EBMM Bass Just Because...

[Duarte]

I got my fretless becuase it was beautiful.

It is now my favorite bass in terms of playability, tone, and my number one go-to bass.

 

[ivbenaplayin]

Appearance always plays a role, but for me it's mostly tone, tone, tone...
by the way, I must say to "STRUMMER" ,that emerald bongo you've got is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

How's this for an EBMM slogan:
Come for the looks, stay for the tone.

 

[ivbenaplayin]

Come for the looks, stay for the tone, EBMM - IS a class of its own! Sounds like a nice slogan to me...

 

[strummer]

come for the tone, stay for the forum

 

[patobrujo]

My story:

I've bought my Bongo 6 HH after looking (in the net) for a several number of basses, custom, 7enders, war*icks, etc. Then i found Musicman site and inmediatly got hooked by all the instruments... but i needed a 6er, so the Bongo was my choice, i read the forums, do some research (no bongo in Chile to try out), so i bought it without even hear it.... now i'm a happy man

 

[GreyDad]

For me it was sheer playability.

I'd played the same bass for 23 years, the first one I ever bought as a teenager and really it was not very good: high action, neck heavy, woolly tone, very difficult to play quickly. I reached a point where I finally said to myself I *need* to buy a new bass - I was turning 40, feeling a bit alarmed about it and wanted to cheer myself up. I'd tried all the usual basses in music stores over the years but never really got turned on by any. I'd never tried a Musicman, though, don't know why, I think because I couldn't afford one. I knew of them of course because I'm old enough to remember when they first started appearing - disco and funk players mainly in the 70's, I remember Bernard Edwards playing one, and later Sades bassist, and Pino Palladino playing the fretless stuff for Paul Young, etc.

Well, I found myself in a big music store in Bristol and they had a bunch of Stingrays in, first time I'd ever actually touched one. So I said can I try one please? Guys, I sat there and played the damn thing for over half an hour without even plugging it into an amp. It was a total joy. It was an epiphany. It was bass heaven. It even convinced me maybe I could be a decent player one day. The neck was right, the strings were right, the action was right, I could feel it just zing. It had a maple neck and finally I could slap it like crazy, I loved it. So I bought one, a Stingray 4H, and basically never played my first bass ever again.

I got together my first proper band a few months later and the largest FO bass rig I could afford and *then* I finally learnt all about the MM tone

It only took 6 years to get the next one, a beautiful 5HH , and now 2 years after that I'm going to get a Bongo 6, and then next year I'm going to get...

Neil

 

[CFA]

Also around the late '80's/early'90's I kept seeing players in bands I liked with them, Flea, then Krist from Nirvana was playing one for a while, then the guy in RATM.

Sorry for the hijack, but Krist played a Stingray? This is the first time I've ever heard of that, I only ever saw images with Gibson, and maybe a Fender once. Is there a picture around anywhere anyone knows about?

Again, sorry for the hijack....

 

[Davecg2]

I first noticed the stingrays because of flea. That said, it wasnt until I watched a few people on youtube using them and getting to play with a few at GC that i really took notice. after doing my fair share of research on basses i ended up declaring the MM Sterling my dream bass and started saving. Finally got one of my own and i have to say I made a damn good choice.

 

[tkarter]

SR5 cuz I walked into the store and had the wife along. We both looked at it and say holy cow. Being a cheap skate I went and played the fender 5ers that day in the store and decided to go home. She bought the bass for me that we looked at that day. Once I heard the sound that was better than the looks I was hooked.

Now all I play is the bongos but I am not sure how I arrived at that. Maybe some demented Lord Bongo fellow convinced me I don't recall.

I never question decisions that turn out like my whole EB experience has.

From basses to the people that make them and those that play them. Nothing but good stuff in my life in the EB camp.

tk

 

[fidooda]

I never question decisions that turn out like my whole EB experience has.

From basses to the people that make them and those that play them. Nothing but good stuff in my life in the EB camp.

tk

+1 rock on!

 

[kmark]

I'm only 25, but owning an EBMM has always been a dream of mine. I've been a huge fan of the band MxPx for a long time, and Mike Herrera has played a 'Ray since the late 90s. I always thought his bass looked awesome and sounded great. I also like the Dude Ranch-era of Blink 182, when Mark Hoppus played SR4s. (I'm a big pop/punk fan, if you couldn't tell...)

Anyway, I played a Squier P-Bass from a bass starter pack that I got for Christmas in 2000, and although it was a nice guitar to learn on, I wanted to upgrade. So this year, I thought I'd put my tax refund check to good use and get the bass I always wanted! I got a beautiful used '02 Pacific Blue Burst SR4 with a black pickguard and maple fretboard - the exact combo I always hoped to find. I found out a week or two ago on here that my bass was built on my 18th birthday...pretty sweet, huh?

 

[gafman]

2) For the look or colour.
I have to admit that if a bass doesn't appeal to me visually, I'm not really interested in owning it. My first bass teacher 20 years ago had a Stingray and I didn't care for it at all. A pointy headstock and black was all I wanted at that stage.
Fast forward 20 years and I'm on the quest for another fretless as everything up to that point just plain sucked.
I saw my Fretless Ray on Ebay and had to have it just on it's visual appearance. It was just striking.
When it arrived I put it together (It came with the neck removed) and I haven't put it down since. It is the first bass I have owned that felt 'right' from the moment I played it. I now look at Stingrays differently knowing that they are such awesome instruments and I am looking forward to expanding the EBMM collection.

 

[Deaj]

Yes.

Yummy!!!

 

[Deaj]

In my first few years playing guitar I bought several instruments for one or more of the OP's listed reasons. None of them stayed with me for very long. The one's that have stood the test of time are those I've chosen based on tone and playability so I use these as my criteria for selecting musical instruments.

I'm diggin' that Envy Green Bongo 5HH though!!

 

[strummer]

I'm diggin' that Envy Green Bongo 5HH though!!

Fortunately, that one plays and sounds even better than it looks