I have not had any long term experience with either. If you have, could you tell me how you feel about the two? Or if you own one how do you feel about it's performance?
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MM Stingray vs. Sterling
- Thread starter Vincepenalty
- Start date
- Dec 28, 2009
- 2,053
- 1,380
- Disclosures
- Endorsed by K.B. Guitars, Nordstrand Audio Pickups, Von York Strings and Gallien-Krueger Amps.
I own a Stingray, Stingray Classic and a Sterling as well as a few Bongos as well. All of the basses are great basses. Each Stingray that I have both have similarities and differences. Same with the Sterling too. The Sterling is a little more versatile that both of the Stingrays but both of the Stingrays are excellent basses. All of them are very comfortable basses but the Sterling has a smaller neck and smaller body. If your looking at buying one, try a Classic out, a regular Stingray out and a Sterling out and see which one you like best. Like I said before, all of the basses are great and I use all of them for everything as they can play any style of music quite well. I think it really just boils down to which bass I am in the mood to play on that certain day. On all of the basses the craftsmanship is top notch and Ernie Ball/Music Man has the best customer service there is. There is a reason why I own a ton of these basses and that is because not only does the company make great bases but the people at the company from the owner down are top notch people.
- Dec 28, 2009
- 2,053
- 1,380
- Disclosures
- Endorsed by K.B. Guitars, Nordstrand Audio Pickups, Von York Strings and Gallien-Krueger Amps.
No, here are the specs from a Stingray 5 neck and a Sterling 5 neck.
Stingray 5:
Neck Width:
1-3/4" (44.5 mm) at nut 2-3/4"" (69.9 mm) at last fret
Sterling 5:
1-3/4" (44.5 mm) at nut 2-3/4"" (69.9 mm) at last fret
And just for fun, the Bongo 5 neck because Bongo's are awesome!
Bongo 5:
1-3/4" (44.5 mm) at nut 2-13/16" (71.4 mm) at last fret
The Big Al 5 shares the same neck dimensions as the Stingrays and Sterling 5' and the Reflex 5 shares the same dimensions as the Bongo 5.
The Stingray 5 Classic is a little different though it's dimensions are,
Stingray 5:
1-3/4" (44.5 mm) at nut 2-11/16" (68.3 mm) at last fret
Thank you for the advice. You had a lot of info and you pretty much hit the factors I was looking for
- Dec 28, 2009
- 2,053
- 1,380
- Disclosures
- Endorsed by K.B. Guitars, Nordstrand Audio Pickups, Von York Strings and Gallien-Krueger Amps.
They really are great basses. If your looking for a 5 string, the Music Man's really do have the best 5 string sound and are the number 1 American made 5 string basses. Well at least the Stingrays are but you can't go wrong with any of them.
FYI, I have both an SR5 and an Ibanez sr905, and the StingRay's neck isn't significantly larger than the Ibby's - which are widely known as having small necks... I've also owned a bunch of other Ibby 5ers, so I'm confident in this assessment...
- georgestrings
I had a SR905 not that long ago. From what you're saying, sounds like a Stingray 5 would be great!!!
I own a Stingray, Stingray 5, Stingray 5 fretless and have owned a Sterling in the past. I'll take a crack at some sonic differences. The Sterling and the Stingray 5, in my mind, sound very similar (with the exception of that 5th string). They have a little more versatility because of the 3-way switch, which gives you series/split coil/parallel wiring of the pickup. The series mode is a little louder than parallel, a little more mid-rangey, and loses some of the glassy high end. But it sounds awesome--like how Tony Levin sounds with Peter Gabriel. The parallel mode is very glassy, not as much midrange, and is great if you suddenly need your bass to really blend in (fingerstyle) or stand out (slapping). I find that the high end in parallel mode can get lost in the cymbals, but sometimes that's a good thing. I never use the split coil mode, so I can't really comment on its sound, but it's there if you want it.
The Stingray 4 is a different beast altogether. Another awesome sounding bass, very tight, strong, punchy low end and a very aggressive high end. Nothing else sounds like these basses (can be said for all of them). I especially like the Stingray because it's simple--there's no switches to fool with and not too many knobs--and it sounds awesome. It's not the most, uh, restrained sounding bass, but it will work in any situation and is truly awesome for funk/slap style playing.
The Stingray 4 is a different beast altogether. Another awesome sounding bass, very tight, strong, punchy low end and a very aggressive high end. Nothing else sounds like these basses (can be said for all of them). I especially like the Stingray because it's simple--there's no switches to fool with and not too many knobs--and it sounds awesome. It's not the most, uh, restrained sounding bass, but it will work in any situation and is truly awesome for funk/slap style playing.
I've owned more than one of both and currently own a Sterling. I'm not sure if I heard it here, or it was an EBMM forum, but someone put it "PERFECTLY" in a post and I wish I could credit them for it........"The Sterling took the Stingray and fixed everything that was wrong with it."
I had an HH Sterling 4, an HH Ray 4, a Classic Ray 4, and Fretless Ray 4. I currently have an Old Smoothie Ray 4.
I think the HH Sterling 4 was one of the best basses I've ever owned. The ceramic pickups just kill. Smooth and loud. It can sound like a Ray, a Jazz, a P. It can have modern piano like tone. The smaller body was welcome. Felt great. Sounded better. I sold it because I found the neck a bit narrow for my hands, so I sold it and feel dopey for selling it.
Now the Old Smoothie is a Ray that has everything I like and nothing I don't.
I will say that the Bongo is the real deal of MM basses. I can't believe how versitile the Bongo can be. Good luck with your search!
I think the HH Sterling 4 was one of the best basses I've ever owned. The ceramic pickups just kill. Smooth and loud. It can sound like a Ray, a Jazz, a P. It can have modern piano like tone. The smaller body was welcome. Felt great. Sounded better. I sold it because I found the neck a bit narrow for my hands, so I sold it and feel dopey for selling it.
Now the Old Smoothie is a Ray that has everything I like and nothing I don't.
I will say that the Bongo is the real deal of MM basses. I can't believe how versitile the Bongo can be. Good luck with your search!
I regularly gig both in a modern country style band. I own both a Sterling 5H, and a Stingray 5HH. The Sterling has a more aggressive tone and has no trouble cutting through, even in the most challenging environments and never sounds muddy, or gets lost in the mix. It took me some time to acclimate the Ray. The bass has 5 very distinctly different pickup settings and I needed a few gigs to learn what worked best for me. It sounds deeper and warmer when compared the Sterling . If I know I'm going to be playing on a stage with a big PA and a serious subwoofer this is my go to bass. It sounds huge!
I prefer the Sterling over the Stingray. I like the jazz-ish neck, the smaller body and lighter weight. I also LOVE the sound of the ceramic pups. They get very growly and aggressive, but with the 3-band EQ you can make it sound like almost anything. I typically don't care for active basses, but the Sterling is a big exception.
Depends on which Sterling you want, there are numerous types, it`s like saying do I get a Lexus or a Toyota, there are some I would buy and some I wouldn't. I`m picking you want a 5 so this post is probably pointless but I have a Sterling Ray 34CA ( 2EQ, slab body 38 mm nut ) and couldn't be happier, way prefer it over " real " stingray, Ray
34 or Bongo I`ve owned. Good luck !
34 or Bongo I`ve owned. Good luck !
