“I got to design a guitar that gave me exactly what I was looking for in contrast to my Strats”: How Cory Wong embraced humbuckers to reimagine Ernie Ball Music Man’s iconic bass for a signature electric with “that George Benson sound”

Cory Wong is a Strat man through and through. Look up photos of the American guitarist performing on stage and you will almost always see a classic Fender double-cut with three single-coils slung around his shoulder.

Furthermore, there’s one instrument in particular that he’s more often than not seen with – a 2002 blue Highway One Stratocaster which he bought for $300 from second-hand website Craigslist, which inspired the Cory Wong Fender signature of 2021.

“While it’s not the most expensive guitar in the world, it just feels right in my hands... almost like home for me,” he told this writer in 2019.

So when the guitarist launched the StingRay II and StingRay II Deluxe with Ernie Ball Music Man at NAMM 2025, you could say he ended up turning a few heads.

“I had to turn my own head!” he laughs, when MusicRadar enquires about the chain of events leading up to the new model “They initially asked me to help develop a guitar with them. It was a re-imagination of the StingRay [bass guitar], but as a guitar. At the time, I was looking for something humbucker-equipped.”

Given his status among the guitar community as the modern poster boy of funk – almost like a modern equivalent to Nile Rodgers – he was the perfect candidate for Music Man to get some feedback and inspiration from.

Ernie Ball Music Man: Stingray II in Collaboration with Cory Wong - YouTube

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“They asked me ‘What are guitar players looking for right now?’ he explains. “And so I gave them an idea of what I would want, asking if they could make me a one-off. They said, ‘Well, why don’t you help design it and we do it properly?’ And it came out as a really nice but expensive guitar.”

Which is precisely why at this year’s NAMM, the company announced their second collaboration with Wong, in the form of a more affordable version through Sterling By Music Man.

“It’s nice for folks who want that guitar to be able to get a less expensive model,” continues Wong. “And it’s a fantastic guitar. I have one right here with me which I approved.”

And if you’re wondering what the split is in terms of which kind of guitar gets used most, you probably won’t be surprised by the answer.

“I would say it’s 85 per cent Strat and then 15 per cent StingRay,” admits Wong. “Those two guitars can pretty give me anything I need. Of course, there are certain things that will have a very specific sound that the guitar is made for. All of us guitar players know that different guitars will draw different things out of us.”

He continues: “I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Strat guy and always have been. But there are certain things single-coils can’t do and I wanted a humbucker guitar.

“Occasionally I might need that George Benson sound – something ultra warm and full-bodied. Or maybe I will want a meaner rock sound that you can only get from a bridge humbucker. I got to design a guitar that gave me exactly what I was looking for in contrast to my Strats.”