Darkglass x Music Man!!! - Ernie Ball Music Man DarkRay! [Demo]

[@patrickhunter]

WE NEED MORE COLLABORATIONS LIKE THIS IN THE INDUSTRY🔥

[@jeffjones9448]

Absolutely! That is impressive! Now, if it was only a short scale Is rush out and buy one right now!

[@Vlad_Shoji]

Fender darkjazz,omg,shut up and take my money))))

[@unamericano]

10000% agree and I was almost shocked to see this pop up

[@bassicnate7409]

Agreed! Just installed a tone capsule in my Warwick $$. As I was doing it I was thinking how great it’d be if some of that B3K / VMT goodness was baked in to it. Great review as always Patrick!

[@brentheathersimons7042]

Like Peanut Buttah and Jelly!

[@-Orion.]

This thing sounds like it was made to play RATM. Sick.

[@kaya9718]

“FUCK YOU I WONT DO WHACHA TELL ME”

[@mikegordon7040]

Hope you feel better

[@kieransandom8688]

@@kaya9718 F U I won't tidy my bedroom!

[@BELAC_DK]

THIS TONE IS GREAT FOR RATM LMAO

[@HACKERSInc]

YES I WAS ABT TO SAY

[@justinc246]

Can't deny it is a cool idea and implementation but I'm probably more inclined to run a Stingray through separate pedals at that price. I do hope this bass does well so we see more iterations and innovation

[@TechnoVirus]

It's definitely an interesting choice to fit a distortion pedal into a bass, but, personally, I don't really see too many cases where I would rather have distortion control on my bass, rather than on a pedal. Especially, since I like running my bass through a compressor, before distortion, as it just sounds fuller that way (atleast to my ear). But that might not be how other people see it. I really would've loved if they fit a harmonic booster into a bass - to me that would be much more versatile than a bass with a simple onboard eq, and since its kinda an always on pedal, it would be nice no have it built right into a bass.

[@rome8180]

There are advantages to running the compression after the distortion as well. Just depends on your preference.

[@VanDam93]

I just had the same thought. Compression first distortion second on my pedal board so i would not use this either. And also i love the look of the dark ray but i prefer my aqua sparkle stingray special

[@ileutur6863]

Hot take: I've always preferred the Stingray + medium gain Darkglass combo over the Dingwall + high gain Darkglass tone everyone always goes for. Sounds absolutely massive in a band mix

[@mikehoffman1136]

You're not wrong here. I've never been able to get into either Darkglass or Dingwall because so much of their tones sound too metallic for me. I really love a warm, creamy distortion with heavy bottom end and neither of those seem to provide what I'm looking for based on what I've seen/heard.

[@gazzy_burns]

Musicman basses are Wayyyy more iconic 😍

[@samuelviden7412]

Yeah, the low gain examples here sound absolutely amazing.

[@57precision]

You're right, Stingray's just sound better than a Dingwall when we are comparing clean signals. Dingwall wins if you need extreme downtunings, a 34'' scale just can't compete.

[@am0ungth3l1ving]

Dingwall paired with darkglass is overrated, especially in heavy music. To me the combo usually sounds to artificial and modern for my tastes.

[@ebutuoy1406]

One criticism of this bass would be that it rules out the possibility of other effects coming before the distortion (eg. Compression, which is a big deal to sound engineers in recording situations.)

[@bowbay]

Damn you're right 😮 Didn't think about that one

[@TomMarello]

True that

[@ericjonsson]

In recording situations I'm guessing that the engineer just wants your clean signal anyway in order to slap that compression & distortion on afterwards. The use case for this bass seems like the small gig scenario where you plug it into any random amp head, adjust your EQ, and just go.

[@gifbeats]

It could have two outputs like Rickenbaker basses, dry and only distortion

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

Why is it a big deal? Distortion IS compression... All you’re doing if you compress (more than a tiny amount) before distortion is raising your noise floor and making the distortion sound limp. I admit I do run my Effectrode PC-2a before distortion sometimes, but that’s mainly as a boost to push the distortion pedal harder than to actually compress the signal. No need for that when this thing has a Neo mag pick up. It’ll drive the sh!t out of the inbuilt distortion just fine.

[@just.jakeyd]

Make sure you guys look at the price of this before you start wanting it.

