Sterlings Great value or excercise in futility?

[bigdaddybass12]

Sterlings Great value

Has anyone else had similar experiences, or has anyone actually been blown away by getting a really great one (especially if you like nice low action)? Is there a consensus on if these are worth it or not? I think I played a pretty good 4 string in GC at one point, but every one I've personally gotten my hands on has been TERRIBLE.

Yes, you need to go to GC and hand pick one. I bought mine about 4 or 5 years ago, Ray4 model. Mine had been on the wall for a time, set up by GC, so it had adjusted to the environment, been played a little. It has been pretty stable. I did the recommended pickup adjustments, EB regular slinkys, I get compliments on looks and sound all the time. I bought it because of the rough dive we played at. Now it is all I play at all my gigs while I leave my more expensive basses at home. Check the neck grain, it needs minimal grain run-out, mainly north/south grain pattern. If the grain looks like a train wreck, go to the next one. Recently I was looking at a EB USA SUB on Reverb. Same bass except its USA made. I passed because I felt like I was paying more for a name opposed to a bass that is 4 times better. Look at @LowEndLobster on youtube reviews on the Ray4.

 

[sotua]

I've had a Sterling 34HH, a Sterling Short Scale Stingray, and still own a Sterling LK100 guitar.

The HH was good, sounded good, but the truss rod was wonky and I couldn't quite get the setup to the height I wanted it to. Even though it did some sounds *really* good (modern slap and modern pick sound were *amazing* on this bass) I couldn't live with those details, so I returned it to GC (I actually drove to GC and tried every single one of the basses they had in stock, all of them had this weird super loose nut on the truss rod). So that one went back.

The Short Scale was absolutely awesome. It did have a small blemish in the neck finish/fretboard meets the neck glue line, but it was perfectly playable and once I put my favorite strings and set it up it was excellent. Great sound and a surprising amount of sonic choices available for a single pickup passive bass. I eventually sold it because it was too damn heavy (surprisingly, even for a shortie, it's *hefty*) and I wasn't using it anyway.

The Sterling LK100 (budget Steve Lukather signature 6 string guitar) is definitely one of my favorite guitars, even though I'm completely indifferent to Steve Lukather as a player - respect the chops and career, but I don't go out of my way to listen to Lukather. It's just a great guitar - good balance, comfortable neck, versatile pickups, and good looks. Originally had it set up for E standard with 9-42 strings and loved it. Set it up a few months ago for Open C tuning with 10-52 strings and I'm loving it again.

 

[Hevy T]

Up to a few years I found them a great value, but that was when they were all advertised as being inspected in California.

since they switched to roasted maple necks I have noticed that sticker not being on the pickguard anymore. Worse is that’s when the twisted necks, truss rod issues and bad tuners started to show up!

maybe they should resume that practice

 

[Old Blastard]

I grabbed a cheap, blemished SUB4HH or whatever the designation. Despite a paint chip flaking off the body, it plays well and sounds like great

 

[JRA]

Just venting. Maybe a year and half or 2 years ago I had tried to order a Ray35 HH with the spalted top. This was just coming out of the pandemic and they were damn near impossible to find. I ordered one and it came and the setup/neck/etc... was just unworkable and it also had some like finish issues, and stuff like that. So I sent it back. They were SUPPOSED to send me another one (according to the person I talked to on the phone), but apparently MF doesn't "do" exchanges (which is bizarre). So even though they had had one in stock at the time I made the return, they didn't set it aside for me, and then the next in stock date was who knows when. I think maybe 3 or 4 months later, I found one again, and ordered. This time the finish was fine, but the setup was still way off the mark. I ended up spending about 80 bucks and a bunch of time, trying to dial in what I could, changing the strings to the gauges I like, and having the nut filed. It still sucked. I mean, it looked great and sounded good, but if I can't play it, that defeats the purpose. Anyway, I kind of gave up on them at the time, and also my gear purchases lately have ended up being more keyboard oriented. But yesterday MF had their stupid deal of the hour, and one of them was a Ray34 in an interesting burled top with a darker blue burst. I would have preferred a 5 string with a roasted maple FB instead of a 4 string with rosewood, but this thing was 500 bucks down from $980. So I said what the hell and even sprung 20 bucks for overnight shipping (I've been having issues with shipping lately in general, not even just "the holidays" but literally the last few months). And while the bass looks great (haven't had a chance to plug it in yet to see how it sounds), the setup is again one of the worst I've ever seen on any new bass, regardless of price. I lowered the sky high action and adjusted the intonation accordingly, but it still could use a truss rod tightening, but the wheel just doesn't seem to go that way at all. And it needs a nut filing as well. So this one will be going back and I'll give them one more chance to send me a non dud otherwise I'm out forever. Like, why make a nice looking $1000 bass and then jerk off the setup which is one of the most key things? Honestly it puts me off the legit ones too even though I love the MM sound and vibe (Tony Levin, Louis Johnson, etc...). Has anyone else had similar experiences, or has anyone actually been blown away by getting a really great one (especially if you like nice low action)? Is there a consensus on if these are worth it or not? I think I played a pretty good 4 string in GC at one point, but every one I've personally gotten my hands on has been TERRIBLE.

learn how to do your own setups! good luck!

