mandoloony
Tele-Afflicted
My love of Little Feat got me fascinated with Paul Barrere's Music Man Stingray:
It struck me as the ultimate '70s guitar: an attempt to move beyond existing designs, capturing earlier sounds but also capable of new ones, with active circuitry and more complex controls than the classic Fender models. Also, the natural finish and considerable weight are very '70s.
I found a nearly identical guitar for a very reasonable price. Barrere's is a Stingray II while mine is a I, but I prefer this because of the flatter radius. It's all original except for the strap locks, which I will be swapping out for regular buttons. All the demos I can find on Youtube suggested this would be a rather bright guitar, but mine has quite a thick, full sound. You can make it bright by flipping the bright switch and rolling off the bass, but that's not its fundamental nature. There is a ton of output available thanks to the onboard preamp. The four-way rotary switch is a little counterintuitive (it goes bridge - neck - both in phase - both out of phase) but I really like the out-of-phase sound. The neck and body stamps are from October 1976 but the pots are early 1977. The neck is nicer than most vintage Fenders I've played because it has a bit of extra shoulder. Plus I really love bullet rods for some reason. Best of all, it cost way less than a contemporary Strat or Tele would.
It struck me as the ultimate '70s guitar: an attempt to move beyond existing designs, capturing earlier sounds but also capable of new ones, with active circuitry and more complex controls than the classic Fender models. Also, the natural finish and considerable weight are very '70s.
I found a nearly identical guitar for a very reasonable price. Barrere's is a Stingray II while mine is a I, but I prefer this because of the flatter radius. It's all original except for the strap locks, which I will be swapping out for regular buttons. All the demos I can find on Youtube suggested this would be a rather bright guitar, but mine has quite a thick, full sound. You can make it bright by flipping the bright switch and rolling off the bass, but that's not its fundamental nature. There is a ton of output available thanks to the onboard preamp. The four-way rotary switch is a little counterintuitive (it goes bridge - neck - both in phase - both out of phase) but I really like the out-of-phase sound. The neck and body stamps are from October 1976 but the pots are early 1977. The neck is nicer than most vintage Fenders I've played because it has a bit of extra shoulder. Plus I really love bullet rods for some reason. Best of all, it cost way less than a contemporary Strat or Tele would.
