Stingray sound on a budget

[FleaAndTimmyC]

Hey guys! I am looking for a nice, cheap bass that sounds close to a stingray. A couple that i have seen are the olp and sterling models. What do you think about these? What is the cheapest that I could get one of these for?

 

[DrewGK]

i have a sterling ray 34.

chose it over a real one. same sound imo. do a side by side tet for yourself

 

[pringlw]

Yeah, you're not going to do better than a Sterling Ray 34 if what you're looking for is an inexpensive Stingray. Of course you can always buy a second hand Ray...

 

[FleaAndTimmyC]

What is the cheapest i can get a used sterling 34 for?

 

[bassplayer1494]

probably between 400-500. there like 680 new

 

[bassbenj]

Hey guys! I am looking for a nice, cheap bass that sounds close to a stingray. A couple that i have seen are the olp and sterling models. What do you think about these? What is the cheapest that I could get one of these for?

The OLP will be the cheapest if you leave it passive. You'll have to rewire the pickup coils in series rather than parallel though. Add a Stingray preamp clone and you'd be good to go.

 

[Crystalman85]

If you like a passive musicman clone, the arbor ab410 or the stagg mb-300 would be a good choice. If you prefer active musicman-styled bass guitars, I would say save some money for a sterling by musicman.

 

[EagleMoon]

You could buy an OLP, but you'd want to change out the pickup for something better, so to save time and money I'd just go with a Sterling Ray.

 

[danomite64]

An Ibanez ATK is a good budget-conscious Stingray alternative. My old ATK 300 is tons nicer than the OLP's I tried out. It's also cheaper than the Sterling Ray.

 

[Juan Count]

An Ibanez ATK is a good budget-conscious Stingray alternative. My old ATK 300 is tons nicer than the OLP's I tried out. It's also cheaper than the Sterling Ray.

+1... get one of the old ATKs... Not the 2011 model...

 

[B String]

Get an OLP and replace the pickup and pre with the new Nordy replacements. Should sound very tasty.

 

[tkcthulu]

ATK 300?

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The Ray34 and ATK300 are the easiest to find. The original TBC basses were concieved as boutique Stingrays, and are wonderful, but are rare. The import TBC single H basses are very light and good Ray sounding basses too.

 

[scottbass]

These prices are a few years ago, but my OLP cost about $200 and I spent another $180 on a Seymour Duncan pickup and "tone circuit" (preamp), plus a few bucks for a battery box. I did all the work myself. The $400 or so investment is definitely less than a used Ray 34.

All that being said, I agree that the best low-cost alternative is probably an Ibanez ATK. That's about as close to a StingRay sound as you can get.

 

[negativeions24]

I've got my SUB for sale in classifieds. It IS the Stingray sound for a reasonable price

 

[ManInPeril]

Honestly, I'm shocked it took this long for anyone to mention the Musicman SUB. It's easily the closest to Stingray tone I've seen, and I got mine for $400. It's my main bass because I actually prefer the tone/feel to actual Ray's. When I get that Sterling, though... *dreams*

 

[Gomeztool]

A big portion of the SR sound is in the electronics and the closest you'll get to that on the cheap is via SUB or Ray34. ATK has it's own thing and is nice on its own however the preamp doesn't behave enough like a Ray's to be close.

 

[mikeswals]

I'd go for the SUB. It is a StingRay that was built on the same production line as the 'regular' StingRays and used all the same parts.

 

[perogato02]

+ 1 for the SUB!

And the coating on the SUB-body makes it virtually bulletproof

 

[john grey]

There's a lot of experience with this issue on TB. Check this thread out:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/official-sterling-music-man-owners-club-746123/