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Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

Official Seen and played dual pickup SR's in the wild thread...

smallequestrian

smallequestrian

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
1,476
Location
Chicagoland
Went to GC tonight and what do we have here...
Image026.jpg

Sorry camera phone + bad lighting = bad pics.

My general impressions was a Stingray with more options. A Honeyburst SR5 and Saphire Black SR, both with the usual excellent fit and finish we all come to expect. Got to play it in a quiet room (I know rare at a GC) through the same amp I use at home, and got to A/B it with regular SR's and SR5's. They still nail that classic tone that we all love with the bridge pickup selected. I generally liked the 5th position (switch closest to the bridge), 4th position, and 2nd. For some reason I liked the SR5 better which is strange considering I normally don't like 5 strings, but now I think I might need one :confused: Anyways, these be exciting times...
 
Very nice! Thanks for the pics and review. I'm fittin' to head down to GC tomorrow myself. :)
 
My GC has one SR4 HH. It's nice to finally get my hands on a production model.

First thing I noticed (other than how awesome it looks and plays) was that the pickups are contoured on the top edge like the Bongo pickups. I couldn't remember if the prototypes had this or not. Has this been a feature of new Stingray pickups for a while and I didn't know, or is this a new thing? Will the single pickup Stingrays/Sterlings get the same pickup (if new)?

I may not have noticed it before, but I've had a Bongo since then and became aware of the pickup contour.

I'm most likely leaning towards an SR5 HS.
 
The single pickup Stingray will have the original pickup cover, while the two pickup models with have bongo pickup covers. The magents remain the same on all models.
 
Please forgive the next dumb question

Guys,

In the unlikely event that a lefty 2pu MM arrives in a London area music store in the next 25 years, I will be able to try one for myself. However, until that day arrives, I have no idea what the difference in sound will be between the single pu SR4 I currently have in my arsenal and a 2pu model.

Can any explain in simple terms the tonal differences and what the aim was when developing a 2 pu model?:confused:

Thanks
 
LeftyLB said:
Guys,

In the unlikely event that a lefty 2pu MM arrives in a London area music store in the next 25 years, I will be able to try one for myself. However, until that day arrives, I have no idea what the difference in sound will be between the single pu SR4 I currently have in my arsenal and a 2pu model.

Can any explain in simple terms the tonal differences and what the aim was when developing a 2 pu model?:confused:

Thanks
Click to expand...

Just imagine your SR with the abilty to add the sound of a nice juicy full sounding humbucker in the neck position.
 
Just got back from GC. They had the same two models Smallequstrian has posted. I only got shots of the SR4 HH Sapphire Black, though:
full.jpg

Full shot

body.jpg

The body. Nice!
Sorry for the nasty glare. In the excitement over the new bass, I didn't notice them. :o

closeup.jpg

Even closer!

To my ears, they sound a lot like a Stingrayish Bongo HH. Or a Bongoish Stingray HH. Haha, I'm not good at describing tone. Your classic SR is in there, and a bunch of other pickup wirings. All the switch positions produced great sounds and the 3EQ made things even better. I've got to say, though, my favorite was the neck pickup soloed with substantial treble cut, and maybe a bit of mids and bass boost. What a great bass!
 
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I'm jealous. I took a ride to the local GC in Manchester, CT and no 2 puppers. No Bongos either. I really wanted to see a fretless Bongo too.

On the bright side, it did not give me a headache and the sales dude didn't seem so bad. He didn't know the HH Stingrays were available yet though.
 
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