Sterling Ray34

[WHUFC BASS]

...and its a bag of sh*t. Plays like bow and arrow. Got it from Andertons music via mail order - set up and inspected in the USA ? What a load of crap. The action was so high the string saddles had about one turn left on the screw posts. Even one turn lowering them produced buzzing on the frets. To me the nut looks like it is cut too high. Back its going tomorrow.

You'd think Andertons would check their stuff before it goes out too. Obviously not.



....and breathe....

[Ou7shined]

Truss rod?

[WHUFC BASS]

Possibly, I'm more inclined to think that the nut has been cut too high - but the point is that if it says it is set-up and inspected in the U.S. I would assume that it is part of their marketing strategy (one of the reasons I bought the bass in the first place). This clearly hasn't been set up or inspected by anyone by the looks of things and if it has, it has been set up in a way, simply to prevent the strings from buzzing. The shop I think is at fault here too for not checking their instruments before they go out the door.

I'm going to ask them for the price of a set-up to be knocked off the bass or for to take it back and give me my money back I reckon. I've heard some good things about the Sterling Ray34s so I assume that the one I've got is a duff one.

Edited May 26, 2010 by WHUFC BASS

[Ou7shined]

I'd definitely blame the shop.

If it had been set up in the US as stated, think about the umpteen different temperature and humidity states it's has been through since then. It is possible for a trussrod to go out with just a change in the weather.

Where abouts is it fretting out?

[ezbass]

I'm surprised, mine did need a tweak, but nothing major and it had travelled from Newcastle to Surrey during the snowy cold snap.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='849075' date='May 27 2010, 12:42 AM']Truss rod?[/quote]

+1

If it's gone out of whack while being transported, this is the adjustment to make. It's a simple tweak on MMs.

Capo on first fret, fret it at the body join, measure the gap at the mid point... it should be around a business card thickness.

[WHUFC BASS]

Thanks for the replies...
It could well be the truss rod, neck looks to be dead straight apart form a slight curve towards the body end of the neck. Worringly though, compared to all my other basses, the nut looks excessivley high - I'll post a picture up tonight if I can. It looks to me that the set up was set so high to avoid any string buzzing, which it did admirably but in the process has made the bass almost unplayable.

Apart from that, the finishing and workmanship on this bass doesn't look too bad. Reasonably light and identical to a Stingray. Sound wise, can't really tell in the state its in - pickup height is all over the place.

Edited May 27, 2010 by WHUFC BASS

[Ou7shined]

I doubt that the nuts would be individually crafted it's more likely that they would do a factory run of them. In which case they'd all come out identical. But you've got it in front of you so you'd know better than the rest of us. Looking at my 'ray (which has an incredibly low action) there is about 2mm max between the strings and the finger board at the nut.


If you take the action down as far as you can without it buzzing and tell me which end of the board it is fretting out at when playing I could talk you through how to tweak the trust rod.

[Clarky]

I bought a Fender P and a J from the Andertons shop. Both had horrendous action. On the day I bought them I asked if their technician could tweak the truss rod so I could get a better view on the basses but they said he didn't work on a Saturday .... While I appreciate that different players like diffferent set-ups/action, I doubt anyone other than Jamerson could have played the massively bowed P bass. In the end I took a punt, bought them and set them up at home - both were fabulous after that. The point remains, why sell expensive basses so badly set up?

[Gust0o]

I think we're always returning to this debate - about quite why such expensive investments would be sold, or arrive, in so poor a state.

Disappointed to hear this has happened to you. Hope you manage to raise the feedback appropriately with Andertons; it's their business, so you'd hope they'd listen and learn.

[gjones]

That's worrying considering all the good press these basses have had recently (and because I'm planning on buying one).

[dlloyd]

[quote name='gjones' post='849225' date='May 27 2010, 10:24 AM']That's worrying considering all the good press these basses have had recently (and because I'm planning on buying one).[/quote]

I don't think it's likely to be a problem with the bass, or with the way it left the factory.

It sounds more like the shop simply didn't bother to set it up.

[WHUFC BASS]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='849276' date='May 27 2010, 11:25 AM']I don't think it's likely to be a problem with the bass, or with the way it left the factory.

It sounds more like the shop simply didn't bother to set it up.[/quote]

Correct. As mentioned the bass itself looks OK and the workmanship appears to be OK - its just the set-up.

Well I rang Andertons, spoke to a sales assistant and they've agreed to refund me the price of a set-up which is fair enough. Thumbs up for that. They were at pains to tell me that I was the first person to experience this problem with a Musicman guitar or bass which I can believe. They don't inspect every guitar that goes out the door apparently because the sheer volume of guitars they sell wouldn't make this viable.

