About pre EB Lefty Stingray

[bajito]

Hello !


did somebody knows if Pre EB Musicman stingrays exist ?

a friend of mine let me try his 79', that's sooooo good ! The Mojo is awesome.

I really would like to find one, but well, I didn't find information about a hypothetic lefty model.


Thanks !

[bigevilrobot]

Yes, they definitely exist. My old bass teacher had a fantastic one in sunburst.
You can also from time to time find pre-eb MusicMan Sabre basses in lefty as well.

[pjmuck]

They do indeed exist. I own both a '80 Stingray and '80 Sabre. There was a group of lefties produced in the same brief window of that year. I've personally never seen a lefty earlier than '80, though that's not to say they don't exist. Oddly enough, I've seen far more Pre-EB lefty Sabres (the less produced/less popular of the 2 models) than 'Rays, but there's a few Pre-EB 'Rays on Arni's site. Here's mine:

'80 MM Stingray.jpg (101.01 KiB) Viewed 13158 times

'80 Musicman Sabre.jpg (54.99 KiB) Viewed 12969 times

[Addison]

Many a day ago, I used to have one of those cheesy books about basses by Hal Leonard or something... I think it was printed in the 80's.

Anyway, it had a B&W picture of McCartney playing a Ray, and it looked like the pic was taken in the 70's.

I've been looking for that picture ever since.

[Addison]

By the way... KILLER BASSES PJ.

DAMN!!!

[andrew]

I have a pre-EB Sabre too.

I agree about the pre-EB stuff. I know EB claims there's no difference in the preamps, etc. but there's a difference to my ears.

If you want to get closer to the pre-EB sound in a EB Stingray, I recommend replacing the preamp with the East MM 2 band pre, which sounds VERY close to the pre-EB basses pre to me, and replace the pickup with a Duncan/basslines ceramic magnet pickup. My EB Stingray with these mods sounds 99% pre-EB to my ears and still has the comfort and rugged modern build quality of the current EB basses.

[Matt R.]

My god man. That Sabre is a beast.

[Carmine]

eeeee

My god man. That Sabre is a beast.

Oh, is this now a "show your Pre EB Sabre" thread? Well OK then!

[gravesbass]

eeeee

My god man. That Sabre is a beast.

Oh, is this now a "show your Pre EB Sabre" thread? Well OK then!

drool!!!!

[pjmuck]

I have a pre-EB Sabre too.

I agree about the pre-EB stuff. I know EB claims there's no difference in the preamps, etc. but there's a difference to my ears.

If you want to get closer to the pre-EB sound in a EB Stingray, I recommend replacing the preamp with the East MM 2 band pre, which sounds VERY close to the pre-EB basses pre to me, and replace the pickup with a Duncan/basslines ceramic magnet pickup. My EB Stingray with these mods sounds 99% pre-EB to my ears and still has the comfort and rugged modern build quality of the current EB basses.

Good tips, Andrew. With the exception of the tone/preamp, I'd say I prefer the overall build and options of the newer EB basses to the Pre-EBs (satin neck finish, tons more finish options, 5 bolt neck, lighter weight, etc), at least with regard to the Stingray. I really like the preamp/tones of the Sterling and Bongo, but the '97 'Ray I had was fairly anemic and sterile sounding. The Pre-EB Musicmans had gloss necks, which I normally prefer but can feel tacky on these basses after playing a while. They also had 3 bolt necks, which have never given me problems, but "more bolts = more stability" is ingrained in my mind regardless.

[bajito]

OOOhh ! thanks you very much for these informations ! If anyday you found a nice PreEB stingray on sale, or you're interested in selling yours, advise me ! I like that funky sound !

[rick_hazarai]

Hi French Mate
Just take a look on Arni's Website, "secondhand section"

[pjmuck]

Hi French Mate
Just take a look on Arni's Website, "secondhand section"

Perfect timing. And not a bad price either, depending on condition.

[slybass3000]

The bass is sold. Anyone from here?

[bajito]

Hi French Mate
Just take a look on Arni's Website, "secondhand section"

Nice one isn't it ?

Perfect timing. And not a bad price either, depending on condition.

pjmuck : what does your "depending on condition" mean ? If you're saying bass condition, she's seeming to be in very good shape. Just, frets may be a little marked, but not a problem for me.

[pjmuck]

pjmuck : what does your "depending on condition" mean ? If you're saying bass condition, she's seeming to be in very good shape. Just, frets may be a little marked, but not a problem for me.

Are you saying you got it? Congrats if you did. Let us know how it plays.

[bajito]

Ok, I received my bass for Patrick (100% trusty very sympathic guy). That's exactly the same as pjmuck picture. This bass sounds amazing, and is in excellent shape. She's gonna be quite played, for sure !

I have one question, I read that preEBMM volume pot is not correctly tappered, so the volume pot is not very efficient. Do you have the same problem ? Also, bass, high and volume pot are set for righty, and not lefty, so that's the other way around. Do you have the same problem ?

[danomite64]

I used to have one of each:




IIRC, The knobs did turn righty; it was never an issue for me. If your serial number is B016288, that's the one I used to have.

[slybass3000]

I used to have one of each:




IIRC, The knobs did turn righty; it was never an issue for me. If your serial number is B016288, that's the one I used to have.

OMG


That Sabre just looks like the one I had a few years ago. When did you sell that bass? I bought it from a guy here in Montreal called Normand.

[danomite64]

2005? I sold off a bunch of stuff after my divorce, it was one of the last things I got rid of. I know I started missing that Stingray sound, so I bought a used ATK in May of 2006 to cover it until I could afford another 'Ray or Sabre, so I sold it before then.