Try before you buy?……..

[Silky999]

Folks,

 

Exactly as above…….do you always try play a bass before deciding to buy it or do you sometimes take a leap of faith?

 

I has some serious GAS for either SIre Z3, Z7 or a Sterling Musicman Ray 34. I know there is quite a price difference’s between the Sires and the Stirling but I am lusting after something with the Musicman single pickup vibe. My current basses are all Ibanez SRs so I also understand that there will be some quite profound neck width difference between them. 
 

So which one? (can’t afford a real EB version) then would you order it or would you never buy new bass without seeing it it worked for you first?

[Lozz196]

I prefer to try a bass out if it’s not a model I’m familiar with wherever possible, a few times I’ve done the leap of faith and it’s not worked out. 

[Silky999]

Lozz, thank you. Not worked out horrifically or just “not right”? Did you return them or sell on and any issues if you returned them under the “this is not for me” reason lol

[Len_derby]

I’ve bought a few basses blind over the years. Almost every time it’s worked out fine. I’ve used the old gamblers adage - don’t bet more than you’re prepared lose.

Meaning, I’ve bought blind for cheaper instruments but wouldn’t do it for anything expensive. 

[bremen]

If the store has a reasonable returns policy, I'm fine with buying blind.

[Lfalex v1.1]

If I can try a bass prior to purchase, I will.

That said,  I've bought without trying twice before,  once used on here,  and once from Bass Direct.

Both instruments are excellent (one Ibanez, one MusicMan)

[BigRedX]

I won't know if I'm going to like a bass enough to use it on a regular basis until I've had it for a few weeks and done a couple of rehearsals and at least one gig with it. The last bass that I kept and used for any serious length of time having tried it in the shop first was back in the early 90s. The two I've been able to try first since then were both moved on fairly quickly, as although they seemed OK in the 30 minutes I played them for in the shop spending longer with them at home and actually playing them with my band revealed all sorts of problems that I couldn't live with. Everything else has bought on the strength of a few photographs and a description on-line or has been custom made for me. Of the three basses I currently use regularly, one was custom made and other two were bought on-line.

[RichT]

55 minutes ago, Silky999 said:

Did you return them or sell on and any issues if you returned them under the “this is not for me” reason lol

 

You've got 14 days to return anything bought online in this country, just be prepared that you'll be paying for the return if it's simply because you don't like it and there's no fault with it. Someone like Parcel Force will charge you about £25 and pick it up direct from your house. About as easy as it gets. 

 

Thomann say they'll give you free returns but I've read so many tales of woe around that, I'm personally very wary of buying from them (or any other non-UK retailers for that matter) due to the complete PITA if it needs to go back. 

Edited Sunday at 18:24 by RichT
spelling

[FretsOnFire]

I used to until our PMT store here closed and now the closest is in Romford so it's not always possible.

 

So far thankfully I've been lucky when not trying before I buy

[Silky999]

It’s good to know that I’m not alone in the leap of faith. Does anyone have any experience with the newish Sire Z series compared with the Stirlings? Are they a million miles apart? I watched the Andertons YouTube on them but I’m a little suspicious of their content as they seem heavily pro Sire with some of their previous videos. 

[Geek99]

I bought a custom bass made just for me and communicated only by PM

It worked out fine 

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Silky999 said:

Lozz, thank you. Not worked out horrifically or just “not right”? Did you return them or sell on and any issues if you returned them under the “this is not for me” reason lol

Just not right, in all cases.  Some I’ve returned straight away as not for me (a recent one due to neck size and my arthritic thumb) others after a while I’ve realised they just work out long term so sold them on. Fortunately I’ve never bought an instrument that I’ve found horrific.

[Ed_S]

The majority of my basses have been bought sight unseen as I wouldn't have been buying most of them had they not been bargains, and they wouldn't have been bargains had I spent the money to travel and check them out in person.

 

I've never had a problem sending anything back that's needed to go, be that within the UK or further afield; I just pay with a credit card so there's some protection from that side, accept that going through the returns process was always a possibility and I might have to make a few calls or send a few emails to push it along, photograph everything for evidence and resign myself to the fact that money rarely comes back as fast as it went out.

 

No experience with the specific basses you're looking at, though.. sorry!

[JohnH89]

I would seriously check out a Sterling in person . The one I bought brand new was one of the shocking QC fails with a busted truss rod and tuners made of toffee . It was returned to the seller in person . Never again for me .

[Silky999]

53 minutes ago, JohnH89 said:

I would seriously check out a Sterling in person . The one I bought brand new was one of the shocking QC fails with a busted truss rod and tuners made of toffee . It was returned to the seller in person . Never again for me .

Thanks, I have read about some Sire QC issues as well so it appears to be just luck of the draw and sometimes you get that Friday afternoon bass. 
 

[Terry M.]

Take the Z7 out the equation unless you HAVE to have a neck pickup? I tried one in Andertons and found the neck pickup mixed with bridge one didn't give me the Stingray vibe I was after. 

 

A leap of faith with a decent return policy I've always found "fun". Done it with success many times.

Edited Sunday at 21:08 by Terry M.

[bassbiscuits]

I’ve had a couple of sub-£300 basses I’ve bought blindly, with mixed results - one fine, the rest wrong for various reasons.
But a punt I was willing to take. Wouldn’t do it for anything more expensive though.  

