Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay Special vs Yamaha TRBX305

Ernie ball music man stingray HH. I have a 2006 and had it since 2008. It’s active and the best bass I’ve ever owned in terms of playability and versatility. Can’t recommend it enough

This fixed the humming noise unless I max the treble out, in which case I can hear it just slightly again. To sum up, this bass gets 3.5 to 4 stars from me because of the minor imperfections, but it's so fun to play, that I couldn't bring myself to return it, or rate it any lower.

It's... Now the 18-volt preamp also sounds amazing, and that is in part to the new neodymium magnet on the humbucker

It's as good as or better than some $900-$1,300 basses I've played. Definitely recommend. And I really don't understand why cheap basses are pushed on beginners: you're gonna need an instrument that makes you want to learn to play it. It's much harder to make a cheap bass sound good

The special has such an amazing mid range that means it will fit in the mix much better and has a more vintage tone. I absolutely adore it but I can't afford it yet so instead I'm using a Sterling with the treble cut and pressure wound strings to emulate it. Imo though the stingray special can do the classic stingray sound easily plus more sounds in a way other models can't do as well.

Tone is excellent. Of course, these days the things are slapped together in Asia by slave labor, so it'll require a proper setup once it arrives. Figure that into the price. Also accept that something WILL go wrong

You can access the myriad of tonal expression via the combination of a three-band EQ and a guitar style five-way pickup selector switch, and the flexi...

At the end, it's a very balanced Bass, have a variety of tones, and the pickups are very good, define very precisely and naturally every note. I love how it sounds, fits in every sound I play. So my personal opinion is: it's worth it, it's good and versatile, very comfortable, not so heavy, but not light either, but is honest and delivers what you're paying, and a bit more, you can definitely use this Bass in your gigs ahead. Bonus:Yamaha's life time warranty looks like a very good deal

Musicman stingray honeyburst with a black pickguard, maple neck and rosewood fretboard, basically davie504’s bass

I will always sing the praises of Yamaha since I picked up the TRBX305 as my first 5-string, and later traded up to the TRBX605. If you spend just a little more, you get a very good bass that plays like it costs a couple of hundred dollars more. If you can swing it, I'd say save up a bit and buy the Yamaha new or keep an eye on Reverb for a used one that's more comfortably in your range.