Teddy Gentry of Alabama

[Bill]

I"ve been a fan of the band Alabama since they hit the big time around 1980. In the early '80s, the band members always used Music Man guitars & amps. The bassist, Teddy Gentry, played on what I thought was a Stingray, but if you take a close look at the first picture, it appears to say Sabre on the headstock. I'm thinking that Teddy put a Sabre neck on a Stingray body. Or is there some rare MM hybrid bass out there? Does anybody have some insight about this? I'm just bored & being curious...

 

[dlloyd]

I"ve been a fan of the band Alabama since they hit the big time around 1980. In the early '80s, the band members always used Music Man guitars & amps. The bassist, Teddy Gentry, played on what I thought was a Stingray, but if you take a close look at the first picture, it appears to say Sabre on the headstock. I'm thinking that Teddy put a Sabre neck on a Stingray body. Or is there some rare MM hybrid bass out there? Does anybody have some insight about this? I'm just bored & being curious...

That's a lot of musicman equipment.

I've seen Sabres with Ray necks and vice-versa before. Could do with a better photo.

 

[Bill]

Yeah, sorry about the bad quality of the photos! I scanned those from an old concert book that I have.

 

[shamus63]

That's a lot of musicman equipment.

I've seen Sabres with Ray necks and vice-versa before. Could do with a better photo.

So Stingray necks will work on my '79 Sabre? Thank God!

Now I can plan on getting rid of the Modulus graphite neck; it was installed before I got the bass in trade. Takes away from the vintage sound, IMO.

 

[dlloyd]

So Stingray necks will work on my '79 Sabre? Thank God!

Now I can plan on getting rid of the Modulus graphite neck; it was installed before I got the bass in trade. Takes away from the vintage sound, IMO.

My gut instinct would be that most Stingray necks without the truss wheel would fit the neck pocket of your Sabre, and most three bolt necks would be plug and play.

As far as I can gather, the difference between a Sabre and a Stingray is in the electronics.

That said, I don't really know.

 

[stingrayplayr83]

Wow, that is a lot of music man gear.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

He may have used a Sabre neck for the narrow neck option? Can't tell from the pics though.

 

[shamus63]

My gut instinct would be that most Stingray necks without the truss wheel would fit the neck pocket of your Sabre, and most three bolt necks would be plug and play.

As far as I can gather, the difference between a Sabre and a Stingray is in the electronics.

That said, I don't really know.

The cool thing is that, given it will work, my Sabre is drilled-out to fit a four-bolt pattern (because of the Modulus neck)...better stability IMO.