A smashing success right from it’s introduction. By the late ‘70’s every bar band bassist had one.

So happy you decided to do the bass! Thanks for all the hard work you put into the content and culture.

Thanks Trog I would find the scratches unacceptable for that price straight from the factory! Lovely bass though.🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I think your demo was pretty good, Austin! That Music Man is gorgeous, but for $3,000+, I would be very upset about those scratches.

Thanks Austin for the in depth review, I can't wait for it to arrive! I've already ordered a black pick guard as well as a clear one, will see what looks best. Also, the forwarding service has been nothing but excellent. Cheers mate!

Yet another great Leo Fender design. Not technically the first bass with active electronics, but like so many of Leo's ideas, the first succesful large-scale production model. And like the P and J before it, it remains an industry standard. Dang that Mr. Fender!

Leo Fender knocked it out of the ball park with this design!

Austin, Mr. Fender was trying to give the StingRay Bass an identity, but he wasn't trying to differentiate from anything by Ibanez, but from his own past. Take a good dead on look at the StingRay's body shape and it begins to look like a Precision Bass, which it almost is. There's not that much that is different between them. Most old-school P-Basses sport those split-coil pickups, and those pickups are humbucking. The biggest differences I'm aware of are the substitution of a traditional side-by-side humbucker for the split-coil, the active EQ, the pickguard shape, the neck mount (trimmed and equipped with 5 bolts over 4), the truss rod adjustment location and the headstock. Even though I'm no real bass player, I've wanted one of these for years. Thanks a lot for this video!

halfway through the sound demo. i'm loving this. it's totally wild to see you do a bass, it looks kickass esp as you're playing. and the playing sounds really good too! i hope you'll keep doing bass demos / documentation. like you did fenders for a while. it would be so great!! lots of bass fans in your ranks, i'm sure. so this is like candy. :]

Austin’s bass reviews are better than a lot of the “bass channels” out there. That’s a nice one, but if I had that kind of money to spend, I would definitely get the Nikki Sixx bass in the Trogly shop.

awesome to see the guts of one of these. So this isnt a "normal" EBMM Stingray bass, its the "Stingray special" model which they revised in 2018 and funny enough the enhacements are all the things you noticed and liked. Upgraded lightwieght custom tuners Hallowed out saddles on a lightweight bridge More rounded off arm carve Contoured neck heel Higher fret access Neodymium magent pickups for lightweightness and to help the new 18v preamp. sounds like they targeted the right areas if you noticed all these things as pros.

Bought my first EB musicman stingray special (its a 5 string) 2 years ago and shes definitely become my daily driver so to speak lol. I love mine. Just a note, its actually a gunstock finish on the neck (tru oil, and a wax finish) with a lacquered headstock.* At first i thought the transition to the headstock was a defect in the finish with mine, however this is how they are all finished, it gives a smooth natural neck feel but still gives the headstock some durability against dings and scratches (and probably to hold the waterslide logo on the headstock) Edit: The transition on the headstock finish seems to be well hidden on the bass you have, so my previous statement may be irrelevant here lol. I guess they blend it better on the Ball family reserve models.

Very nice! 😍 I've never actually played one either, despite being a bassist more than a guitarist 😅 And if I remember correctly, the original idea behind moving the G-string's tuner to the bottom of the headstock was to eliminate deadspots 🙂

Nice bass, finish, wood, and tones. I think Tim is going to be very happy with it. Good demo.

As a bassist, I’m very glad for this episode

Aside from the compactness of the headstock, the other and main reason for the design of the headstock is that it allows for a straight string pull, which results in better tuning stability.

We asked and Trogly delivered!!! Love Stingrays ever since watching ”Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad”

A very early 1976 MM, iirc serial number in the 1xx range, was the first nice guitar I ever played, owned since new by my mom, who was a full time musician in SF in the '70s. The current EBMMs aren't really my taste but I always appreciate seeing that the name is still out there and making good stuff.

18 volts gives the boost more headroom. You can have a more complex passive EQ on guitar and bass (like Reverend and G&L do on most of their models), but it can only cut, not boost.

I've had my MM Stingray since 96 and have LOVED every minute of playing it! It's one of 7 basses in my arsenal, but she's my main axe thru and thru! I only wish I had gotten a 5 string version. I have my MM 4 string and the rest are 5's. I can get every tone I desire with the MM electronics thru any amp! Small rehearsal amps to my concert rig. GR8 review Austin!

