Sterling Ray 34 - Stingray from the Far East

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='970033' date='Sep 27 2010, 09:08 PM']Shall I jump to where this thread always goes?

The lovers keep loving and the bemused keep being bemused and the argument is always about comparing a bad EBMM against a great Sterling version? (Which Im sure they are).[/quote]

The lovers seem to need to put down the bemused IME. And a lot of the time the lovers have never even played a SBMM.

Time to leave this thread and go and wind up some Fender MIM owners because you can get a second hand MIA for not a lot more ;-)

[stingrayPete1977]

The outright winner would be the guy who then buys the pristine low mileage Ferrari for a snip of its original value secondhand because he gets 99% of what the original owner got for a bargain price and if he sells it in years to come it will be worth as much as he paid for it and the little fiat will be scrapped!

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='970045' date='Sep 27 2010, 09:16 PM']The lovers seem to need to put down the bemused IME. And a lot of the time the lovers have never even played a SBMM.

Time to leave this thread and go and wind up some Fender MIM owners because you can get a second hand MIA for not a lot more ;-)[/quote]
We are the bemused (at the price) you are the lovers (of the SBMM)not t'other way round.

[ezbass]

Although I don't really subscribe to the buying for resale value school of thought (if you do that's OK too) the "smart" money never buys new and always buys 2nd hand (I'm not very smart by this score ). Just like cars (and plenty of oher things for that matter) as soon as you buy a brand new bass it is immediately used and so leaves a good chunk of its value on the forecourt so to speak. However, if you buy 2nd hand it is already used so any losses are minimal and you may even make a profit (although this has only happened to me twice). So in summary you will lose less, if any, money on a 2nd hand US Ray over a new Ray34, absolutely. But I wonder what the resale value of selling an already used Ray34 (or any of the SBMMs) will be as time goes on, only time will tell. In the meantime enjoy owning whatever you have, and if you're happy with what you paid for it too then it's all gravy

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='970045' date='Sep 27 2010, 09:16 PM']The lovers seem to need to put down the bemused IME. And a lot of the time the lovers have never even played a SBMM.

Time to leave this thread and go and wind up some Fender MIM owners because you can get a second hand MIA for not a lot more ;-)[/quote]
Hey, let's all be lovers, not fighters

[stingrayPete1977]

All true and I also lost loads of cash as I bought my EB new in 2002 at full price and like you lost on cars too! All the more reason to pass on our advice after all is that not a big part of what forums are about? It just seems a bit glaring in this case and Im not the first and I wont be the last to point it out Im sure,The post even starts with "First up, yes I know I could have got a secondhand US one for the same money as I paid new for this (£560) "


Fact still remains we all like the Ray in its various guises so lets leave it at that and as stingray fan says "all be lovers"

[Musicman20]

I dont really like buying used instruments. I pay more for the peace of mind that it should be perfect, and if it isnt you can get another and not lose cash, (keep trying until its a good one).

I do think the second hand prices on Rays is insane, considering what you get. £750 for a Ray 5?! I wouldnt sell mine and definitely not for anywhere near that price.

I think they arent flavour of the month, but their time will come.

[allihts]

Seems I've come onto Carchat by mistake..... (I wish I could have said something witty!)

[mcnach]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='969947' date='Sep 27 2010, 07:51 PM']looks like this thread has gone the same way as every other SBMM thread. How boring.
And ive yet to see a SR4 with matching headstock for anywhere near the cost of a second hand Ray34, or even new.[/quote]


I'd pay more for a natural finish headstock everytime... matching headstocks seem... "too bling" for me

[stingrayPete1977]

Im keeping my head down now on this one mcnash, I have said too much already! (I didnt see anyone else helping me out in there either )

[mcnach]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='970138' date='Sep 27 2010, 10:12 PM']Im keeping my head down now on this one mcnash, I have said too much already! (I didnt see anyone else helping me out in there either )[/quote]


I didn't think you neded any help, you made your point very clearly... but there are differences in opinion as to what matters most, that's all. And it's great. If everybody wanted the same bass they'll be too expensive!

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='ezbass' post='970010' date='Sep 27 2010, 08:53 PM']+1 these SBMMs do seem to get bashed....[/quote]
They've not been bashed in this thread at all, in fact the only negative comments on them came from the OP.

I myself was just asking for clarification to the claims of why they're percieved to be better than a bass which new is well over twice it's price and as the OP pointed out has better hardware and finish. I didn't know that they didn't have MM pups (I guess I'd just presumed that they had) which says a lot to me about where they stand on the tone front. I'd honestly love to know why they are rated highly against real Stingrays. I guess going by one comment on here, the only thing I can do is try one out and earn my right to comment.

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='970265' date='Sep 28 2010, 01:43 AM']I myself was just asking for clarification to the claims of why they're percieved to be better than a bass which new is well over twice it's price and as the OP pointed out has better hardware and finish.[/quote]
I wasn't saying that as a whole they're better than the real thing. I only said that I enjoy playing my SBMM more than the SR4 I used to have. I said the tone is sweet and it's lovely to play. And on that basis, it's now my regular gig bass. For the purpose of a review, I pointed out a couple of things that let the bass down, albeit only slightly. I've had trophy basses, but I've settled on one that I enjoy playing and sound good at gigs. Each to their own and all that though.

