- Music Man StingRay
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StingRay 
The Musicman StingRay
Manufacturer Ernie Ball MusicMan Period 1976 — present Construction Body type Solid Neck joint Bolt-on Woods Body Ash, sometimes alder Neck Maple Fretboard Fretted: Maple, Rosewood
Fretless:Pao Ferro (lined and unlined options available)Hardware Bridge Fixed Pickup(s) Options include:
Single humbucking pickup (H) with preamp options including 2 band EQ, 3 band EQ and 3 band EQ with additional piezo pickup
Two humbucking pickups (HH) with 3 band EQ preamp
Humbucking pickup (bridge position) and single coil pickup (neck position) (HS) with 3 band EQ preampColors available (Four-string, as of 2006) Black, white, Egyptian smoke, sapphire black, rolls burgundy, graphite pearl, blue pearl, teal pearl, carbon blue pearl, candy red, desert gold, burnt apple, butter cream, teal green transparent, natural, lava pearl, radiance red, medallion gold, several variations of translucent and sunburst finishes. Music Man StingRay is an electric bass guitar by Music Man, introduced in 1976.
Contents
History
In 1971, Fender employees Forrest White and Tom Walker, unhappy with the way CBS was managing the company, left their positions with Fender to start their own venture. First known as Tri-Sonic and then later Musitek, Inc., the new company eventually settled on the name of MusicMan, Inc. by 1974. The company began producing a hybrid tube-solid state amplifier co-designed by Tom Walker and Leo Fender, who was participating as a silent partner to the firm due to a "no compete" clause in the sales contract Fender had signed when he sold his original company to CBS in 1965. After the clause expired in 1975, he was made president of MusicMan, Inc., and by 1976 his consulting firm CLF Research had begun producing instruments bearing the MusicMan name.
Designed by Fender, Walker and Sterling Ball (Sterling was a beta tester for the instrument), the StingRay bass appeared in 1976 and, though physically similar to a Fender Precision Bass, was a highly innovative instrument. It employed a "soapbar" humbucking pickup and an active pre-amp powered by a 9-volt battery. The early versions had 2-band EQ (i.e., bass and treble controls), and the range was later augmented by the addition of a 3 band EQ (bass, mid and treble) model, and then piezo pickups located in the bridge became an option with the 3-band model. The StingRay's 3-band equalization system was highly innovative; making it possible to boost midrange frequencies as well as low and high, something which had not been possible on basses without active preamps. Along with its electronic advancements, the StingRay had physical attributes that set it apart from other Fender-inspired designs, such as a heavy satin finish on the back of the neck to allow players' hands to slide effortlessly up and down during play, a symmetrical egg-shaped pickguard and separate chromed "boomerang" control plate, and its distinctive "3+1" headstock (on which three tuning machines are situated on the top and one on the bottom) made it an instantly recognizable and distinguishable instrument.
Early models have through-body stringing at the bridge, which is fitted with adjustable string mutes. Later models omit both features, except for the 30th Anniversary model of 2006, which uses the string-through-body design and features a solid mahogany body finished in a Crimson Red Transparent finish.
Later advancements on the StingRay included a 5-string version (the StingRay 5), which has a 3-way blade switch that allows the player to split the humbucking pickup's coils, and a unique truss-rod neck adjustment system that incorporated a Teflon washer which made it highly resistant to rust and corrosion and made adjusting the neck of a StingRay relatively easy.
In the early 2000s a budget version of the StingRay known as the S.U.B. was produced, featuring a textured body finish and diamond plate pickguard. This model was discontinued in 2007 due to rising production costs.
In 2005, two-pickup versions of the StingRay (known as "HH" and "HS") were introduced, following the success of the Bongo Bass, one of Ernie Ball's latest bass designs, designed by Sterling Ball, Ernie's son and now CEO of Ernie Ball. This dual-pickup version includes a 5-way switch, allowing the user to select different combinations of pickup coils and thus greatly increasing the diversity of available tones. The dual-pickup configuration was also adopted on the StingRay 5 and the Sterling that same year.
