For 1976 Musicman Stingray Fretless fans

[benson_murrensun]

Here's the fact sheet I have on the Sterling. This says there is a dummy coil on the single pickup model:
 
Model:
Sterling
Size:
12-1/2 wide, 1-5/8 thick, 43-7/8 long (31.8 cm wide, 4.1 cm thick, 111.4 cm long)
Weight:
9 lbs (4.08 kg) - varies slightly
Body Wood:
Ash
Body Finish:
High gloss polyester
Bridge:
Standard - Music Man? chrome plated, hardened steel bridge plate with stainless steel saddles; Optional - Piezo bridge with nickel plated brass saddles
Pickguard:
Standard - Black or White; Optional - Shell, White Pearloid, Vintage White Pearloid, or Black Pearloid.
Scale Length:
34 (86.4 cm)
Neck Radius:
11 (27.9 cm)
Headstock Size:
Only 7-5/8 (19.4 cm) long
Frets:
22 - High profile, wide
Neck Width:
1-1/2 (38.1 mm) at nut, 2-1/2 (63.5 mm) 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:
5 bolts - perfect alignment with no shifting; Sculpted neck joint allows smooth access to higher frets
Electronic Shielding:
Graphite acrylic resin coated body cavity and aluminum lined control cover
Controls:
Single Pickup, 3-band active preamp; vol, treble, mid, bass; Dual Pickup, 3-band active preamp; vol, treble, mid, bass; Piezo 3-band active preamp: vol, mag/piezo pan, treble, mid, bass
Switching:
Single Pickup - 3-way lever pickup selector; Dual Pickup - 5-way lever pickup selector
Pickups:
Standard - Music Man? humbucking with ceramic magnets and hum canceling phantom coil; Optional - Dual Humbucking with ceramic magnets; Optional - Humbucking/Single coil with ceramic magnets
Left Handed:
Yes
Strings:
45w-65w-80w-100w (Super Slinky Bass #2834)

[bassilisk]

Yes there is indeed a dummy coil on the single pickup Sterling. I found it when I pulled the pickup - it is below and between the two side by side upper coils, and there is an additional channel rout for it so it sits flush in the cavity.  
 
I had it with me when I visited Vinny Fodera's shop not long after I got it and he was very impressed with the build level and attention to detail for this price point. He specifically mentioned the use of inserts with machine screws on the control and battery plates. When the little things are thought through, you know the bigger things were too.

[dfung60]

I've never looked inside a Sterling before, but there is a full history of the Sterling and Stingray 5 dummy coil on the EBMM forum from an insider.  Check out http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/39452-sting-ray-5-without-phantom-coil.html and look for a posting from 5Stringer.  It's an interesting story - the dummy coil wasn't there at first, has been there for many years and now is no longer there anymore on most models.  I could have sworn that the Sterling was out before the StingRay5, but it doesn't sound like this was the case (electronically, they are closer to each other than to the StingRay 4).  
 
I never had a Sterling or StingRay5, but I do have one of the original Paul Reed Smith basses.  This bass has 3 pickups on the front and a dummy hum canceller on the back.  It is exquistely constructed, but basically demonstrates that Paul Reed Smith is a master of the 6-string electric guitar...  It's sort of like a Gibson bass - you can see how it came about, but the result just doesn't quite make sense.  I also had an 80's Stratocaster Elite which was also very beautiful (they should bring back the pewter metallic finish) and had 3 pickups, a hum canceller under the pickguard and a one-knob active EQ.  It was great to play and had very interesting tones, but was not aurally recognizable as a Strat.  Hey, by that token an Alembic isn't a bass either...
 
I never really thought about what the standard 5-string bass was.  It could very well be the StingRay5, although I would have guessed it would have been the Fender Jazz 5 or maybe some sort of Ibanez.  It's funny that nothing has emerged as prominently as the Jazz, Precision, or StingRay. There are certain brands like MTD or Pedulla where they all seem to be 5-strings, but the absolute numbers are pretty small.
 
David Fung

[bigredbass]

The succeeding PRS basses also proved he's a master electric guitar builder.  I suppose we've come to a point where the evolution has come to a point to acknowledge just how different they are, electric basses from electric guitars.  
 
For my own taste, there are no Fender equivalents to the StingRay Five.  The current Fender fives prove more to me that they have mastered building them from a construction sense, but somehow they fall short for me.  The Victor Baileys are nice, but the only Fender five I ever was quite taken by was the Roscoe Beck Five, now discontinued.  Interesting that I rarely like passive basses, but save for that massive Gotoh bridge (a marriage of convenience by Roscoe's admission), it truly felt like it was designed and tuned tone-wise (Bill Lawrence did the pickups) by someone who really knew what he was doing, and RB certainly filled that bill.
 
Would like to run across one some day . . .
 
J o e y