The Ernie Ball StingRay Special is a powerful reengineered bass that keeps sharp players in mind.

In 1976, one of the world’s favorite basses to date was born: the original MusicMan StingRay.  When creating the updated version of this coveted classic, Ernie Ball wanted to make sure all things were considered. After years of experimenting with materials, the ultra-light swamp ash remains the wood of choice for the body of the re-issue. A bolt-on roasted maple neck and fingerboard thick with bright, hardened resins, makes for ultimate resonance and response.  This setup sings and pops with a super-active and light-weight playability.

Creating a lightweight, shorter bass guitar that packed the punch, and tone of more standard sized models was a major goal when designing the original.  The StingRay Special now weighs over an entire pound lighter than its predecessor due to the modified lighter metals in the hard-ware.

A highly commendable and quite noticeable upgrade is the more powerful, and advanced neodymium magnets now being used in the electronics!  Single Humbuckers remain the standard here, creating a punchy, clean, sound with plenty of bottom end (Dual humbuckers available for custom builds!).    

Another nice surprise is a newly designed 18-volt 3-Band preamp for extra clean headroom.  This enables the overall content of the tone to be enhanced without changing its original timbre, generously beefing up the lower end, while adding clarity and resonance to the middle range.  The trebles higher on the neck sing through the mix with a warm clarity, offering up a very natural, clean, dynamically balanced sound.

AT A GLANCE

• Body: Ash
• Neck:  Select Roasted Maple
• Fingerboard:  Fretted Maple
• Length:  34″ (86.4 cm)
• Neck Radius 11″ (27.9 cm)
• Headstock:  Adjustable – no component or string removal
• Frets:  22 High profile, Wide, Stainless Steel
• Controls:  3-band active preamp with 18 volts of headroom; vol, treble, mid, bass
• Dual Pickup – 5-way lever pickup selector
• Pickups Standard – Single Humbucking with Neodymium magnets; Optional – Dual Humbucking with Neodymium magnets.

You deserve all of the frets…

Sweet Surprise!  Another fret has been added!  The industry is finally more consistently realizing players who prefer shorter necks would like to have all the frets too.  Thanks to the sculpted neck joint, and more rounded contouring of the body in general, high fret playing has never been smoother.  With the recent wave of re-issued vintage instruments, Ernie Ball couldn’t have chosen a more versatile, cherished bass to pay its homage to. The price-point for this beauty is average in comparison to others like itself, coming in at somewhere between $1,700-$2,100 new, a fair price to pay for high quality craftsmanship, and the backing of one of the oldest companies in the industry.  Thanks for always keeping it fresh and thoughtful, Ernie Ball.

Tip:  Try on some classic Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwound strings for an even smoother, more expressive experience with this model specifically!  All finger noise was eliminated, making for a seamless, super active play.