I'd been wanting to switch to a 5er for a while and was looking at the 5-string version of my p-bass. I did an audition a while back and used the SR5 that was on stage. The feel of it was really close to my P and the sound was great so I decided to look into a MM. It took me almost a year before I could afford it but when I bought the timing was good and I ended up buying the two listed in my siggy.
- Thread starter madbassplaya
- Start date
Alvabass
Well-known member
Flea and Louis Johnson always made me dream of owning a StingRay. When, in late 2004, I felt I could afford one, I sent a message to the EBMM Customer Service Department since the only thing I dislike from the StingRay is the 21-fret fingerboard (at the time I only owned one bass and my main instrument must have 24 frets). So, I asked if a 24 fret StingRay was feasible. Still have the reply:
After some research, Lord Bongo made me take the plunge:
And on May 28th, 2005, at a time in which the "toilet seat looks" controversy was at its peak, I got my first EBMM Bongo:
MY BONGO HAS ARRIVED!!! - TalkBass Forums
After some research, Lord Bongo made me take the plunge:
bovinehost at TalkBass said:
And on May 28th, 2005, at a time in which the "toilet seat looks" controversy was at its peak, I got my first EBMM Bongo:
MY BONGO HAS ARRIVED!!! - TalkBass Forums
Holdsg
Well-known member
IMO, there are only a few truly "iconic" bass tones, a handful, really, that every bassplayer should have in his arsenal. I have come to the realization that if you really need the old-school P tone, you gotta have a P, period. Next for me would be the EBMM Stingray tone. Those two sit at the top of the list. After that, the list gets more subjective, and there are lots of fine makes/models that can cover various tones. In a few years, and I don't know how many, I believe that list will expand to include the Big Al, the Bongo, and the Gamechanger. Some of those are still too new to achieve "iconic" status, but they're well on their way.
Having said that, I don't own a Stingray currently. I prefer narrower necks. I have owned a SUB (gateway drug), a Sterling H, a Big Al, and currently own a Bongo, which gives me the EBMM tone I crave, while also covering some other tones that come in handy to avoid having to swap basses much during gigs. Played my Bongo for about 2 hours yesterday learning new songs. Although I've only owned it for a few months, I can't imagine now ever being without it.
Having said that, I don't own a Stingray currently. I prefer narrower necks. I have owned a SUB (gateway drug), a Sterling H, a Big Al, and currently own a Bongo, which gives me the EBMM tone I crave, while also covering some other tones that come in handy to avoid having to swap basses much during gigs. Played my Bongo for about 2 hours yesterday learning new songs. Although I've only owned it for a few months, I can't imagine now ever being without it.
strummer
Enormous Member
I had tried my hands on a 5-sting in the 80's (Not a Musicman) and that experiment failed miserably. Then in 2004 I thought I'd try a fiver once more, and this time buy what was in my mind THE 5-striung bass: a SR5. But, when I saw my first Bongo in January 2005 at bass central, I knew it was for me. I bought my first bongo right then and there, 5-string Desert Gold Bongo HH, and the Bongo has been my favourite bass ever since. It just fits me perfectly.
And I get to hang out with a bunch of really talented anf cool guys
And I get to hang out with a bunch of really talented anf cool guys
`
I jez thawt everbody spozeta have
one, same reasom I got my J-Bass.
I know that ain't the most sensible
root, but it's the real answer to the
question in your OP.
Neither of these basses has frets.
Nobody toll me they spozta have
frets .....
I jez thawt everbody spozeta have
one, same reasom I got my J-Bass.
I know that ain't the most sensible
root, but it's the real answer to the
question in your OP.
Neither of these basses has frets.
Nobody toll me they spozta have
frets .....
MattOfSweden
Well-known member
Flea, Pino and Tony.
For many years I played souped up OLP's (active electronics and Bart PU's) and was very happy with that. Then I got to know Hellboy and his amazing EBMM collection, and there was simply no looking back.
I have a few (well, more than a few) other brands in my collection, really great basses in their own right but in all honesty and not because this is the EBMM forum - my Stingrays play circles around them all. Have just rehearsed some 60 new songs with a cover band I'm helping out in summer and brought along my HH's together with 4-5 other basses - after hearing the SR's the band had nothing but love for the EBMM's. So it will once again be the Dargie with flats and the 20th SR5 with rounds!
For many years I played souped up OLP's (active electronics and Bart PU's) and was very happy with that. Then I got to know Hellboy and his amazing EBMM collection, and there was simply no looking back.
I have a few (well, more than a few) other brands in my collection, really great basses in their own right but in all honesty and not because this is the EBMM forum - my Stingrays play circles around them all. Have just rehearsed some 60 new songs with a cover band I'm helping out in summer and brought along my HH's together with 4-5 other basses - after hearing the SR's the band had nothing but love for the EBMM's. So it will once again be the Dargie with flats and the 20th SR5 with rounds!
