I've been seeing the USA SUB prices hike up recently (been checking regularly on Reverb, Ebay etc). I'm sorry I sold mine, and one day hope to get one back. Those are on par with any Music Man 2 band Stingray quality and tone wise. Comparing those to the import SUB series is pointless really, as they're the real deal. With the prices going up however, it's hard to recommend one over a standard Stingray (unless it's a 3 bander), but if a good priced one shows up, it's a no brainer.
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There is no HH SUB, that could only have been Ray34HH (or Ray35HH for a 5 string version), which is probably around $800 new anyways. The SUB series is now called Ray4 and Ray5, and it only comes in a 2 band preamp version with a ceramic pickup. Blowing the doors off USA SUB is subjective - USA SUB is still the USA EBMM quality of build and Sterling by MM is still an import. Neck pickup might be a pro to you, might be a con to someone else. Plus - classic 2 band preamp is often much more desirable to the 3 bander that the Ray34 and older 3 band Stingrays have. I'm not counting the new Specials here as their preamp/pickups have been redesigned.
Yikes...that's expensive for a US Musicman SUB- I see them for $600 or less where I live.
I own a passive US Musicman SUB, a Sterling Ray34 (in my user pic) and have owned four Sterling SUB 4s (no longer). I also own an inexpensive US made Peavey Fury that I agree with you, is excellent so I know where you're coming from.
Well, keeping your experience with US Peavey basses in mind then no question, the quality of the US Musicman SUB is better - you can literally feel (rounded fretboard) and hear it (again, I have the passive, but I have tried the active version). If you prefer a thinner neck, you can either go with a Sterling Ray24 (or the older Ray34CA) or some of the Ray34 models have thinner necks. Important to note-the "new" Sterling Ray24 which replaces the Ray34CA or classic now uses a Sterling designed ceramic pickups rather than one based on the Musicman's Alnico so the price of one is a little cheaper than it used to be, the pickups on the Sterling Ray4 SUB series are also Sterling designed ceramic ones so neither of these Sterling models are going to sound as "authentic" as the US Rays as the Sterling Ray34 (closer in design to the MM, with the Alnicos). That being said, really they're all good basses in their own ways, the Sterling SUB is a terrific bass for the price and a good option if you want to save a little more money. if you can, I would recommend paying that little bit more for a Sterling Ray34 (or if you can find a Ray34CA) and you'd have the best possible Ray that's not branded Musicman. To be honest, I'd be perfectly happy with the Sterling Ray34 if I didn't already own a MM SUB. You do notice a difference between the Ray34 and Ray4 SUB Series, there's less of a price difference and imo, a more realistic justification for paying a little bit more.
The US Musicman SUB IS every bit a Musicman Stingray Classic as it has the 2 band EQ. The finish is where the company cut corners to meet the lower price range of these, but it is a true Musicman Ray.
For reference, the cheapest Ray I own or have owned is the US made Musicman SUB, I bought it for $160.
If I had to compare them to the Fender hierarchy, roughly it would go like this.
US Fender = US Musicman Ray - or with cheaper finish US Musicman SUB
Squier CV =Sterling Ray34 or the now discontinued Ray34CA.
Squier VM =Sterling Ray24
Squier Affinity=Sterling Ray4 SUB Series
3 of the 4 Sterling SUBs I used to own.
View attachment 3401477
US Musicman SUB - passive (with after-market pickguard) and a Sterling Ray34.
View attachment 3401482
This is a VERY helpful post, thanks! I was looking at a SUB as a cheap MM-style playaround, as a compliment to my passive Fender types.. now I'm deep into research of all the various (confusingly named) models & setting off GAS everywhere.
Was originally looking at a £350 5er to see if I loved a low B.. now I'm bookmarking £1100 instruments, trying to pick between 1 & 2 humbuckers, over analysing alnico vs ceramic, and falling in love with 'Island Burst'
Don't suppose anyone could break down the H 3 way pickup switching, and HH 5 way? The Sterling website doesn't give any hints of what the selections are (I assume some combination of series, parallel & singlecoil?)
