Born from a MusicMan Stingray bass. It’s a poplar and zebrawood body made by Royal Guitars in Olympia Washington, and a Sterling Sub-4 neck I found on eBay. Pickup is a Novak Sabre, and the active preamp was made by Bosko Svrkota.
I had no real plan for this. Began with the lightning bolts, and just kept adding things. The creature spewing electricity from its mouth up top was the first iteration of what has become the "Monstre Electrique" mascot.
Had fun with the battery compartment.
The complete bass. Gee, this thing sounds good.
I wanted to keep some sign of the lineage of this bass. The headstock had a huge "Stingray" logo, so I went with Man-Ray to attest to the surreal direction of the decor.
I’ve been playing guitar (somewhat poorly) since 2011. That started because my kid, who is now 23, was learning bass. Come around full-circle and I decided I wanted to learn some bass of my own. I have his here at the house, but I wanted to do my own thing. I don’t know where I first came across the Stingray, but I love the look. In researching these I learned that they are typically active circuits, so I decided to learn something new.
Found the body on Reverb and the neck on eBay. The pickup came from Novak, and I ordered the rest of the parts from various places.
This is the body from the Reverb listing where I bought it. Made by Royal Guitars in Washington. Zebrawood top over a poplar body.
This is the body from the Reverb listing where I bought it. Made by Royal Guitars in Washington. Zebrawood top over a poplar body.
The neck in its original state.
As much planning as I did for this decorating. A mock-up in Adobe Illustrator.
I had to route out the battery compartment and a space in the control cavity for the preamp. Also, the neck was about 1mm to narrow for the cavity, so I learned all about shims. Glued in some .5mm maple strips and sanded them down to where they’re invisible. Was pretty proud of that. Here are some photos of the body before clear-coat, and while wiring. And then one in the studio room where it currently lives.
