Not trying to hijack Jacks thread, but these things are really all that. I missed my old Sterling dearly, until I bought this. I hate them, and refuse to reccomend the, but I picked this beast up within a couple days of placing my order with musicians friend. Was the exact color/pg combo I wanted, and they have it in stock, at least they did a week ago. This is one bad mofo, while it is too soon into the honeymoon period to say for sure, it sure seems like this is the best playing/sounding bass I have ever laid hands on, and I've had some nice ones. It is indeed a stingray killer.
For amplification, I use an Eden Navigator preamp, 1200 watts of crown power, and an Eden 410XLT cab. The bongo through this setup absolutely KILLS.
Here is a review I did for another site:
Initial thoughts right out of the box, unplugged is WOW, this bass is very alive, comfortable, and it sounds wonderful even unplugged. I have tried slinkys in the past, and didn't care for them, but somehow these seem very nice! The neck feel is wonderful, It's probably a real close cross between a sterling, and stingray neck, not bulky, very comfortable. I very much like the feel of the finished neck, very satin like. I do although wonder, if over time glossing will occur, and make it sticky in the favored spots....time will tell. I now understand why the construction is basswood, even at that, this bass is just a hair on the heavy side, it's not overbearing, but is more than I expected.
The 4 band 18V EQ is awesome. I normally don't like a lot of mids usually, because it seems to bring out a lot of honk, but with this setup, you can dial your mid sound in to your liking, great idea! The pickups sound great, and the neck humbucker is a very welcome addition. Slide it back to the bridge only, and it does a pretty great stingray impersonation, when you start dialing the neck pickup in with it, things get very interesting. One of musicman's biggest improvements, other than the before stated preamp, is the redesigned pickup covers, with a nice contour to the thumb edge, no more divots in the center of my thumb!
It sounds like a musicman, big, fat, and mean. MM tone isn't for everyone, but I love it....this bass is a true stingray killer.
A lot of people are turned off by it's radical looks, I too was shocked when I first saw the NAMM snapshots, but over time it grew on me. Yes it still looks different, but that is part of the appeal to me now. For those who like the musicman tone, but cannot get over the looks are missing out, but as Jack put it, that's just more for us.
For the record, I got this bass to fit in my old SKB/Musicman stingray 5 case with very little effort, I just had to slightly crush the foam (?) when the upper horn fits, and it is now a nice snug fit, without cutting, or alteration.
If you're thinking about getting one, go ahead and do it, you won't be disappointed. I was expecting the moon when I ordered mine, and was still blown away. Well, back to me bongo.
10/10
