Sterling SUB / ray 4 or Sterling Stingray 24? Is the extra £200 worth it?

[Carl G]

I am suffering GAS at the moment and keep looking at stingray bass types. I have had a go on the ray 4 / SUB basses (bottom of the range) and they are pretty good for the money. Is the Sterling stingray 24 (next one up) worth the price difference? Not worried about the sculpting, fittings etc - it is the sound difference I am interested in. Thanks in advance

[songofthewind]

I feel your GAS pains.

I’ve got a SUB Ray 4. I agree it’s very good value for money, and is very amenable to upgrading. Plays great.

The Stingray 24 is made in Indonesia (like my SUB), and has a similar ceramic pickup. It lacks the belly cut and forearm contour, which might make it less comfortable. 
 

The EBMM/SBMM/Sterling ranges are very confusingly named and differentiated, to be sure, but I think you probably can’t go wrong with either of the above basses.

[Carl G]

Thanks. Can I ask if you have done any upgrades and if so what have you done?

[songofthewind]

I changed out the bridge for an MM lookey-likey from eBay. A bit of hassle with that but it came out fine. Then I tried a pickup from a Ray 34 kindly donated to me by Dov. This sounds more polite than the original ceramic, which I might go back to. Others on here have added various neck pickups to liven things up also.

I’m planning a Ray build perhaps with a Jazz pickup in the neck position.

[Carl G]

Thanks again - that is food for thought.