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Sterling by Music Man SUB Ray4 and Ray5
- Thread starter RyanJD
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Maybe you and I use different metric systems?
Regardless, these are great basses - unbelievable that they cost what they do!
Another question - has anybody retrofitted the classic oval pickguard and chrome control plate onto one of these 5 strings? Is there anything hiding under that huge, funky stock pickguard that would prevent this kind of swap? (such as an exposed wiring route, etc...)
I want this to look as much like my 77 Ray as possible. I know I would have to have the pg custom made...
I want this to look as much like my 77 Ray as possible. I know I would have to have the pg custom made...
That's exactly what I did to mine and I do like it. Actually ones a little larger, too.
I have been reading this thread from day one with the intent of picking up one of the Ray4 Subs. For some reason I waited, because I wasn't thrilled with the color/neck options up until now...I went to Guitar Center last week and they had a Mint Green Sub Ray4...I didn't know Sterling was coming out with a Sub Ray4 in this color. Long story short...I was floored! I ended up ordering one from Musicians Friend. Great Bass, Great Color...Here are some pics...
I have been following your posts about the electronics in the Sub Ray4...I really like what you did, and what a deal you got on the EMG setup...Fantastic! I am happy with the stock electronics so far. I actually think the stock preamp sounds pretty good, I really have to put the bass thru a good workout, but so far so good..enjoy that Ray4 and play the heck out of it.
Well I'm in the club!! Just bought an immaculate 2nd-hand Walnut finish of E-Bay for £160! well chuffed!
I played one at Guitar Center in seafoam green, it was beautiful! I got decent- not great tone out of it. In my opinion the cheap wood is the culprit & not worthy of live performances. This is a great little guitar though for beginers and for guys messin around at the house.
SUBs are perfectly giggable. Nothing wrong at all in the tone department - and I've seen guys with better basses and dead strings sound a whole lot worse than "decent."
Not the best basses around, I admit, but what's not giggable about them? They are absolutely giggable.
I received my Black/Maple SUB Ray5 from MF on Friday (4th of July coupon made the bass cost approx. $260!!) I had read this whole thread, and was prepared to be underwhelmed by the electronics on the bass, and was mentally prepared to work on a bunch of mods.
Boy was I pleasantly surprised! The bass sounds real good, even stock. The worst thing was the stock strings. The preamp output was hot, but not as hot as my EMG/BTS equipped bass. I just had to move the bass side of the pickup to control the booming B, but new strings will probably fix that. I have some Pressurewounds on the way to try on this bass.
My TC 250 amp has a real input gain control, so when I trimmed that down, I could barely tell the difference in output level from my other active basses. Sure, it doesn't sound exactly like my 77 Ray, but it's close, and I'm pretty happy with it, especially for what it cost. Might do some mods in the future, but right now I have a whole bunch of songs to learn for the classic rock/new country trio I just joined. All that woodshedding will tell me what, if anything, I need to do to the bass.
Thanks for making these impressive inexpensive instruments.
Larry
Boy was I pleasantly surprised! The bass sounds real good, even stock. The worst thing was the stock strings. The preamp output was hot, but not as hot as my EMG/BTS equipped bass. I just had to move the bass side of the pickup to control the booming B, but new strings will probably fix that. I have some Pressurewounds on the way to try on this bass.
My TC 250 amp has a real input gain control, so when I trimmed that down, I could barely tell the difference in output level from my other active basses. Sure, it doesn't sound exactly like my 77 Ray, but it's close, and I'm pretty happy with it, especially for what it cost. Might do some mods in the future, but right now I have a whole bunch of songs to learn for the classic rock/new country trio I just joined. All that woodshedding will tell me what, if anything, I need to do to the bass.
Thanks for making these impressive inexpensive instruments.
Larry
I was chuffed to get it at that price! Just hope its up to the mark and I still want the Black/Maple number! 
I agree with Larry 100%. I really do like my Ray5, a terrific, inexpensive bass, very well made, incredible value.
These aren't EBMMs, or even SBMMs, but are a great entry priced bass, perfect for beginners, anyone looking to move from 4 and try a 5 and really anybody that just plain old likes a great playing - and lighter! - bass.
I don't see why you couldn't gig with it. It's not as massive tone wise as my EBMMs, so I can't just unplug one and plug this in, but a few tweaks on the amp gain or the SansAmp and we're sitting really well in the mix.
The only cosmetic concession I made was to replace the black knobs with slightly larger chrome ones. The Big Brother EBMM uses black knobs, too, but uses black pickguard screws and a much smaller bridge. I thought chrome knobs balanced the looks better.
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