This is gonna be hard to believe but I am 98% sure for a while I had bought from an old family shop music store in southern NJ and owned one of Flea's black MusicMan basses according to the serial number on it, it was either his or Michael Anthony's of VH. No joke. It was custom made for a top endorsement from 1990-1991. They both fit the bill. EB was helpful to narrow it down best they can pre-computer logging, they think it was MA's from VH's, I personally think it was Flea's from his famous SNL performance when JF was kinda out of it and Keidis kicked him in the butt at the end of the Stone Cold Bush song. For real. It got slightly damaged in a flood and someone bought it off of ebay , and he said he absolutely loved it. Totally custom bass ! Good times ! :D
Nope.., I sold it... It was a bad omen I gotta say. wait til I tell you the rest, I didn't know for like 20 years. I'll come back later on with more infor about it, it's worth reading.@@BARTFUNKBASS
There's a great, but loonngg yet cool story wrapped around this bass which goes from EB MusicMan company the two Ball brothers who own it now, to a small mom and pop music store in Pittman, NJ called The Music Museum, to Flea himself and his music school in LA. I can guarantee with 98% certainty that it's most likely that black MM Stingray bass Flea played on the famous SNL episode back in 1991 , or maybe one of his back up basses from that night, or in that 2% it could be Michael Anthony's from VH, or even from the band Blur. No joke. EBMM is leaning it is MA of VH . But my gut say Flea. I can send you a pic of it before it left my hands and I can find the serial number too. But this Stingray was custom made and you can feel and hear it right from the start. First it had very hot pickups, this thing was Phat and Loud, the body was Alder , yes Alder, orangey wood, under that Black finish, not Ash, and the neck was the big custom part, the neck's width at the nut was the same width as a 5 string MM but in a 4 string config., the string spacing was so wide part it totally made for a great slapper and brought out a little more in everyone's playing if you had big mitts. Great stuff ! :D @@BARTFUNKBASS
Great video, thanks very much for putting it together:) By the way, I am fairly sure that is a Kahler 2440 series fixed bridge, not a 2TEK on the “crunch” bass.
Min. 8:24 The Honeyburst Fretless Lined Pau Ferro Fingerboard Clear Pickguard 3 band EQ Stingray 4 must be a year 1990 because of the truss rod adjust bullet that's set at the headstock instead at the end of the neck which became the standard from 1991 onward.
"If You Have To Ask" is in Drop-D which means only E string is tuned down a whole step. I've seen live footages from that era and he was using StingRay or Sterling in "If You Have To Ask". However, his bass tech may have meant the "E" string, not the entire bass.
@@BARTFUNKBASS The bass on If You Have To Ask is definitely not drop-D. All the strings are a full step down so it’s: D-G-C-F. Same as Naked In The Rain. A lot of people think it’s drop-D but that’s incorrect. I really enjoyed this video! I always think of the Music Man as the ultimate Flea bass!
@@RedHotChiliRiffs Thanks! Where did you get that information? Nobody actually knows how the bass was tuned. The only thing we know is we have to detune an E to a D to have a low range that let us play it correctly.
Love this video - kudos on all of the incredible details! My '95 Sterling sounds EXACTLY like the Alanis Morissette "You Out To Know" bass isolated track - I definitely agree it was Flea's Sterling on that record 👍👍
Kudos, that's a very accurate analysis! It's just missing the black Stingray he used in 1993 for If You Have to Ask (the one with a big white sticker on the pickguard). Or did he use a Sterling for the drop-D tuning songs?
Flea recorded "Uplift Mofo.." and "Mother´s Milk" With Spector basses. Also giged a couple of years with Spector basses. In "Knock me Down" and "Good Time Boys" video clips Flea appears playing Spector and there are some footage of Flea recording arround 1986 with a Spector bass too.
Flea found out that Chad Smith is making a lot of money from his deal with a drum company. Flea wanted to make money of it too. Flea decided to own a signature bass that he could profit from it. Sterling Ball (CEO of Ernie Ball) decided that renaming StingRay to Flea Bass would not be fair to Leo Fender and previous StingRay players like Louis Johnson and Tony Levin. It's kinda funny because you don't have to get rid off the StingRay name to make a signature bass. Nowdays there are signature StingRay basses like Tim Commerford model.
I'm not pretty sure about this, but in Alanis' album, or in "You Oughta Know" track, his bass doesn't sound a lot like a Music Man. It does sound like a Jazz Bass, or a heavily bridge sound configuration at least.
