Sterling By Musicman Ray34

[ashchong]

Well Ain't a great bassist but this bass does bring the funk.

The Ray34 is styled like the Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray (EBMM SR). Both the SR and the Ray34 are made from Ash bodies.The only significant difference is where its built. The SR being built in US and the Ray34 in Indonesia. However, there of course a huge price gap difference. The Ray 34 is way more affordable for the common hobbist and still allows pros to play hard and enjoy the SR tone at a cheaper price.

Body:Ash
Neck:Maple with Rosewood
Pickups: Sterling Designed Stingray Style MM Humbuckers
Electronics : Sterling Designed 3 band EQ (9v)
Price: About SGD900 If u get one from BGW now ( i got mine much earlier last november actually)

Rating:9/10

U can't beat the price to performance ratio. Sells for the price of MIJ Fender and beats the hell outta it with the tone of the Stingray.

It was my best buy so far

I probably shouldn't do this but yea my lousy playing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOpBB6B2pY

 

[boone]

Wanted to do a review on this bass but saw a previous review here.

Mine's a 2010 Ray34, came only in Boring Black. Unlike all you righties who get the good Silverburst, or sunburst..OR NATURAL! hmph.

Features

Yadda yadda..as above post.

Just a note though, the pickups are different from the normal MM pickups, as the top 2 height adjustment poles have been combined into one thick plastic thumbrest ala the Musicman Sterling pickups. So those looking to retrofit their Sterling 'Rays with Basslines or Barts should take note, as I'm not sure whether they'll fit into it.

Playability

Slick as your mama's..uh nevermind.

The bass came factory setup with a nice slippery, shred-worthy low action, a tad too low for me. Nothing a little adjustment can't fix. On exerting a little more strength, the strings rebounded off the last few frets, leading to a slightly irritating tinny sound. Personal opinion though.

The low setup's great for those speed runs and solos, but for slap potential buyers might want to adjust the action higher. Neck was surprisingly thinner and faster, as from my experience 'ray necks were much more chunkier. Thick and chunky. Mmm.

Bridge felt solid enough.

Tone Test

Well waddya know, sounds like a Stingray! :/

Given it was my virginal experience with active tone controls, I would say it was a pretty piercing one. Heh, as in the treble tone controls were rather piercing at 3/4s the way up or more. The bass portion provided a really good thick and booming low end, but not too much over the top. I really liked the fact that they included the mid control, to my knowledge the OLP's weren't issued with one. Makes it a really more versatile machine.


Stingray, F*&@ YEAH!

Overlooking the few minor flaws that the Ray34 has, this piece really shines. It's ability to replicate a basic Stingray, coupled with the fact that it's cheaper than an actual MM 'Ray, makes it a good bass to have if you're short of Ishaks for the real deal.

Kudos to Brendon at BGW Guitars for his great customer service! Ups to you for the OMO you're running, respek man.

 

[bassty]

Ray34!!

Had my eye on the Ray 34 for awhile now as an upgrade and had heard great things about it.. not until I paid a visit to BGWguitars did I get to fully experience it. Well, I'm not experienced enough to give a technical review nor compare it to many other bass guitars but as a whole, personally it felt really comfortable weight-wise, looked really cool (The slverburst one) and sounded crisp and warm at the same time... I got myself a piece and am understatedly pleased with it!!

Well what really impressed me was the whole purchasing experience though. Its really a non intimidating place for a relative noob like me...Brendon's most helpful and easy going.. the setup of the place is really inviting and beats any other guitar shops around for personal service.. in fact, it doesn't even feel like a shop, it feels like I'm at a friends crib mucking around with a whole selection of bass guitars and acoustics... props for that.. even better, prices are certainly very reasonable for the level of quality that you get.. more props for that!!

 

[angwx]

Sterling Ray34

I acquired a Sterling Ray34 just less than a week ago from Brendon at BGWguitars, and I must say that its worth every bit of its price.

First of all I'd like to commend Brendon for his service excellence. It was a very pleasant shopping experience in warehouse, a very cordial and honest 1-1 service without distractions or nosey shoppers, possible through his "please make appt before visiting" policy. He was also very patient with me taking 2-3hours (haha) of trying before deciding on a purchase.

