Before you buy! Sterling Stingray Ray 34

[@andrewbecker3700]

Picked one up in Firemist Silver a few years back now, when they first came out. Noticed the tuners were cheap right away. Adjusting the tension screws and lubrication with gun oil. Will generally keep them from binding. Theres no question they punch hard, and have a bitting tone if you dig in. The whole beauty of the Stingray. Is that with proper set up and dialing of EQ. They're very versatile. Adding tone or frequencies to a guitar isn't possible. Luckily dialing them out is. More is always better than less. Peace!

[@BrianStDenis-pj1tq]

Great review, great song. Well done!

[@javiacustico]

it sounds really good must say, but indeed is a bummer to wait all that extra time for the repairs after the initial purchase axiety xD.. would you compare the construction quality (neck, body, how it feels playing and acoustically) to a mim player fender? which is better in this regard?

[@Longy_b]

I’d say the build quality is pretty good on the Stingray - on par with my MIM fender. It feels nice to play, although I can’t get the action quite as low as I would like (I’m not aiming for anything insanely low either). My only complaints on build quality might be that the pickup screws are probably quite cheap - and so I’ve threaded them quite badly while trying to adjust the pickup height, to the point where I now can’t adjust that screw anymore.

[@bassface8580]

Thank you so much for this video dude. I've ordered this exact bass from the same site and I've been praying it's gonna be a working truss rod and tuners that arnt fucked lol. I've always wanted a good stingray sound but didn't have the money but don't want a crap riff off thing.. Ive owned an OLP stingray before which was sweet for like 200 quid way back like 14 years ago but it was not a proper Stingray sound. I'm like wtf that thing never had issues with tuners and this one worth one grand has it? And for years people have been complaining... Why don't the company resolve this issue asap? Frustrating

[@Longy_b]

Fingers crossed you don’t have issues! Even with all the faff I had in the beginning I’ve been loving this bass recently and am playing it a lot. I have chosen it for live gigs over my p bass for the last 4-5 gigs as I love how it cuts through 🤘😁🤘 TOP TIP! Keep the cardboard box the bass got delivered in. Although gear4music cover the cost of courier for returning the bass they won’t provide packaging. I had to buy a box online to send the instrument back!

[@bassface8580]

@@Longy_b thanks alot dude. Most helpful video and comment I've seen on this basses potential problems. I know if ya get a good one they are killer but it's like not guaranteed which is such a shame

[@Longy_b]

How did it turn out? Any issues?

[@bassface8580]

@@Longy_b I ended up cancelling the order as they still weren't in stock and instead I ordered just yesterday a Sire Z3 which should be delivered tomorrow. Seems to have good reviews and alot cheaper.

[@BigCityRips]

That’s a bummer. I have a ray 34CA from 2011 or so and it’s been great. I’m guessing QC may have dipped a bit over the years. I also see your fingerboard on your monitor..what are you rocking there?

[@Longy_b]

Haha well spotted. It’s more a decorative piece than anything to be honest! I used to love them as a kid and my girlfriend put one in my Christmas stocking last year after I was reminiscing one day. I think it’s a Toy Machine graphic 🛹

[@nunezgabriel98]

My tuners on my almost 1000$ ray 34 went bad after one string change

[@Farewelltokingz]

Same, I took mine back as I could already tell the replacements were going out too.

[@nunezgabriel98]

@@Farewelltokingz I honestly should have, I just replaced them with hip shots but I’m still never going to recommend the sterlings to anyone unless they know how set up their own gear. Sad reality for a brand that has flagship models that legitimately don’t need to be touched for years as far as set ups. I guess that’s why they cost so much

[@mr.patriarch]

I had stiff tuners, a twisted neck and frozen truss rod on one. Returned it and got another. Tuners were better, neck wasn't twisted, but the truss rod was frozen and wouldn't budge, even with penetrating oil or anything & attempted fixes at 2 guitar shops. Got my money back, and now I've preordered a Sire Z3, which should be in next month. Also, Sterling intentionally wires the pickup in series instead of parallel (the normal Musicman way). Personally, I think this is to intentionally nerf the Ray34. Also, the G string was noticeably weaker than the others. This wasn't a bad one, it's just a design flaw with this particular instrument. I'm done with SBMM.

[@Pufedu]

I have a made in USA Stingray 5 from 1997 and it's by far the best, highest quality instrument I've ever held in my hands. For a reference I have Warwick Corvette, Fender Jazz, Fernandes P, Gibson Les Paul etc. And none of them can even barely touch the feeling of quality the Stingray has. Only complaint I have is that it's insanely heavy.

[@Longy_b]

I’ve always perceived my Warwick corvette to be slightly heavier than my stingray but I just weighed them both (very roughly by standing on the bathroom scales with and without them), and mine weigh practically the same!

[@Pufedu]

@@Longy_b Funny because my 1995 Corvette is by far the lightest bass I own. Way lighter than my Jazz or Precision. The SR5 feels like double the weight :D

[@acekkkkkk]

My corvette masterbuilt is 9.5 pounds/4.8kg and my ray34 (also with same tuner issue, replaced them with hipshots) weighs almost the same around 9 pounds/4.5kg. Both feel insanely heavy. My lightest are my locally made jazz custom shop and my warwick Adam clayton Signature with around 7lbs/3.5kg which feels sooo much better. But the ray34 has that amazing stingray tone which i love. It works so good with fuzz and heavy distortion like the alpha omicron whereas my p and j pair very well with some mild overdrive like the microtubes series

[@Longy_b]

@acekkkkkk which hip shots did you go for in the end? It would be good to know which ones (if any) are a direct drop in replacement that wouldn’t require any extra holes drilled.

[@acekkkkkk]

@@Longy_b Well I went for the Hipshot HB1 because they were absolutely looking like a direct replacement but they are not! Only 2 Screws fit, the other 2 are a few milimiters apart which is particularly bad due the new hole beeing very close to the previous one. I also assumed they would be much lighter but they are only by about 3 grams. So I cannot really recommend them because when you need to drill a new whole it makes absolutely more sense to go with Hipshot Ultralight clover tuners. With those you only need 1 screw hole in the center near the peg which is much easier and they are much lighter. I think they are called Hipshot HB6. I have those as Y tuners on my jazz and they are absolutely awesome. Not sure if the screw hole issue is due to a difference between american Rays and Sterlings or if the Hipshot is generally different. I read a comment on the product that they fit perfectly on an american Stingray so I assume the Sterling has a different Screw layout than the rest of the lineup besides them all looking the same. Which is kind of dumb I might add

[@TSE_WOODY]

Not watched the whole vid yet but the track you wrote is pretty good, think you captured the essence of RATM really well. I was looking at a sub Ray4 recently so I’m intrigued what the model up fares like

[@TSE_WOODY]

Watched it now, I’m glad you went through the issues you had in detail, definitely things to keep an eye out for on the Sterling models.