Introduced in 1987, the StingRay 5 was the first all-new Music Man bass designed and built in San Luis Obispo by the Ernie Ball team. The five-string's styling is based on the classic look of the Silhouette guitar. Advanced active electronics combine the best of the four-string StingRay along with innovations from Music Man designers, such as an Alnico humbucking pickup and three-way pickup selector for series, single and parallel combinations. The tuners are placed in a 4+1 configuration and the six-bolt on mapleneck has a rosewood or maple fingerboard with 22 high-profile wide frets. In 1991, Pole pieces changed from Alnico to Ceramic In late 1992, a hum-cancelling "phantom" coil was added for noise reduction in single coil mode of the three-way pickup selector. In 2005, the StingRay 5 was updated with two humbuckers or a bridge humbucker paired with a neck single coil pickup and a five-way pickup switching system. The single humbucker model continues to be in production as well. In 2006, Music Man released a Limited Edition StingRay 5 featuring a five-bolt neck plate, back-routed controls, string-through body, and an ebony fingerboard. The same year, MusicMan started using compensated nuts on all their bass and guitar models except the Classic series, after having used them for the Music Man Bongo since 2003. In March 2008, Ernie Ball switched back to AlNiCo pickups for their StingRay 5, after having used ceramic pickups for this model since 1991. The AlNiCo pickups, which are also found in their four-string counterparts, give the instrument a sound more like a StingRay 4. The phantom-coil was also removed and the Single-Coil Mode replaced by an Enhanced Parallel setting. This model is replaced by the StingRay 5 Special as of July 2018. As of 2015 the StingRay 5 is also offered with a through-neck construction. Specifications StingRay 5 Model : StingRay 5 Size : 13-3/8" wide, 1-3/4" thick, 45-3/4" long Weight : 10 lbs, 0 oz - varies slightly Body Wood : Ash Body Finish : High gloss polyester Bridge : Standard - Music Man® chrome plated, hardened steelbridge plate with stainless steel saddles Scale Length : 34" Neck Radius : 11" Headstock Size : Only 9" long Frets : 22 - High profile, wide Neck Width : 1-3/4" at nut 2-3/4"" at last fret Neck Wood : Select maple neck Fingerboard : Fretted - maple or rosewood; Fretless - Pau Ferro with or without inlaid fretlines Neck Finish : Gunstock oil and hand-rubbed special wax blend Neck Colors : Standard - Natural; Optional - Matching painted headstock Tuning Machines : Schaller BM, with tapered string posts Truss Rod : Adjustable - no component or string removal Neck Attachment : 6 bolts - perfect alignment with no shifting Electronic Shielding : Graphite acrylic resin coated body cavity and aluminum lined pickguard Controls : Single Pickup, 3-band active preamp; vol, treble, mid, bass; Dual Pickup, 3-band active preamp; vol, treble, mid, bass Switching : Single Pickup - 3-way lever pickup selector; Dual Pickup - 5-way lever pickup selector Pickups : Standard - Music Man® humbucking with Alnico pole pieces; Optional - Dual Humbucking with Alnico pole pieces; Optional - Humbucking/Single coil with Alnico pole pieces Left Handed : Yes Strings : 45w-65w-80w-100w-130w
