bassfiddlesteve
New member
In 1984 while I was still in high school I got my first Music Man Stingray. I had been playing bass for a few years and when it was time to upgrade to a better instrument I knew what I wanted as several players that I admired played Stingrays. Focus II Guitar Center, the music store on Long Island where I took lessons, was Music Man dealer and generally had them in stock. They offered me a good deal on a used one, but it was white and mine had to be sunburst like the one John Deacon played. Luckily, they had a new sunburst Stingray at their North Bellmore location and soon it was mine.
Not long after I bought my bass, I saw the first Ernie Ball models at the same store and I regretted not waiting a little longer as the rosewood fingerboard and lighter, contoured body were features that I wished my bass had. Still, my Stingray accompanied me when I attended Berklee College of Music and played my first professional gigs. Unfortunately, it was consigned to the moving van when I moved to Florida and it never played right after being exposed to the extreme heat during that trip. I wound up selling it to a big music store in Tampa and moved on to other basses, included a white Stingray for a while (even though I still preferred sunburst).
Fast forward to December 2021. The owner of my local guitar shop showed me some used basses that had just come in. My eyes lit up when he pulled out a Music Man case as I had been thinking about getting another Stingray. In fact, I had been watching a nice vintage sunburst model on eBay for a while, but I hesitated and missed out. When the shop owner opened the case, I was surprised to see the same bass...not an identical one, but the exact same instrument I had been watching. It reminded me of my original Stingray, but with the features I liked about the Ernie Ball models, and it weighed considerably less at 8.5 pounds. How it wound up at a shop just a few miles from my house is a mystery, but I took it as a sign and now I have a sunburst Stingray again.
- Steve
Not long after I bought my bass, I saw the first Ernie Ball models at the same store and I regretted not waiting a little longer as the rosewood fingerboard and lighter, contoured body were features that I wished my bass had. Still, my Stingray accompanied me when I attended Berklee College of Music and played my first professional gigs. Unfortunately, it was consigned to the moving van when I moved to Florida and it never played right after being exposed to the extreme heat during that trip. I wound up selling it to a big music store in Tampa and moved on to other basses, included a white Stingray for a while (even though I still preferred sunburst).
Fast forward to December 2021. The owner of my local guitar shop showed me some used basses that had just come in. My eyes lit up when he pulled out a Music Man case as I had been thinking about getting another Stingray. In fact, I had been watching a nice vintage sunburst model on eBay for a while, but I hesitated and missed out. When the shop owner opened the case, I was surprised to see the same bass...not an identical one, but the exact same instrument I had been watching. It reminded me of my original Stingray, but with the features I liked about the Ernie Ball models, and it weighed considerably less at 8.5 pounds. How it wound up at a shop just a few miles from my house is a mystery, but I took it as a sign and now I have a sunburst Stingray again.
- Steve
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