Re: C F Martin Stinger

In 1985, coincident with the dramatic increase in quality among Korean manufacturers, Martin unveiled its Stinger line of solidbody electrics made on the peninsula south of the DMZ.

As with most other imported Martin products, Stinger guitars were made in Korea and shipped to the Martin factory for a final inspection and set-up before being sent on to dealers. Essentially, Martin Stingers are well-made entry level guitars pretty much following conventional lines of the marketplace.

Martin never actually produced Stinger catalogs, so a detailed accounting is pretty difficult. However, there were four basic Stinger body styles, a fairly conventional Strat shape, a Strat-style with an arched top, a Tele and a Fender-style bass. These came in a variety of finish and pickup configuration options. Headstocks were a kind of modified Strat-style six-in-line, with a pointed throat and slightly hooked nose, with a painted triangular Stinger logo running under the strings. All had bolt-on maple necks. Guitars had a 25.4” scale, while the basses were 34”ers.

The core of this early Stinger line can be seen in an undated flyer which could be anywhere from around 1986 to ’88. Strat-style guitars included the SWG, SGV and SSX. The arched-top Strats were the SSL-1, SSL-10 and SSL-20. The Tele was the STX, and the basses were the SBX and SBL-10.

The principal difference among the Strats was in finish options. All had 21-fret maple necks, three single-coil pickups, volume and two tone controls, and five-way select. The SWG came in yer basic red or black, with maple ’board and chrome hardware. These had traditional non-locking vibratos. The SGV was offered in red with white graphics. The SSX was the dusey, with purple burst (white outside, purple in center), tiara turquoise, blue pearl, metallic white, black and candy apple red finish options, with... with matching colored maple fingerboard and (that’s and) matching chrome hardware.

Sources other than the flyer do not mention all the fingerboard and hardware color options.°>ÃwŒë
Since few of these show up on the market, I suspect these fancy Stingers are quite rare.

The STX “Tele” was pretty much a copy with a humbucker at the bridge and a single-coil at the neck. This had volume and tone, three-way select and a mini-toggle coil-tap on the ’bucker. Fingerboard was rosewood, while hardware was black chrome. Finish options included cream, metallic red, purple burst and black.
By the Fall of 1988 the Stinger line, as reflected in a November price list, had rearranged slightly. Still around were the SWG ($281), SGV ($294), SSX ($308), and STX ($330) guitars and the SBX ($337) and SBL-10 ($367) basses, the black SSX and SBX now available in lefty versions (add $15). Essentially these were unchanged in options.

New was the SSX-N ($347), basically the three single-coil SSX with an ash body and natural finish, set off with black hardware and a fixed bridge/tail assembly.

The arched top Strats were still available, but now with new names and details. Gone were the one-pickup SSL-1

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