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Question Sterling neck profile - asymmetrical?

L

liverbird

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
349
So I bought my first Sterling recently, a 1994 in the old sunburst. Lovely birdseye maple neck, nice light weight.

One thing I notice is the neck profile... It's slightly asymmetrical - chunkier on the bass side and a bit flatter on the treble side.

Don't have this on any of my Rays, and don't have another Sterling to compare.

Is this a typical feature for a Sterling of that era?

body front.jpgbody back .jpgheadstock .jpgheadstock back.jpg
 
Not purposely asymmetrical like MTDs, but could be slight or could have been sanded down byte previous owner.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

It is definitely asymmetrical, slight but noticeable. Not sure how to tell whether anybody has done any sanding in the past. It all looks very smooth. You can still clearly see the line where the headstock finish ends. However, the neck finish feels more like satin than the usual oil/wax combo but I guess that's hard to tell if the bass has been played a lot.

Any further input welcome!
 
I know from the necks on my buddy's Lukes that those are obviously contoured toward the bottom E. I don't own a Sterling (yet) so the Luke is my only reference. Maybe the skinnier neck, the more contour it gets to better fit the palm? Just a guess.
 
liverbird said:
So I bought my first Sterling recently, a 1994 in the old sunburst. Lovely birdseye maple neck, nice light weight.

One thing I notice is the neck profile... It's slightly asymmetrical - chunkier on the bass side and a bit flatter on the treble side.

Don't have this on any of my Rays, and don't have another Sterling to compare.

Is this a typical feature for a Sterling of that era?

View attachment 21920View attachment 21921View attachment 21922View attachment 21923
Click to expand...

Don't know the answer to your question but that sure is a gorgeous bass. There seem to be some absolute beauties from that period of Musicman bass production.
 
liverbird said:
You can still clearly see the line where the headstock finish ends. However, the neck finish feels more like satin than the usual oil/wax combo but I guess that's hard to tell if the bass has been played a lot
Click to expand...

I think this is standard for that era. The headstock on my 93 SR4 fretless has a sort of matt varnish finish, and the back of the neck is sort of satin, but it's polished as a result of playing - you can see the line where the finish changes. Oil and wax finish started in the later 90s, but I'm not sure exactly when. The pickguard on mine is matt white - I notice yours has the matt black - matt pickguards are also typical of that era it seems.

No doubt Rod Trussbroken may be able to assist re finishes and changeover dates - and maybe neck profile on the Sterling?
 
bdgotoh said:
Was it aliens? or Bigfoot??
Click to expand...

It might have been an alien Bigfoot. We best wait for official confirmation of alien Bigfootness before coming to any conclusions.

21757166.jpg

...that every neck that ever left the factory had been sanded?
 
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Lots of MM guitars have asymmetric necks. It's not a big stretch of the imagination to think that the Sterling, which was supposed to be a "refinement" of the Stingray, has it too. Especially when we have two forum threads with anecdotal "evidence" for it, with at least 3 forum members (if I counted correctly) noticing asymmetry.

But of course, if a MM representative would chime in, that would settle it once and for all. Personally, I have no clue. Not sure if I've ever seen a Sterling, let alone played one.

Hmmmm... when I get back home I'll try to remember to have a long hard look at the necks of my SR5s. ;)
 
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