funny find in seoul...

[PocketGroove82]

well, I was touring my wife around Seoul today, since she was able to visit here for 2 weeks! (finally)! And we were walking around and she was able to pick out EBMM basses AND guitars by sight...which cracked me up pretty hard. And so we turn a corner and what do I see, but a pre-ernie ball stingray neck sitting in the corner, surrounded by speakers! I rush over, giggling at the thought of a cheap find,
and as I pull it up, out of the heap of korean audio gear, I catch a glimpse of the beautiful walnut finish.
I gasp and moan at the beauty, and as the pickup tops the speakers.....
.....I shudder........
it has a p-bass pup instead of an H.
I nearly cried.

lol, I just wish I had taking some pics for you guys!

 

[Caca de Kick]

So.......what did they want for it???

 

[silverburst]

The neck and the rest of the hardware might be worth something.

 

[midopa]

Did it look something like this?

 

[ibanez2005]

Dont like the shape of the bridge on proto 1.

 

[PocketGroove82]

it looked ALOT like that midopa!
only it the coils on the D and G string were busted so you couldn't see the magnets. And it was a 2band. I didn't ask about the price because I didn't even know who was selling it...it was really just sitting outside at the top of a stairway, under an awning...in january.
I'll go back this weekend with a camera and inquire about it. Maybe I can score the neck or something.

 

[PocketGroove82]

pic 1...of this poor bass

 

[PocketGroove82]

sad...isn't it...

look at how much is wrong with this classic!

when I started taking pics. of it....some "adashi" (respected elder korean man) removed it from it's stand...out in the snow. So I guess he assumed it was worth something.
Sadly, there is so much wrong with this piece.

 

[PocketGroove82]

ok...it's not walnut after all.
it's really just kinda sad...there is so much wrong with this classic bass!

 

[PocketGroove82]

i'm sure you all notice the bad "fretless" job...the lost nobs...the f%$#er style replacement bridge(ouch...replacing WITH a f3nd3r bridge!..ouch), the bad refinish, the sticker, the destroyed nut, and the g string that doesn't even touch the neck and others that are WAY OFF. also, on the back the neck plate is not original.

 

[PocketGroove82]

i didn't ask for a price because after a second look i realized that there was nothing left to salvage.

 

[bdgotoh]

That looks like a copy to me, not the real thing.

 

[PocketGroove82]

yeah...i those tuners do look jacked up
what does everyone else think?

 

[Moondog]

The body horns don't look right to me . .

 

[Bill]

Yeah, the tuners aren't right...way too high.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

The headstock logo is interseting as the "TM" is encircled and placed at the end of "Sting Ray Bass". Some of the very early "prototypes" (if infact they were protos?) had the serial numbers (on the neck plate) prefixed with an "X" followed by only 5 digits (eg X00204). But the "TM" pointed in the 1 o'clock and not 12 o'clock as depicted here. The "TM" is normally uncircled and placed on the logo between "Music Man" and "Sting Ray Bass".

I note the string retainer is on the A&D rather than the D&G

The long stemmed tuners also remind me of a thread here a couple of years ago concerning a Bass that may/maynot have been a prototype.

 

[JimB52]

Looks like a copy to me. Control plate, logo, body shape, tuners, truss rod channel neck shape at heel ? . . .
Jim B

 

[PocketGroove82]

thanks for the speculation and info on this guys!

 

[Caca de Kick]

Looks like a copy to me too, everything is not correct about that bass; heastock shape, tuners, the decal is bogus, the nut is typical of copy's, pre-eb's had the string tree holding the D&G strings not the A&D strings, the pickguard shape, the overall neck shape.