
Burnt apple red does something to me…
Love the finish on this Stingray Special. She’s swamp ash and maple, weighs 8.2lbs

Love the finish on this Stingray Special. She’s swamp ash and maple, weighs 8.2lbs
Finally upgraded my Sterling 4 to this EBMM Stingray 5, and it’s a beast! What are your thoughts on these? And what pickguard do you think would look best on this finish? Been thinking of switching it out :)
I snatched this cutie last week in a fantastic condition, fully original(it seems), electronics date from Apr '98. Serial number says May '98. There are some minor dings in the body, totally acceptable for a guitar thats nearly 30y old. The fret wear is minimal.
I cleaned it and set it up and the neck is just amazing.
From what I could find online it has a virtual PAF and 2 custom wound SC with silent circuit, seems to align with what I saw under the hood.
I'm not a huge fan of the white on Aged white so I might go for black plastics. Before I got it I was considering getting the EMG SL20 set, but the stock pickups sound actually nice. Then I only need to swap the humbucker for a DP255 or alike?
I have raised the trem slightly to have it floating so I can use up & down vibrato and do some flutter.
The guitar weights 3.4kg.
Just bought the Sterling by Music Man Kaizen in a store and I believe i got the wrong tremolo arm from the store.
I added pictures of the arm and the bridge.
If it is the wrong one does anyone have a picture or an idea how the right arm should look?
Hello folks! (TL;DR at the end)
I went to Warped Tour in Long Beach a few weeks ago and Ernie Ball had a tent with a few guitars that were playable. I picked up an Axis Super Sport and immediately connected with it. Very few guitars have felt so comfortable and inspiring, let alone a guitar that has already been abused by the public. So I’ve decided to purchase a new one of my own. My only difficulty is finding a selection at a dealer that I can get my hands on and compare. I visited a nearby guitar center and they only had one 30th Anniversary and a used Axis. Sweetwater doesn’t even have them available in specific serial numbers to compare finishes and weights like many other guitars they offer. So I was wondering if anybody has a dealer they recommend (I’m in the Valley in LA), since not many seem to carry a lot. If in person isn’t feasible, is the quality consistent enough that just ordering online is an acceptable option?
I’m open to used as well, but brand new pricing isn’t an issue since I’m trading a custom shop tele to go toward the axis.
Also, since I haven’t seen a quilted top in the wild, are they as nice in person?
Thanks!
TL;DR: Where do you go to get your hands on a variety of Music Man guitars, or is there a specific online dealer you trust?
I'm trying to replace the humbuckers on a stingray HH that only have three wires - black, red, and green. The green from each are soldered to the back of the tone pots, so I guess they're negative? Then I'm thinking the red and the black are both positive? How they maintain the ability to split each coil in the humbucker individually with only the 3 wires is beyond me though... I honestly searched the Internet all day for some sort of wiring diagram, but I can't for the life of me find anything helpful. Everything I've seen shows 4 wires and a different schematic.
So, I'm thinking all I really need to do is understand how the stingray HH pickup itself is wired, then I can adjust the 4 wire replacement humbuckers accordingly. Furthermore, I'm thinking it might be as simple as soldering 2 of the 4 wires to the same spot on the stingray... I just don't know which ones. The closest I could find was a schematic for the sterling stingray, which is completely different from the Ernie Ball for some reason.
Can anyone help me out? Or point me in the right direction? I feel like it's as simple as both the negatives joined into one wire, but I wouldn't be posting of I was confident about that. I figure this is even too simple for pictures, but I can get them if need be. Also, does anyone else have an Ernie Ball stingray HH? Do your pickups have 3 or 4 wires? I'm starting to think they might already be aftermarket pickups...