[@GinoS1994]

It’s cool but not $2700 cool lol. Really hard to justify when you can pretty easily find a solid USA MusicMan on the used market for less than half that, buy a Darkglass pedal separately and save yourself close to a grand.

[@phipschi4255]

FELT

[@just.jakeyd]

@@GinoS1994 To be honest, I truly want to get into modding basses just don’t know where to start. Though just as you said, it can save me a lot of money! American capitalism is a very effective market with supply and demand as the invisible hand starts creeping prices further and further. Therefore modding which is less convenient will always have a cheaper outcome than a company with a big brand name.

[@HondoFelder]

Gotta say, this is some of the best tone I've heard you get man. Also nice fly leaf riffage lol 🤘🏽

[@jeffjones9448]

@@just.jakeyd That " invisible hand" is crushing me!

[@samuelviden7412]

The low gain modes sound amazing! That perfect, gentle breakup. I really wish for them to release a five string - it could seriously be the only bass I'd ever need again. I agree about a mid control, as well.

[@seandusk9491]

This would sound a lot better in an HH stingray imo

[@jaronhodgson9120]

if the don’t make a 5 string one imma be so disappointed

[@francoishtzl157]

they will only produce 100 of them XD

[@patrickhunter]

I mean you never know what's in store for the future🤷‍♂️

[@francoishtzl157]

@@patrickhunter Yeah that's true but for the moment they said that only 100 will be produced. But in a few years maybe they will change this

[@patrickhunter]

@@francoishtzl157 Only 100 of this specific color, not the obsidian black version

[@francoishtzl157]

@@patrickhunter oh okay that's nice

[@JordanMM64]

That Flyleaf riff is.....so sick (sorry everyone)

[@logananglin2074]

No. You did the right thing.

[@LowEndLobster]

So... Can I... uh... borrow it? ;P That thing is NEATO!

[@liam-bz6mq]

honestly, not really digging the look of it. and for 2700$ i’d much rather just get a musicman and a dark glass pedal setup for when i want that growly sound

[@lalinuss]

2700 ! jeez

[@liam-bz6mq]

@@lalinuss wayy too much for a admittedly cool gimmick, right?

[@richibucki]

That bass will become collectible and very hard to find since the price is high, and most people do not want the dark glass effect

[@Luca.onthemoon]

and you'd have more controls on bass and pedal tho

[@honestbrute9216]

That’s a pretty expensive gimmicky bass…I don’t see much to get excited over honestly..

[@HACKERSInc]

StingRay basses are just made for RATM. The tone of these bases are just sick!

[@maciejbrusio8321]

There's a small overdrive module, Artec QDD2, that can be installed in a regular bass. I installed it in my ATK and made myself a poor man's Darkray ;)

[@sublimenate]

enjoyed that you threw in "I'm So Sick" in there.

[@chrisAclaes]

Damn, that Flyleaf riff really took me back.

[@klaymeister]

This is cool, but I'm not sure why it doesn't just have a tone capsule on board. EDIT - and come with an Alpha Omega pedal.

[@1thess523]

I'm sure it's cheaper that way, There's a guy named Lobster on KZbin that did a SUB Ray shoot out where he bought a bunch of SUB's and did a pre amp and pick ups swap and all of them and one was a Darkglass preamp which didn't sound bad at all and I think with whatever pick up it was less than $300. So I would say get a Sterling Ray 24 used for about $400 used then add the preamp and buy a pedal separate and bingo

[@PanHoover]

Well, I'll wait for some more demos of the DarkRay. Here, it sounds muddy - I believe I heard a lot of better-sounding Stingrays plugged into the Alpha/Omega. In the video, it's also lacking some of this instant recognizable high mid growl. Also, I personally do not dig those LEDs and I do not believe that lots of extreme metal musicians will dig gimmicky blue and red LEDs. DarkRay screams "I'm rough" and "I like bling-bling" at the same time. It's... well, dark and grimy, but fancy at the same time. So, this product is for who? I don't know and I am still a huge fan of Stingrays and basically pretty much everything that Darkglass guys brought to the table. Personally, I would buy both combined things separately, so, for me it's meh. Keep up the great work Patrick!

[@ileutur6863]

I think its ideal for people who need gain tones but can't bring pedals to a gig

[@PanHoover]

@@ileutur6863 yep, I do agree!

[@PanHoover]

@Gabriele Squaratti yep, I realised that those kind of situations just does not happen.

