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Heavy Sterling Ray34 should I sell?

Sell or keep?

  • Sell it... It's way too heavy

    Votes: 58 58.0%
  • Suck it up and keep your amazing bass

    Votes: 42 42.0%

  • Total voters
    100
If the weight is a real issue, yes.

but

I play a Ray35 myself and i love it. sure it's heavy and sure it took a while to get used to it at first, but after a while my body found out that i wasn't going to sell it so it stopped whining. No one can tell you whether or not you should sell or keep... for me it's just like getting my fingers over 4 frets while being able to touch all strings with all fingers. it sucks at first but your body will get the hang of it. Maybe too simplistic, and i haven't brought into concideration that a (medical) condition might play a huge part in the choice, but so far i'm still playing my awesome bass with all it's weight etc.
 
I had a stingray years ago. I was working a five night a week gig four hours a night and the thing was killing me. I wound up having a much lighter custom-made bass built And eventually sold the stingray. I never really missed it but now they’ve become such iconic classics I wish I still had it. So what I am trying to say here is if you really like the bass and can afford to keep it and get another lighter one, do that.
 
I haven't weighed my Ray34, but I'm sure it's over 10 lbs. Not sure about over 11. But it sounds like a monster and it's gorgeous. The roasted maple feels great to play, and hard slides on the E string makes a growl like there's a tiger in the room. So I cannot see myself ever letting go of it. However, I've got a nice wide strap and mostly don't have shoulder/back problems (don't ask about my knees, though) so I could certainly see someone else not keeping it. YMMV.

View attachment 4272633
mine is the exact same bass. Do you mind weighing yours so I have a reference?
 
Would you sell an amazing bass just because of weight?

Never, because I've eaten my spinach!

Im a 6'5", 280+lb Masters 5 class amateur powerlifter, so weight is zero issue for me, at least until Volvo start making basses.

I'm accordingly big across the chest, back and shoulders, and with such a wide supporting base I have no issues with neck dive either.

If a bass is to heavy then get clangin' and bangin'.
 
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Oh come on, unless you are over 65 yrs old, keep it! What are you gonna buy? A a girly ibanez?
(This should be good for some negative responses)
"Sir! I resemble that remark!"
Groucho.jpg
I'm 61 years old and have one of those 10.9 lbs Ibanez "girly"basses.
20210103_164946.jpg
 
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I have a Stingray 5 that is 9.7 pounds and I used for years (decades) a lamb skin pad I bought probably over 30 years ago. don't remember where I got it. Recently I tried just a 3 inch leather strap and I was OK, but I just got a Sire V7 that is a little heavier. I tried the leather strap, but that was not good and then bought the Levy 4.5 inch strap and didn't like it. I pulled out the old lamb skin pad and used it Sunday and it was a lot better. Anybody know where you can get a lamb skin pad or something like it. Here is a photo from Sunday.
20210517_194823.jpg
 
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Would you sell an amazing bass just because of weight?

I did this just a few years ago. I have an '81 Precision that was amazing, except it weighed 10.5 lbs.

Get rid of it. Don't look back. IMHO, you shouldn't play anything over 9lbs.

Same. I don't ever consider any bass over 9 lbs, even if all else is awesome. Rule of thumb: If I can't comfortably gig with it, I don't want it.
 
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I might sell a bass that was too heavy, but I wouldn't sell a bass because it weighs 11.4 lbs. Then again, my daily driver for the last 29 years weighs far more than 11.4 lbs. But that's just me...
 

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I have an amazing Sterling 34 bass that plays very nice and has amazing tone. The sustain is the best I have every heard. Problem is that it weighs 11.4 lbs
I did buy a Neotech mega bass strap and it does help allot but for long playing sessions I still feel the weight after an hours or so. Would you sell an amazing bass just because of weight?
It’s only a SBMM.

unless it’s a real USA EBMM…
Sell it. Trade it. Burn it. Throw it in a nearby dumpster that doesn’t have security cameras.

Give to a nearby school maybe?
 
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I have an amazing Sterling 34 bass that plays very nice and has amazing tone. The sustain is the best I have every heard. Problem is that it weighs 11.4 lbs
I did buy a Neotech mega bass strap and it does help allot but for long playing sessions I still feel the weight after an hours or so. Would you sell an amazing bass just because of weight?

Never. I would consider buying an additional lighter instrument if my boat anchor weighted Warwick Corvette became intolerable, with the specific purpose to use during those long sessions.

But to sell a great instrument that I love because of weight, no way. Even if I could only play it for 30 minutes at a time standing. Of course, sitting would be no problems.