After the discontinuation of the S.U.B, more marketing emphasis was placed on licensed OLP budget versions of the StingRay 4, Stingray 5, StingRay 4 HH, and StingRay 5 HH. However as of 2009 the entire OLP brand has been retired.[1] Since then, the Ernie Ball produced Sterling by Music Man range of mid-priced basses and guitars have been introduced (not to be confused with the Music Man Sterling bass guitar). The Ray 34 (four string), and Ray 35 (five string), are offered at nearly half the price of their Music Man counterparts.
StingRays are generally known for the punch of their sound, making them very suitable for rock/funk applications and excellent for slapping, and for being of extremely high build quality. The 6-bolt neckplate is an example of this. The neck is also quite wide, especially compared to that of Fender Jazz Bass-type models (although a neck with a narrower nut was optional in the 70s), as well as having the above-mentioned truss-rod adjustment mechanism that allows players to adjust the truss-rod without removing the neck. Some users have also noticed an audible difference in volume between the lower three strings (E, A, D) and the highest G string, with the G string suffering from a lack of volume. This problem has not been observed in 5-string StingRays.
Notable users
The StingRay has been a favorite of several influential bassists, some of them renowned for their slapping technique, such as Louis Johnson, Flea, Bernard Edwards and Guy Pratt. In its fretless form the StingRay helped define Pino Palladino´s sound with Gary Numan from 1982 onwards and subsequently as session bassist. The pre-Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray is the main instrument of Paul S. Denman of the Sade band and it has been featured on all of their albums and live recordings.
Hard rocker Cliff Williams of AC/DC has commonly used the StingRay. Also, Louis Johnson of The Brothers Johnson was one of the first prominent bassists to use the instrument. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers used various StingRays live nearly exclusively (up until Californication).Rex Brown, from Pantera used the Stingray mostly in the Vulgar Display of Power era.
Queen's John Deacon was often seen playing a StingRay (his is on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland, Ohio.[1]), as was Rick Wills of Foreigner. Tim Commerford (AKA Timmy C) of Rage Against the Machine played the StingRay almost exclusively until around 1995. Randy Jackson (of Journey) had a signature purple/white polka dot Stingray. Tony Levin, a well known user of StingRays and their 5 string counterpart, also commissioning Music Man to build him a custom 3-string version, lacking the top G. Bernard Edwards of Chic used the StingRay bass almost exclusively. After his death in 1996, his bass was inherited by John Taylor of Duran Duran. John Bentley of Squeeze uses a couple of early 2 EQ Stingrays. Benjamin Orr of the Cars and post-Roger Waters-Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt also favored the StingRay. Eric Wilson of Sublime played a Stingray on most of the band's early recording. Other StingRay players include:Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, Simon Gallup of The Cure, Mike Herrera of MxPx, Joe Lally of Fugazi, Max Green of Escape the Fate, Alex James of Blur, Colin Greenwood of Radiohead, Jonathan Gallant of Billy Talent, Dougie Poynter of Mcfly, Gareth McGrillen of Pendulum (occasionally during live performances), Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Jesse F. Keeler of Death From Above 1979, Justin Chancellor of Tool., Jeff Caxide of Isis, Rick Johnson of Mustard Plug, Matt Wong (formerly of Reel Big Fish),Rahul Ram of Indian Ocean, Rob Derhak of moe., Roger Manganelli of Less Than Jake, John Moyer of Disturbed, Tom Crease of Frenzal Rhomb, Matías Machaca of Marza , Jesse Buglione of Lagwagon and Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold, Nikola Sarcevic of Millencolin, Larry Hubbard of Curtom artist Leroy Hutson, the Dells and Bassx, Dave 'Phoenix' Ferall of Linkin Park, Chris Batten of Enter Shikari and Niall Hone of Hawkwind. Ross Valory of Journey. Dougie Poynter of McFly , having played a variety of basses throughout his career, currently plays a Stingray HH 4 string.
See also
Paul Denman, bass player for Sade and also Sweetback plays with the Music Man Stingray on most recordings and live performances.
Reference: Bass Player Magazine Article, September 1997, By Leigh, Bill.
External links
References
Categories:- Music Man electric bass guitars
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