Edited May 27, 2010 by WHUFC BASS

[Grand Wazoo]

Well we haven't seen the bass so none of us can really pass judgement, there will always be a mixture of horror stories as well as happy endings. I have heard of someone in this very forum who recently bought an original Music Man bass and had to return it because it had unspeakable "issues" that you wouldn't really expect from a £1200 instrument made by such a valued manufacturer as Ernie Ball MM, but you know sh*t happens, and yet I am a great fan of Music Man stuff and I own 3 + 1 on the way (Big Al 5) of these basses and never had any issues, believe it or not, I work for a shipping company, and my last one was loaded from New York to London on a cargo ship, stored in its original case and outer box in a ship's container, and crossed the Atlantic on a weather deck in December! When it got her was cold as ice but after I let it climatize in my house and gave it a random set up, it was as good as gold.

The last bass I bought was A CIJ Fender 51 reissue, which when I received it I wondered why the bridge saddles were set so high at their max height, yet with an incredibly low action, just couldn't work out the reason for this odd set up, the truss rod was set perfect with the right slight curve as it should be, until I noticed that I was able to move the neck in and out with my right hand, to my surprise the 4 screws holding the neck were barely hand tight and as a result the neck was sitting way up, and not tight in its pocket, which is why the cowboys that set it up in that shop had to raise the saddle to the max to avoid the fret buzzing like a snare drum. Bunch of muppets the lot of 'em. Anyway I am lucky to be able to set up my own basses and having worked in a guitar shop many moons ago I was trained on fixing most set up faux pas, which is a skill that I really treasure these days and one that has saved "my life" on more than one occasions.

I suggest that unless you are able to set it up yourself you have it looked by a professional and if there are any charges for the work that you get the dealer to pay for it, if they are incapable to fix it themselves. if indeed the bass is a duff one then by all means take it back for a refund. But don't give just yet.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Grand Wazoo

[dlloyd]

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='849280' date='May 27 2010, 11:36 AM']They don't inspect every guitar that goes out the door apparently because the sheer volume of guitars they sell wouldn't make this viable.[/quote]

!

Now that's just lazy... Surely it would take at most a couple of minutes to check that the truss rod and saddles were adjusted correctly?

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='849304' date='May 27 2010, 12:05 PM']!

Now that's just lazy... Surely it would take at most a couple of minutes to check that the truss rod and saddles were adjusted correctly?[/quote]
Yeah but are too rushed off their feet hanging about at the till sending texts to their mates and dishing out bad advice to clueless customers to get on with anything remotely skilled.

[WHUFC BASS]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='849304' date='May 27 2010, 12:05 PM']!

Now that's just lazy... Surely it would take at most a couple of minutes to check that the truss rod and saddles were adjusted correctly?[/quote]

Yep - or even just pick the thing up, give it a couple of minutes playing to see that it was remotely playable and then stick it back in the box. I know you're all taking my word for it on this one so I'll post pics up later of how its been sent and the nut and string height ratio.

[WHUFC BASS]

Here's the pics as promised. If anyone can give me any tips on setting up I'd be grateful - I'm about as useful as the pope's knackers when it comes to setting up basses...
Apologies for the photo quality - they were done on my mobile.

Edited May 27, 2010 by WHUFC BASS

[Ou7shined]

Well your nut looks to be higher than the one on my 'ray but not too dissimilar to that on a cheap necked P bass I'm using and your bridge height does seem on the high side but not mental.

How far can you drop it before it starts buzzing? If you answer what I asked above too I can help.

[WHUFC BASS]

Well I can drop it about three turns on the G-string and its buzzing like a good 'un. The other strings about one or two turns.

[OutToPlayJazz]

Yes, a needle file needs taking to those nut grooves. Way too high. The neck relief looks fine from the picture. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was able to set my Ray 34 neck almost flat (with just the slightest hint of relief) with no buzz at all. Pickup height doesn't look too bad, either. I usually set MM pickups with the pole tops about 4mm from the strings.

[Ou7shined]

Yep 4mm is the official MM recommended height.

Do you have a pic of your nut (not that one ) for comparison OTPJ?

[OutToPlayJazz]

I don't know if any of my Sterling/MusicMan pics got that close up - I'll have a search...




Edit: This is as close as I got...

Edited May 27, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[OutToPlayJazz]

Yes, looks like someone's mention of around 2mm off the fingerboard at the nut is about right.

I've just been looking at your pics again - The way the strings are mounted into the nut looks about right to my eye - Then I blew up the picture & realised it's not the way the nut is cut, but the fact that the groove that the nut sits in hasn't been cut deep enough! If you look, the nut is only recessed about 1-2mm into the neck.

Edited May 27, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[Ou7shined]

Arr that wer me.

It's too hard to make out neck relief from that photo when you take into account lens curvature. I'd still investigate the truss rod before removing any material that can't be put back though.

If I had it here I could have it sorted in 10 minutes.