Thoughts on Ray34 bass

[Yahboy]

I actually have something for this one, because I had a similar question.

So one day back in January I was in a GC that had a SUB4, a Ray24, a Ray34, and an actual EBMM. I was interested in how they all compared and so I played all four of them. (GC wasn't busy and the guy working was very patient with me.) They all have a similar feel and sound, as they should, but there are real differences as you'd expect given the price. My thoughts:

SUB4: Great bass for $300. Pretty close to the classic StingRay sound, but maybe a little thinner, which I'd attribute to the pickup being cheaper. Fit and finish not as good as the Ray34, but for $300 this is an excellent deal. Just wish it had 3-band EQ, but again, budget bass. And the "Ruby red" finish is actually even better in person, IMO—really nice. (I almost walked out with one of these.)

Ray24: I swear to you were I blindfolded I would be completely unable to differentiate this from the SUB4. To me, it neither felt nor sounded appreciably different from the SUB4 and I have no idea where the additional $200 went. Well, the bridge is a bit better, but that's about it. Plus there aren't very many finish options for this. Feels like a complete miss by their marketing folks.

Ray34: Really big step up from the Ray24. Better, more solid and smoother feel, improved fit and finish, nicer tuners, and fuller tone. This is also where you get the 3-band EQ. It's not quite the full EBMM experience, but it's probably 90–95% of it for about half the price. I think the SUB4 is a great deal, and so is this. You could totally gig with this. Now, I haven't seen one of the new black ash versions in person, but in pictures... wow. I currently have GAS for one of these.

EBMM StingRay: There's a reason this is a classic... but the $1700 price tag ain't a joke, either. Components are maybe a smidge better than the Ray34 but the overall feel isn't much different... it's just not twice as good. I mean, if someone came up to me and said "I'm going to give you either a Ray34 or an EBMM StingRay, your choice—but you can't flip it, you have to keep it" I'm taking the EBMM. Well, almost certainly. Again, that black ash Ray34...

So, yeah, I think you're good going with a Ray34.

Both sub ray4 and ray24 use same onboard preamp and ceramic pup. But the ceramic pup on sub ray only wire in parallel, but the pup on ray24 has 4 wire and you can modified by yourself either series or parallel, or add a toogle switch on it.

Ray34 and 35 sound different than sub ray. The tone on sub sound a bit beefy and higher output with flat EQ. There are more room for EQ tweak on ray34/35 onboard preamp.

 

[Soonerbldr]

Save up and buy a full blood Musicman. That is what I did and I do not regret it. Stable body and neck. No fret sprout, great pickups. Save for another month or two and get a great used bass. That’s what I did. I’ve bought plenty of cheap instruments a regret nearly everyone.

 

[Birddogcof]

Thanks. I posted some pics of one up a few threads. He is asking $450. By the looks do you feel that is a solid deal? He soesnt know the year. It looks good. He said it plays amazing well. One thing I see it says Made in Korea. Not Indonesia.

I absolutely love mine. It was my main gigging bass for about 2 years when I was actually playing out.
- Solid instrument, with a nice electronics package, IMO. The 3-band EQ is wonderful (love having control of the mids on the fly) and pretty versatile. Smooth and round to MEAN and growly, depending on what you're going for.
- The neck is comfortable - Not MY personal favorite neck, but I prefer rounder, chunkier necks like that of a P bass. Pretty thin from front to back, but fairly wide at the nut, with good string spacing. And again, it feels solid. Some of the newer models have roasted maple!
-Not too incredibly heavy, although I've heard of some of them being anchors. Mine is slightly over 9lb and balances well on a nice, thick strap.
- Functional, stable tuners.
- Lots of finish options. I have one of the older Indonesian models in Honeyburst, but the newer models have all kinds of cool finishes.

One thing that really set it apart from some of the other basses I have is how responsive it is. I'd attributed it to the pickup and its placement on the body, but I'm sure there are plenty of factors to consider, there. I don't own an EBMM (yet), but compared to the ones I've fiddled around with in stores, the Ray34 holds its weight very well. At the price, they're hard to beat, IMO.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Resonance129]

Thanks. I posted some pics of one up a few threads. He is asking $450. By the looks do you feel that is a solid deal? He soesnt know the year. It looks good. He said it plays amazing well. One thing I see it says Made in Korea. Not Indonesia.

Quite honestly, I couldn't really comment on build quality differences between the Indonesian and Korean-made ones.
I've played only one Korean-made Ray34 in a store one time, but it was an HH model - A little bit of a different beast. Still a great instrument at a great price, but different.

BUT, I don't believe $450 is a bad price for one, at all. Sounds very fair to me as long as everything functions as it should. I'd assume the Korean factory has at least similar QC as the Indonesian one - Possibly better.

Not trying to sway your decision either way, but based on my experience with mine, and the price you mentioned, it sounds like something to at least heavily consider.

 

[SteveCS]

Quite honestly, I couldn't really comment on build quality differences between the Indonesian and Korean-made ones.
I've played only one Korean-made Ray34 in a store one time, but it was an HH model - A little bit of a different beast. Still a great instrument at a great price, but different.

...

AFAIK the only 'difference' between the two countries of origin is that all production was moved to Korea a few years ago except for the transparent finishes, production of which remained in (or went back to) Indonesia. I don't recall if that was because the Korean factory couldn't produce the transparent finishes to the required standard, or if it was to do with the quality of the Ash available in the Korean supply chain not being suitable for trans finishes. There was some discussion about it when SBMM had a regular contributor here - IIRC it was a bit of both. So, AFAIK and based on 'archive' information, only the Ash models are currently made in Indonesia.
YMMV

 

[Birddogcof]

Thanks for the info.

Quite honestly, I couldn't really comment on build quality differences between the Indonesian and Korean-made ones.
I've played only one Korean-made Ray34 in a store one time, but it was an HH model - A little bit of a different beast. Still a great instrument at a great price, but different.

BUT, I don't believe $450 is a bad price for one, at all. Sounds very fair to me as long as everything functions as it should. I'd assume the Korean factory has at least similar QC as the Indonesian one - Possibly better.

Not trying to sway your decision either way, but based on my experience with mine, and the price you mentioned, it sounds like something to at least heavily consider.

 

[snowbike]

I have a ray34. I wanted a Stingray, but after trying a few and the ray34, the ray34 played (IMO) better.
Just felt better.
I struggled with getting it as i had planned on a stingray.

I maybe got a good one.