Sterling SUB SB4 by musicman

I'm not a fan of active basses; but I gotta ask. Why? There's a volume knob on the thing, right? TURN. IT. DOWN.

 

Rip the guts out like everybody else did. Stock guts are garbage. Just my honest opinion. Volume works but the sound is very harsh sounding. What year is yours? I think the newer models had a preamp change or tweak.

Edit: Yours is a SB4 which are no longer made and probably has the older preamp in it.

 

Plenty of options. I went with EMG (pickup and BTC). I believe Nordstrand makes a Stingray clone of the pickup and preamp. Bartolini makes a set. Seymour Duncan.

 

Bass Treble Control. However mine had 2 separate knobs for Bass & Treble. Coulda been the BTS but since there is only 1 pickup, no need for the blend knob.
BTC Control
BTS System

 

On a passive bass, most people keep the volume knob to maximum at all times. However, on a bass with a preamp, dialing down the volume knob is a valid option as it will not change the tone too much.

 

You can replace it with those nice wiring harnesses they sell on Reverb or ebay. Gun Street from Oregon and Starr Guitars from Texas come to mind.

 

I have one the newer models - it is still hot.
Reducing the bass to the neutral position (and reducing volume) helps a lot and I still get BASS!

 

Yep, the stock pre on the older ones is a super hot (output) mess. The volume pot also has a very uneven taper (at least mine did) where most of the output happens at the top of its travel.

Any quality 3-knob preamp will be a huge improvement. I went with a Nordstrand 2B-3A which is fantastic. It also has a tiny trim control on the circuit board so you can boost or cut its output to match your gear.

The stock pickup sounds fine enough to keep, and many here would agree. I only replaced mine with a Nordstrand bc I won it in a contest, but it does sound dope FYI if your looking for a replacement down the road.

 

I replaced my S.U.B. 5 electrics with one of these. Much better.
"Music Man® Clone" 2-Band Bass Preamp (3 Knob Version)

 

This one would probably be my choice next time if I were putting together a 'Ray parts bass or modding another SUB Ray. I've heard great things about them.

 

Here's the link to the Nordstrand product page:

2 Band Preamps

They come prewired with pots and jack attached - you would just have to de-solder the two pickup wires and bridge ground wire from stock preamp (black/ground wires will probably be attached to the back of pots), then re-solder them to the new preamp. Pots and jack just switch out (nuts and bolts). They also have detailed wiring diagrams available on their site under "More", then "Technical". This one is for the 2B-3A that I have:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1941/7837/files/2B_plus_3a_epoxy.pdf?8624475504179042076

The Mojotone mentioned above would also be a good and lesser-expensive choice as well.

 

+ 1 on the Mojotone. They pretty much nail it.

 

I just bought the Sterling Sub SR5 less than a week ago and found the pickup to be real hot, but I lowered the pickup so it is almost flush to the body (about an 8th of an inch or less raised above the profile) and it improved significantly... Also, deadening the strings helped a bunch with the zingy quality of the sound... playing it with the treble fully cut and the bass at center position feels great, now. The preamp change may come later, but I figure the stock electronics are not that bad if the bass is properly setup.

Cheers!

 

Does the Sterling Classic 24CA have the same pups and preamp? I own both and play them with the volume knob dialed back. I was playing the 24CA straight into a Rumble 500 yesterday and the amp was distorting on about 40% wide open on the bass. I play really hard.