logo version. So the brochure must have existed at least before 1989.

However, the mention of the 6-point neck plate is really strange. Perhaps a spelling mistake, or maybe it was accidentally overlooked and already included in future models. It's a shame that you can't see the backs of the basses in the brochure.

 

[liverbird]

Yes, good point about the headstock decal. The old style logo was only used until late 1987, I don't think I've ever seen a 1988 that still has it.

Great to see that you still have the original case, by the way. They seem a lot more common with EBMM basses that were originally sold in Germany, presumably because Musik Meyer, the German distributor, would have ordered the instruments including their cases. Not so much here in the UK, it would appear. Someone who worked for the UK distributor at the time, Strings & Things, once told me that they had the instruments shipped over in fortified shipping boxes that had some sort of a neck brace for protection, but foregoing the tolex hard cases.

I bought my first EBMM, a 1992 Sunburst StingRay, at a shop in Munich (where I'm originally from) back in the day and it also came with the original case. Still have it (the bass and the case). Over the past 15 years or so, I bought a few used EBMM basses from that era from sellers in the UK and none came with an original case.

 

[Pittylabelle]

I also still have a German multi-page DIN A4 Music Man brochure from 1992 with the then current models of basses and guitars, that Musik Meyer brought out on its own.

It also shows basses with the bullet truss - they probably just took basses from leftover stock that they had to hand for the photos.

 

[liverbird]

This one?



I have that on file. You're right, there's a few bullet truss StingRays in there. Does it actually say that this brochure is from 1992?

 

[Pittylabelle]

Yes, that's exactly the brochure I mean. On the back of my printed copy there is a mark at the bottom that reveals the year 92 at the end.