I’ve had my Sterling SUB Stingray for a year…. Love it! I’m getting ready to mod it!

I bought a Ray4 last year and after a few months modded it with an Aguilar DCB-M4 pickup and a John East MMSR preamp. Absolutely beautiful tone now. I also went and added some Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and the bass is an absolute dream to play. I like it better than my Ray34, which is also excellent.

This is my every day bass. I have the aguilar pickup upgrade in it. Slowly going to mod it all the way to the tuners. This is a new Hobby of mine thanks to Lobster! Plus, the Stingray special HH is just too high to justify right now. This bass will do for now. Thanks lobster!

Lobster you are so genuine and fun. I really like your style. I'm a sub4 owner too. A friend gave it to me and I thought it kind of looked and sounded like junk. Man I was so wrong. New strings and a set up got it into service and I'm excited to see what the realm of mods may bring!

Agree with you 100%. the bare bones construction and feel of my Ray 4 was better than a Warwick Rockbass and a Spector Legend that I used to have. Those basses were about triple the retail price. So I got a SUB and modded it to death :D

This is my main bass now and I love it truly! I swapped the pickup with a $35 GFS brand and it got the bass much more manageable with my gear and does not distort as easily now. These are probably the best bang for your buck on the market. I also prefer the narrower nut width over the standard Stingray, so this is a total win for me. I am excited to see the mods you do to this. I feel it will have Wal sounds oozing from it. Go ahead and brush up on your Tool riffs!

I have this one in walnut (more like dark red)....Love it...has a thin jazz bass sized neck, after 2 warranty preamp replacements I went shopping and bought a mojotone 70s MM clone preamp and a guitarfetish Alnico-V pickup. Absolutely love it...MM tone at a third of the price (and if you like thinner necks like me it's more comfortable to play than an actual MM)

The People’s Bass👍🏽

I own American Stingray 5's. I was gigging at jams and beach bars and my expensive basses were getting hacked up. I bought the 5 string version and it has been great. It is much lighter than the USA's and the body wood is thinner on the SUB. I do not get any distortion with bass and volume boosted using my Genzler Magellen 800 amp. The tuners are not fancy but they have worked perfectly. The bridge is OK and I doubt replacing it would result in any great improvement-especially with the USA Stingray bridges are now being made of aluminum it sees silly to install an over priced boat anchor of a bridge on this thing. I agree-the fretwork, paint and details are excellent (especially since I did have to file jagged fret ends of one of my USA rays. It certainly does not have the balls of my USA's but it is quite respectful. I really doubt I will ever change the active goodies inside or bother with a hotter pickup, instead I'll just turn it up. For the price it is a bargain and I enjoy all your reviews and mods that Mr Lobster does.

At Last!!! I have been waiting for this basic review on this bass for a loooooong time!

This was the VERY FIRST bass I ever wanted back when I was beginning. Might get it as a second bass to use in my band.

I replaced the lower budget cast (I think) chromed bridge saddles on my Ray 4 with the larger brass saddles (and screws) from a Ray 24 bridge that I purchased. I had the higher mass bridge plate on as well but quickly went back to the larger steel plate that came stock on the Ray 4. I just think it actually transfers greater vibration to the body somehow (but these things can be quite subjective). Also went with the Aguilar 4M pickup and stock 2-band preamp based on your prior video. Love it, among my favorite basses ever to own (more than a USA MM Stingray that I used to own but didn't really care to play much, honestly). And I like how you said it has good bones. You can really feel that when these instruments are in your hands, if that makes sense. Thanks for another look at these great basses.

Мечтал о такой гитаре 35 лет. Классный звук, звук резины , а не проволоки. Спасибо за доставленное удовольствие!

Very interesting Lobster ! Just an idea, as you already did a lot of high end mods on sub 4, what about doing a "lower cost" mod just for fun and information ? for exemple using Wilkinson WJB-750 tuners, Monster preamp and so on. Anyway always a good time (Chic) to look at your videos !!!