Review:
I was considering between 3 models, the sb14s, ray34 rosewood and maple necks. The sb14 was the first to be out, because of its similarity to a jazz bass (I've been a Jbass user and want a change) in terms of its tone and slimmer neck profile (very comfortable to play). Tone wise it sings, and its very versatile with its 3-way pickup switch thing, and punchier (active pickups). However it doesn't have as much low end growl as compared to the ray34s, which was the sole criteria for me.

This brings me to the ray34s. Absolutely LOVE the fat rolling low end rumble especially on the e string, much like a p bass but tighter. Powerful humbucking sound I like. The highs are decent with fingerstyle, but I think they only sounded better with my compressor on. The slap sound on this bass is amazing, especially after you scoop the EQ with the onboard pre-amp (master vol, treble, mid, bass boost/cuts) which is uh, subtle but significantly awesome. Addictive. The neck is thicker than sb14, but still fast, and string action is decently low.

The maple necks come with natural colors, and I really love them cos they looks like marcus millers. They sound brighter and punchier than the rosewoods, very outstanding, but I eventually bought a rosewood for its warmer tone.

The difference between all 3 are bigger than I expected, you have to go and try for yourself but most likely you'd end up with one of them. The 5 strings are absolutely gorgeous, especially the matt black one, but I don't play 5s

Summary: Awesome tone, fat lows, and damn heavy to carry.

 

[encablossa]

hi My name is Leo i m from mexico.

I bought a new Sterling ray34 bass, but a thinks its has a problem but im not sure.

The problem is this:

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6654/img1150wc.jpg

As you can see the Jack pluging do not fit normal as it does in my other bass. That the limit from the JAck.

I want to know your opinion, has this ray34 any problem?
or maby is the cable?
or its normal?

Thank a lot, hope you can help me

peace!

 

[rudy]

Though i got my ray 34 second hand from a fren recently who got it from brendon awhile ago,i didn't hesitate to grab it immediately.Tone wise,AWESOME!facts are true as above.As for the jack is like that,u got to push it in more to click,its a good one,more secure.I set it much lower to suit my playing style,love the smooth neck n that thinny ring,sounds like tony kannal of no doubt n tat marcus miller tone.now i'm gassing for a stingray 5,ha!!!

 

[WILLZ]

It took me a long while to decide, but i have finally chosen the sterling ray 34 WHITE. It has an awesome tone man. First of all i received the best customer service of my life from Brendon of BGW, I can tell ya folks u aint gonna get service like that from anywhere else.

The Sterling white is a limited edition that is released in 2011. I play japanese pop/rock, its the same color as the one in the anime beck. i liked it, so i picked that color. next I plugged it into Brendon's Genz Benz to test it. the sound of it totally amazed me. with the 3 band active EQ, a whole lot of different tone can be customized to each bassist's taste. funk, rock, pop, slap , anything man.

enough said, good looks good sound good price, what else can i ask for!

thanks Brendon! appreciate it.

 

[The Renaissance]

I got a RAY34CA 3tone sun burst a while back. My first proper bass since i started playing, considered getting a fender jazz, ibanez SR series, took a long time but i singled out this bass as my favourite.

Body:Ash
Neck:Maple
Pickups: Redesigned Classic stingray MM Humbuckers
Electronics : Classic Active 2 band EQ
This bass looks awesome to me, with a nice vintage glossy maple neck on a 3ts body. At first touch, the bass feels very heavy, heavier than the other sterling rays and much heavier than SR basses. However, since im a big guy, the weight isnt a problem for me. One thing that i noticed is that the setup of the bass is done super low. For the one i bought, it does have a little dead fret at the 7th fret when i bought it. However, for the past months, it has never been a problem. i wonder why too.

Sound:
As a bass player, sound is 80% of your interest. The classification of the sound of this bass i would give is punch. Unlike the v metallic sound which belongs to the yamaha BB series or the thunderbird, this bass give a much smoother sound, and a much softer attack. By maxing the bass boost, it gives a v cant-go-wrong tone for the normal pop/rock genre. Pushing up the treble knob brings the bass sound to the precise reason i bought the pedal. A v distinct and to me, v nice slap tone or solo tone.

 

[Helluva]

Sterling by Musicman ray 34

Body - ASH
Rosewood fingerboard

I have been playing this bass for close to 2 years now and it is still my favorite bass.
I owned few other basses but ray34 is still my most comfortable instrument.
To me this is a versatile bass can be punchy n warm with a good output.
I highly recommend this bass good price with a good sound.
And Brendon nice guy n top notch customer service.
Cheers !