So a few things this is a Stingray “special” BFR. The special denotes the facelift they did in 2018. They made the bridge smaller and lighter. The original bridges were held on with 3 bolts and two studs now they just use three bolts. They added a comfort cut to the back and armrest. The originals are a full slab body. They went to a smaller machine for the tuners. They added a roasted maple neck. They added an 18 volt pre amp that was originally exclusive to the Bongo bass. The originals had your standard 9 volt preamp. And finally they added an extra fret. Then to BFR short for Ball Family Reserve. The are limmited runs that use woods that you won't normally find in your standard stingray which is a swamp ash body with a maple neck. Ernie Balls call them “Tonewoods that work well together” if you believe that stuff. They also do unique colorways. And it's usually a limited run of 40 to 100. IMHO if your going to spend the extra cash for a BFR try and get a translucent color. Because the woods they use in these are on par with what you on that back of the neck on this example. Beautiful flames, quilts, and even a birds eye or two if your lucky. TLDR it rivals Gibson and PRS triple A tops.

I love the StingRay Bass egg pickguard it's distinctive along with the roundedness. But what's with the scratches, did they give Tim a demo? I wouldn't be happy about that, but the neck is so awesome I'd just have to live with it. I had a sweet Fury bass (Canada made) I sold to a buddy who switched from playing rhythm. But this StingRay might be the first bass I've heard and seen that makes me wish I'd played bass instead of lead.

I bought the Special H in late 2018 for $1800. I love the bass but the only issue I’ve had was with the battery compartment. Some times the battery would lose connection and the bass would cut out. I’ve tried adding a small shim to help keep that battery tight to the connection and it helped for a while. Eventually I had to have it replace but I’ve still had it lose connection a couple time while I was on stage playing.

You can't get any more well built bases and/or guitars the music man. They put their tuners on their headstocks that way. So they don't have to have string guides. It has perfect geometry, and they stay in tune better than any instrument on the planet

Great playing Trogly. Awesome to see such a nice bass on the channel and congrats to the new owner.

Yes, finally! Great video!

You're not the world's greatest bass player, Austin? Maybe not, but you certainly were able to acquit yourself during your demonstration of the Tony Franklin signature fretless model. If you can rock that sucker, the Stingray is a piece of cake.

Thx for the bass review! Most indepth and straight to the point video i've seen on the stingrays.

I taught my son how to play bass, he loves it. This is a beautiful piece!

I have the Sterling version of the Stingray. Also have a Sterling Majesty. They are both pretty sweet budget guitars.

Not a satin finish, it's gunstock oil and wax, which is why it feels so great and the flame pops so much. Music Man are well known for this kind of finish since the 90s.

You rocked that thing! Sounded great. Really liked the looks/quality and sound..Had Corvette vibes..Be a cool baritone!..Thanks dude!

I thought for sure you would pull out the cliff Burton solo. Music man makes nice stuff

Sounds EXACTLY how a Musicman Stingray should! Bernard Edwards from Chic had an original ‘76 string through version, bequeathed to Duran Duran’s John Taylor.

Thanks for throwing in some bass content. I love seeing Fender and bass content. It was nice seeing your review of one of Leo's bass designs.😉

OK... I never coment 'cause I'm a bass player, but Dayum. That is a beautiful rock bass. Thanks for sharing!

More Basses! Thanks Trog!

Still never forget that Rickenbacker 4005 on your channel. For a mainly guitar channel, your bass playing has come a long way.

Love Stingrays! I recently sold my 2006 30th Anniversary 4 string. They only made 700 of them. Mahogany body and lacquered birdseye maple neck combined with a string through bridge made it quite unique and also pretty hefty at 10.0lbs. I've got an Indonesian Sterling that I got off a guy who buys and sells Amazon pallets. The finish is really banged up, but I'll probably try to do some kind of relic job on it. I installed a series/parallel switch and am in the process of building a 70's style preamp PCB for it. Honestly, I think the thinner neck of the Sterling suits me better. The extreme contours you noticed are a new feature in recent years. Same for the 18V system. The neck on that bass is stunning!!!

Beautiful bass! Enjoy it our Aussie friend :)

Yep. Very cool bass. Now do Fender’s new Vintera II 60s Bass VI, please.

I vastly prefer the figure and woodgrain on the one on the photos.

Man o man! Im a gibson guitar guy but I had a MM sting and LOVED it!!!!!

Ah, man. Missed opportunity to play Waiting Room by Fugazi. Joe Lally was a Music Man Stingray user and that bass line is iconic. Thanks for the review, Austin!

Your demo was damn good for a non bass player. I’ve been wanting to start playing bass.

Oh man, what a beauty! Edit: Your Flea riffage brought a smile to my face!

You did a good job, Austin. I would probably not buy new basses, just to do a break-down, review and re-sell, but I would do an episode on all basses that come through. I have a MM Stingray, but it doesn't look as nice as that one. It would be cool to see an episode running down the history of Gibson basses. Thanks.

Guitar player calluses are on the tips of their fingers. Bass players have calluses on the tips, the sides , and if you're Billy Shehan, the back of your hand. You rock Trog!

