Features:

  • Iconic Stingray5 bass in Walnut Satin finish with black Pickguard
  • Basswood body with Maple neck and Jatoba fretboard
  • Equipped with a Sterling by music Man designed Ceramic pickup and 2-band Active preamp: volume, Treble, bass
  • All Sterling by Music Man instruments receive final set-up and inspection in the USA
Just as good as my "real" stingray

I play in a band every weekend and have for 8 years. I have owned some really nice basses and even have made my own. I have been playing bass for 20 years. Just so everyone understands my frame of reference for my comments. I played one of these sub series basses in a local shop by me and could not believe how good it was. They only had a display model so I came home and ordered the mint green version from amazon. This bass sounds and feels as good as my "real" stingray that cost over $1000 more. Which makes me sick to think about but hey that is life. Comments about setup. Any bass you buy will need a setup... ANY. I setup the bridge to where I like it then adjusted the truss rod and intonation and put a new set of strings on it. The bass plays fast and smooth and I love it. Anyone who thinks a bass is going to get shipped with a perfect setup is lying to themselves. My $1500 StingRay had fret buzz when I got it because it went from a warm climate to a cold climate in shipping... that is just what wood does folks. The price of this bass does not reflect what you get. And if you want that Music Man sound then look no further. Could not be happier with this purchase.

Excellent Tone/Excellent Value/Awesome Bass

Just got this 2 days ago. I fell in love in the first 60 seconds. Excellent buy. Very fortunately, mine came perfectly setup with great low action, no fret buzz and straight neck. Yes, the tuning keys are not your standard $500 and up bass guitar keys but they look good, work fine and simple to replace if so desired. Me, I'm good with it. I haven't played this much in a long, long time (67 now). Has both Fender and Rickenbacker tone qualities to it. Clear and Articulate. Neck is different from my Gibson SG Standard bass and I find it a pleasure to play nonetheless. Fast action even with the stock strings. Once the strings loose their tone I will be putting on a set of Fedora Ultralight Nickel round wounds, which I Highly Recommend. I've been playing since 1965. Cream, Hendrix, Who, Mountain and the Blues. Update 12/25/19. Still in love.

Change the strings..

Well when I received it, it came in a box in a box... The second box that it was in was busted it half and was all taped up. I was afraid of what the guitar looked like. It almost felt like the neck was broken because it was bouncing around in the box.. Then when I opened it I was amazed it wasn't broke..then took the wrapping off and played it.. It was all set up and ready to go.. Just a little out of tune.. It's a beautiful piece work.. I was amazed.. I have small hands..the neck is fast and comfortable for me.. Well worth 300 bucks..

Way better that it should be for the price

Have owned a real Stingray from the late 70s and countless basses over the years. Have been real impessed with what has come out of Indonesia over the last few years (Squier vintage modified Jazz basses for one - I have 3). Came set up quite well out of the box. Couple minor tweaks, but that was it( intonation and pup adjustment). Still using the original strings until I sort out what I am doing with it. Only complaint is string balance - A and D are a little weak with my set up. Just ordered some 8x1mm neo magnets to stack on those pole pieces to see if that takes care of it. It should. Having fun with it. Bottom line is if you want a Stingray but cant or dont want to spend the money, this is pretty close.

Very good electric bass

The electric bass came in perfect condition. I was worried about transportation, since he made an extensive tour of the United States until arriving in Miami, and then transporting it to the city of Bogotá, in Colombia. However, I arrive in perfect condition. I had the opportunity to try the electric bass and it sounds very good. Now the next step is to adjust it (it's normal) after the trip, I'll change strings and start enjoying it. Many thanks to GearTree

Very good budget bass!

I use this bass weekly for worship services at my church. I am typically a Fender Jazz guy, but I've found that I really need a 5-string for this type of music, so I thought I'd give this one a shot. Glad I did! Easy to play, great tone. Simple EQ, my sound guy loves it. The only negative is that I wish the 9 volt connector was fixed instead of the "pull out" wire bundle with the snaps that are hard for me to get on and off the battery. Doesn't need changing often, so not a deal breaker by any means. Love the color, feel, and sound. Get it!

Excellent quality for the price.

The overall quality and sound of this bass surpassed my expectations for the price. I usually have to do my own setup when I buy a new bass or guitar, but this StingRay 5 was almost perfect right out of the box. The only thing that I had to do was lower the pickup height, because it was clipping the onboard preamp when I played it with a pick. Actually, I prefer how it sounds when I take out the battery and use my favorite overdrive pedal as a preamp, instead.

