Flea bass or music man?

[Isak Pedersen]

I have been playing bass for 2 years now and im looking for an funky sounding bass. I can afford a flea signature model for 459 eur, but is it smarter to save money to buy a sterling music man ray 34 for 999 eur?
I am just looking for advices from people who got more experiance than me.

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[palmerage]

I have had a go on the Sterling line, and they are a great bass for the price. I would definitely save for that over the flea basses, (in which i'm presuming are the very colourful ones you are talking about). I had a go on one of them, and it didn't feel nearly as nice as the ray 34

 

[trunkshope6]

wow for 459 for a modulus flea bass for one of his signature "flea basses"with all those crazy pastel colors? if its the modulus get the mudulus

 

[syciprider]

Wow, I thought they were a tad pricey in the US.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Save up some more money and buy used. If you find someone in the US willing to ship to Europe you may be able to pick up a genuine used EBMM for less than 999 Euros. The cheapest way to ship is with the neck removed. Maybe a third of the price of shipping in a full sized case.

 

[Fetusyolk]

MusicMan > FleaBass

 

[SantiagoGT15]

I would choose the ray34 ...maybe 35 they are awesome instruments, I compared my ray34 side to side with a Sterling H (EBMM) and I liked the ray34 better ... but it's IMO , mine was just perfect...had a buzz but turned out I had some loose screws at the bridge..just some turns with my wrench and problem solved...

I got compliments from a guy owning a tobias...yesterday he borrowed my ray34 ...

overall i would give a 9.5 /10

 

[totallyfrozen]

Everybody's got a bass on the market they're calling a "flea bass". There's even a brand name Fleabass. So what flea bass are you talking about? Put up some links so we know what you're comparing, please.

 

[Lucho.Metal]

I like the Fleabass

 

[Jim Roseberry]

wow for 459 for a modulus flea bass for one of his signature "flea basses"with all those crazy pastel colors? if its the modulus get the mudulus

The "Flea Bass" isn't his older Modulus signature series...
It's his newer "entry level" basses...

 

[Baird6869]

The funky looking Fleabasses are suprisingly easy to play and sound great.... IF they are set up properly.

They seem to come from the factory set up pretty poorly....

 

[jag-atk]

never tried the FB, but i've read some miserable reviews about it.
anyway if you want a serious funky-sounding bass at an affordable price (few € more than the FB), try to consider also the ibanez ATK300:

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or the ATK310 w/ Rw fingerboard, if you prefer.

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[uptowndirt]

modulus fb-4 these things kill.

 

[zenrad]

modulus fb-4 these things kill.

I think that's about $2000 more than the OP wanted to spend.

 

[Diogenes]

The StingRay of course is a great bass but you can also get that funky punch from an ATK, SUB, RAY34, OLP... and they all cost a great deal less. They're not exactly like a 'Ray but then neither is the Fleabass Model 32.

I have an ATK which certainly does the gut-punching raunchy scooped-mids funk tone and just recently acquired an OLP MM2 for $89 (used of course) which is also a great slap/pop funk machine... although it doesn't have an onboard pre.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Watching the youTube vids, I'm surprised at how good those FB's sound. The one with the kid swapping pickups; with the EMG p/u, it sounds like a Stingray.

 

[pringlw]

MusicMan > FleaBass

Yep. In fact;

EBMM > Sterling by Musicman > Fleabass

Someone else said, save more money and get a genuine EBMM Stingray second hand. I agree. Don't get the Fleabass. With all due respect to our friend in the Peppers, its not a great bass.

 

[Gord_oh]

is this a serious question?
this should be obvious.