Thank you T. Beautiful bass that will absolutely sing

Beautiful,,Thank you Austin,,so much for tossing in a bass now and then,,Love the MM's!

The Stingray was not the first active EQ bass. Alembic was making them in the 1960's.

I always enjoy the bass reviews. Thanks.

...oh, and I had to think of a great video on Pat Finnerty's channel about that RHCP song at 8:56 😁

Great demo!! I have had my music man for 30 years and it still is bad ass!!

My fav and dream bass but i like the older the 90s ones

That neck is stunning. Beautiful bass and Mr T you really rocked that thing!! Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘

Ernie Balls are top of the line similar to gibson les pauls. Active vs Passive is a big arguent in the bass comunity as well as pick vs finger.

$3,500 with scratches like that…I’d send it back in a heartbeat.

Man you need to do more bass videos, I'm a guitarist as well but love and play bass. I'd love to see you do some old gibsons or perhaps an ovation magnum of some sort. Or something else a little out of the norm.

Beautiful bass OMG!

Why don't you have more subscribers? Such reliable content. Always informative and entertaining.

I had a 2009 EB MM Stingray HH5 that was an absolute beast of a bass. That said, my Schecter 5's kick the snot out of that one for less than half the price.

The Stingray is a reeeeeally nice bass, the 5 string version is forever on my wish list...

For only running into Logic it sounds pretty nice! Though, those scratches at that price point would have annoyed me a lot.

I must be honest I preferred the older style MM bridge with the studs going down into the wood. Then again I would also prefer the older-older style with string mutes, so maybe I'm just a traditionalist.

Thank you Trogly very cool

As a guitar guy, stingrays are my favorite. P/j s are my next.

ExcellentO ! Love the Musicman bass ,ive been curious about them for years , I love playing bass as well as guitar, it is a guitar after all, aint it !? ...Ive been wanting a Rickenbacker bass !...Man that one is beautiful and it sounds great !...Thanks Trogly !

10:05 Is that the riff from Hari no Yama/mountain of needles by Ningen isu I love ningen isu

Woot woot Trogly's guitars 🎸 🙌

The bound ebony fretboard and block inlays look odd to me. I prefer the roasted maple fretboard and small dot inlays. The bridge and saddles are really poor quality for that price. The bridge on my Sterling Stingray ray34 is way beefier than that. Maybe those specs are why it has a thinner tone than I'm used to hearing out of Stingray basses? Mine sounds nothing like that. Only other differences are the 9volt active 3 band and 6 bolt neck plate. Alnico magnet humbucker might be another difference? Not sure what these new 18 volt units have, maybe ceramic?

The neck has a zebra wood type of look, really nice

Thanks for doing the Stingray!

This is probably a dumb question, but can anyone tell me what song is Trogly playing from 10:36 to 11:55? Sounds so familiar but I'm drawing a blank.

Alembic had active EQ on basses back in '70 or '71. That is a great sounding and very versatile bass, though.

I'm sure I heard you playing Breadfan by Budgie. Excellent.

yay!! a bass episoooooode. i'm glad you decided to! and those ones are such a good line.

That thing is pretty sick actually

Gotta love a little Breadfan! Nice bass, but that a lot of coin!

Thank you!

3:08 kinda want a diff color pick guard. like..... the black would set off the candy red color better, i think. they make 'em like that stock. but the white pearloid to me is getting in the way of that beautiful red finish. gotta be other colors that would pair nicer with it.

Awesome review brother. I'd love to see your take on the Sterling By Music Man StingRay RAY34PB bass. It's around $1,000 and looks ridiculously promising in comparison to the USA models.

Trogly I'm sorry, did you say that EBMM added a pickguard "to give themselves identity" from Ibanez? I don't think anyone on earth is confusing an EBMM bass for a SDGR...

Love the Budgie!

Finally, another bass. Good review, thanks.

I wish you would do a review of a Brian May guitar

Love it.❤ killer neck, big fat tone. Hope those scratches buff out.

I'm kind of sad there wasn't any AC/DC riffs, since this is Cliff Williams model of bass.

Scratches? Inexcusable at this price!

Sounds like you were having fun with that dirty bass preset.

What is the exact model name and number. I like to order it

Nice review. A lot of great tones from that, even with out neck pup'. Ü ♫

A+ episode, trogly! thank you so much! (- aspiring bassist)

THAT is one NICE Musicman bass.

Great video! If you ever need a bassist for demo let me know!!

Beautiful neck..man. I'll stick with the Ibanez Talman bass though. $250-$300 and you get the same (pretty much) active EQ and precision and jazz (P/J) pickups. Not as good as this MM, but close enough for MUCH less.

Trogly, your not to bad on Bass. Right on.

I had the "Dargie Delight" for a few months then moved it along

You should review Music Man DarkRay

Beautiful bass!!