How Sterling by Musicman should have done it (IMO)

[Guest MoJo]

In the past, I’ve owned a Chinese made SBMM SUB4 and more recently a SUB5. With a bit of tweaking, they are very decent instruments. The only thing that I’ve never liked is the big, blocky S.U.B. logo.

It looks as though it’s been stamped ‘Substandard’ at the factory. So I designed my own headstock logo, based on the SBMM Ray35. I passed my design on to Rob at guitardecals.co.uk and a few days later they arrived in the post. I’ve just finished clear coating the headstock. I know some will think, what’s the point? Who looks at the headstock but personally, I think they look a lot better, more in keeping with the Ray15, Ray25 and Ray35

Edited December 18, 2019 by MoJo

[Lozz196]

I agree, always thought that the SUB name/decal was a possible off-putter.

[BassApprentice]

Could be be the cynic in me - but did they do that on purpose?

As you say, nowt wrong with the actual instruments but the logo does cheapen it and the range above looks far better. They want you to spend more money after all.

 

Nice logo design btw!

[BrunoBass]

Looks good, certainly better than the original design.
 

I wonder if anyone from Bass Collection is taking note? Their dreadful headstock logo is a major turn off on an otherwise very decent instrument. 

[RedVee]

Or it could be that it is just sub standard!

 

[drTStingray]

This is bit déjà vu!! They don't have that logo any longer - haven't for at least a year or more. I think all the SBMM models have Stingray in the logo these days. 

Have a look at their website for details. 

The SBMM company is not owned by Musicman so the title of your thread needs changing as well. It's completely separate, making instruments (they do guitars as well as basses) licenced by Musicman. 

Edited December 18, 2019 by drTStingray

[Stub Mandrel]

Now if they were STUB Rays then they would be great 🙂

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

The SBMM company is not owned by Musicman so the title of your thread needs changing as well. It's completely separate, making instruments (they do guitars as well as basses) licenced by Musicman. 

Perhaps they shouldn't be selling guitars with "Sterling By MusicMan' on them?

Sorry, Music Man is a company that's a  subsidiary of Ernie Ball.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Stub Mandrel

[Guest MoJo]

Thread title changed

Edited December 18, 2019 by MoJo

[songofthewind]

The Sterling SUB Ray 4 and 5 are made by Praxis, under licence from Music Man.

Here is a pic of the new logo:

[songofthewind]

PS I like what you did by getting your own logo made. I’ve got one with the giant SUB logo, which I’m not mad on, maybe I’ll follow your lead!

[songofthewind]

I think I want to get another SUB Ray 4 and take the frets out. Anybody tried that?

[Barking Spiders]

I'm just looking at my Sub Ray 4 and yes, the only meh thing  about it is that logo. That said after I tried it out in the store (A Remus Sound for any Gloucs people here) it was a no-brainer.

[kyuuga]

The whole "Sterling by Musicman" thing is ridiculous. It's such a confusing, non-appealing and boring brand name. 

They could've gone the route of Squier/Epiphone for their SUB models (with a decent brand name...) and go the route of Mexican Fender for their mid-priced instruments.

Honestly the reason why Fender MIM sells so much is so obvious and few people get it - people these days pay A LOT of attention to the brand name. 

In a world of consumerism where looks matter the most and everyone wants to feel "special", very few people are going to drop almost £1000 on an instrument that says "Sterling by Musicman" - especially since used Musicman Stingrays also go around for that price.

I know Basschat's community is mostly older (no offense!) but I'm talking about a youngling's perspective...

If Musicman re-branded their Ray34 as "Musicman Stingray" but still kept the "Made in Indonesia" underneath the logo or whatever (like Fender does) and sold it for like £800 you'd see a lot more of them being bought new.

[Stub Mandrel]

37 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

The Sterling SUB Ray 4 and 5 are made by Praxis, under licence from Music Man.

Here is a pic of the new logo:

Delectably, it looks better than the slightly corny Music Man logo.

[M@23]

Looks great. What's the verdict on the SUB 5's? I hear good things. 

[BassApprentice]

16 minutes ago, M@23 said:

Looks great. What's the verdict on the SUB 5's? I hear good things. 

I had very little to complain about with mine. Only sold it to get a bass I'd been looking for for a few years, would happily have another. 

[songofthewind]

Goddammit, this thread is giving me GAS.

[Guest MoJo]

2 hours ago, M@23 said:

Looks great. What's the verdict on the SUB 5's? I hear good things. 

I’ll be honest, I’d been more than happy with my Yamaha BB425 when this SUB5 came up, reasonably locally, at a giveaway price. I bought it with the intention of turning it around quickly for a profit. When I got it home and had a chance to play it, I found the slightly tighter string spacing more comfortable for me than the Yamaha. My only gripe was the edges of the fretboard were pretty sharp. I spent some time rolling the edges of the fretboard, dropped a set of new strings on it and set it up to my personal preferences and I have to say that I’m very impressed. It’s my current ‘go to’. I’d certainly recommend the SUB5 to anyone looking for an affordable 5 string

[Beer of the Bass]

I'd say that non-rolled fingerboard edges might be a conscious design choice on narrow spaced 5 strings. It can be easy to pull the G string off the edge with low tension strings, so they may have wanted to preserve all the playing area they could.

[NancyJohnson]

I suppose bucking the trend somewhat, I actually like the big SUB headstock logo.  It just is what it is.  I'm really not a fan of people putting Fender logos on old copies (or Limelights), or putting Gibson truss rod covers on Epiphones.

 

[Twigman]

How they should've done it?

 

 

They should never have called it 'Sterling by Musicman' - it makes my EBMM Sterling look like something it isn't.

[drTStingray]

@MoJo I like your updated decal - looks great.

However I won't be changing mine - and what a great Musicman it is - for those in the know it's a US made 'Sports Utility Bass' - hence SUB - classic 2 band EQ a basically a Stingray with cheaper finishes - it's fabulous!! 😏👍

@Stub Mandrel how very dare you - that's based on the original 1970s Musicman logo - definitely 70s but corny - I don't think so. That one looks a bit odd btw - here is the one on my Classic Stingray. Looks magnificent to me (as Stingrays always have as far as I'm concerned!!) 👍

Heres a modern one - Stingray Special. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by drTStingray

[drTStingray]

On 18 December 2019 at 21:05, Stub Mandrel said:

Delectably, it looks better than the slightly corny Music Man logo.

That looks like a very bad replacement logo to me on a pre EB Stingray!! The 'Stingray Bass' bit looks hand scribed!!! 

[Dov65]

Freshly painted Ray34 headstock & decal, well chuffed. David Wilson's your man 👍