Is this Music Man Sterling real?

[sticky666]

Hello all,
A seemingly very good deal has come up on an American made (SLO made?) EBMM sterling bass. I am not very familiar with the EBMM sterling as far as how to tell if it's real or not and since it's a surprisingly cheap price, I'm concerned. Ive never had an EBMM bass. Ive played many stingrays, but not sterlings. Also, the bass would have to be shipped so can't see before hand other than pictures. Here's the one he had listed. What should i ask or look for?

To be crystal clear, I am not asking about the lower tier import sterling by mm. But the American made ebmm sterling.


Thanks for any insight.

 

[racerx]

Looks legit to me. The knock-offs generally don't get the minor details right and this one passes the sniff test IMO.

Sterlings are really cool basses, check out some YouTube videos to get an idea of the territory they cover (and the differences from the inevitable StingRay comparison).

You could also get the serial number and put it in here to help validate: Serial Number Database

 

[tbonesullivan]

The strap buttons look correct. If you haven't read up on the Sterling 4, it was envisioned as a somewhat smaller bass, and also a 4 string version of the Stingray 5. When they were introduced, the electronics and body shape on the StingRay 4 and Stingray 5 were different, with the Stingray 4 using the typical Alnico pole piece pickups, while the Stingray 5 used metal pole pieces with a ceramic magnet underneath. They definitely had a different tonal profile, and some wanted to get that on a 4 banger.

When the sterling 5 bass was released in 2007 or thereabouts, they took the electronics from the Stingray 5, and put it in the Sterling 5. Then they changed the Stingray 5 to have the same Alnico pole piece pickups as the stingray 4.