[@goosegaskins]

"I believe I heard a lot of better-sounding Stingrays plugged into the Alpha/Omega." I'm leaning this way, as well. I'm thinking about getting an EBMM Stingray and jumping into the active electronics arena, so I tried out my first Stingray a few days ago-it was a Sterling by Music Man, but I thought if I liked that, I'd love an EBMM. I was really surprised by how much I liked the mid knob. I figured I would only really use the bass and treble knob, but the mid knob added a lot of flavor, and as fun as the DarkRay seems, I think I'd miss the mid knob. And I prefer the ZVEX Fat Fuzz Factory to the Darkglass Alpha/Omega anyway. :-D

[@greyklopstock7155]

I know some people don't like the look of these things, but I find this super fascinating. On guitar, I'm very much a volume knob rider wten it comes to controlling breakup. Fuzz woth overdrive and a preamp, and I can go from clean to ripping fuzz without having to fiddle with the pedals. To me, this idea on a vass sounds really cool! Having a dedicated preamp, EQ, and bass voiced fuzz and drive circuit built in saves on having to set up pedals, worry about buffers, foot switching, etc honestly sounds like it'd save a lot more time and hassle than most would probably think. Plus, there's other cool stuff you could probably do with it. Being able to control the gain and blend means that, at least in theory, you could probably set the gain kinda low on the overdrive and set the blend so that it's very light breakup and use it as effectively a gentle boost for choruses or breakdowns. For recording and gigs, you'd be able to really lighten what you have to carry. Also, everything is at your fingertips so if you want to just try something different or wild, you don't have to worry about messing with your signal chain. To me, I'd love to try one of these playing something like queens of the stone age. I bet it would sound AMAZING and be super cool for that

[@D3ft0ne]

I got a Sterling Ray34Ca , and a B3K pedal by Darkglass, it gets very very close to everything heard here , but non the less , pretty cool machine.

[@d.n.5259]

Love my Ernie Ball Musicman 4 Stingray. Just got a GK Fusion 2x12 combo and love the GK growl with it!!! BOOM!!! 😆🔥

[@boomerbassmeme]

Dayummmmmmmmm that is sick!!!!!! Love that bass! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@pmatabass]

Makes me wish I had $2700 to drop on a new bass! This thing looks and sounds amazing.

[@TheAaron3dg]

4:05 I hear you sneaking some Flyleaf in there! Awesome review

[@kitsvn]

Thank you for the demo! That thing is a beast. Musicman just wants all my money…

[@anthonyrita4366]

Great review. One of the biggest part of a review should be the price. That puts everything in perspective of can I afford this or not.

[@dave1812]

the finish and black hardware and fretboard look sooo sick!! Me want so Much!

[@AmosHeller]

Great vid Patrick. Such a fun bass

[@patrickhunter]

Dude yes! I'm so glad you got one to try out too!

[@EversonBernardes]

This might actually make Darkglass stuff interesting.

[@777SlipHate666]

One could buy an alpha omicron and sterling sub bass and save over two grand

[@alecmullaney7957]

And get it in Seafoam green

[@lucasdiazbastida7087]

really cool playing, it really showcases the possibilities of the bass!

[@chavisgrandpa]

THATS A SICK BASS! LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!

[@deniaruman39]

Amazing collaboration music man and darkglass

[@steffenes7622]

This Intro reminds me on the Intro for your DSM Subatomic Bass OD Vid😉 however, nicely played and good explanation on the Bass✌

[@Palomo747]

My man played some Flyleaf!!!!

[@xdaniedx]

Man I would have loved seeing Cliff Burton getting his hands on one of these!

[@greyklopstock7155]

He'd have been the perfect player for these.

[@erikarko]

The GAS is real!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@alfredoguerra4606]

Que bellezaaaa, es un Musicman Stingray con esteroides, suena espectacular

[@kelme1976]

Awesome sound, love it

[@rhysbooth4842]

Love the channel dude keep it up 🤘

[@DanParker9000]

Looks amazing, sounds amazing. I think I would still want it on pedal for more hands free control.

[@LouSassles]

So basically you can get a normal scale dingwall bass with this. I love it

[@rugrat1965]

It’ll be obsolete in a few months when Darkglass comes out with something new.

