• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

paranoid70

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So I finally got my Stingray this afternoon. We missed the FedEx guys two days in a row, so luckily they "happened" to come by when I was home.

I am not really much of a bassist, but I do like playing the bass guitar from time to time. Plus when I am recording, I need someone to lay down the bass tracks. Since this whole project is DIY, I may as well do the bass parts myself as well. ;)

I had a 1974 Rickenbacker 4001 for years. It was my brother's for a long time, but I had been holding it for many years. About two years ago I bought it from him because he needed the cash.

The Rickenbacker really is a cool looking bass... but the sound was kind of 'eh. As a guitarist, it played pretty easily, but again, it just sounded pretty flat. That and the input jacks were constantly loose despite taking it to be repaired two times.

I put an ad in Craiglist for $1,000 and sold it the next day! I thought it was kind of beat up and all... but I guess vintage is vintage. The guy also bought my old Strat as well.

I ended up getting a used Stingray from Bassnw.com. Upon first opening the case, I was a little disappointed as there were more scratches on the body than I thought when viewing the pics on the net. I guess that is the risk you run when you buy used gear on-line. Well, to be fair it's not that bad, but it definitely looks like the previous owner played it quite a bit. Anyway, after plugging it in, I knew it was the right choice. It sounds great and plays awesome.

I think my bro is a little disappointed that I ditched the Rick. He has some much better basses now including an Alemic Orion (really nice fretless) and a P-bass, but I guess he had some sentimental attachment to the Rick. I had to tell him, dude this is a MUCH better bass than that Rick. Hopefully he will understand.

Now I guess I am officially an Ernie Ball freak like the rest of you since I now own two EBMM instruments. :D I'll post a pic later.

Eric
 

bovinehost

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Congrats! Rics are funny beasts...I gigged one for a while in the late 70s, early 80s. It was my main bass, but I went for thumpy (it's what I do) as opposed to that Chris Squire tone. If I want zing, I'll ask the drummer to hit a cymbal, you know?

So what's the color on this thing? What year?
 

paranoid70

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Feb 9, 2007
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Long Beach, CA
Finally put the instrument down long enough to snap a few pics. I took a few pics with his buddy, my Silo Spec. :D For the heck of it, I also included a pic of the Ric I basically traded for the Stingray.

Picture007.jpg


Picture010.jpg


stingrayheadstock.jpg


Picture012.jpg


Picture006.jpg


bass2.jpg
 
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paranoid70

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Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
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Location
Long Beach, CA
Congrats! Rics are funny beasts...I gigged one for a while in the late 70s, early 80s. It was my main bass, but I went for thumpy (it's what I do) as opposed to that Chris Squire tone. If I want zing, I'll ask the drummer to hit a cymbal, you know?

So what's the color on this thing? What year?

I could never really get the Squire sound. I don't know what he does exactly, but it is hard to duplicate. (I really love YES!).

The color is black obviously, and I am not sure about the date. The SN is E39195, but I couldn't find it in the database.
 

todd4ta

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Jul 8, 2004
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571
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Indiana
Congrats on your Stingray - welcome to the (bass) addiction.

Your pics aren't showing up right now. (we don't really need to see the ric - we know what they look like already). You could post a picture of your Stingray over on the Ric forum to show what a 4001 can be when it grows up.

To me, a ric only sounds OK playing with a pick. Everything else just sounds -EH- like you said.
 
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