Found a 4 string Ray on Craigslist a few years back and had always been curious. Loved Flea's sound (even though I'm not a slapper, his fingerstyle tone got me big time). The kid selling it only wanted $750 and I got it for $50 less. Not bad! I loved the tone, but craved a 5 string bass, so I traded it and another axe for a Stingray 5h. Traded that one for a Stingray 5hh, which I still have. Then I recently bought my BFR Big Al 5SSS, which I *really* love. Trying to trade the Ray for another EBMM model as I type this.
laneline
Well-known member
I was playing "bootique" 35" scale and was getting hand pain, found out I have Osteoarthritis and needed to get a smaller neck
but wanted to stay with 5 bangers, I was under the disillusionment of thinking you needed a 35" scale for a good B string.
Hit youtube in '07 , found Ed Friedland's demo of a 20th Anniversary SR5 and bought one the next day. Ten EBMM's later there is no going back. As my hands have gotten worse I found the Bongo and 25th's 1/16th" wider neck actually helps me not pull the G string off the board. I find every facet of a bass covered on every model MM, that is just freaking amazing, never leaving the fold, ever.
but wanted to stay with 5 bangers, I was under the disillusionment of thinking you needed a 35" scale for a good B string.
Hit youtube in '07 , found Ed Friedland's demo of a 20th Anniversary SR5 and bought one the next day. Ten EBMM's later there is no going back. As my hands have gotten worse I found the Bongo and 25th's 1/16th" wider neck actually helps me not pull the G string off the board. I find every facet of a bass covered on every model MM, that is just freaking amazing, never leaving the fold, ever.
MrMusashi
Well-known member
+1!
i have always had the stingray sound in my head, so most other basses ive had were modified in search of that voicing..
when i saw eds preview of the 20th i knew i had to have one. caramel burst, oil n wax neck, big humbuckers and flame top. the top reason though was that it had the sr4 body shape. i just love that shape
so after a little bit of thinking i ordered one too..
the wait turned out to be longer than expected, partly because the distributor had forgot to order my bass. it worked out fine though and i got a beautiful 20th sr5 with single humbucker instead.
in the meantime though i bought several other musicmans.. the first i actually put my hands on was a bongo 4 hh in stealth. after that came a pair of 30th sr4's, then i got the 20th sr5..
ive even bought a cpl of guitars even though i dont play much on skinny strings. i just love how solid mm is!
my kind of company!
MrM
73jbass
Well-known member
I found an SR5 in a used guitar store back in 2005,and played it for about 30 seconds,and I understood. Bought it,and haven't looked back. Had at least 2 MM basses in the arsenal ever since.Always my go to bass of choice.
when I was a teenager back in '79 my friend had one so I had to have one too. I busted my behind at a crappy minimum wage job to save up to buy one. I got my hands on a used '77 StingRay. I got compliments on the sound all the time. The best bass I ever owned!
fly
Well-known member
I haven't read all the comments yet..but I will.........
I got into MM cuz I got robbed of all my freakin' guitars,basses and cymbals...........(guess the drums were too hard to load).......had a 70's 7ender P......gone.......then,after the claim and all,found my Sterling......and the rest is obvious........killer basses.
I got into MM cuz I got robbed of all my freakin' guitars,basses and cymbals...........(guess the drums were too hard to load).......had a 70's 7ender P......gone.......then,after the claim and all,found my Sterling......and the rest is obvious........killer basses.
it was the first show for motley crue after tommy lee got out of jail (maybe there have been a few of those? no idea...). anyway, long story short, i ended up catching a plastic solo cup thrown by nikki sixx. like it was meant to be. think mean joe green and the kid in the coke ad. so, without any prior designs on picking up an instrument, the very next day, i drove to elderly ( a wonderful guitar place in lansing, MI) and bought a bass...
Edit: I realize the above narrative leaves out the crucial info. the bass was a stingray- knowing nothing going in to the instrument game, it was very clear to me what a quality instrument was... that, and the sound made me fall in love!
Edit: I realize the above narrative leaves out the crucial info. the bass was a stingray- knowing nothing going in to the instrument game, it was very clear to me what a quality instrument was... that, and the sound made me fall in love!
Last edited:
bovinehost
Administrator
Well, THAT was a long time ago. Late 70s, I think, when I played in a trio that was maybe a lot like Primus, only of course no one knew what Primus would someday be. A friend of mine dealt in a lot of vintage instruments, selling to well-known players when they came through town, and one day just knocked on my door, handed me that Stingray and said, "You'll be needing this." I'd never seen one before. Floored that it had a BATTERY. Took it to rehearsal and woke my friend up that night to ask him how much he wanted for it. I think it was maybe 250 bucks. I paid him the next day.
I've wandered around, as Sterling loves to remind me, but it was always curiosity about this or that.....and nothing has ever worked for me as well as the MM basses. (The one in the photo is not EBMM, just MM.) And I also thought of it as market research. When Lakland was the hot item amongst certain groups, I had to buy and play a few if I wanted to speak intelligently about what I thought about them. So I still pick up a non-EBMM bass every few months but none of them do it the way my EBMM basses do, so the interlopers don't last long.