[@themorrigan1312]

4:05 well damn. Is that I'm So Sick by Flyleaf?? That's a song I haven't heard in so long, oh my gods. Either way tho, this thing sounds kickass and I want a black 5-string one so, so badly

[@Gnat-Wu]

Hey patric have you seen the new ibanez iron label basses? Please review one if you can get one...

[@thenightlifezero9154]

DINGRAY! Love the tones.

[@connorslawson5315]

I heard that Flyleaf riff! Iconic bass riff.

[@abouc]

Cool concept. I'd love to try stuffing a Source Audio Aftershock or C4 into my next bass build, and couple it with the Darkglass pre-amp.

[@commandercorndoggakadvs3768]

One hundred percent on the sweepable mids. A must have since my newest bass. EHB1500

[@TheShaneGuy]

Man i would kill for this darkray in granite. My dream bass

[@GrahamsYouTube]

"I really wish there was Mid controls on there" that's the Darkglass setup, no mids control

[@Speedster27]

I think you mean to say that’s a Darkglass set up no treble control lol

[@timmikhailouski8961]

THIS IS a massive win!

[@bassmuscle101]

Nah, I'll keep rocking my Bongo with a roasted maple neck. Lol

[@farisfuad1150]

Lol. Yeah. I wouldn't flinch too if I actually have a bongo.

[@chrispybasschi3009]

Very big fan of musicman bass, this bass is gorgeous, but I think the dark glass and dingwall bass looks way sweeter... although I must admit that "Dark Ray" sounds sooo sicck

[@黃宥家]

Wish I could get a darkray5 .This is so beautiful.

[@thebathrobebassist58]

Excellent concept. Put it in a P bass and I'm sold

[@robertkerr9738]

Oh wow. I think I need this.

[@joshbeast8599]

I never wanted a music man until now!!!🤤🤤🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney]

Cool enough idea, and I’m sure it’s perfect for some, but if I wanted this combo, I’d buy a used Stingray for 1000 bucks and the Alpha/Omega pedal for whatever they cost, have more versatility and whatever color scheme I choose and save like 1200 bucks. I think something like this (maybe with a lower-end outfit than Darkglass, but then again, maybe not?) would do amazingly well in their import Sterling by Music Man line.

[@jesseparrish9198]

Awesome! I recommend getting a sterling bass and putting a darkglass tone capsule in it.

[@zabonitchi]

That would get you nowhere close to the tones in this video considering this is a stingray still with the classic 2 band eq system, just with darkglass’s two distortion circuits thrown in at the end. The tone capsule is just a 3 band eq with a high mid opted instead of a treble knob, no distortion circuits present

[@bassimprovjams3772]

I love the black pole pieces! I wish the black specials had this also!! Wish it was a 3 or 4 band eq also wish it was a 5 string!

[@anibalresendezpulido]

I'd love to hear this without any amp or cab

[@2ND-ID-REENACTOR1944]

oh this thing sounds amazing

[@morganwar9744]

Man I'm in love!😍

[@MrPrincebass99]

Love my ObsidianDR. I don't care for the high-gain settings of the Alpha and would prefer the sound of my old B7K. The O is cool for it's fuzz factor. (I recently sold my A-O pedal because I got this bass.) Mine is the best-playing Stingray I have ever played; no dead spots, sustain everywhere, super-fast player, and mine is relatively light. The Darkglass pre sounds thicker to my ears than the standard pre in regular Stingray basses. Home run for EBMM!

[@loomer3473]

Has dark in the name: checked Has build in LED: checked Awwwwwwhhhh!!!! I hope they’ll make a non-limited edition next year like what they did to the Joe Dart’s bass. Because I can’t afford it now.

[@smeagle3295]

Well done. I just bought one 👍

[@Bro.ŽO]

also was thought that 3band eq is better but if you want more midle you can slighty turn down bass and treble and slighty turn volume up and there you go. It's same as 3band eq

[@restojon1]

It looks fantastic and I do love the sound. Can you do better by buying a decent Stingray and a DG pedal? Yeah, probably but I think that this is aimed at the Stingray aficionados who would like to add this to their collection 🤔. I love the look of it and would buy it if I found enough change down the back of my sofa, it's a great collaboration between the companies. I'd like to think that there will be a mk2 with either 5 strings or an H H arrangement and further from this, the Stingray owners movement start to modify them themselves. All in all, despite it's shortcomings it's the modern Stingray model I'd be most likely to buy based on looks and gadgetry.