 

[jmlee]

My Sterling Ray 34, beyond having the mass of a small-to-medium black hole, has been frustrating to try to set up due to a (roasted maple) neck curvature that has resisted any sort of truss rod adjustment. My Christmas holiday plans include heat lamps and suspended weight to try to get that no-truss-rod-activity curvature under control. The bass sounds very good: when I’m sitting down and I ignore the crappy action.

 

[bolophonic]

Am I the only one who thinks that buying and returning three basses because of bad setups is an indication that the problem here isn’t the basses?

 

[Nightsprinter]

My Sterling Ray 34, beyond having the mass of a small-to-medium black hole, has been frustrating to try to set up due to a (roasted maple) neck curvature that has resisted any sort of truss rod adjustment. My Christmas holiday plans include heat lamps and suspended weight to try to get that no-truss-rod-activity curvature under control. The bass sounds very good: when I’m sitting down and I ignore the crappy action.

The heat lamp idea is interesting. I've used a heating pad in the past and clamped the neck in the area it was most bent to the bench. Been meaning to engineer some kind of heating element like Dave from DWOFS on YT has, but the heating pad seemed to do the trick on the one occasion I needed it despite the low temperature. Seemed like time was more important than temp but that was just my experience.

 

[-Stingray]

I found a used Ray 4 at a local Mom and Pop shop a few weeks ago. I owned one previously, but at 10'ish pounds it was just too heavy to play for any period of time, so I flipped it. This one was so light, it about flew out of my hands when I pulled it off the rack. Under 8 pounds! Played beautifully, had a pro setup, and was in mint shape. $200 bucks. I didn't have to think twice.

Strung her up with Chromes and I haven't touched any of my other basses since I got it.

 

[Djadja]

My #1 is an EBMM short scale Stingray. I love it and see it being a lifetime bass.
I wanted a fretless short scale Stingray and couldn’t justify getting an EBMM to have defretted… found a used Sterling that had barely been touched by the seller and it was wonderful (the white one in my avatar) except one tuner self destructed shortly after I bought it. Obviously not an EBMM, but sounded very, very similar, played well, and felt good. I found a used Sterling tuner and had my tech defret it. It is my fretless now.
Then I decided to get another Sterling as a back-up/sketchy venue bass. GC had one color on sale and I ordered one. QC was atrocious. I toyed with keeping it, but decided I didn’t need it enough to fix it so back it went. I kept watching for another and played 3 or 4 at local GC stores. All had multiple issues. Then they had a sale again and I decided to try one, after all I could return it easily. I ordered one and got a message that they were out of stock except one that was at a local store, asking whether I wanted that one or to wait. I had them send it to me. This one is a little heavy, but other than that had no issues. I kept it (the sunburst on the right of my avatar).
Bottom line is that QC, at least on this model, seems to be very up and down. When they’re good, they’re good. When they aren’t…

 

[GreyBeard]

A couple of years ago I ordered a Ray35 in purple sparkle. I loved it until I tried to tune it. Every tuner stripped out and the bass was un-tunable. Sent it back and bought a Fender Player Plus V. Much better QC.

 

[jmlee]

The heat lamp idea is interesting. I've used a heating pad in the past and clamped the neck in the area it was most bent to the bench. Been meaning to engineer some kind of heating element like Dave from DWOFS on YT has, but the heating pad seemed to do the trick on the one occasion I needed it despite the low temperature. Seemed like time was more important than temp but that was just my experience.

Whatever the source of heat, it will help speed things up, so long—as it's not so intense as to affect finishes etc. Any viscoelastic process—like the creep in a wooden neck under load—will display some time/temperature equivalence so that long time/low temp will in principle achieve what short time/high temp will achieve. It's just a matter of how much patience you have and how intense you dare get the heating. I like the IR heat lamps that they use to keep food warm in cafeteria lines.

 

[spatters]

The QC with the more expensive Ray34 and Ray35 has been abysmal. Tuners that do not and cannot work, and strip when used for the first time (a problem that still exists over one year after originally being brought to SBMM's attention), poor setups, non-functional truss rods, and so on. They are an embarrassment to EBMM.

