Sterling by Musicman SB14

[Martin E]

The SB14 is Sterling's different take on the Ray 34 with a slightly downsized body and slimmer neck. The bass is available in three colours – blue, red and black. The blue and black have a black scratchplate the red has a white.
On paper and seeing Ed Friedland's favourable review I decided this could be the one for me but I had trouble finding one in the flesh to try out. So for the first time took the plunge and ordered one
unseen from the Bass Centre in London. Their price was the best I could find and they were good to deal with. The instument arrived as promised and was safely and securly packaged.
The bass is supplied with a good quality gigbag, a set of allen keys and a tool for adjusting the truss rod.

Build
I chose the Candy Apple Red option and my instrument has a flawless metallic paint finish which includes the front of the headstock. The fingerboard is a close grained rosewood (a little pale but a touch of oil improved that immediately) the natural gloss finish on the reverse of the head changes to a smooth matt on the natural maple neck.
The hardware is good quality – the machines are tight and play free even when not under tension, and it has an especially well engineered and solid bridge.
The neck pocket is perfectly cut as is the scratchplate which surrounds the pickup with just a hairs width. The controls are very smooth and noiseless with nice positive centre detents. The jack socket has a quality feel about it when inserting/removing the jack, important when this action switches on the electronics. All in all a solid and well put together bass.

Now the one slightly bad bit - the battery box on the rear for the 9v active circuitry has a flip top which feels a rather flimsy plastic.and could be sturdier. It works fine but just stands out as being a little substandard compared to the rest of the instrument which I really couln't fault.

Playability
The big thing here for me and indeed the main reason for buying this as opposed to a Ray 34 is the shape of the neck . I like Jazz bass necks and was hoping that above all this bass lived up to all the reviews I had read in that department. I was not dissapointed - the SB14 neck unarguably has a Jazz Bass profile.
I have an old Squier Jazz which has the thinnest most comfortable neck I have come across on a jazz. The SB14 is virtually identical to this – if you want a jazz profile be assured this is it.

Out of the box the instrument had obviously had a set up and could have been gigged right away. The neck relief and intonation were perfectly adjusted for the medium guage strings with which it was supplied. The nut slots where evenly cut but could have been a little lower.
I prefer lighter strings and whilst swapping over took the nut slots down just a little futher. The neck now under less tension needed a little more relief by slackening the truss rod. This couldn't have been easier with Sterling's 'spoked wheel' adjuster at the heel of the neck using the tool provided (just a round rod similar to a small electricians screwdriver). This really is an excellent feature making neck adjustments a doddle.

For me the general playablity of this instrument is excellent, a nice slim jazz profile neck with no rogue frets. A reasonable low action was easily set up with the trus rod adlustment and excellent bridge. The pickup has a nice radiused upper edge which provides a comfortable thumb rest.
I believe playing comfort is also improved by its compact size and light weight. If you play long sets the odd pound or so in weight makes a big difference. The short headstock with the three and one machine arrangement and the bridge right at the edge of the smaller symmetrical body means it is about three inches shorter than something like a jazz bass and it really feels more compact on stage. (And less likely to whack the guitarist around the head!).


Sounds
The SB14 has a three band bass, middle and treble active circuit switched on by inserting the jack. The active output is very civilised, quiet and hiss free and not immediately aparent as active as with all the controls centred the output is no louder than a passive bass. In this setting a nice punchy Jazz bass tone is to be had. The tone controls are powerful though and small adjustments go a long way - a little bass boost and treble cut will have you into a solid Precision type sound. Boosting the bass fully and cutting the treble will give thunderous reggae tones at your disposal. Something for everyone especially of you play in a covers band and want to change your tone quickly between numbers.

The SB14 also has a three way switch to select series, parallel and single coil options from the pickup. The difference between these is fairly subtle and difficult to describe but becomes more apparent at gigging volumes. I still am deciding myself on the best settings but it does add a little more to the tonal palette. The big plus with any setting though is that this instrument is hardly affected at all by outside electromagnetic radiation. The striplights in our rehearsal room which cause my other basses and the guitarists Strat to hum violently have no effect on this bass.

Apart from the range of active tones available I am aware of a clarity of sound and evenness of the volume.across the strings. For example chords seem to be that much clearer, balanced and well defined compared to my other passive basses.

I hope this review has been of some use to potential buyers.

Martin

[Mog]

nice review, not helping the gas though!

[TommyK]

Great review, thanks for sharing!

This Sterling by Musicman range of basses is turning out really good me thinks, FWIW my Ray35 is by far the best 5 string i have ever played or owned.+ Haven't seen a bad review yet.

....Pics..?