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Ray or nay?

#21
I recently played one of the Sparkly Ray34’s at GC.
Oh My! That is a wonderful instrument. Felt great, sounded great. The roasted neck on the one I played actually had a good amount of flame in it. Whoever buys that one will be in for a treat. Then there was a Sunburst one with birdseye in the roast. Beautiful stuff.

The only issue I have with these is the tuning machines. I don’t know if they rectified the issue with the machines that self-destruct, but a direct replacement is the Hipshot HB7 (same tuners as some MIM Fenders)…just FYI
 
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#25
My experience is limited to the Rays I own, a 1996 3 band and a newer Special. As for upgrade vs new, if you really like the neck feel, playability, and really everything about the bass but just not the sound. Then for a couple hundred bucks (just guessing here) you could replace the electronics and likely get it to sound the way you want. That said, a used USA or one of the newer Specials are all around great bass’s, if you have the $$ and want a lifetime keeper, than I’d go that route. IMO Stingrays are much better in live settings than play alone at home, by themselves they are a bit “honky”, but in a band, on stage they settle in and really can sound fantastic, so it really just depends on your use case, preferences, and budget.
 
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#27
I have no complaints about the Ray34. Well built, signature sound, plays well.

I would like to have one with body contour, my main issue is the slab shape and comfort. It took low action but is buzzier than my top 3, but they are in another price bracket. I think a little fretwork would have the Ray34 playing just as well TBH.
 
#29
Yes StingRay USA Special if you can swing it, I would. USA Special has many improvements that many people like while retaining the essence of the Ray sound. Years ago I bought a Sub Ray 4. It had the pre and pup issues that have been noted, so I went down the mod upgrades that Lobster has done. My Sub Ray 4 now sounds very good. When a great deal on a USA Special comes along I may jump on it, fantastic bass. The StingRay IMHO, is an Iconic bass with a signature sound that I play more and more in my bass rotation, just my 2 cents.
 
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#31
Bite the bullet and go for an EB Stingray of a Sandberg California. ... I own a 2000 Stingray I love, but I played a California Ebony fretboard last year that still can't get it out of my head. ... And not many basses do that to me. ... Life's too short not to commit.
 
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#32
I think your spot on with your list of issues.
Bought a Ray for fun …
High frets everywhere, pickup was not bad but meh … and new strings is a must …

I did the frets, Duncan alnico and Dr sunbeams etc…

I wouldn’t buy it or the step up version again

for that 1000 price range … Lakland Skyline or Sandburg are worlds better
Check out Sire
Look at used basses. Most used basses in that 1000 range are well taken care of.
 
#33
I've got a USA Sterling, and a USA SUB Sterling. My bro has an old SBMM SUB 4.

That bass holds it's own against my EBMM basses pretty well. Stingrays have an Alnico pickup wired in parallel. The cheaper SBMMs have a ceramic pickup wired in series.

Just swapping the pickup with even a cheap alnico one will bring you much closer to a Stingray sound.

That should fix issue 1 and 4 (parallel is lower output so it shouldn't drive the preamp as much, and also doesnt hype the mids like series does).

A new pickup and a good setup/fret job, and if you want to go all out, some lightweight tuners and a new preamp. You can fix all your problems with the bass for less than the price of a ray34.
 
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#34
Reading some of these responses, it may be worthwhile for you to throw $30-50 at a tech to swap in a push-push pot to gain stealth series-parallel switching on your EconoRay (if the pickup harness is four conductor instead of two).
 
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#37
Thank you so much for all the attention and good ideas, now that i think about It, It might be worth It to mod my Ray4, because in the end i like the way It plays more than any other bass in my modest collection.

By the way, i also just took off my tuners and found out that there was just lots of dirt and dust, a good cleaning and a little grease and they started working again.

I'm probably gonna get a fret level, but in the meanwhile i was thinking of pickups and electronics.
My main option was Seymour Duncan ceramic humbucker and Seymour Duncan MM preamp.

I'd like more of a 90s Stingray tone, something a-la flea / ratm, but i'd like if the preamp gave me the option to mellow out the sound a little to suit more pop music, for example Dua Lipa sort of stuff.

Am i making the right choice? Any advice Would be gladly appreciated. :D
 
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#38
MattZilla said:
Reading some of these responses, it may be worthwhile for you to throw $30-50 at a tech to swap in a push-push pot to gain stealth series-parallel switching on your EconoRay (if the pickup harness is four conductor ins
Click to expand...
MattZilla said:
Reading some of these responses, it may be worthwhile for you to throw $30-50 at a tech to swap in a push-push pot to gain stealth series-parallel switching on your EconoRay (if the pickup harness is four conductor instead of two).
Click to expand...

That's great idea! Noted!
 
#40
SoulofaBean said:
Thank you so much for all the attention and good ideas, now that i think about It, It might be worth It to mod my Ray4, because in the end i like the way It plays more than any other bass in my modest collection.

By the way, i also just took off my tuners and found out that there was just lots of dirt and dust, a good cleaning and a little grease and they started working again.

I'm probably gonna get a fret level, but in the meanwhile i was thinking of pickups and electronics.
My main option was Seymour Duncan ceramic humbucker and Seymour Duncan MM preamp.

I'd like more of a 90s Stingray tone, something a-la flea / ratm, but i'd like if the preamp gave me the option to mellow out the sound a little to suit more pop music, for example Dua Lipa sort of stuff.

Am i making the right choice? Any advice Would be gladly appreciated. :D
Click to expand...
Yes, you said: ""i like the way It plays more than any other bass in my modest collection.""" I am the same way about my Ray4. I have a couple of other really nice basses, I will practice on them a little just to say I "play" them.
Trust me,no one is going to walk up on stage and ask what brand is your bass or if it is made in the USA. (other than another bass player) But like I mentioned earlier, watch @LowEndLobster videos on youtube dealing with different pickups in the Ray4. Finally, I play my ray4 between the neck and pickup for a little more mellow sound. Back off on the mids on the amp. Alnico pickup wired in parallel sounds good too. Just search around before you make a decision on a pickup. Lobster uses other brands of pickups to compare sounds. Keep us up to date.
 
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