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| StingRay | |
|---|---|
 An Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay | |
| Manufacturer | Ernie Ball Music Man |
| Period | 1976 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on, Neck-through (as of 2015) |
| Woods | |
| Body | Ash, alder, basswood |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Fretted: maple, rosewood, ebony Fretless: pao ferro (lined and unlined options available) |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
Music Man StingRay is an electric bass by Music Man, introduced in 1976.
Designed by Leo Fender, Tom Walker, and Sterling Ball, the StingRay [1] bass appeared in 1976 and, though somewhat similar to a Fender Precision Bass, had a number of distinctive features.
It employed a single Humbucking pickup placed near the bridge for a tighter sound, [2] and an active pre-amp powered by a 9-volt battery. Early iterations of this preamp came with a 2-band EQ (bass and treble), later augmented by an optional third band (midrange), and Piezo pickups located in the bridge saddles. The StingRay's active preamp was sealed in epoxy to avoid Reverse engineering of the technology which came to be synonymous with the StingRay bass.
Since Music Man was purchased by Ernie Ball Inc. in 1984, many significant introductions have been made into the StingRay range, with double Humbucking pickups being introduced in the early 2000's and has become a popular choice today. A 5 string variant of the StingRay has become common in modern times, in some spaces even outselling the tradition 4 string offering.
The StingRay also had the distinctive "3+1" headstock (on which three tuning machines are situated on the top and one on the bottom). Another way the StingRay hardware varies from the traditional Fender electric bass that was, and still is the staple of the industry, was the StingRay's 6 bolt neck plate as opposed to the traditional 4, supplying more body to neck contact inside the pocket, along with the extra rigidity providing further body sustain. The StingRay is offered in both string through body and top load stringing depending on specification.
The typical StingRay line has traditionally featured an Ash body construction along with a maple neck with either a Maple or Rosewood fingerboard, finished with an oil coat, as opposed to hard lacquer finishes as used by main competitor, Fender. This provides a smoother more natural texture to the StingRay's neck. In recent years, the roasted maple neck option has become popular, due to the wood's beautiful aesthetics and its higher resistance to varying humidity. Alongside this, a fretless Pau Ferro fingerboard has become increasingly popular.
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