The StingRay Story

This short history is specifically on the Music Man StingRay Bass. To write the story of the Music Man company in general, or the complete history of Leo Fender would be a full length novel in scope. I don't have the time for that, so I'll stick to the whole reason this web page is here—the bass! As stated earlier, after Leo Fender left the Fender company in the 1960's, he continued to experiment and develop new instrument ideas. He wanted to create guitars and basses of the same quality that had made his name synonymous with excellence in the minds of musicians the world over. The cornerstone of this new direction in the Music Man company was to be a redesign of his timeless classic—the P-bass. In itself, a great instrument, but Leo and Forrest (shown at the right holding an early production StingRay) knew that improvements could be made on the basic design; more powerful pickups, better onboard control of the sound, better saddle pieces and tuners, better string tension at the headstock and bridge, and better balance overall. No short order! Enter Forrest White. Forrest is responsible for many innovations in the musical instrument world, including the concept of the "tilt-adjust" neck, preset tone control for guitars, and various pedal steel improvements. The collaboration between Leo Fender and Forrest White dated back to the early 50's and the glory days of the Fender company. Forrest was a gifted industrial designer and a great production manager, as well as an avid guitar freak. Great combination, don't you think? While Leo toiled on the tone circuitry and a radical new onboard electronics package for the bass, Forrest busied himself with personally designing the body shape and headstock designs. With the input of some of the best professional bass players from all genres of music, the end result was a timeless classic. The StingRay Bass. After the widespread acceptance of the StingRay, Music Man failed to produce a similar guitar concept that was a hit, and with internal problems in management, and the amp line being noncompetitive, the company dissolved in the early 1980's. Here are some of the design features that set the StingRay apart from the crowd:

The bridge is unique, to say the least. The strings run through the body and over the individual saddle pieces–which are adjustable for intonation as well as string height. The heavy bridge is attached with two large allen head bolts, which screw into brass inserts that are mounted in the body. The string angle over the saddle pieces yields incredible sustain. If, however, you think it is too much sustain, individually adjustable damping mutes are right at your fingertips.

The pickup. The heart and soul of the StingRay sound. Leo Fender's most innovative design of the post-Fender era, this humbucking beast with the monstrous alnico magnet pole-pieces was part of the first onboard preamp system offered on a production instrument. With its 2 band e.q., it was capable of producing an incredible variety of sounds, and took full advantage of the fantastic tonal qualities of the bass. Plus, together with the elliptical pickguard, it looked COOL!

How famous is this?! You can take one look at this headstock, and know we're talkin' StingRay. Forrest White's solution to the problems of balance inherent in the P and J basses was to shorten the headstock. By moving the G string tuning machine to the other side, the benefit of more balanced tone characteristics was achieved as well. One of many items that patents were applied for on the StingRay, the 3+1 headstock layout is a fundamental part of the StingRay concept.

Another patent applied for design was the tapered tuning post of the large, precise tuning machines. The taper forced the string wraps down toward the headstock face when tension increased. This served to improve the tone and sustain by creating better contact in the string channels of the phelonic resin nut. Although common today on Grover and Schaller machines, at the time this was a breakthrough design. Just one of many for the Music Man company.

The separate, chrome control plate for the onboard e.q. was a variation on the design shared by Tele's and J-bass models of the Fender company. Shielding was necessary, and original models shipped with plastic knobs such as those shown. Later models came with heavily plated chrome domes. They look about 300% better than the plastic ones, IMHO.

The "tilt-adjust" neck was an early Forrest White concept used on the Fender guitars of the 1950's and forward. In the interest of saving time in the post-production guitar set-up room, Forrest devised an integral adjuster that could be accessed through the neck plate on the rear of the instrument, making it possible to adjust the neck angle without needing to remove the neck and use shims, a time-consuming practice to say the least. The small hole offers access to an allen key screw that operates against a metal insert on the back of the neck. Can you say–brilliant? I thought you could.

The strap-buttons even had a patent applied for! The larger head, and straight shoulder of the post would "... lessen the chances of premature strap-hole enlargement". And we all know how painful THAT can be!