Ernie Ball Music Man expands its DarkRay line of bass guitars with new 5-string model, finishes

Last year, Ernie Ball Music Man caused a bit of a stir with its unveiling of the DarkRay bass guitar.

The premise was pretty simple, but cool nonetheless – a StingRay bass fitted with onboard effects courtesy of Darkglass Electronics. Now, the company has expanded the DarkRay line with some swanky new finishes, and a five-string model.

For starters, the DarkRay 5 is outfitted with a new two-band EQ preamp designed specifically for the five-string model. Also onboard are three tones – clean, Alpha (distortion), and Omega (fuzz), each of which are tweakable via a gain knob and blend control.

Volume, treble and bass controls allow for further tonal tweaking, with a three-way lever switch and neat color-coded LED ring included to help users switch between the trio of tones.

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Elsewhere, the DarkRay 5 is identical to its four-string predecessor, with a solid select hardwood body and a bolt-on roasted maple neck with a 34" scale ebony fingerboard sporting an 11" radius and 22 stainless steel frets.

Elsewhere, there's the same neodymium humbucking pickup, and lightweight Music Man tuners atop the distinctive 4+1 headstock, with all hardware finished nicely in black.

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The Ernie Ball Music Man DarkRay 5 bass is available now – in a limited-edition (100 examples) White Sparkle or full-production Starry Night finish – for $2,899 and $2,799, respectively.

Aside from its original Obsidian Black colorway, the 2022 DarkRay 4 is also available in a limited-edition (only 25 examples) White Sparkle or full-production Starry Night finish. The White Sparkle DarkRay 4 retails for $2,799, with the Obsidian Black and Starry Night editions ringing up at $2,699.

For more info on the full line of DarkRay basses, visit Ernie Ball Music Man.