Questions about a used Stingray 4 I'm buying (94-95)

[Toonces]

Figured I'd come to the experts with this. My buddy bought this Stingray 4 a couple of years ago off of ebay and now he is looking to get rid of it. I'm of course very interested in buying it, but when I tried to get the bass dated it wasn't in the database. (didn't start with a B or a D which is odd I understand)

I'm a little concerned about the origin of this bass, and wether or not it's legitimately what it appears to be? The bass sounds great, and looks to be in very good shape, I'm just wondering if I'm being paranoid or not?

It's supposedly from 94-95. Pics attached.

 

[pete1000]

just from looking at the bass, the serial # should be on the bridge, and 5 digits, most likely starting with a four. Post this number in the sticky serial number thread, and there's your answer! Everything looks legit from your pictures.

 

[Toonces]

just from looking at the bass, the serial # should be on the bridge, and 5 digits, most likely starting with a four. Post this number in the sticky serial number thread, and there's your answer! Everything looks legit from your pictures.

I did, and WillyD was nice enough to respond with this.

Unfortunately that serial number is not in our database. In most cases there will be a letter, you can reference Musicmanbass.org, which dates it at 1994-95.

I asked him what that meant since mine didn't start with any letter but I never got a response. Why wouldn't they have it in their database when they seem to have every single number people have posted? (I haven't went through every page, but many of them).

I'm just kinda worried. I really like the thing, but I can't figure this thing out.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

This is a tad confusing. Is "WillyD" the seller of the Bass or the person you spoke to at Ernie Ball? If he's not at Ernie Ball then you need to email Customer Service with the serial number:

[email protected]

Alternatively, quote the serial number in this thread:

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/1254-music-man-serial-number-database.html

Either way, they will be able to give you the date of birth from the serial number.

If you've already spoken to Ernie Ball you may have mis-quoted the serial number.

As pete said above, the serial will be on the bridge. It's located between the bridge tail and the string saddles. It will consist of five numbers (with no prefix) starting with the number "4".

From what I can see of the pics, everything appears ok (although I can't distinctly see the truss wheel).

 

[Toonces]

This is a tad confusing. Is "WillyD" the seller of the Bass or the person you spoke to at Ernie Ball? If he's not at Ernie Ball then you need to email Customer Service with the serial number:

Alternatively, quote the serial number in this thread:

Either way, they will be able to give you the date of birth from the serial number.

If you've already spoken to Ernie Ball you may have mis-quoted the serial number.

Sorry for the confusion. I already posted in the serial number thread, and WillyD is from Ernie Ball CS. I definitely didn’t miss-quote the serial number (45163), I'm very thorough when it comes to things like this, he just said it wasn't in the system but never explained what that meant. I've e-mailed CS a few times about it but never heard anything back.

From what I can see of the pics, everything appears ok (although I can't distinctly see the truss wheel).

The truss wheel looks right, but I'm attaching a picture of that anyway. The bass "looks" right, and seems to feel right too, to me at least, though I admit this is the only one I've played. I guess I'm just still looking to understand why they wouldn't have a record of it, unless it's not legit somehow. I figured you guys are much more knowledgeable about this kind of stuff so I made this post.

I'm going to try CS yet again, but if you guys have any ideas I really would appreciate the help.

Thanks.

 

[2ndBassGuitar]

According to the serial number database, (using near similar serial numbers as reference) it seems logical and plausible the bass is from 1995. If the seller is your friend, why not get him to remove the neck to see what is stamped in the neck socket. A dumb question....why does it really matter? IMO there is no real difference in the value of a used 1995 vs a used newer Stingray.

 

[Aziah]

There must have been some confusion somewhere, but I looked this serial number up and it comes up in our database as being done on 3/27/95. The specs looks consistent with your pictures as well.

 

[mynan]

Aziah to the rescue!

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

I love happy endings

 

[Toonces]

Thanks Aziah, I guess it was definitely just some kind of miss communication.

Gearhunter, yeah, it doesn't matter, I don't care about it's value, I'm actually getting a great deal on it, and I certainly am not going to resell it, I was just worried as to why it wasn't in the database. He wasn't the original owner either, bought it as a nostalgia thing as he used to own and tour with it when he played with a somewhat popular punk band.

Anyway, thanks again, my fears are eased.

 

[jlepre]

Toonces,

Welcome to the club!

 

[Runnerman]

Pretty sad that we even have to worry about this kinda thing. Have people actually seen EBMM copies/forgeries about?