stingray 5 neck finish

[Bo.cox]

hi, i was just wondering is it common for the varnish on the back of a stingray5's to be different from the varnish on the headstok?
i'v only seen one like this!

cheers!

 

[bovinehost]

You may be looking at an unfinished neck.

 

[bassmaniac]

The ones made in the last few years have a laquer finish on the headstock and the rest of the neck is the satin oil / wax finish. That's the way my late year 2000 StingRay5 is. I have a another StingRay5 that was made in mid '98 and the headstock has the same satin oil / wax that the rest of the neck has.

 

[Bo.cox]

my bass was built in 1990? from what you have said it sounds like its had a new neck! is there any way of telling if this is the case??

 

[bassmaniac]

I guess you have bought that bass used. I'm not sure what year that MM started making their necks with a oil / wax finish, I'm pretty sure that till early to mid '90's. the whole neck was laquer finished, so whoever had that bass before you wanted the satin neck feel and took off the laquer. I've seen alot of players do that to their guitars and basses. To alot of people, the satin feel is not sticky and they can move better on the neck than with the laquer finish. It's cool as long as the finish was taken off with care. Now just take care of your neck like it says here:
http://www.ernieball.com/faq_mmbass.php

 

[Bo.cox]

cheers thats true,
the jazz bass i use to record with is laquered an you have to polish it like mad to be able to play nice runs, sounds awsome thought. i'm only just getting used to my mm theres too many comtrols! u find a sound like then flick the selector an it sounds even better, its gonna take me for ever to find the sound i want in the studio!!

do all music man necks have a speckled look? i think its called "birds eye" its real pretty

 

[bassmaniac]

You'll get used to the controls on you SR5, and find several cool tones that you will use.
One of my SR5 necks has the birds eye maple too. The newer one doesn't. There really is no difference in the sound or strength of the maple neck whether is has a birds eye figure in it or not, but it does sure look pretty if it does.
It seems rarer to find birds eye maple neck in the newer MM's especially if they have a rosewood fingerboard.
Is your Jazz bass a Fender? If so, what year is it?

 

[Bo.cox]

the jazz is an american fender built in 1977, it gorgeous! black pick gard on a black, the neck is maple with a maple fret board with white bindings and white an "pearl" inlays. plays like a dream.