I have been playng this bass now for about 6 months. I wanted to wait to write about it so that I wasn't just going on first impresisons.

The Sting Ray 5 is one of the better 5 string basses out there, particularly in its price range. The low B is tight enough for slapping, and is not flabby acoustically or amplified. The thing has sustain that would make Nigel Tufnel jealous (which means it isn't totally suited for emulating stand up type sounds without a lot of muting effort). It is amazingly versatile, being able to get very mellow reggae tones, Korn tones and old school P/J tones as easily as the classic Sting Ray cutting tones. It can also get some amazingly strange tones at extreme settings of the EQ, very fun for late night space jams. (Tony Levin is the master when it comes to getting strange sounds out of this thing.) The bass is an incredible recording bass and cuts through live like no other bass I've ever played. The controls are very easy to use and have good sensitivity. Battery life is ok, I find myself changing the 9 volt once every 3-4 months with about 30 hours a week usage.

The cut of the body allows for comfortable playing at any height. When strung low, it has a tendency to "hug" your body, very sensual feeling and you can feel every note resonate in you. Good balance, slightly neck heavy when seated (typical of Leo Fender inspired designs). Some people don't like the look and I can't blame them, the pickguard is strange looking, especially with some of the custom colors. There aren't a lot of places to rest your thumb which can make the adjustment from another instrument a bit difficult. Truss rod adjustments are a snap thanks to the pinwheel adjutment nut and the neck has proven to be very stable despite some severe weather changes this summer. The bridge is massive contributing to a very balanced, crisp tone acoustically.

The construction is pretty much flawless. The neck pocket is incredibly tight, fretwork was very clean and the gloss black finish was mirror like (until I started scratching it). BTW, this thing is made for playing, it is solid and has survived my practice space's falling down drunk test with no scatches (a first). It is on the heavy side but no worse than my 83 Fender P Elite.

My favorite thing about the bass has to be the neck. It is very fast, kinda thin, and has a pretty good taper from the nut to the body. Very easy for slapwork, feels solid. The oil finish feels like buttah, or as a girl at work said, "Oh my god, it feels like a baby's butt!". Because it is oil finished there is a bit more maintenance involved (it's a good idea to wipe it down after each show/session...but hey, we do that anyway, right?) but I find it worth it.

The SR5 has an amazing personality. In 6 months it has become the only bass I take to all my sessions including punk, country, pop and folk. Highly recommended.

Construction	100%
Playability	98%
(limited places to rest thumb might be issue for some)
Appearance	90%
(pickguard is kinda big)
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	100%
Overall	100%