Traded my 2009 SR4 for a 2000 SR5 - worrying if the body is fake/3rd-party

[BullHorn]

Stingray 5 H Trans Teal May 3rd, 2000, maple neck, ceramic pickup sold to Matt Umanov Guitars in NY.

Interesting. The bass is actually natural color! The shape of the top and bottom horns are slightly different than my other Stingray. Could this be a re-finish or even a 3rd-party body?

Obligatory of my old 'Ray and my new 'Ray5:

Should I be worried?

-EDIT: A quick Google search showed me that that is how the horns of a Stingray5 are cut. The body color difference is very suspicious though. Maybe A.J. made a mistake?

 

[sanderhermans]

Defenitly not original colour. But its normal that the sr5 body is different from an sr4 can you remove thr neck and look inside the nack compartiment?

 

[BullHorn]

Any ideas?

 

[five7]

It looks like it was trans teal at one time and someone removed the finish.

 

[A.J.]

It looks like it was trans teal at one time and someone removed the finish.

That's spot on.

 

[BullHorn]

OK, thanks for replying so quickly. There's 1 more issue with this bass and I'd like your opinion as well.

It might be related to the old strings, I ordered a new set of DR Lo-Rider SS but I'll only get it in 2-3 weeks.

When I played along to a song, sometimes notes sounded like they grew in volume a short time after the pluck. I recorded it with Audacity, this is how it looked:

Sounds similar on all strings, in all EQ settings and all 3-way switch settings.

 

[Golem]

`

The notes "bloom", as they naturally will
do on most basses.

Some Mohderne type players, zillions of
them, keep their strings very fresh such
that the briteness of new strings usually
will overwhelm the blooming. BUT those
in the traditional ranks, those of us who
even die a bit inside when a 5 or 10 yrs
old string breaks, we value the bloom.

My advice is to use such data as you've
shown us only for personal RnD, such as
comparing 2 week old strings to 20 wks
old strings [playing time] when strings
are purchased together of same batch.
IOW, don't let the graphic tell you what
your ax sounds like ;-)

You asked for opinions. Above is mine.

Here's another: Looks like a great refin !

 

[sanderhermans]

I must agree with golem. I hate new strings! really love strings to be a few weeks/months old. it just takes the edge of. and you do get a very resonant sound from older strings.
as for the bass, it looks legit but is there a clear coat over the body? it looks like blank wood...

 

[Golem]

`

Lookit the neck pocket pic. You can see
a change where the clear coat is versus
the area that the "handle" hid from the
finish sprayer.

 

[liverbird]

Where did the factory actually attach the 'handle' for a finish? There are quite a few holes, front and back.

On the above bass, there also appear to be a few extra holes in the neck pocket.

Here's a photo of the neck pocket of my Metalflake Green SR5, also a 2000.

 

[BullHorn]

That's why I posted photos of the back of the body too.

There is a solid layer of transparent lacquer all over the body, yes.