A lightweight, passive Stingray with a roasted maple neck, a neodymium humbucker and all the thump of the original.
The new Sterling by Music Man short-scale Stingray bass is an ergonomic, lightweight instrument with impressive passive electronics, an infinitely stylish roasted maple neck, and a fast, condensed feel that almost edges into baritone guitar territory. It’s the optimal bass guitar for players seeking all the beef, thump and reputation of the Stingray in a petite, passive, pocket-rocket package.
One of the best parts about learning to restring a guitar by yourself is buying a fresh pack of Ernie Ball Slinky strings, flipping it over and reading the list of almost 80 artists on the back (78 to be exact). Such is the breadth and reach of this behemoth of guitar innovation.
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Ernie’s son, Sterling Ball, was kicking around in his dad’s factories while he was still young enough to count his age on his fingers. At nine years old he spent his weekends and school holidays packing strings in the factory and running the tills, embedding himself in the family business before he’d even started high school.
In 1975, Sterling helped beta-test a revolutionary bass guitar co-designed by Leo Fender – the Music Man Stingray. The following year, the Music Man brand delivered the world’s first mass-produced electric bass with onboard active electronics. Ernie Ball ended up buying the Music Man business in 1984, eventually handing the reins to Sterling, who still serves as president to this day. Sterling served on the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) board for several years in the early 2000s and has helped revolutionise the world of bass and guitar instruments for over 50 years.
There are several distinguishing characteristics which give the Stingray its iconic silhouette: 3+1 tuning peg configuration, egg-shaped pickguard and a big ole’ chonky bridge humbucker. Where might you hear the influence of the Stingray? Think Louis Johnson (session bassist for Michael Jackson on the Thriller album), “Le Freak” by Chic, and – arguably one of the most recognisable bass lines of all time – “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. Good luck getting that earworm out of your head.
In 2008, Ernie Ball extended its family of brands to include Sterling by Music Man, shifting production to trusted partners in Asia in order to offer a more affordable range of options to fans of the Stingray and other iconic Music Man instruments. Today, Sterling by Music Man products are manufactured in Indonesia and run through rigorous quality control and final inspections by the elite team in Southern California before being shipped off to musicians of all backgrounds the world over.
I was lucky enough to run a short-scale Stingray specimen through a nice vintage amp with four speakers – giving me some real grunt. I really enjoyed the commanding low-mids and had a blast fiddling around with the many tone configurations offered by the very impressive passive electronic setup.
The pickup is neodymium – a first for Sterling by Music Man – providing plenty of output and a wide dynamic range to accentuate your playing skills. The volume knob contains a push-pull function that acts as a volume boost. The default setting – with the knob pushed in – runs the signal through a volume cut, while the second position – with the knob popped out – engages the full capacity of the humbucker pickup. It’s a genius onboard method for cranking the signal when you need to really drive the output and beef up your mix. The middle knob is a rotary dial that changes the signal path through the pickup. Position one is parallel, position two is true single-coil, and position three is series. The single-coil option was my favourite: it dials back the low-end drive in favour of a crisp, sparkling clarity in the upper-mid frequencies, enhancing attack and brightening up the dynamics of your playing. The series option was the hottest, offering a ballsy bottom end that rivals the best active bass guitars out there thanks to that hot, hot neodymium humbucker. Hitting the volume boost has the most noticeable impact in the parallel and single-coil configurations, while the series position is already so hot there isn’t much headroom left for the boost. The third dial is a simple tone control that allows you to roll off some of the higher frequencies to your taste, putting fine-tuning tone-sculpting at your fingertips. All three dials are of supreme build quality; I particularly like how snappy the rotary dial is, giving you the confidence you’re really locked into your pickup configuration of choice.
While the industry standard scale for 90% of bass guitars is 34″, the 30″ scale of the Sterling by Music Man Stingray doesn’t take away any of the girth or beef you’re looking for in a bass instrument. The string spacing is identical to that of the classic Stingray (19 mm at the bridge); the humbucker pickup is full-sized, the nut is 38 mm (just like on the RAY4 S.U.B and SLO Special models); and the fretboard has a radius of 9½″. Combining standard string spacing with the shorter scale makes playing this instrument feel superbly ergonomic and friendly on your hands – ideal for players with limited reach, young players learning bass for the first time, guitarists transitioning into bass, and even players who struggle with conditions like arthritis and RSI. But this isn’t just an instrument for players with limited reach; even the freakishly long-fingered of you will enjoy how comfy it feels to play the short-scale Stingray. The new roasted maple neck with satin finish gives a stylish, smooth, speedy feel with minimal friction to slow down your left thumb (or right thumb for left-handed players).
The body is made of Nyatoh, a reliable and stable hardwood that allows room for the electronics to shape the tone. The bass I test-drove was finished in purple sparkle, which when combined with the roasted maple neck, felt insanely flashy and funky. The standard string-through bridge, six-screw neck plate and 3+1 open-gear tuner configuration complete the classic look, giving you the confidence that while you may be holding in your hot little hands a slightly more compact and affordable instrument, it’s still the genuine Stingray article, known the world over.
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