• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

Visited my LMS

maddog

maddog

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May 8, 2004
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Albuquerque
I came away with the following:

1. Played a 30th Anniv SR. Very beautiful bass Sterling and Company.

2. Played a sterling. Phatty, I see why you like these. Lots of grind. Fits in with the music you play. After handling a Bongo5, sterlings feel tiny.

3. I realized I am very spoilt with my Bongo.

4. I liked the feel of a 4 banger under my fingers. I've got a fretless4 on order and I may be looking for a fretted one to match it.

5 I don't like Ampeg. Played around with stuff and felt it colored the sound too much. Give me that pure EBMM sound!

6. I think it is going to be a GK 700 matched to a Berg' cab.

7. I have no money. :(

I like field trips.
 
bovinehost

bovinehost

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Jan 16, 2003
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Dall-Ass, TX
I needed a two space rack, so I also made a quick trip to the LMS (aka GC).

Pretty quiet in there for a Saturday.

Played a 30th Stingray. Wow.

Guy was slapping/smacking a Bongo fiver in the bass room.

Jack: "Is that a Bongo?"

Smacker: "A what?"

Jack: "A Bongo? A Musicman Bongo?"

Smacker: (turns around to show me front of bass) "I don't know."

Jack: (quickly exits)

Tom, if you don't like the 'color' added by Ampegs, try a Euphonics Audio iAMP. I've never heard anything that transparent in my life.

(Might be too transparent for old school me.)

Jack
 
maddog

maddog

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May 8, 2004
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Albuquerque
There was a cutie in the bass area slappin' away on some licks. NorM and I were trying to get one of the amp/cab combos to work. After a few minutes, she puts the bass up she was using and offers up the amp she was on. She spoke so softly I couldn't figure out if the accent was british or australian. Anyways, I'm holding the 30th SR and NorM points it out to her. I say, "Mahogany body". NorM says,"Figured maple neck". She says "Must be very expensive" and gives us this wistful look. Then walks off. I felt pretty small at that point. But then I realized I had a 30th SR in my hands.
 
maddog

maddog

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May 8, 2004
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Albuquerque
First, the look. Gorgeous. Ginger to the regular SR's Mary-ann. The figuring on the neck is exquisite. The redwine stain is just gorgeous. Definitely makes it stand out in the crowd. Somebody picked some nice ferrules for the string thru. They look sexy against that red. And I think it has a 5 ply pickguard with two layers being some sort of cream or aged white. Lends to the look of a collectors item.

Second, the feel. Feels like a stingray+. She is heavy. The timid of shoulder and back should spend some time with it in the store prior to purchasing. I picked up a sterling after handling the SR and thought I was superman. Otherwise, feels like a SR.

Third, the sound. This took a bit and I think you really have to match this to some good amplification to really get everything out of her. Then again, I am a horrible knob twiddler. Can never seem to get the sound in my head out of the amp. So I tried an Ampeg BA210 first. Nothin' doin'. Set the eq to what I thought was all flat. Nada. Started twiddlin' knobs. Nyet. Just a round warm thud came out. Everything I did just sounded bland. It was like there was a homogenizer switch that I was missing. Switched it over to an Ampeg Rocket Bass amp. Tone! O' Baby! That SR tone shown thru. Razor sharp. Something about it was even more defined than my Bongo. Next I switched over to a GK 700RBII running thru a GK 115SBX. Wasn't as bad as the BA210 but didn't have the boogie that the little Rocket Bass amp had. I didn't have the time I had on the other two so I'm not sure what sound I could have coaxed out of her. Suddenly, everyone and their brother wanted to buy a F*nd*r P or J bass. That was when NorM and I left.

So a thumbs up but with the caveat that you get some amplification that will do her justice. I want to see what she would sound like thru some Berg' cabs with a GK head. I think it would be a splendid combo.
 
Mobay45

Mobay45

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Apr 3, 2004
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Home of the Bongo Birthday Bash '06
RitchieDarling said:
Oh darn, I always liked Mary-Ann better.............:(

Ritchie
Click to expand...

:D That's exactly what I thought when I read that!

I think what might have been trying to say was that even though Mary Ann and Ginger were both hot, Ginger had that extra flash to her.
 
adouglas

adouglas

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Aug 12, 2005
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On the tail end of the bell curve in Connecticut
adelucia said:
Mary Ann... Definitely Mary Ann... :D
Click to expand...

+1

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She's aged one heck of a lot better than Gilligan, too....

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