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This is gonna be hard to believe but I am 98% sure for a while I had bought from an old family shop music store in southern NJ and owned one of Flea's black MusicMan basses according to the serial number on it, it was either his or Michael Anthony's of VH. No joke. It was custom made for a top endorsement from 1990-1991. They both fit the bill. EB was helpful to narrow it down best they can pre-computer logging, they think it was MA's from VH's, I personally think it was Flea's from his famous SNL performance when JF was kinda out of it and Keidis kicked him in the butt at the end of the Stone Cold Bush song. For real. It got slightly damaged in a flood and someone bought it off of ebay , and he said he absolutely loved it. Totally custom bass ! Good times ! :D
Do you still own it?
Nope.., I sold it... It was a bad omen I gotta say. wait til I tell you the rest, I didn't know for like 20 years. I'll come back later on with more infor about it, it's worth reading.@@BARTFUNKBASS
i just couldn't get the provinance on it, EB was helpful but they couldn't say with 100% it was his. @@BARTFUNKBASS
Cool!
There's a great, but loonngg yet cool story wrapped around this bass which goes from EB MusicMan company the two Ball brothers who own it now, to a small mom and pop music store in Pittman, NJ called The Music Museum, to Flea himself and his music school in LA. I can guarantee with 98% certainty that it's most likely that black MM Stingray bass Flea played on the famous SNL episode back in 1991 , or maybe one of his back up basses from that night, or in that 2% it could be Michael Anthony's from VH, or even from the band Blur. No joke. EBMM is leaning it is MA of VH . But my gut say Flea. I can send you a pic of it before it left my hands and I can find the serial number too. But this Stingray was custom made and you can feel and hear it right from the start. First it had very hot pickups, this thing was Phat and Loud, the body was Alder , yes Alder, orangey wood, under that Black finish, not Ash, and the neck was the big custom part, the neck's width at the nut was the same width as a 5 string MM but in a 4 string config., the string spacing was so wide part it totally made for a great slapper and brought out a little more in everyone's playing if you had big mitts. Great stuff ! :D @@BARTFUNKBASS
Flea is amazing. He does have a lot of fret noise in his tone.
This is me playing actually. Thanks for listening! 😊✌️
The silver sparkle Stingray 1 step down tuned was used often live on If You Have To Ask as he lately used to do with the Modulus Flea Bass
Yes, I think his tech meant that the E string is 1 step down, not the entire bass. He didn't specify it exactly.
I agree as this is the only song I know that the whole bass needs to be tuned down one whole step
👍@@NealFosterHD
Great video and outstanding playing!!!
Thank you kindly! ☺️✌️🎸
Just went and listened to the Andre Foxxe Reputation. Well, that was quite something! Your mind cannot ever expect what that song sounds like.
N great playing too btw ❤
Thanks!
Thanks, i always thought that flea had that Cutlass right from the early RHCP days. Great documentation and presentation!
Me too! I thought 1st and 2nd MM are the same bass!
Really cool, thanks for putting this together! Flea is pretty darn good on that there bass! 🤠
Glad you enjoyed it! 😊✌️
Very good video Bart! Hat's Off!👏👏👏I hope to see Mr. Michael Balzary playing again the Stingray Bass one of theese days...🤞🤞🤞
Thanks! I don't think it's gonna happen 😀✌️
thats insane dude congrats
Thank You! ☺️✌️
Is this the first of a deep-dive series? If so, I can't wait for the rest - this one is truly informative and enlightening.
Yes, but I have the patience to make videos only about Flea basses 😄
@@BARTFUNKBASS 🤣🤣🤣
nice knowledge❤
Thanks ✌️☺️
Awesome video!! Thanks 🙏
Thank You!
Great video, thanks very much for putting it together:) By the way, I am fairly sure that is a Kahler 2440 series fixed bridge, not a 2TEK on the “crunch” bass.
Thanks for the info! 😊 I've never seen one in real life, so you may be right 😎
Min. 8:24 The Honeyburst Fretless Lined Pau Ferro Fingerboard Clear Pickguard 3 band EQ Stingray 4 must be a year 1990 because of the truss rod adjust bullet that's set at the headstock instead at the end of the neck which became the standard from 1991 onward.
