StingRay5 and "Select Hardwood"

[Greg Suarez]

So, with the StingRay5, what does "Select Hardwood" mean? Ash? Alder? Maple?

 

[Gravesend Black]

Ash.

 

[blindrabbit]

My 1991 SR5 was ash.

 

[sanderhermans]

On trans finishes and new models ash. On older sollid finishes and some special runs other woods where used in some cases but not a whole lot.

 

[Gravesend Black]

They used some alder in early 2000s and some poplar in early 90s as far as I know. Todays Stingrays are all made of ash if we are talking about ordinary ones.

 

[pete bass]

Some have been made from Basswood according to the music man factory tour video and i think it was Big poppa who stated it....Apologies if i am wrong sir....

 

[Greg Suarez]

Ash is what I was hoping people would say.

No thanks to the basswood.

Hey, Big Poppa, how about an ash Bongo? Please? And with either a maple or ebony fingerboard. Pretty please?

 

[Movielife]

I think the Bongo is the only EBMM bass made from basswood. There is absolutely nothing wrong with basswood IMO...in fact, I think they used it to keep weight down and to allow a fairly neutral tonewood so the elecs could do their thing 100%!

 

[Greg Suarez]

I think the Bongo is the only EBMM bass made from basswood. There is absolutely nothing wrong with basswood IMO...in fact, I think they used it to keep weight down and to allow a fairly neutral tonewood so the elecs could do their thing 100%!

I've sort of fallen out of love with basswood (and rosewood) recently. To my ears, basswood is too, I guess, "noncommittal" is the word I'm searching for. I like to have a wood that you can really hear, and IMO, basswood tries too hard to stay out of the way that it becomes flat-sounding. That's probably a benefit to certain people and in certain situations. If my guitar is basswood, I prefer it have some assistance from other tonewoods, like with the Majesty (maple top, mahogany through-neck). However, I love the sting that ash brings to a bass.

I don't dig rosewood because I simply don't like the look of it. I always prefer maple fingerboards, and if the situation calls for a darker wood, ebony all the way.

 

[A.J.]

Stingrays and Sterlings have been strictly ash for normal orders the last 10 plus years. Sometimes we do limited runs like the PDN or the 30th or things for distributors etc but for normal orders its been all ash for a long time.

 

[OldManMusic]

I've never understood the hangups folks have on the kind of wood the body's made of. I think there's 2 kinds - sounds good and doesn't sound good. And you cant tell that until you play em. My Bongos could be made with engineered plywood for all I care. Do they sound good? Yup

 

[Greg Suarez]

Stingrays and Sterlings have been strictly ash for normal orders the last 10 plus years. Sometimes we do limited runs like the PDN or the 30th or things for distributors etc but for normal orders its been all ash for a long time.

Out of curiosity (not trying to be a smart ass), why doesn't the web site just list ash for the body wood, then?

 

[Greg Suarez]

I've never understood the hangups folks have on the kind of wood the body's made of. I think there's 2 kinds - sounds good and doesn't sound good. And you cant tell that until you play em. My Bongos could be made with engineered plywood for all I care. Do they sound good? Yup

Because mahogany sounds different than ash and alder sounds different than maple. If all wood sounded the same, every guitar company would just make all of their instruments out of the cheapest stuff they could find.

 

[pete bass]

There seems to be some sort stigma attached to basswood primarily because budget instruments from the asian factories like CORT and brands such as Ibanez Squier etc etc use it for the bodies, When your looking westward to Europe, and the US mid to high end Bass Guitar builders are not expected to use basswood as it may prove that this type of would not go the distance like Ash, Alder, Maple etc, I´m not an expert on tone woods but i cannot remember makers like Gibson Ricky Fender or G&L using Basswood on US made Basses or Europeans such as Warwicks ,Vigier, WAL Mayones etc.....

 

[sanderhermans]

There is a reason budget guitars and basses are made out off basswood and poplar and others. It are more comon and faster growing woods wich make them way cheaper. But these woods alse have their strong points. They are more neutral sounding. And in my opinion polar has a distinctive attack sound. Altouhg i must say i prefer the more expensive woods like mahogany, alder and ash. Just my experience that they add that extra thing to your sound. But a neutral wood can have advantages too if you really want the sound to be shaped bij pickup and preamp. I must add that i also am not an expert... just my experience.

 

[Greg Suarez]

There seems to be some sort stigma attached to basswood primarily because budget instruments from the asian factories like CORT and brands such as Ibanez Squier etc etc use it for the bodies, When your looking westward to Europe, and the US mid to high end Bass Guitar builders are not expected to use basswood as it may prove that this type of would not go the distance like Ash, Alder, Maple etc, I´m not an expert on tone woods but i cannot remember makers like Gibson Ricky Fender or G&L using Basswood on US made Basses or Europeans such as Warwicks ,Vigier, WAL Mayones etc.....

I actually associate low-end guitar wood with something like agathis and poplar. Good lord, I played a cheap ESP LTD made of agathis and it sounded like it was made with balsa. When you have Ibanez and MM making $2000+ guitars with basswood, there is one indication that basswood cannot be all that bad, especially when you consider players like Vai and Petrucci can pretty much dictate what they want their signature guitars to be made of (although JP rarely plays a pure basswood guitar anymore). However, to my ears, basswood is too transparent. I'm sure that is precisely what some players are looking for. But, for me, I want to hear the wood's characteristics.

 

[Greg Suarez]

There is a reason budget guitars and basses are made out off basswood and poplar and others. It are more comon and faster growing woods wich make them way cheaper. But these woods alse have their strong points. They are more neutral sounding. And in my opinion polar has a distinctive attack sound. Altouhg i must say i prefer the more expensive woods like mahogany, alder and ash. Just my experience that they add that extra thing to your sound. But a neutral wood can have advantages too if you really want the sound to be shaped bij pickup and preamp. I must add that i also am not an expert... just my experience.

I am not primarily a bass player, but I have played quite a few over the years, and I always have at least one in my arsenal. To me, personally, nothing beats either alder or ash. Mahogany does not have enough "pop" for me, but it growls and sustains nicely. I like alder if I want a warmer sound with a bit more midrange. However, ash is sort of the perfect sweet spot, for me. It has a lot of character. It snaps, it sustains well, and it has a pronounced low-end that sort of acts like a note's foundation while the other tonal characteristics are built on top of it. I really want to get a 5-string, and I'm thinking of giving up my Fender P-Bass for a MM StingRay made of ash.

I read an interview with John Myung. He was talking about how much he loves his Bongos. And then he started talking about how much he loves ash as a tone wood. I'm wondering if he's getting custom made Bongos made out of ash?

 

[A.J.]

Out of curiosity (not trying to be a smart ass), why doesn't the web site just list ash for the body wood, then?

In case, for some reason, we can't source enough ash then we can use the other woods. That hasn't been the case though.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

I've never understood the hangups folks have on the kind of wood the body's made of. I think there's 2 kinds - sounds good and doesn't sound good. And you cant tell that until you play em. My Bongos could be made with engineered plywood for all I care. Do they sound good? Yup

I'm with you regards body wood.

IMO it's the integraty/resonance of the neck...body wood has little or nothing to do with it.

 

[Greg Suarez]

I'm with you regards body wood.

IMO it's the integraty/resonance of the neck...body wood has little or nothing to do with it.

The neck is only a part of it. I think too many companies (I'm looking at you, Ibanez) disregard neck radius. It seems like they would make them nothing but truss rod if they could. Thing is, a beefy neck contributes to the tone. These 20" radius necks are absurdly thin and I think harm the integrity of the tone path.