Pre-EB Musicman Stingray Bass, sort of...

[Oliade677]

Hey all, new to the site. Picked up what is supposed to be a heavily modified pre-EB Stingray the other day. The neck is dated 1980, while the body has a date of 1983 scribbled on it. The neck appears to be legit, but I'm not positive on the body. It appears the guitar was refinished, as the holes that were filled can be seen beneath the finish. It has been modified from it's original 4-string setup to a 5-string setup. There was also a thin veneer placed over the headstock, though no idea why. The bass is loaded with a Bartolini pickup with Di Marzio pots and Marcus Miller TCT preamp. What was once a proud instrument is now, well, not quite sure exactly. I don't play bass, but I've been searching for a quality instrument to learn on. Hopefully this will do the trick. ​​

 

[steevo]

Looks like a SUB5. Whats it play like? looks ok

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Can you describe each part individually with each of the pics

 

[Oliade677]

First pic is the base of the neck that faces the body. Second pic is the underside of the neck that feeds into the pocket of the body. Third pic is of the pocket in the body. Fourth pic shows veneer on the headstock. Fifth pic shows the filled holes near the bridge. Sixth pic shows the control cavity. Final pic shows the full guitar.

 

[Bert]

Anything is possible, I can't see a truss rod nut, it looks the headstock has a veneer.
The Body is probably legit. But it would be too much effort to get that thing back to origin.
If it sound good - enjoy.

 

[Oliade677]

It's not visible in the pic, but there is a truss rod nut between the retainer and nut. I'm not too concerned about the neck, as that appears to be a legit ebony fretless stingray neck. The body is my primary concern.

 

[douglasspears]

my guess, coming from a guitar player (that owns a 5 string SUB); the neck is not EBMM, pegs on 5 stringers are not aligned like that. If it is a EBMM it may have been a 4 string neck and had the 5th peg and string added to it, new nut of course, thus the need for a different bridge.

Hope you enjoy it regardless of what it is!

 

[2ndBassGuitar]

If the date on the neck is correct, this should be a 4 string neck. Is there anything original/correct on this bass? Actually the date stamp on the neck, etc. does look original to me.

 

[Golem]

`

I doubt thaz a MM neck. Wrong machine
arrangement and undersize machines. It
might be a great ax anyway, and nobody
prices frankenbasses at too much money,
cuz you just can't sell them. You prolly
own it for little more than the price of its
electronics and hardware, a typical really
good bargain.

Appearancewise, it's looking good, a real
bonus compared to some other frankies I
often encounter. Enjoy !

 

[liverbird]

Modified, of course, but it looks like a MM neck to me.

 

[five7]

what is the string spacing on it.

 

[Oliade677]

Sorry, left out some key info. It has indeed been modified from it's original 4-string setup to a 5-string setup. As someone else pointed out, that explains the different bridge. No idea why someone went to this extent to alter everything humanly possible on the bass. The tuners were changed to Gotoh. They may have used the holes from the old setup, then added a fifth, but I can't tell for certain without removing the veneer and the tuners.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Although the neck has been modified, it started out as a rare Pre-EB "NARROW BASS" neck option (1.5 inches at the nut).

As an after thought, the round hole at the very end of the neck heel was probably wood taken to plug the original G tuner hole before repositioning the new D and G tuners (???)

 

[Bert]

To me it looks like a pre-EB (prob. Grover Jackson era).
It was common in the early 90ties to modify a 4 to 5 string mostly with a wilkinson system.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Although the neck has been modified, it started out as a rare Pre-EB "NARROW BASS" neck option (1.5 inches at the nut).

As an after thought, the round hole at the very end of the neck heel was probably wood taken to plug the original G tuner hole before repositioning the new D and G tuners (???)

It would also explain:

"There was also a thin veneer placed over the headstock"

and:

the absence of a headstock logo.

 

[Oliade677]

Sorry, how does it explain the veneer? Should I look into removing the veneer and converting it back to a 4 string? Do you think the body is legit as well?

 

[Bert]

1. Do you want to play it?
2. Do you want to restore it?
3. Do you want to sell it?
The Body and Necks looks legit (80/82) to me. The impressions/molds from the brigde.
You don't know what is under the veneer. You can strip/sand this thing completly.
Is there a neckplate?
You don't have the orig. electronics and the missing bridge/tuners, pickup... the neck is still fretless.
So what do you want to do with it?

 

[Oliade677]

I'd like to learn, but mostly I wanna do right by the bass. I've rescued a number of instruments over the past two years, but I'm not sure what I should do with this one. It's a working bass with an interesting history, but I don't think it's fair to call it a musicman stingray.

 

[sanderhermans]

I'd like to learn, but mostly I wanna do right by the bass. I've rescued a number of instruments over the past two years, but I'm not sure what I should do with this one. It's a working bass with an interesting history, but I don't think it's fair to call it a musicman stingray.

True but it does have a charm and history of its own... one thing i wouldnt do is try to restore this one. For that it has gone too far in my opinion. If you want a pre eb stingray its easier and propably even cheaper to just buy one. i would keep this one as a verry cool player with a great history.

 

[Oliade677]

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. If I made any changes, I don't think they would go beyond reverting it back to a 4-string setup and removing the veneer. As far as electronics are concerned, don't think that's worth messing with.

Also, to answer your questions Bert, I do not have the original parts or electronics. There is a neck plate but it's generic. No sign or trace of the serial.