Music Man Bass Guitars – The StingRay
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So what does a guy do after selling off his highly successful company? If you’re Leo Fender you create the StingRay Music Man bass.
Music Man Is Born
Fender is a name that is synonymous with great guitars and much of that acclaim can be attributed to Leo Fender himself. By creating icons like the Telecaster and Stratocaster electric guitars and the Precision and Jazz basses, he revolutionized how music was heard and performed.
So it was with some surprise when Leo sold his company to CBS in 1965 for $13 million. But he was in poor health and $13 million was nothing to sneeze at, especially back then. As part of the sale Leo signed a 10 year non-competition clause meaning that he could not compete with Fender during that period of time.
There were, however, two Fender employees who had no such agreement with CBS. These men, Forrest White and Tom Walker, were dissatisfied with the way CBS was running Fender so they left to start their own company.
In 1971 they founded Tri-Sonic which was later renamed Musitek, Inc. and, in 1974, became Music Man. The company started out producing amplifiers designed by Walker and Leo Fender, who was a silent partner due to the CBS non-compete clause.
After the clause expired in 1975 Leo was named president of Music Man. In 1976 his own consulting company, CLF Research, started producing instruments bearing the name of Music Man.
The StingRay Bass
The StingRay Music Man bass, which was designed by Fender, Walker and Sterling Ball, was introduced in 1976. Physically, its styling was very similar to the Precision Bass. That is where the similarities end as this became the first mass produced bass using active electronics.
Improvements in the electronics included a single large ‘soapbar’ humbucking pickup, an on-board preamp which was powered by a nine volt battery and a 2-band equalizer (bass & treble). Later models would offer a 3-band equalizer (bass, treble and mid-range).
Although its shape was similar to a P-Bass the StingRay had a unique look all its own. These included an egg-shaped pickguard, a chrome control plate shaped like a boomerang and its highly recognizable headstock with 3 turning machines on one side and one turning machine (for the G string) on the other side.
An ad for the StingRay Bass from the Music Man 1976 catalog
The StingRay is still being produced today by Ernie Ball Music Man which bought out the original company in 1984. They introduced the StingRay 5 (a five string bass) back in 1987 as well as a 20th anniversary StingRay in 1996 and a 30th anniversary edition in 2006.
A 1996 20th Anniversary StingRay Bass
A 2006 30th Anniversary StingRay Bass
1976 StingRay Bass Specs
- Maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets
- 34” scale length, truss-rod adjuster, 3 + 1 tuners
- Double cutaway solid body
- Large single-coil humbucking pickup, three control knobs (volume, bass, treble)
- Through body stringing, adjustable string mutes
Collectibility
The StingRay was the premier Music Man bass. They produced other basses like the Sabre and Cutlass which did not do as well.
As for value, an original 1976 – 1979 StingRay bass in excellent condition goes for anywhere from $2,000 – $2,500.
Later Music Man StingRay models from 1980 – 1984 run slightly less at about $1,700 – $2,200.
By way of comparison there is a big drop-off in price for a 1984 Ernie Ball StingRay in excellent condition, they go for approximately $1,100 – $1,300.
Although Ernie Ball continues to make quality instruments, it appears that collectors put more of a premium on the StingRay Music Man bass.
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