Pau Ferro? I think it's rosewood? 😊 It can be 1990 because I've seen a few of them on Reverb. ✌️✌️✌️
@@BARTFUNKBASS You find Rosewood and rarely Ebony on pre Ernie Ball Fretless Basses, Pau Ferro on EB from late 80’s onward.
Bass tuned down a whole step for If You Have to Ask 9:24
"If You Have To Ask" is in Drop-D which means only E string is tuned down a whole step. I've seen live footages from that era and he was using StingRay or Sterling in "If You Have To Ask". However, his bass tech may have meant the "E" string, not the entire bass.
@@BARTFUNKBASS pretty sure it's not drop-d but all strings down a whole step
Not in "If You Have To Ask"@@NealFosterHD
@@BARTFUNKBASS The bass on If You Have To Ask is definitely not drop-D. All the strings are a full step down so it’s: D-G-C-F. Same as Naked In The Rain. A lot of people think it’s drop-D but that’s incorrect. I really enjoyed this video! I always think of the Music Man as the ultimate Flea bass!
@@RedHotChiliRiffs Thanks! Where did you get that information? Nobody actually knows how the bass was tuned. The only thing we know is we have to detune an E to a D to have a low range that let us play it correctly.
Amazing video and playing
Thank You! ✌️🎸
Aeroplane the verses (slap part) are stingray but the rest is alembic epic
Yeap
Incredible!! Thank you
Do one for his few modulus’s
I'll try ! :)
I like the picture when you can see the 3 GK 800rb heads
🤩✌️🎸
Love this video - kudos on all of the incredible details!
My '95 Sterling sounds EXACTLY like the Alanis Morissette "You Out To Know" bass isolated track - I definitely agree it was Flea's Sterling on that record 👍👍
Thanks for watching! 😊✌️
thanks for this video, a lot of new information for me, like the flea bridge which i never understood the name!
Glad it was helpful! ✌️☺️
Amazing vids BARTFUNKBASS thank you 👍🏻
Glad you like them! 😊✌️
Kudos, that's a very accurate analysis!
It's just missing the black Stingray he used in 1993 for If You Have to Ask (the one with a big white sticker on the pickguard). Or did he use a Sterling for the drop-D tuning songs?
I took 90's black StingRay as one copy because no one knows how many he had at that time.
Awesome video!!!
I really want to know about...
which bass line on this video is going on time line? like, 1:30 Jungle man
Hi! Thank You!
Yes, I played "Jungle Man"! 😊✌️
Flea recorded "Uplift Mofo.." and "Mother´s Milk" With Spector basses. Also giged a couple of years with Spector basses. In "Knock me Down" and "Good Time Boys" video clips Flea appears playing Spector and there are some footage of Flea recording arround 1986 with a Spector bass too.
Yes, I think we all know it already :P
Pretty sure he played either a Wal or Alembic on Give it Away.
Wal
I purchased the 79 in my profile picture because I was a huge flea fan. I even got a similar elephant tattoo...😂
Coolness! 😉✌️🎸
フリーは何故スティングレイを使わなくなったのですか？もし知っていたら教えてください
Flea found out that Chad Smith is making a lot of money from his deal with a drum company. Flea wanted to make money of it too. Flea decided to own a signature bass that he could profit from it. Sterling Ball (CEO of Ernie Ball) decided that renaming StingRay to Flea Bass would not be fair to Leo Fender and previous StingRay players like Louis Johnson and Tony Levin. It's kinda funny because you don't have to get rid off the StingRay name to make a signature bass. Nowdays there are signature StingRay basses like Tim Commerford model.
you outta know sounds like a stingray with the treble cut
it's possible
Great video as always Bart!
Thanks! ✌️😊🎸
what is the song at 1:13?? its so funky i love it
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mommy, Where's Daddy?
I'm not pretty sure about this, but in Alanis' album, or in "You Oughta Know" track, his bass doesn't sound a lot like a Music Man. It does sound like a Jazz Bass, or a heavily bridge sound configuration at least.
Have you had the opportunity to play a 5-string StingRay or Sterling USA with a 3-position switch?
@@BARTFUNKBASS No, I never had.
@@vinisasso I've had StingRay 5 for a few years and I think the ""You Oughta Know" sound is one of the single coil modes.
@@BARTFUNKBASS I did consider that possibly it was a bridge pickup solo configuration going on, not necessarily coming from a Jazz Bass
@@vinisasso Check this out: ruclips.net/video/27W89fBaMIk/видео.html