Ernie Ball Music Man has introduced the DarkRay II bass, expanding on the aggressive, modern foundation of the original DarkRay with fully integrated, polyphonic octave-up and octave-down effects. Pairing a true 4-string Music Man bass with two built-in distortion voices and a fast-tracking octave, the DarkRay II is available in Black, Showtime, Spectralite, and Mean Green Burst.
At its heart, the DarkRay II is unmistakably Music Man. A single neodymium humbucker is paired with a custom Darkglass active two-band preamp, and with the effects disengaged, the instrument behaves just like a two-band StingRay, with bass and treble controls that both boost and cut. The DarkRay grew out of Music Man's desire to bring the distortions from the Darkglass Alpha·Omega pedal into a StingRay Special, and the DarkRay II continues that legacy: A push/push function on the gain control switches between two distinct distortion voices, Alpha and Omega.
The new octave section is fully polyphonic, tracking chords, intervals, and multiple strings at once with fast, seamless response. A push/push function on the octave control selects one octave up or one octave down, while the same knob doubles as a wet/dry blend for anything from a touch of sub underneath the core tone to a fully saturated octave. Both the distortion and octave knobs feature LED rings that illuminate when engaged and change color to indicate the selected mode, providing instant visual feedback. A three-way switch selects the core tone, octave only (middle position), or octave combined with distortion (neck position), making it easy to move from tight, punchy bass tones to massive, harmonically rich textures.
View an exclusive DarkRay II demo video with bassist Josh Paul below:
Available in 4-string format, the DarkRay II is built on a solid ash body with a high-gloss polyester finish, paired with a five-bolt roasted maple neck in a comfortable "C" profile. An ebony fretboard with an 11" radius, white dot inlays, and 22 stainless steel frets sits on a 34" scale, with the neck and fretboard finished in a gunstock oil and hand-rubbed wax blend for a fast, broken-in feel. Black hardware, a black-plated vintage Music Man bridge, and custom lightweight tuners complete the look. The preamp runs on two 9-volt batteries, and each DarkRay II ships with Ernie Ball rechargeable batteries and a mono case.
DarkRay II features include:
- Fully polyphonic octave-up and octave-down effects with wet/dry blend
- Alpha and Omega DarkRay distortions
- LED rings indicate when (and which) effects are engaged
- Active custom Darkglass two-band EQ preamp with single neodymium humbucker
- Three-way switch: core tone, octave, or octave + distortion
- Solid ash body, roasted maple neck, ebony fretboard, 22 stainless steel frets
- Available in Black, Showtime, Spectralite, and Mean Green Burst
The Ernie Ball Music Man DarkRay II Bass is available for a street price of $3,299. For more information, visit music-man.com
DarkRay II
Ernie Ball Music Man has introduced the DarkRay II bass, expanding on the aggressive, modern foundation of the original DarkRay with fully integrated, polyphonic octave-up and octave-down effects. Pairing a true 4-string Music Man bass with two built-in distortion voices and a fast-tracking octave, the DarkRay II is available in Black, Showtime, Spectralite and Mean Green Burst.
