Upgrades to my Ray34

[mike.stone]

On 30/03/2019 at 17:11, Waddycall said:

Some may have seen my Ray34 in the for sale section a while back. I was not able to get the tone I wanted out of it for the band I’m in. It wasn’t selling and rather then drop the price further I decided to hang onto it and turn it in to the bass I wanted it to be.

ive fitted the 3 band John east pre amp with variable mid frequency, a nordstrand mm4.2 pickup and a tort guard to fit the new pickup. It’s becom a much more useable bass in my hands and to my ears. The biggest difference has been the pre amp. With the original I never knew what to do with the treble control because of all the clicking and clanking it seemed to accentuate. With the John east I can have the treble right up for some sizzle without the unwanted noise. It now sounds warmer and fatter too. if anyone else is considering changing the electronics in a Ray34 I’d recommend the east pre amp first. The pickup was a smaller step in the same direction.

For the total spend I could have bought a second hand stingray but I’m still very pleased with the result. I love the neck on this bass and didn’t really want to let it go.

 

 

 

Hi Waddycall, 

was the pickguard you used to fit the new pickup an original usa stingray pickguard, or one for different model of Sterling (e.g. Ray4 or Ray24) which use the pickup shape with that two semicircles on the top?

Thanks for any advise!

 

 

Edited September 16, 2024 by mike.stone

[brickers]

Hey @Gaano124 do you happen to have any sound examples of your mod? I recently bought a new ray34 and already I’m tone chasing. Would be really nice to hear the effect of your change. Also did you find the pickup without thumb rest fitted straight in to the existing hole?

[Gaano124]

30 minutes ago, brickers said:

Hey @Gaano124 do you happen to have any sound examples of your mod? I recently bought a new ray34 and already I’m tone chasing. Would be really nice to hear the effect of your change. Also did you find the pickup without thumb rest fitted straight in to the existing hole?

I should have any but I don't remember where. The pickup replacement is a drop in, no modification needed, but you'll have a hole between the two "ear" screw holes, the ray 34 standard has a finger ramp that isn't there on other 4 string mm pickups