The H 3 way is parallel (standard Stingray wiring), filter (single coil emulation) and series. This switch is not on the 4 string version of Stingrays.
HH 5 way switch gives you pickup combinations, but you don't get the filter and series settings.
You can find the switches info online and on EBMM site.
Thank you - looked at various basses on their site, and all have specifications that state there is pickup switching, not what they do. Will dig a little deeper and see if there's more in depth explanations on there
To each their own, I have 2 and 3 band preamps and have a hard time preferring one to the other. And yeah thats right that hh isn't a sub, it was a hell of a nice bass though. Reading though the musicman product line is what I imagine a stroke to be like.
After I finish doing a fret job on it this week it'll be for sale in the TB classifieds...... just sayin
No problem. The Stingray pantheon is really confusing, took me a while to even make some sense of it. That Island burst finish is beautiful, it looks even better than the photo and not to mention the roasted maple neck. Nothing wrong with a SUB mind you, but when you compare a SUB alongside a Sterling Ray34 (which I did numerous times at the store lol), not that I wanted to spend more money at the time, I couldn't get past the realization that the Ray34 or the Ray34CA (if you can find one of these discontinued models, a 2 band EQ Classic but with Alnico) just sounded better.
View attachment 3401904 There are so many permutations of these basses. I just picked up a Sterling SB14. It's got an amazing neck if you like jazz bass skinny style, and a 3 band eq.
After I finish doing a fret job on it this week it'll be for sale in the TB classifieds...... just sayin
….ooh.....nice!
Also these Sterling SB14 basses (thank goodness they called it the SB14 as it's really a Sterling version of the Sterling model, so Sterling by Sterling) are indeed a great option but sadly now discontinued, only option if you want a Sterling model is to buy the more expensive Musicman version. It has that 3 way pickup switch too.
That roasted maple is indeed gorgeous. Much more than I was looking to spend, but since when has that stopped GAS!
Might try and nab a used SUB, and if it floats my boat, upgrade down the line. I've never quite loved an active bass, but that Stingray sound is a classic
I had the $300 SUB model mint green, maple neck, Indonesian with the "problem preamp". The Preamp was fine, by the way, the volume control just worked differently than would be expected.
I loved the tone an playability of the cheap bass but overall quality and weight (I'm picky on both) left me wanting more. The cheap SUB was an experiment to see if I'd like the MM camp. I loved it.
Sold my Jazz bass and built a Warmoth MM clone using better stuff all around. Overall weight ended up under 8.5 lbs. Total cost for my "USA made" Warmoth was around $1000.
I still don't miss my Jazz bass at all
I loved the tone an playability of the cheap bass but overall quality and weight (I'm picky on both) left me wanting more. The cheap SUB was an experiment to see if I'd like the MM camp. I loved it.
Sold my Jazz bass and built a Warmoth MM clone using better stuff all around. Overall weight ended up under 8.5 lbs. Total cost for my "USA made" Warmoth was around $1000.
I still don't miss my Jazz bass at all
yeah, i bought the first series Sterling SUB 4, and the pre developed a short, burning a hole through the board.. i replaced it with a Seymour Duncan STC-2S-BO 2-Band / 2-Knob EQ kit, and it sounds so much better now. It's a good upgrade, but in all honesty, it shouldn't have needed it.
I really liked the neck on the low ball SUB 4 --maple -- perfect depth perfect width--
Does anyone know how that neck compares to say the OLP Music Man Bass? (yet another iteration)
Does anyone know how that neck compares to say the OLP Music Man Bass? (yet another iteration)
I have a big SUB logo 4 stringer, made in Indonesia ...I think it kicks butt and so does the band.......don't know about a problem pre-amp...I've had Daddario tapewounds and now Fender flats on it....wouldn't trade it...
Not all of them had it, of my 4 early SUBs, only one had a problem with the output but even then, my issue was remedied by lowering the pickup. Some had the problem that couldn't be fixed by this. However, there was a fix for the preamp issue posted on the SUB post a while back, I never had to do it so I don't know how effective it was or if it solved the issue for those that had the problem.
