Sterling By Music Man Basses

Ed Friedland The Bass Whisperer demonstrates the Sterling SB14 and Ray 34 basses. Featured in Guitar World magazine 07/09

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People & Blogs

Tags:

• Ed Friedland
• Sterling By Muisc Man
• SB14
• Ray 34
• The Bass Whisperer
• Guitar World Magazine

[xiaoxiaochuchu]

Hi Ed,

Loving your bass reviews, being a big fan of the Musicman Stingray basses, I LOVE the classic Stringray finger style sound. but the Musicman Stingrays are a bit out of my league. I'm wondering if these two basses can produce that classic tone?

Thanks!

Greetings from Australia.

[BassGuitarMag]

@xiaoxiaochuchu - Well... after watching the video - what do you think?

[xiaoxiaochuchu]

@BassGuitarMag Well, compare to the Musicman Classic Stingrays video, I think the Ray 34 sounds close, I'm also wondering if there's any trick you can do you the amp settings to make it sound closer to a stringray?

[BassGuitarMag]

@xiaoxiaochuchu - I don't know. To me it sounds exactly like one.

[Encreuh]

Don't know if I buy the Ray34 natural or the Ray34 CA sunburst ?

Can someone help me ? (I'm french)

Thank you.

[BassGuitarMag]

@Encreuh - You are French? Sorry, I can't help you with that! (Joking). The CA has a narrower neck, more like a Jazz bass, and 2-band boost-only eq instead of 3 band boost/cut. They both sound great, but those are the differences.

[BassGuitarMag]

@kaz3kag3gaara - Well, string spacing is fairly standard on MM basses and available on their website. Weight... well, that varies greatly from one bass to the next. If I told you "this bass weighs 8lbs." and you bought one that weighed 12lbs... you'd be pissed at me. With a production line bass... there's too much weight variation for me to make a selling point out of it.

[beefcakes8528]

hey great licks. i was wondering for that higher stuff on the fretboard, did you learn the whole fretboard or are you just good at counting like 12 frets up? lol

[LeeHJay89]

might be great if Ed compared with the actual model MM StingRay and Sterling.

[rrlavigne1]

I just bought a used 2011 Sterling Ray34 "Custom." (they called it custom because it's white) I'm a professional gigging bass player in my 50s, and have owned everything from Fender to Alembic and yes EBMM as well. To my astonishment the Ray34 plays, sounds & looks like an American Stingray. I felt like buying an American MM or Fender but after playing this my search is over and I saved a TON of money over the American made originals. So is this a professional level gigging bass ... Hell YES!

[MyBassBobAndI]

Would you call the Ray34 a beginner or an intermediate bass

[BrewskiBassist]

0:26 was soooo smooth damn!

[andreasgreekrhcp]

hey how do you think this amp would sound with a modulus flea??please answer i really like your videos

[samwhich99]

@Apemopo buy it used

[g4geetar]

hey, my Ray34 doesn't sound anything like yours. What settings have you on your amp. Also my volume control has 2 settings. Twist it once to a stop and then it can be turned again. Do you know what this does as I didn't get a manual

[Apemopo]

the ray costs around 650$ at musiciansfriend. that's like 500 euros i think? maybe less? at most european music stores these cost nearly 1000 euros. now that STINKS x(

[EDieDGreat]

hi Ed,

i just want to know, which of those two basses is better??

i really want a MusicMan bass, but i don't know which is better

i hope your answer,

Greetings From Mexico

[dslapster64]

Ed

I do think there is a slight difference in tone .

Have you ever done a review on the EB musicman stingray 5? That would be great.

[TheJagzy]

Basswood is great.My Lyte bass is basswood.

[tsiggy]

@BassGuitarMag

HEAHEaHeaHeaHeaHEa. that first line is hilarious...

[HWolfeIII]

@Encreuh I chose the natural, but it is a matter of preference, they both will sound the same! The sunburst is cool too!

[HWolfeIII]

I bought the Ray34 Natural and it is great but the Sunburst is awesome too. It is a matter of personal preference because they both will sound the same. However, make sure you hook it up to a good amp. I got an Acoustic B100 Amp and it makes it sound incredible!

[Encreuh]

@HWolfeIII I was just between this two basses. Don't know which one buy.

Know, I don't know if I buy the Sterling Ray 34 natural, or the sunbursh Ray34 CA ?

[rotvalo]

What is the fretboard radius of the Ray34?