Sterling By Music Man Ray34ca (and visit to their headquarters)
 

For Christmas I ordered myself a SBMM Ray 34ca. It arrived about two weeks before Christmas and my wife wouldn't let me open it until the 25th. When I finally did open and plug it in, I was quite surprised. The bass was set up perfectly for my taste and played like butter. I made absolutely no adjustments. The quality is unbelievable. The neck pocket couldn't be better. Not one bit of buzz anywhere on the neck. Not a nick or a scratch. Everything was perfect.



I started talking to (Brian SBMM on TB) and he invited me down to have a look around their facility. Their headquarters is not this oversized warehouse where things get lost in the shuffle. Quite the opposite. It is a quaint, modest sized facility where it looks like every instrument get a good deal of personal attention. They're made in Indonesia, then every instrument is sent to this facility and individually set up and it shows.

Thank you Brian for taking the time to show me around. By the way, Brian, I left your place there and headed straight over to GC to try out some of your guitars. I like what I saw!!!

Congrats! Beautiful bass, nice pics, and a great experience!

Nice bass. Congrats.

I played one in guitar center and it blew my mind.

I keep seeing threads about the Ray 34's on here and it makes me want one more. My next bass will be a ray 34.

I can only speak for myself but my Ray 34ca is awesome!

Awesome story! My Mary Kaye Ray35 is a sweet bass and the setup is perfect for me. The extra work that SBMM performs in Orange County, CA is really sweet and appreciated!!! I love being back in the MM family.

im quite impressed with my 34ca. this thing is a beast.

I don't have a CA but the regular ray34 that I bought is absolutely killer. The bass came set up perfectly for me and even the strings didn't need replacing to my ears which was a pleasant surprise. I only wish I had the new color options, but I see nothing I'd change about it sound wise, wonderful value of a bass.

i traded a mim jazz for mine and im real happy with it. sounds killer through my pro4 and a 410hlf and just as good through my practice ba115 combo. lovin this lil animal. congrats on your new toy.

When i bought mine in December, Guitar Center (West Covina) was selling them for $599.00. They also had a promo going on that was $100.00 off any purchase over $500.00 so it ended up costing me $499.00+ tax with free shipping!

great deal for an outstanding bass durock

That's a solid trade, IMHO!

Now that's a deal!

Looks like Indonesia does it right.

i never thought i would like anything other than my fender jazz basses but this is just as comfortable to me and sounds killer.

I had the same bass as the OP`s and used it in an ac/dc tribute band that I was in for a few months last year. The band fell apart and it didn`t feel right as their was too many bad memories from the break up, so I sold it on but they are exceptionally well made, solid bass guitars.
The thing is, in the UK, for the price of a new Sterling 34CA you can get a second hand EBMM if you keep your eyes open but I would get another CA secondhand in a heartbeat.

I just bought one of these about 2 weeks ago
 

I was able to get it in the 2013 custom color, metallic silver, with the black pickguard, and matching headstock. Every time I look at it, I'm reminded of Ben Orr, back in the early days with the Cars, he had a metallic silver slab body, probably a 1977, or 1978.
The jazz width nut and the 9.5 radius makes the neck super slinky and fun to play. The sound is very reminscient of a 1978 slab body Stingray I used to have, that I had to get rid of because of a lack of money and a lateral twist it had in the neck.