Tim Commerford digs into his Ernie Ball Music Man StringRay onstage.
The three bassists—whose collective work spans Vulfpeck, D’Angelo, Rage Against the Machine, and much more—cast a wide musical net with their StingRay basses.
The story of the Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay is a deep journey through the history of the electric guitar business, going way back to connections made in Leo Fender’s early days. When the StingRay was introduced in 1976, it changed the electric-bass game, and it’s still the instrument of choice for some of the most cutting-edge bass players around. Here’s what a few of them have to say about their StingRays:
Joe Dart (Vulfpeck)
“My first glimpse of a StingRay was watching early videos of Flea, who had a black StingRay that he played in an early instructional video, as well as on the Funky Monks tape, showing the making of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. After that, I discovered Bernard Edwards and his playing with Chic, where he developed such an iconic funk and disco sound. From there, I discovered Pino Palladino’s brilliant fretless StingRay playing. Luckily, one day in the studio, someone handed me an old StingRay, and I used it on a couple of Vulfpeck recordings. I love the punchy, growly, bright tone. The StingRay cuts through the mix. It’s the perfect funk and disco bass.
Pino Palladino
“I played guitar in bands until 1976, when I decided to start playing bass, and that coincided with the StingRay coming out. I actually tried one in a store in Cardiff in Wales, where I come from. I remember plugging it in, and I didn’t really know much about preamps. I don’t think anybody knew much about preamps back then, because it wasn’t even a thing in a bass guitar. So, I turned everything up and it was too trebly for me. I didn’t know you could tweak the controls. I didn’t gravitate towards the instrument at first, to be honest.
Fast forward a few years and I was in my early twenties on my first trip to America with Jools Holland in 1981. I stumbled into Sam Ash Music on 48th Street in New York one day, and I saw a fretless Music Man StingRay on the wall. It sounded amazing straight away. I hadn’t played much fretless bass up until that point, but for some reason I could just play that instrument in tune. I was playing it and thinking, ‘Wow, this is not so hard.’ I backed off the treble a little bit and found a nice, little happy position where it felt really good. And it just had such a great punchy sound. I played it with Jools Holland on the first night I bought it, and I pretty much never put it down for 10 or 15 years after that.”
Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine)
“I got a blonde StingRay when I was about 19 years old, and that was the bass that I played for the first Rage record. At that time in my life, as a musician, I was kind of clueless to the nuances of the sound of an instrument. If it worked, it worked; if it didn’t work for me, it didn’t. I was just a knucklehead. I can’t even remember the reason why I went away from it. I think it’s because I wanted to get a real edgy sound, and I didn’t really know how to shape things in the way that I do now through experimenting. I’ve been very lucky, and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to experiment, so I’ve learned a lot over the years. And the StingRay could have done it all. I really could have done it all with the StingRay. Long story short, the preamp is arguably the best one, still. It took me a minute to realize just how powerful that preamp is—it’s a banger. Listening back, sometimes I hear [Rage Against the Machine] songs on the radio, and I’m just like, ‘Wow.’ It’s such a clean, pristine sound that comes from a StingRay.”
From Robin Trower to Eric Johnson to Tom Morello, Joe Bonamassa, the Edge, Green Day, Eric Clapton, and more—10 S-Styles that’ll give you 6-on-a-side envy!
Here’s PG’s stats on Strats—the top 10 Rig Rundowns featuring Fender Stratocasters and other Strat-style guitars. We’re not giving away who’s number one, but you’re welcome to guess—or simply watch the compelling show-and-tells in this video. You’ll see a slew of signature models close up, with guided tours from Robin Trower and Eric Johnson (who also show off vintage Marshalls), and by Eric Clapton and the Edge’s stalwart techs. Meet the 1958 Fender Strat that John Oates played on virtually all of Hall & Oates’ smash hits. (Can you go for that?) Plus, get the lowdown on Doyle Bramhall II’s hard-played 1964 Stratocaster and the left-of-center pickup configuration employed by Khruangbin’s Mark Speer.
Still want more? How about the super strat rocked by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, or a demonstration by Tom Morello of his famed scratching technique—with a slide. (Hint: It’s not a kill switch, and he’s an inventive badass.) And Joe Bonamassa tells you why he bought a guitar that was presented to him as the “best Stratocaster” ever, and makes a compelling case for exactly why it’s that, by a good 5 percent. Spoiler alert: There’s a lot more great gear details you’ll pick up along the way. F’rinstance, does Clapton really never change his strings unless they break? How funky do flatwounds needs to get until they’re perfect? How many Flying V’s does the Edge use during a concert? What pickup settings yielded the sounds you’re heard on classic recordings? How many marmots does it take to fill a VW bug? (Just seeing if you’re playing attention.) Sure, the Stratocaster and its variants have been around since 1954, and we’ve heard them played on countless recordings, but you won’t leave this Top 10 Rig Rundown without learning something new about Leo Fender’s greatest hit!
A pedal that forces you to rage and riff.
Excellent Marshall-style tones. Very interactive EQ section.
Available gain may fall short for some metal players. Presence control is subtle.
$189
MXR Tom Morello Power 50 Overdrive
jimdunlop.com
One of the great joys of any guitar journey is stumbling on happy accidents. Tom Morello has made an entire career of turning those accidents into timeless riffs and signature “non-guitar” sounds. So it’s no surprise that Morello’s signature MXR Power 50 Overdrive, which is ostensibly built for Marshall-in-a-box tones, delivers those sounds with a twist.
For decades, Morello has relied on the same Marshall JCM800 2205 50-watt head he acquired in 1988. At the time, he wasn’t that gear savvy and, unconventionally, routed all his pedals through the effects loop. Morello dug the sound and has kept the signal flow the same ever since. The Power 50 is built to approximate that amp’s topology and his unorthodox application of the effects loop.
MXR Tom Morello Power 50 Overdrive Review by premierguitar
All clips were recorded with a Fender HSS Stratocaster into a Revv D20 with an Avatar 1x12 cabinet mic’d up with a Shure 57 through a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface.
Though the Power 50 is built to do unconventional things, the primary controls will be familiar to any Marshall player. There’s a sensitive and interactive 3-band EQ, gain, volume, and a tiny knob for presence control. But it also comes with the effects loop that’s critical for capturing the most authentic Morello sounds. You just route your effects through the loop, plug into nearly any amp, and—boom. Instant Rage.
Even if you don’t employ the effects loop the crunchy Marshall-style tones sound and feel authentic.
And though the range of gain isn’t as wide as you might find on some other overdrive pedals, I think that’s totally ok. The Power 50 was designed to cop a very specific sound, not be a rainbow of different dirt tones. And it’s refreshing to hear an overdrive that can deliver a singular signature sound while encouraging unusual approaches to getting new ones.
Test Gear: Fender HSS Stratocaster, Schroeder Chopper TL, Revv D20, Fender Hot-Rod Deluxe