I wanted to get a Jazz, but I'd heard good things about the Sterlings from a friend. Went into a small music shop and they only had three random basses (and no jazz), but they had one of these. I played it and it felt like what I was looking for in the Jazz so I bought it. It's a nice solid bass, and I love the look of it. They're hard to find in my country at the moment and they cost a lot more than they do in the US, so I was surprised to see that little shop had one, in the colour I wanted no less. The standard strings are junk. One of mine was faulty and had a horrible buzz whether open or fretted (and it wasn't colliding with anything). Fortunately a new set of D'Addarios cured it. It's taken quite some adjustment to keep it right, the intonation was miles off and I've just had to adjust the truss rod too, but It's a really nice bass to play. The neck has no nasty friction and is narrower than on my P bass, but not so narrow it's cramped. The pickup being near the bridge rarely gets in the way, and it's very flattering when it comes to slapping. If you're a total beginner like me, The sensitivity will show you where you are going wrong with your muting. You'd best learn to get good at it or it sounds awful, but in that sense It's a good teacher for sound technique. I still suck, but at least I know that now! It's very poor for tapping though. I guess because the pickup is so far away, but it comes through very quietly if at all. I'd be interested to know if that's a thing with all Stingrays. I don't seem to have anywhere near the clipping issues that are in this video. Maybe my amp is just happier with it. It's cool I can upgrade bits later if I want though.

I agree! I build basses and could not build as nice a bass as I can with just modding the sub series platform. The finish alone is worth the price. I recently modded a sub 5. I did LOTS of work to bring it in, recarved and finished the neck, fret job, new custom design black pearloid pick guard to accommodate two emg DC40s (I moved the bridge position as close as I could to the bridge, it's at about 2.5 inches away). I also machined new brass bridge inserts (the stock ones are crap) and sized them according to the string width. I kept the stock tuners which ar "ok". Then strung it up with D' Addario chromes (I like flatwounds) KILLER bass, nice low end, not boomy and still cuts through the mix. I have about 6 or 7 5 strings to choose from, all nice basses however, this modded bass is now my main axe! Keep up the inspiring videos! PS: One thing I've noticed in stingray 5s is that the cheaper models (ie the ray5) has a narrower string spacing then the pricey models. The 35 has a 17mm spacing and the ray 15 actually varies between 16mm to 15.5...like I said not a great bridge, but I actually like the spacing as the closed you center bass strings the more you notice the difference in string circumference.

As a beginner, I recently visited a music shop to test this bass, having sound tested a good half dozen basses beforehand (including the Yamaha 304, Fender Player jazz and precision, Ibanez SR300, Squier Affinity, Squier CV Jaguar and SX SWB1. I honestly came away scratching my head and my experience of this sterling bass hasn’t mirrored what I have heard on KZfaq channels or read on forums. Most forums say it has a reasonably thin neck, with only a few saying it has a baseball bat feel. I think it has a baseball bat feel compared to the others I tested. It was more akin to a precision neck. In terms of sound, I could only test it through the small shop’s Rumble 15, and it so overdrove that amp that it was unlistenable. Even turning the volume down and twiddling the tone knobs, I could not get a nice sound out of it. I tested 3 other basses through that same small amp and they all sounded ok. Very odd experience indeed. I turned up thinking this was the bass for me and came away totally mystified as to the difference between what I hear on KZfaq and what I hear live. Does this bass need a large amp/speaker to shine? Is that it? Anyway, was a good lesson to me on the absolute need to feel and hear a bass in person. Strangest of all, of the basses I have tested, the sweetest sounds come from the most expensive of those I tested (the Player precision) and the cheapest clone (the SX SWB1, whose playability was astounding). It’s a real struggle to get my head around this. The price paid seems to bear no relation to the playability or sound of a bass. And perhaps because those two elements are extremely subjective, therein lies the issue.

Finally! I've noticed that you've modded so many S.U.Bs yet you have yet to review one! Can't wait to slap that like button to hear you slap it!

