musicman sterling sub bass

[daveyo]

I just picked up a used one for 2 hundred
Bucks
I thought it was a good deal and a pretty decent bass for someone like me who is getting into bass after many yrs of not playing
Who has one and what do u think?
Thanks
David

 

[Maxdusty]

Is it the Sterling by Musicman SUB made in Indonesia or is it the Ernie Ball Musicman SUB made in the US?

I'm assuming it's the Sterling SUB in which case you got a pretty good deal on it and yes, they're great basses to start or re-start your bass playing. I had five of them at one point- one thing I remember with a few of them is I had to lower the pickups as out of the box, they were a little too responsive.

 

[Giffro]

I have one identical (white with black PG) to the one in the pic below. It is a Sterling by Music Man S.U.B. Ray4. If yours is the same Indonesian made bass it is a nice guitar, plays great and well made. I do have the well known problem of over-responsive pups as mentioned by Maxdusty which is generally caused by a hot volume pot and preamp. There is a wiring fix for it and as far as I know mainly this problem only relates to older models. From memory they fixed the issue 2016 onwards for the Indonesian made basses. Forgive me if i'm wrong on the dates but the hot issue was being sorted out on the newer basses. There is more info on these basses here at TB in the link below.
Sterling by Music Man SUB Ray4 and Ray5

 

[Pachap]

I want a 4 banger and I've been keeping my eyes open for a good used one. I just want to get a taste of a Stingray to see if I could live with one long term.

 

[FugaziBomb]

I've always been curious how the bargain rays stack up to a EBMM Stingray, but I've never sat down and A-B'ed two of them.

 

[Maxdusty]

I've always been curious how the bargain rays stack up to a EBMM Stingray, but I've never sat down and A-B'ed two of them.

I've had five of the Sterling Sub Rays - they do give you a taste and vibe of an EBMM Ray but perhaps closer to the Sterling Ray 34 particularly in terms of the neck and overall feel of the bass. The EBMM necks are thicker, rounder but have a very nice solid feel to them. Acoustically, there are noticeable differences for sure but that's to be expected given the price difference, the EBMM Ray is incredible but you certainly pay the money for it. There's enough of that Ray sound in the Sterling SUB to make it a great MM choice for under $300. Now if you can find a used US made EBMM SUB Ray, I would probably buy this even over the STerling Ray 34 as it's essentially a no frills US made EBMM Ray Classic. It's still one of the best deals out there if you can find it.