Vintage (brand) Stingray copy - Watsitlike?

[Ricky 4000]

Hi pop fans!

I have a Vintage (brand) Icon Jazz Bass (love it's sound, but jury's still out on the low output from the PUPs). Seems highly regarded on here (for the money), as does the V4 P bass copy.

So can anybody advise about the Vintage 'ray copy? (V96, although confusingly, sometimes the VJ74 Jazz has V96 on the headstock).

I'd rather not spend 600-2000 on a real one, so what's the facts on the cheapo?

A forum search into the past says decent, the PUP is good, but it might need a different pre' to sound like a Ray... ?

TIA for info. 👍

edit: Oh, and I'd get a 4 string, so no worrys about low flying bees.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Ricky 4000

[Geek99]

I’ve got an est96a in yellow/honey with maple and its awesome. Batteries last forever although a less fiddly compartment would be nice 

[Geek99]

I have no idea if it sounds like a stingray but it’s feels solid and well made and the sound it makes is unlike a p bass. It is a good sound 

[jezzaboy]

Had one a while back but I would look for a s/h Sterling Sub. The shape of the Vintage one just looks wrong to me.

Get a Sub and stick a Stingray sticker on the headstock 

[gjones]

I saw this band playing in Edinburgh a few years ago and was surprised how excellent the bassist's Vintage Stingray sounded.

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by gjones

[Ricky 4000]

11 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

Had one a while back but I would look for a s/h Sterling Sub. The shape of the Vintage one just looks wrong to me.

Get a Sub and stick a Stingray sticker on the headstock 

Interesting, and surprisingly around the same price! 👍

[bigsmokebass]

22 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Hi pop fans!

[tom1946]

I have a walnut/ maple sub and would't sell it for the world, I also have a 2007 Stingray and it's worrying how alike they sound.

I also bought both of the Harley Benton musicman copies and they are excellent too, sadly these 2 are going up for sale this week. I just have too many now.

[antnee]

21 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

Had one a while back but I would look for a s/h Sterling Sub. The shape of the Vintage one just looks wrong to me.

Get a Sub and stick a Stingray sticker on the headstock 

I concur with this.

[Guest MoJo]

21 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

The shape of the Vintage one just looks wrong to me.

Strangely, although I love and regularly gig my V4, I've always been put off the EST96 because it's body shape looks slightly 'wrong' to me too. The horns appear too skinny. I don't know why it bothers me as it's headstock shape is never going to fool anyone into thinking it's a Stingray. I've watched several YouTube videos and they do sound very Ray-like

[Guest MoJo]

4 hours ago, tom1946 said:

I have a walnut/ maple sub and would't sell it for the world, I also have a 2007 Stingray and it's worrying how alike they sound.

I also bought both of the Harley Benton musicman copies and they are excellent too, sadly these 2 are going up for sale this week. I just have too many now.

"My name's Tom and I'm a Ray-o-holic"

[BassApprentice]

Having had both the Harley Benton and SUB Ray 5s I would personally go for one of these over the Vintage purely on looks. The hardware and pickup on the Vintage will be plenty good so just depends on what you like! 

[jezzaboy]

10 hours ago, MoJo said:

Strangely, although I love and regularly gig my V4, I've always been put off the EST96 because it's body shape looks slightly 'wrong' to me too. The horns appear too skinny. I don't know why it bothers me as it's headstock shape is never going to fool anyone into thinking it's a Stingray. I've watched several YouTube videos and they do sound very Ray-like

Spot on. I have nothing against the brand and I would happily gig one of the Jazz or P bass Vintage copies. I have owned a couple of the Sterling Sub`s and for the money they are really good.