[ezbass]

A Ray34 has been reviewed in this months' Bass Guitar Magazine if anyone is interested. I haven't read it yet but I did see they gave it 3.5 out of 5 in the overview and noted the good VFM it represented.

[mcnach]

[quote name='ezbass' post='971874' date='Sep 29 2010, 05:05 PM']A Ray34 has been reviewed in this months' Bass Guitar Magazine if anyone is interested. I haven't read it yet but I did see they gave it 3.5 out of 5 in the overview and noted the good VFM it represented.[/quote]


That doesn't seem like a very good score. They NEVER give bad reviews so you have to read between the lines.
What were the low points according to the reviewer?

[ezbass]

[quote name='mcnach' post='972059' date='Sep 29 2010, 08:18 PM']That doesn't seem like a very good score. They NEVER give bad reviews so you have to read between the lines.
What were the low points according to the reviewer?[/quote]
It's more of a review of the more expensive limited edition silverburst (only 30 for the UK apparently) as opposed to the standard colours available (they reviewed these back in March when the scoring was differently set out, it scored 4 out of 5 for build quality and sound and 4.5 for VFM) so it's kind of a filler really. The low point was that not everyone would like the silverburst, well they were not wrong there as it's not my cup of tea at all.

[mcnach]

[quote name='ezbass' post='972888' date='Sep 30 2010, 04:34 PM']It's more of a review of the more expensive limited edition silverburst (only 30 for the UK apparently) as opposed to the standard colours available (they reviewed these back in March when the scoring was differently set out, it scored 4 out of 5 for build quality and sound and 4.5 for VFM) so it's kind of a filler really. The low point was that not everyone would like the silverburst, well they were not wrong there as it's not my cup of tea at all.[/quote]


yeah, but the same can be said about other colours!
I wish the reviews focused on more important aspects than... COLOUR.

[ezbass]

[quote name='mcnach' post='973101' date='Sep 30 2010, 07:41 PM']yeah, but the same can be said about other colours!
I wish the reviews focused on more important aspects than... COLOUR. [/quote]
An unfortunate aspect of many reviews by many mags. Maybe they ought to do blind folded tests like they do with food, that'd certainly remove reviewer's prejudices. There was a review in the sporadically published US Bass Gear mag where the technical reviewer (they do a user and a technical review) hated the instrument from the get go because it was orange (I think) and made no bones about it.

[stingrayPete1977]

Reviewers of all things do this,In the Parkers guide they knock the old MX-5 for having an impracticle boot which at first glance sounds fair but its no smaller and in some cases larger than all the other sports cars boots so the only way to avoid it would be to buy a different style of car which is not really a valid opinion if you want a sports car is it?

+1 to blindfolded tests, I bet I could still tell if its got a BBOT bridge though!

[stingrayfan]

I'd say come and try my Ray34 blindfolded, but I'm scared you might like it too much.

[stingrayPete1977]

[ezbass]

Ooh how about bindfolded cars tests too, definitely one for the Top Gear boys?

[WHUFC BASS]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='968971' date='Sep 26 2010, 11:03 PM']It says "set-up in the USA" when you buy it. Take that as, 'put in a box in the USA' because the set-up was awful. But after a DIY set-up, as above, and some lemon oil on the fingerboard, it was sorted).[/quote]

Mine was the same, unplayable out of the box, so what they do in the US to them is anyone's guess. Took it to the Bass Gallery for a set up, still not happy with it. Played OK in the shop. Couple of days later after taking it home, its buzzing all over the place.

So it looks like I'll have to take it elsewhere for a set-up. Really pissed off over this bass, as I wanted this to be a half decent back-up to my Traben basses.

[ezbass]

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='975124' date='Oct 2 2010, 04:38 PM']Took it to the Bass Gallery for a set up, still not happy with it. Played OK in the shop. Couple of days later after taking it home, its buzzing all over the place.[/quote]

Take it back to the Gallery, you'll probably find that it's just settling into the new truss rod tension.

Just moved house a while back and a couple of my basses inc the Ray34 needed a tweak once they'd adjusted to the new environment.

Edited October 2, 2010 by ezbass

[mcnach]

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='975124' date='Oct 2 2010, 04:38 PM']Mine was the same, unplayable out of the box, so what they do in the US to them is anyone's guess. Took it to the Bass Gallery for a set up, still not happy with it. Played OK in the shop. Couple of days later after taking it home, its buzzing all over the place.

So it looks like I'll have to take it elsewhere for a set-up. Really pissed off over this bass, as I wanted this to be a half decent back-up to my Traben basses.[/quote]


different environment, maybe warmer?changes in humidity? those things will affect the set up. It's not unusual for certain instruments to need a tweak as seasons change...