[@TheyCallMeNoName34]

So fn SICK! I WANT ONEEEEEEE!

[@ghostwriter1440]

I’ve owned a olp mm2 , sterling by music man s.u.b and a sterling ray34. This may be the thing that pushes me to full fat musicman

[@mrosilvR7]

Dang that sounds good! Ernie Ball is making it happen right now. (Gibson could learn something)

[@weenorburger2485]

bro made a whole ass qotsa album at the start

[@am0ungth3l1ving]

It’s cool and interesting, but I’d still rather just run a Stingray Special into an actual darkglass pedal.

[@rome8180]

That's my feeling too, especially because then I would have more colors to choose from. And you can get the 4HH version, which I prefer for the versatility. To me, the 4HH in Amethyst Sparkle is where it's at.

[@herosfall.]

Love that bass !

[@ZaBryceMan]

Mid control would be necessary for me to buy at these prices, agree 100 there. But it is a Bad Ass Bass for sure!! They must be going for the heavier funky sound nu metal type demos with this

[@imjustsomeoneok609]

That’s a very nice bass

[@florenttenryu5011]

Very cool !

[@GtwoManila]

Damn! This bass is giving me serious GAS!

[@andysvintageguitars2335]

How do I put compression before that darkglass fuzz? FAIL 😂

[@Kai-Riff]

I ordered a Darkray5 and was worried that playing some long, sustained notes in pop songs might not sound warm and thick enough. After watching your first performance, I feel relieved. Maybe adjusting the midrange on this bass isn't that crucial since the instrument itself has sufficient mids. Could you share the settings you used for that first performance? Where did you set the lows and highs?"

[@tommygrowls7894]

4:05 Flyleaf, nice one

[@mark6302]

sounds alive

[@thebassbuilder]

Love it!

[@viktorbass]

4:10 some flyleaf riff!! awwwr

[@TheAcho83]

Awesome!

[@racslife_]

So dope.

[@FrenchAudio2000]

When they released the teaser on insta and you went "Hmmmm I wonder what that is 👀👀👀👀"

[@rockereivanivan]

Great bass lml personally I'm not into music mans but this is one hell of a bass lml

[@lanceolson5988]

I'd like to see it under the context of modern metal, if it has an Alpha and Omega in it. Also, I forgot Flyleaf used to exist before hearing that bass line again in I don't even know how many years.

[@Hillbilly_Papist]

Sweet another guitar with built in effects. Love how these revolutionize the industry every time they're released. At least they did a better job integrating the two than what normally happens.

[@JoeMM5]

This seems both very awesome but almost completely pointless without being 35" scale. I doubt anyone willing to drop 2.5k on a bass can't also just have some effects pedals or hx stomp for a better all in 1 rig.

[@fonkamex]

Is way too specific to a type of tone in my opinion. This bass concept is similar to the Billy Gould’s Zon Bass. That bass is basically the Custom Zon Bass with a distortion integrated. Is very clear that only if you like Billy’s tone you would be interested in.

[@ThisObserver]

Wow have to say I'm impressed overall, fairly innovative. Don't like the LED though. Great review!

[@citizennozmeda7232]

The initial shock hypes it for me but it quickly faded into gimmicky.

[@ileutur6863]

Its gimmicky if you already have a pedalboard, but if you're going straight into the amp its a great way to have 3 gain stages with no extra gear

[@pCeLobster]

Shame too because all they'd have to do is lose the LED ring and it'd be like 85% less gimmicky.

[@jaxonvictoria4345]

True. Imagine plugging this into your Darkglass pedalboard into your Darkglass amp and cab. Lol

[@citizennozmeda7232]

Idk guys its kinda the whole darkglass on everything too. I like my x ultra, but I have a dingwall ng2 and I've spent 5yrs lying to myself about liking it. IMO darkglass inside your bass pigeonholes it. I'd probably more enjoy something inside a bass that was like a compressor, something not really for just one sound.

[@citizennozmeda7232]

@@jaxonvictoria4345 yeah its too much

[@TomMarello]

How about squeezing seymour duncan powerstage into it also, so you can plug it directly into speaker cab? 🤔

[@alexkane7059]

Hope they come out with an HH, I'll drop the 2300 then haha

[@anthonypierolariega]

Pretty nice!

[@bustedfender]

Come for the bass, stay for the bass face.