Sterling licensed by Music Man Update review 2/5/2020

UPDATED REVIEW AGAIN: Sorry to say I had to update again. On the fretboard, there are what's called fret ends. They are on the edge of the fret board. For a month I was able to live with them. But this last weekend I was playing out and I cut my fingers on one of the fret edges. The frets needed to be what we call "dressed," that is, the ends polished until smooth to the wood. sharp fret edges makes it hard to play all night. Other than that, I'm leaving the review at 5 stars. The sound and concept of the bass is outstanding for the price. If Amazon gets more lefty's in I will order again. I loved the bass otherwise. Sadly I had to return it. So, highly recommended IF the frets are properly dressed and crowned.

An Incredible Value

For background: I am a semi-professional musician and recording engineer/producer. Besides some short stints in LA, I've mostly spent my music career in the local San Diego scene doing a variety of things from guitarist and bassist in bands, recording, live engineering, and DJing. I've been playing guitar specifically for 25 years. I also worked at the Taylor guitar factory in finish for 2 years so I know a fair amount about the guitar manufacturing process. I consider myself semi-professional only because I shifted my main career to technology and now music is more of a "serious hobby." I wanted this bass for two reasons: first, just for fun! I mean, it's fun to switch it up now and again! But more importantly as a useful tool for recording songs. I'm always borrowing basses or telling people, "I'll get the bass guitar in there later..." Plugins are cool, but I'd rather PLAY. Forever ago, I knew if I had the money, the Stingray was the bass I always wanted in my instrument arsenal. But they're expensive! I was STOKED to see that Ernie Ball/Music Man decided to make a cheap version that is licensed and has some assurance of quality control. A company like that, being one of the smaller brands, absolutely cannot afford to tarnish their reputation with bad instruments. _______________________________________________________ THE REVIEW: THIS BASS IS AWESOME! Out of the box I am immensely impressed. This is not a completely flawless instrument however, what you are getting for your money is like a gift from the music Gods. I'll start with the "bad." The finish: Overall its really great. It's a satin, which is cheaper to do than a gloss finish because the last coat goes on flat and does not require buffing. In fact, over time, your arms and such will end up buffing it. So it's not a durable type of finish either. Also, you can't fix tiny flaws, of which there are maybe 1 or 2 that I found. But honestly, this is all completely negligible to consider. The finish is fine. If you expect some amazing finish, you gotta pay. If anything, I can't stand "perfect" looking guitars that look like they haven't been played anyway. The input jack: When I first plugged in, I used the right angle side of my cable. This was scary. It doesn't work!! I would have to slightly tug at the cable to get a connection. This could be partly due to the design of the cable (Monster mid-range, don't recall exact model). I was slightly bummed but this but honestly not discouraged. At this price, there HAD to be something. LOL. Anyway, I swapped around my cable for the straight end and it works just fine! So for now I'm good but I would like to address the input jack connection soon so it's nothing to ever worry about. The "good." The bass sounds amazing. The pickup, they really did not hold back on this thing. It sounds fantastic. The fret board and action is setup very well. Very smooth. The intonation is slightly off on the E and D strings but that's easy to adjust. Honestly impressed with how close they got it to perfect from the factory though. It even stayed in tune all the way from Indonesia. It was cool to immediately play a little lick on it. Last thoughts for beginners: I rated this a 4-star guitar for a beginner. It would be 5 stars because it's so amazing for the money but the issue with the input jack is scary enough for a noob. Someone who doesn't know any advanced guitarists or luthiers might end up thinking their bass is "broken" for who knows how long before they address simple issues like that. I know because I've seen it happen. New players will quit practicing because they broke one string. You want the experience to be as easy as possible for a beginner. This is ALMOST their. If you have guidance, you're fine with this instrument. Another note is the active pickup. Active pickups are just another extra annoyance for someone just learning. They won't appreciate the enhanced tone and will be lazy about replacing batteries. ...but dang it sounds LEGIT. Model: Red Satin Burst, Ray4.

Great Bass after setup.

After I set up the Bass, It has a wonderful tone range and super fast neck. I would suggest a better description for the advertisement: "May need adjustment after shipping" The relief in the neck was out of reasonable spec and required truss adjustment to play properly, then string heights need to be re-adjusted . These are simple fixes but the add makes one believe it's ready out of the box. Overall: This is an awesome Bass at an unbelievable price!

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