The QC with the cheaper Ray4 and Ray5 basses has been much better, with none of the chronic problems of the Ray34 and Ray35...just the occasional lemon. Their quality is reasonably in line with their sub-$500 price.

Neither will sound or play like a USA Stingray. The pickups are wired in series, not parallel, and the string spacing on the Ray4/5 is narrower.

 

[andruca]

I had a Ray35 (most standard possible, in black) for about a year some time back. I own 2 USA Stingray5s (old, ceramic pickup version) and already knew the real thing first hand (my main tool for the last 20+ years). The Ray35 wasn't bad, got it for 600€ used when they were retailing for some 900€ 'round here. Sold it (at a minimal loss) and never looked back. Prices have gone too far up now for me to be interested in them anymore. There's 2K€ SBMM instruments being sold Totally defeats the purpose IMHO, you can have used USA Stingrays in the 1100-1500€ range here.

 

[Warpeg]

Save up for an EBMM. They are the real deal. You want a Times Square Rowlex or a real Rolex?

This.

There are obviously good SBMM basses out there, but it really seems like there are many duds that people have been getting lately. Admittedly, I have not been following all of the threads about the SBMM QC issues, but I have noticed that there seems to ones popping up every few week or so. From my perspective, there are better quality basses in the SBMM price range.

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

I bought an ebmm shorty this summer and love it, but also wanted an active shorty. Not wanting to buy a $2500 bass only to replace all the electrinics and route out a pickup cavity in the back, i found a fairly lightweight sterling on reverb (about 7.5 lbs before mods)

The setup was bad out of the box (easy to fix) and the finish wasn't great - clearly a worse bass than the ebmm, but not 2k worse.

The bad setup really bugs me - experienced players have no issues addressing a bad setup, but cheap instruments are bought by a ton of beginners who dont have the same skillset and might not even be aware this stuff can be fixed

I played a short scale sbmm at my local guitar center before buying the ebmm to make sure i liked the form factor/size/shape and that one was a total lemon

The tuners were super heavy, hipshot ultralights shaved a quarter of a pound off the headstock and fixed the neck dive. The satin finish on the back of the neck was a bit sticky; I steel wool'd it and it feels acceptable now

After all the mods, it still doesn't feel as nice as the ebmm but plays and sounds wonderful. I still need to sand down the sbmm's neck and oil/wax it when i have a few hours to spare

 

[SteveCS]

The bad setup really bugs me - experienced players have no issues addressing a bad setup, but cheap instruments are bought by a ton of beginners who dont have the same skillset and might not even be aware this stuff can be fixed

Bad setup bugs me too. That said, it seems unreasonable to expect a factory setup performed in sunny California or tropical Indonesia in the rainy season to hold true on a trip to a cold and wet corner of London via the freezing cargo hold of a Triple-Seven or a voyage across the South China Sea. So I get why factories just do a basic string up and leave it there.

But there is no excuse for instrument retailers to not have the skills to set a bass up properly - I'm not even convinced that many do even a once-over to see that something is actually playable. Or they leave it to the guitar techs, many of whom I suspect really don't have a clue on what a good bass setup should feel like. I'm sure they would turn over more instruments if they were playable off the peg.

YMMV

 

[Nightsprinter]

Bad setup bugs me too. That said, it seems unreasonable to expect a factory setup performed in sunny California or tropical Indonesia in the rainy season to hold true on a trip to a cold and wet corner of London via the freezing cargo hold of a Triple-Seven or a voyage across the South China Sea. So I get why factories just do a basic string up and leave it there.

But there is no excuse for instrument retailers to not have the skills to set a bass up properly - I'm not even convinced that many do even a once-over to see that something is actually playable. Or they leave it to the guitar techs, many of whom I suspect really don't have a clue on what a good bass setup should feel like. I'm sure they would turn over more instruments if they were playable off the peg.

YMMV

If I got a job at GC I wouldn't last long. Probably get fired in short order for spending my time by the wall of wood with a set of feeler gauges, hex wrenches, fret rocker, and an action gauge rather than selling stuff. The sad twist is sales would probably go up...

 

[SteveCS]

If I got a job at GC I wouldn't last long. Probably get fired in short order for spending my time by the wall of wood with a set of feeler gauges, hex wrenches, fret rocker, and an action gauge rather than selling stuff. The sad twist is sales would probably go up...

Sad but true, I suspect. The fact that well-playing instruments tend to sell themselves gets lost on some folks.

 

[Nightsprinter]

Sad but true, I suspect. The fact that well-playing instruments tend to sell themselves gets lost on some folks.

Still waiting for some youtuber to organize a flash mob of techs to go there and set up everything on the wall as a peaceful protest for business reform