I've seen my name a time or two in this thread, and I have to tell you that it is both very humbling and extremely gratifying to have had some small bit of influence and/or input with you guys. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for trusting me to not be completely effed up, and even before I became a "company man", I loved these basses.
Some of you have probably seen me on Talkbass, responding to the HATE crowd, saying, "Well, maybe you shouldn't get a Bongo, then." And I mean that, too. But I also wish they'd stake the f&ck out of the Bongo Club threads, hahaha.
Okay, back to your stories, they're better than mine.
Jack
adouglas
Well-known member
Madbassplaya -- my first bass was a Peavey too. The first Peavey: the T-40. My shoulder still hurts.
Anyway…. I started playing MM when I came to understand who Tony Levin was and that he was playing an SR5. I got the Secret World Live DVD and was blown away by the guy and his tone. It was the sound I'd had in my head and had been trying to get by ripping the guts out of basses and replacing them with boo-teek electronics. I was seriously thinking about dropping big bucks on an MTD.
Then I saw the Bongo. I found one at Pete DuBaldo's shop and he was good enough to let me lock myself in a practice room for an hour with it.
Anyway…. I started playing MM when I came to understand who Tony Levin was and that he was playing an SR5. I got the Secret World Live DVD and was blown away by the guy and his tone. It was the sound I'd had in my head and had been trying to get by ripping the guts out of basses and replacing them with boo-teek electronics. I was seriously thinking about dropping big bucks on an MTD.
Then I saw the Bongo. I found one at Pete DuBaldo's shop and he was good enough to let me lock myself in a practice room for an hour with it.
JayDawg
Well-known member
Keep these stories coming everyone. I'm enjoying hearing how different people started playing them.
TherealAC
Well-known member
I attended a Dream Theater gig in Sydney in 2009 and couldn't stop thinking about the Bongo! I had always wanted to get into 6 strings but I thought the Bongo was too expensive. In the end I decided you only live once and on Halloween 2010 I placed my order for my Stealth Black HH and I don't think I will ever need another bass!
Aside from another Bongo
Aside from another Bongo
Drmckool
Well-known member
I started playing MM because when i was in Victoria, BC visiting family I had some spare time and went into the Long and McQuade looking for a Rickenbacker. Fortunately they didn't have one so instead I decided to play some Music Man basses. After playing a couple of sterlings and a Stingray I noticed a beautiful bass that was on the highest rack, clearly out of reach of anyone who didn't have a ladder. I asked a staff member to try it out and it sounded wonderful, I looked at the headstock and noted that it was a 20th Anniversary Stingray 5 HH with a maple neck and a matching headstock, it sounded amazing and i asked how much it cost. The salesman said $1800 and I said thank you and left; but i couldn't stop thinking about that bass.
A few hours later after obsessing I returned to pay the $1800 that the salesman told me it would be. Unfortunately he informed me that he was mistaken and it actually cost $2450, a completely different matter for me than $1800. I went home to Toronto upset that i couldn't buy it, dreamed of it for a few weeks and then decided to finance it, ordered it from BC and now it's the only bass I play if i can help it. Though I do want a Bongo now.
A few hours later after obsessing I returned to pay the $1800 that the salesman told me it would be. Unfortunately he informed me that he was mistaken and it actually cost $2450, a completely different matter for me than $1800. I went home to Toronto upset that i couldn't buy it, dreamed of it for a few weeks and then decided to finance it, ordered it from BC and now it's the only bass I play if i can help it. Though I do want a Bongo now.
b-unit
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2006
- Messages
- 528
I have been a Stingray fan since I was a kid and was over the moon with excitement when I first saw a bunch of them up close in the mid nineties. There were no lefty's then.
Then around 1999, I discovered a lefty SR5 (natural with maple board) at a big chain store in Vancouver. It was priced at over $2000 at the time and it may as well have been a million bucks as I was in no position to buy it. I plugged her in every time I was at that store over a period of at least 2 years. The bass became more and more beat up and filthy dirty as it was rented out and not being taken care of. Finally it was sold I guess and I was completely obsessed with owning one. I talked about Stingrays endlessly to my wife for years which she tolerated quite well!
Fast forward to 2006, my career was established, I was finally in a position to realize a personal goal. I ordered in my Trans Orange SR5 and have never looked back. That bass means a lot to me as it was something I waited to be able to own for a long time and I was not disappointed. I still gush over her today. She's like a fine 60's muscle car with modern performance!
Then around 1999, I discovered a lefty SR5 (natural with maple board) at a big chain store in Vancouver. It was priced at over $2000 at the time and it may as well have been a million bucks as I was in no position to buy it. I plugged her in every time I was at that store over a period of at least 2 years. The bass became more and more beat up and filthy dirty as it was rented out and not being taken care of. Finally it was sold I guess and I was completely obsessed with owning one. I talked about Stingrays endlessly to my wife for years which she tolerated quite well!
Fast forward to 2006, my career was established, I was finally in a position to realize a personal goal. I ordered in my Trans Orange SR5 and have never looked back. That bass means a lot to me as it was something I waited to be able to own for a long time and I was not disappointed. I still gush over her today. She's like a fine 60's muscle car with modern performance!