Just picked one up at a pawn shop for 90 bucks, it's perfectly fine now, but thanks to you and Dan, I'm doing to mod this to the moon

I really love mine! It's fascinating that you've found these to be so supercharged, because mine has always been a little underwhelming on the EQ front; neither knob seems that dramatic. I definitely will want to tinker with the electronics though because it's such a nice playing bass.

Just picked up the walnut stained version - LOVE THIS BASS! Thanks for the video! Great just as it is for my needs.

Of the many, many reviews I've seen on your channel, this is the 1st one where I've heard the strings via your vocal mic.

Got one of these last year as a mod platform and I agree with you, the build quality is *insane* for the money. I found that the pickup was actually overdriving the internal preamp; when I replaced it (which I was always going to do), I found that the pickup is wired in series. I bet it would sound a bit more manageable in parallel. Maybe eventually I’ll slap that pickup into another bass or something and see what it can do in a different configuration.

I've been playing one of these since about 2017. I've loved it. My only complaint is that the tuners need replaced pretty quickly. Once I set mine up, it's been the best feeling bass I've ever played. I love the Stingray feel and the narrow neck that this bass has. I don't know that I'll ever get another Stingray simply because it needs no more. It's as perfect as I could ever ask for.

I just grabbed one of these very gently used for $275 from the guitar shop I work at. Great review and demo! I do agree that the electronics run hot. Let the modding begin!

Love your channel so much man! People like you and Bully are getting me pumped to get back into playing!

Bought one used in tobacco burst after a break from bass, really enjoying it.

I been playing my sub a few days I'm in love it's so easy to play in my hands

I love my SUB Ray 5... Great Bass!

I really appreciate your reviews, especially the mods. I’m wanting to duplicate code red, but I have experienced problems with multiple Ray4 sub basses.The quality has been really inconsistent. The necks have all had problems. The ones in the store hard issues so I ordered. The first order had a bump on the neck behind the first fret that affected playability. The replacement too has a problem with the neck but less severe. It’s disappointing to see this drop in quality control from Sterling. I’m still going to duplicate project code red, but mine will be black-n-blue instead of red. Thanks for the reviews and mods.

I have always wanted a stingray but was a bit suspect of the SUB - this review pushed me closer to pulling the trigger!

I’m impressed with this Bass!

Yo lobster! I just got one of these today dude !! Lets goooooo. Same color by the way.

Lottery as you know, this is my kinda bass. Looking forward for the mod.... hope you had a great Christmas...💙👊😎

I'm always torn on any stingray bass....im also so confused about music man vs sterling vs sting ray. They have way too many iterations of what looks like the same bass!

I love these basses, just put an Aguilar pickup in one and it's nearly perfect.

I've got one in Mint Green finish with maple neck and it's really cool. Neck has 38mm width on the nut, it's less then regular Stingray or Ray34. I'd say that neck is the same as on Musicman Sterling. My upgrades: Copper foil electronics shileding SeymourDuncan SMB-4D instead of stock pickup Machine head replacement Darkglass Tone Capsule replica instead of stock preamp. DIY 3eq Stingray preamp with boost-cut option also works fantastic

Excited to see your video on the multi coil with the NFP preamp. Are you going to use a one humbucker per string multi coil? I just finished my multi coil nfp stingray sub build and it kicks ass. I went with the one humbucker per string from Herrick Pickups, it is the exact tone I have been looking for. Keep up the awesomeness!

They put the volume pot before the preamp instead of after. I think they use a ceramic pickup and Alnico 5 sounds better

Super versatile bass. I might get one someday. I currently have an Ibanez GSR200 and a strange old Hondo ii medium-scale bass with a Dimarzio p-bass pickup. I have always loved how the stingray basses sounded on the low E, with the bass turned up, but never realized how customizable the sound was!

It’s kind of a shame that Ernie Ball doesn’t sell the pickups and eq systems separately from the bass as well for the hardware.Fender does that on their website.Would be cool if you modified this bass with Musicman USA parts.

