sterling sub bass

[jassbass]

Whats the verdict on these.they look great for the price the 4 and the 5 string
Can you get one in mint green?i know the ray34 comes in mint green
Thanx

[theyellowcar]

They have released a special run if the Mint Green SUB in the States but when I e-mailed Strings and Things (UK distributor for all MM products) they said there was no sign of it coming to the UK.

This made me sad.

[Lozz196]

I played one at the London Bass Guitar Show and was very impressed with the playability. Not too sure about the sound, it was coming through headphones so difficult to say really, though even through them it certainly sounded like a Stingray.

[dannybuoy]

I've got the Sub Ray4 - sounds awesome, every bit a Stingray, although the preamp is very loud. There's mods listed over on the Talkbass forums showing how to remedy that.

[razze06]

I've just bought one of these (the 4 string walnut stain one). Great playability, nice neck and body, finish is pretty good for the price, and adequate in absolute terms.

In the shop they had the whole family: stingray, sterling and SUBs. I compared all three, and the SUB had the most "direct" and punchy sound of them all. To my ears and with my technique the SUB sounded harsher than the other two, especially with the preamp not cutting the trebles. The highs on the sterling and stingray sounded more mellow and domesticated than on the SUB, but you need to make some compromise somewhere.

I am interested in considering swapping out the pickup and possibly the preamp, any recommendations? I'll check talkbass as well.

[geoffbyrne]

I have a Stering by Musicman SUB 5 in all black with a Retrovibe Pre. Stingray for days. Also, pretty light. Good action. All I've done over & above the pre is put some Swedish Oil on the unfinished back of the neck. I actually have a trade ad in the 'For Sale' thread for this, but if my arm was twisted up my back I might sell...

G.

[Funky Dunky]

I played one of these before I eventually settled on a Squier VMPJ ( wanted that pickup configuration on a budget) and found it to be immensely playable and did a surprisingly good job of the Stingray slap sound. My one gripe was the preamp - it was too darn hot, resulting in unwanted distortion.

Now that Sterling have added the red and blue finishes, both of which are really sexy, I'm tempted to get one to tide me over and satisfy my GAS until I can afford my Warwick SS1. Anyone know if Sterling have dealt with the hot preamp issue on the 2014 models? If not, I'd definitely need to do something about it.

Anyone know if these basses are giggable? If not, what do they lack?

[geoffbyrne]

Haven't had any prob gigging mine.

G.

[Funky Dunky]

Any observations? Does it do the job perfectly well? What kind of gigs do you do?

[geoffbyrne]

The original pre, as you said, was pretty brutal. I put a retrovibe in it and it's still got a powerful output, but sounds much better although the volume is still pretty much on or off.

It's pretty light - certainly the lightest of all my 5 strings and not back-breaking at the end of the night. I like the neck & the action is good for me - I have a light touch & like a low action, letting the amp do the heavy lifting.

I do both general functions and also blues. Obviously it's more suited to general stuff, but I've used it for blues - zonk up the bass & cut the top by 7/8 - and it was OK.

FYI I also have an Ibanez ATK300 (4 string) which I prefer tonally - it's more Stingray than a stingray-thing - but it weighs a lot more. I feel the build is a little better classier too.

However I think the SUB is great value for money and perfectly giggable.

G.

Edited August 20, 2014 by geoffbyrne

[Funky Dunky]

Geoff, thanks for going into the details. Sounds like a good match for me actually, I have a similar playing style to yours judging by your post. I take it the Sub cuts through the mix nicely?

Was the preamp swap tricky? There are supposedly guides on how to do it over on talkbass but I couldn't find them.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Funky Dunky

[geoffbyrne]

No problem cutting through the mix with the SUB (or the ATK!).

I can't remember having probs with the pre - just followed the instructions & it worked - but I've done more than a few & my soldering is OK.

G.

[dannybuoy]

I tried the Retrovibe pre in my Sub but far preferred the stock one so switched it back. The stock one sounds great, just a bit too loud. Somewhere in the talkbass thread are instructions from a Sterling rep detailing how to mod the preamp to resolve this, wiring the volume control after the preamp instead of before it and adding a resistor in somewhere.

Definitely giggable stock though, no sharp fret ends, low action, great tone and very light weight.

Edited August 23, 2014 by dannybuoy

[antnee]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1408830695' post='2533975']
I tried the Retrovibe pre in my Sub but far preferred the stock one so switched it back. The stock one sounds great, just a bit too loud. Somewhere in the talkbass thread are instructions from a Sterling rep detailing how to mod the preamp to resolve this, wiring the volume control after the preamp instead of before it and adding a resistor in somewhere.
[/quote]

Was it in part 1 or 2 as I'm struggling to find the post from the rep...

[Qlank]

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/sterling-by-music-man-sub-ray4-and-ray5.871370/page-17
Starts at the bottom of the page. Downloadable PDH thing.

[Bassbadger]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1408531173' post='2531045']
The original pre, as you said, was pretty brutal. I put a retrovibe in it and it's still got a powerful output, but sounds much better although the volume is still pretty much on or off.

[/quote]

Hi Geoff,

I just came across your post and thought you might be interested to know that a couple of other people contacted me about the on/off nature of the volume control. It seems that certain pickups provide an input level which when amplified causes the volume control to be almost switch-like. After a little experimenting I found that if you are having this issue you can reverse the white and yellow wires on the volume pot and you will get a smoother volume adjustment.

Hope that's useful.

Regards,

David

[geoffbyrne]

Thanks David, I'll try it.

G.