[Silky999]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

Take the Z7 out the equation unless you HAVE to have a neck pickup? I tried one in Andertons and found the neck pickup mixed with bridge one didn't give me the Stingray vibe I was after. 

 

A leap of faith with a decent return policy I've always found "fun". Done it with success many times.

Thanks Terry, I was leaning more towards the Z3 anyway…

[Kev]

I think it's just the common sense advice really.  If you can try first, absolutely do.  If it's not practical, take each bass as it comes, some are bigger risks than others. 

 

When buying an off the shelf new bass though, I HAVE to try first, as they can vary so much, i'd want to know that I had the best one the shop had that day.

[Woodinblack]

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I won't know if I'm going to like a bass enough to use it on a regular basis until I've had it for a few weeks and done a couple of rehearsals and at least one gig with it. 

 

Thats the same with me, however I do know I am not going to like it enough to use it at all pretty much straight away. 

 

Most of my basses that have been favourites have been unseen though, most of the basses I gig I didn't play before buying, although one of the was made for me with a copy of an ibanez neck. 

[Hellzero]

@Silky999, I've bought 3 Sterling by Music Man Stingray's, none of them had a single issue, everything is perfectly made and assembled.

 

I still own 2 of them: a sunburst Ray4 with a jatoba (similar to rosewood tone wise) fingerboard and a Joe Dart.

 

I've played a lot of Sire's, most of them were poorly made and assembled, remember those Japanese horrors of the 70's, it's almost the same.

 

And the tone wasn't that fantastic either.

 

The Z3 looks different in the flesh than on photos, it's again a not fantastic instrument, chunky and not sounding like a Stingray.

 

First of all, you have to remember that the typical tone of the Stingray comes from the combination of the parallel wired pickup with a total resistance around 2 kOhms coupled to the strangely designed 2 bands EQ were the volume is at the end of chain: this is the only way to get THAT distinctive Stingray tone and if you put the volume the classic way before the preamp, the preamp will absolutely not react "correctly".

 

So forget the Z3 were it's a 3 bands EQ wired the usual way.

 

Go for a Ray4 that retails new for £400 to £450 depending on the finish.

 

Then wire the pickup in parallel (I can yell you how to do that) and don't waste your time swapping pickups unless you have a real Ernie Ball or Music Man Stingray pickup, I've done it with the acclaimed Nordstrand MM4.2 and the Indonesian sounded truer (in parallel).

 

Same for the preamps, the Indonesian stock one is the SMC version with an SMC TL061 instead of the hard to find LM4250CN (that as far as I know doesn't exist as an SMC version), which is another part of the Stingray tone.

 

That said the TL061 is very close tone wise.

 

I've also put a real Ernie Ball Stingray pickup and a real Ernie Ball 2 bands EQ with an LM4250CN opamp that I've in my drawer, the sounds was EXACTLY the same as my 1979 Music Man Stingray, only the feel of the neck was really different (38 mm nut width compared to the 43 mm of the original and a Jazz Bass type neck on the Ray4 with a satin finish).

 

It was also exactly the same sound as 5 other pre Ernie Ball Stingray's compared with it, so you have a real world answer now.

[bertbass]

Being left handed, trying out anything other than a black Squire Jazz or Precision, which I don't like, is impossible.

[neepheid]

I buy blind all the time - if it's new and it's bad I'll return it, if it's used and bad I'll fix it.  I live in the relative middle of nowhere, the bleeding edge of civilisation so not much trying out options up here that don't involve a 6 hour round trip.

[BassAgent]

I've bought a few basses blind and have never been disappointed. Orderd my Sterling Ray34 online, and bought my two USA Laklands abroad without having played them. They're among the best basses I've ever owned.

[neepheid]

Regarding the Z3/Z7/SBMM Ray34 conundrum - I think all SBMM basses are horribly overpriced by the time they make it over here and I really don't see where the extra money went.  Up to you if you think it's worth it.  If you go Sire, whichever one you choose you're going to get an 18V preamp, well rolled fretboard edges, passive/active operation to name but three of the things a Ray34 won't have.

 

Z3 or Z7?  Well, depends what you want.  The "advantages" of the Z7 are - a neck pickup, a preamp with more features (giving you a mid sweep and a passive tone control - the preamp in the Z3 is fixed frequency three band and the passive option is just a get-out-of-jail-free card - no tone shaping as far as I know) and stainless steel frets.  If you can live without these things, get the Z3 and pocket the difference, happy days.  Another thing to factor in is I think Sire have done a small redesign on the Z7 and the neck pickup has been improved, at least aesthetically with four fat pole pieces instead of the regular small 8 pole piece Jazz pickup in the current ones.  So it might be worth holding off if you think that's important and you want a Z7.

 

I would ignore all campfire stories about QC (and yes, IMO they are individual occurrences with no correlation between them - no-one here has the statistical overview to be able to make blanket statements about an entire manufacturer's or factory's output, it's utter tosh.  Every factory makes the occasional "Friday afternoon special" - so what?  Return it if you're not happy).  For a contrary data point to any doom and gloom you might have heard, my Z7 arrived in perfect condition and my only beef with it were the knobs, which is a personal preference I was happy to correct on my own.  I think I would have preferred the Z3's knobs to be honest with you.

 

Hope that mini rant helped