Very much looking forward to the next mods on this. I had the same thing in mind and got the soldering iron out to build a filter-based pre-amp (which will go into a Ray5 SUB). Can't wait to see that Wal-esque build.

SUB mod builds are always welcome here

At 299 or 350$ these are indeed great value. Over here in Europe retail prices for the SUB go from 460 to 500€, however. At that price point there are better options out there, imo.

I have picked up an SUB used from Guitar Center website. Previous owner must’ve discovered your videos as I got mines with an Aguilar DCM pickup installed. I have to say, I like the Aguilar pickup but it sounds waaay to modern and am looking into another pickup that sounds close to the Ray 24A classic that allows me to run the SUB in series or parallel.

I bought this bass a couple of months ago, ice blue with rosewood fingerboard. I tried out several at Guitar Center during their sale ($350 - $100 = $250) and the one I bought plays as well as my Music Man Ball Family Reserve high-end bass with absolutely no adjustments; no fret noise and low action, but like you said, the electronics are marginal. I watched your upgraded pickup and preamp video and opted for the Aguilar AG-4M pickup and Aguilar OBP-35SK/PP preamp and all is great. Aguilar was helpful r/e tech questions regarding wiring. The Ray4 SUB sounds great through my Gallien-Krueger 2 x 12 500-watt amp and antique 1967 Fender Bassman. I did not change the hardware but maybe in the future. The bass holds its tune well. The strings are junk regarding uneven sound, but a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings solved the problem. Thanks for all you do, Mr. Lobster.

Had one of these, but I thought the Ray24 was worth the up charge. Can't really say why, just thought it felt a lot better. Strangely, the pick guard on the SUB felt really weird. Like it was made of layered paper or something. Different strokes I suppose. My 24 has a really nice rose wood fret board, which is also nice. Great review.

This implies the existence of a domray

Yeah the tuners are ok. Recommendations for better ones?🤔

I purchased one of these Ray 4s in early 2020 when they were still $299. I installed the SD 70’s Alnico MM pickup with the MojoTone 70’s MM two band preamp. It’s impressive now. I would have paid an additional 50 bucks to have a gloss finished body like yours does, but they didn’t yet exist. I almost grabbed a second one, but I was presented with a great deal on a Player Precision, and decided I needed a Ray and a P more than I needed two Rays. Haha. My increasingly irreplaceable Pedulla stays in the home studio now, while the (Sub) Ray 4 and Player P go to the bars with me. I really enjoy watching your videos, and your playing is solid. Keep up the great work. Cheers!

These are nice basses I have owned a couple but i have a ray35 and never played the ray5 because of it. I had a nice mint green one that i bought new but never played it. I don't play the Ray35 much but I will not part with it, it's a Honey burst and hard to find so it's a keeper...

Thanks Will, I love this channel!!! Would this bass work for 1940's Bebop combo jazz, big band swing or surfing rock from early 1960's? It only has one pickup, too bad it doesn't have 2 pickups.

JuliaPlaysGroove still plays hers, and she's an AMAZING player!!

Real good bass sound's good i am not crazy on black basses but still the sound good in any parameter!

I actually had a chance to try a Ray 24 and come to find out I really didn't like it, I prefer more the stained SUB model for some reason those always feel and sound better than the black or even the seafoam with the maple neck.

I used to be a poser and tone slave, only wanting top brand names to buy (and be seen playing). Well, that's all over, now. Quality/price is the main attraction anymore.

Thank you for you great work an videos, it is always a joy! I bought this bass and i am with you.. i already changed the tuners and the preamp is way to hot. I want to change the preamp and maybe the pickup too, i am looking for a nice classic stingray tone. Can you (or somebody here) recommend some?

Love your Video's. Can you tell me what the difference would be between one of these Ray 4's and a Sterling 4 That has SUB on the head stock. I have a made in China SUB that I have put a Mojotone preamp and Tone Monster pick up in. As much I would love a made in USA Stingray I cannot justify the price for what I do. Thanks again for the education.

Hi there. Great review! Btw is this a Short scale model? Cheers! Best regards.

