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Was I wrong to trade my Sterling?

#21
It's not a trade that I would have done. But if you weren't happy with the MM, then I suppose it was the right decision for you. I think you could have gotten youself a better deal though if you weren't happy. I probably would have sold it on eBay or to one of the fine TBers here, and then you could have gotten yourself a few bucks to shop around with.





joe
 
#25
lucas vigor said:
I had bought a sterling, and as beautiful as it was ( orange sunburst) I never loved the tone. I guess I really hated the fact that I could not get that rolled-off passive treble cut you get with a fender bass, for example....the treble EQ was just not the same thing..I could not get that softer, pillowy old-school sound, no matter how i set the controls or phase switch. I paid 1400 dollars for this thing, and traded it for a new MIM ash jazz bass which I put lindy fralin pickups in, AND a used line 6 bass podxt......

Most of my friends absolutely loved my sterling, and always requested it...however, I hated it, and to this day, don't really know why I bought it. I think my mistake was that I expected it to be a good fingerstyle bass, but in actuality (and my humble opinion) it is really only good for slapping...

Anyone out there I was wrong to trade this thing?
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No definately not. I had a Sterling as well before I got my G&L and I felt the same way as you. I wanted a nice round thumpy fingerstyle tone, and something overall versatile and the Sterling just wasn't cutting it.

As for the $1400..I paid $1300 + SH from Bass Central.
 
#27
hey lucas, its funny. i had the same exact problem with my old stingray i used to have. i could never get the trebley-ringy tone out of my sound. no eq could change the fact that a music man is a musicman. i also was big into the looks of my bass but realized that i am a fender man at heart. i traded mine for a mia deluxe jazz. i am sorta having the same prob with this bass and the active electronics. i went into guitar center a month ago and played a used mia regular jazz bass and realized the difference in tones.
 
#28
ApeIsHigh81 said:
Yeah I used to be biased towards MIM's, then I played a friend's that had antiquity I's in it and it was really, really good sounding. The bridge and tuners, etc. still made it feel a little cheap but the way it sounded more than made up for it. I've heard through the grapevine that post-2000 made sterlings don't compare in quality & feel with the corrent made ones. I had the pleasure of playing my uncle's 97' and it just felt solid as a rock compared to the GC floor models. But come to think of it, don't all GC floor & shelf basses feel like crap? :scowl:
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yes the new MM's do not compare to those made in the 90's before the factory expansion - remember when they all used to have birdseye maple necks and there was a 1 year wait for them?
i 2nd the idea that ya should have sold it and then bought the fender - i also really love the switch on the sterling - lots of tones, but i understand the passive tone control thing.......
 
#31
lucas vigor said:
Well, my MIM Jazz bass with the fralin PUPs absolutely blows the sterling away as far as tone is concerned, IMO...I am really happy with it....I guess I have a bit of regret just because the sterling looked so pretty...but, 450 for the ash jass bass, 170 for the fralins...it's still cheaper then the sterling..but man, I really love that fender tone!!

I A/B'd it on a recording (one track for sterling, one for fender) and the jazz bass absolutely won in the tone dept..as far as looks and quality of build, the sterling was a tank..a gorgeous tank!! Hard as nails finish, very smooth neck, quality tuner and bridge...but far too raunchy and rough a tone..could not get a subtle, understated soft tone at all..very aggressive and hard-edged...

The thing is, I can get a rough hard edged tone AND a soft smooth tone on the Jbass, but only one tone (with some variations) on the sterling...

Anyway, what's done is done....I just guess I wanted to see how many people really like the sterling, because I had tried to sell it (not on EBAY) and got no takers, or at least, no reasonable offers.
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Don't regret getting a sound you like better, regardless of it's cost. It sounds to me like you've got a nice Jazz bass with Fralins. IMO that's a killer bass with the vintage tone that I personally consider one of the standards in great bass tone. Congrats. :)
 
#32
So I suppose the message of this thread is that it's okay to throw money away.

Regarding the statement that current production MusicMan basses are inferior to their predecessors; I couldn't disagree more. Obviously, the early models (76-79) have a lot of collector interest, and some guys swear by them. But I don't know anyone who has played different era MM's that doesn't agree that EB is making them better than ever.
 
#34
I have a Stingray5 which I feel can get a lot more thump the then the Sterling and Stingray. I can get a good thump out of it . I think that larger mass of the SR5 body helps with the bottom end also my playing style might be part of it I have good results playing in blues band with it. But I have also had a few L-2000's even though I could get many sounds out of them I could never get the sound I wanted I felt I was always fighting to get great tone I and I finally gave up on them . I am very happy with my MM and I feel that I can get any sound that I need .
 
#38
I had intitially thought about getting some routing done, and I had wanted to add one neck J and one bridge J, on either side of the MM humbucker.....with passive volume and tone controls added....I went to three different repair shops and no one would even touch it...said they did not want to be responsible for ruining my bass.

Had I been able to get it done the way I wanted, I would have had a real quality bass I could use for different sounds.

I have seen some basses out there that have passive option on the active circuit, in case the battery dies (like the Marcus Miller J) but again, there is no passive tone control added...so useless for me...

As for selling it on ebay, I tried! People were offering 500.....keep in mind that by trading it, i got both the j bass AND a line 6 pod xt!!

I plan on getting better tuners, a better bridge, and possibly a bone nut...then my only problems would be the neck, (which does not have the posiflex truss rod) and the 4 piece body....

The body at least looks pretty good..natural ash....

However, I wish I had found this site before! I could have probably found someone to trade with here.

One other note about the sterling..people say it is a great slapper, but I noticed that the E never sounded all that tight and punchy to me...and after listening to many recordings I did with it, my opinion of it has not changed! It sounded way to scooped...so much so that the transition from slap to fingerstyle never worked....I needed more midrange, but the mids on this thing were far to honky for me!!

I read a few rewiews about the Lakland MM style system that said similar things..users were not able to get a smooth, old school sound...

But the Bob Glaub or Joe Osborne might be real sweet!! :hyper:
 

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