I got the walnut one (I dubbed it Wall-E) I put some bass lines pbass pups in it and a new bridge but left stock it sounds great

Have seen that new Ibanez EHB with the ash body and walnut top? Any plans on doing a video on one?

I have a Vintage V96 bass. It looks similar to this. I don't know if you know about the brand. To me it's great for the price that I paid. I recommend taking a look at it. Always great content!!

Nice looking Bass

Great vid as always. But if that's a SUB Sting Ray 4 (as it looks like) then those are not built with mahogany bodies, they're basswood. If it's a Sting Ray Classic 24 then those are mahogany bodies.

Hi! Love your reviews! I am looking for a good all-around bass strictly for recording. What mods would you recommend for this bass, and by the time I am done, would the cost end up being the same as if I just bought a higher end bass? Thank you so much! I am watching videos for basses I know I don't want, just because you are so entertaining...

I would love to see an all-around “dream mod” on the Ray4 SUB. I have one and plan to mod mine in early 2022. I was thinking about the John East preamp…can I swap to the 3-channel pre amp? Bartolini pickup. But I was thinking about the other hardware too (tuners, bridge) and would love to see recs on those.

I want a 5er as a backup/different tone bass I could take to venues I'd rather not take the Alembic to. Definitely black/maple as it's by far my favourite combo for fenderoids and Stingrays. Alas, I'm pretty much broke as of late and cannot justify buying another instrument, especially one that's non-essential. Even though it's still really affordable. But hey - I still have the Alembic I got when times were better ;-)

Damn that boy got a cute laugh

I'd love to turn one of those into a "Dark-Ray" of sorts... Now you've got my wheels turning LOL!

I really want a stingray and I dont even know why. something about it is so cool but I can't tell what it is. cool content btw.

I think this sounds great stock!

Let’s goooooo

Hi again. I hope all is well. I was wondering what happened to the instructional video you did, showing the actual removal and installation of new preamp and pickup for this bass? I can't seem to find it anywhere and it would be really useful to be able to see it again, especially as they seem almost non-existent on here. Thanks!

I have lowered the pickup and have no clipping. Best bass for the price

These are great except the tuner QC. The replacements they sent under warranty were just as bad with gears constantly stripping. I got tired of dealing with it when competing brands are putting good tuners on their basses that don't have this issue. I would get one again if I ever find one that has some decent tuners but its just not as mod friendly as a good squire jazz.

In sale now $249

this bass still has great sound to it regardles

The D string does not respond as well the others

how about the more expensive bases sterling makes

Nice review (as usual) Lobster. I have a strange question that maybe you and/or someone else can chime in on. I have a HH Ray4 SUB 2021 SBMM Stingray. Is there a noticeable tone difference between the bridge pickup alone on the HH SUB and the single (bridge) pickup SUB like the one in this video? I really like the tonal variations you can get with the HH and the 5 position switch but in the 5th position (bridge only) pickup setting I don't really think I am hearing the classic Stingray tone in mine. It seems in this video review that the single pickup SUB, even un modded, seems to be really close, at least to my ears. Anyone have both and can give me their opinions and some advice?

15:44 tell me more about this "great replacement" theory you have...

Really looking forward to the mod on this one!! How can I find your reverb page? If I click the link ever it doesn’t take me to your page just to reverb in general

Hey Lob!!! Do you thing you could review a Stingray DarkRay?

I'm looking to get into the world of Stingrays without breaking the bank partly because I'm broke and partly because I don't know if it'll be for me. Would you recommend getting a Ray34 and keeping it stock or getting a Ray4 and using the difference on upgrades to preamp/pickups/etc?

Really nice sounding bass for $350.00. I would drop a better preamp into it and call it good; the pickup sounds great

Still waiting on the Harley benton mb 5 sbk one homieboy

I’m surprised to here you say you have the action so low and get no fret buzz. I’ve had to raise my action a lot to stop the fret buzz. But my Ray 34 is low and no buzz at all.

Looking at the Yamaha TRBX 304 or the Musicman Subray 4. Recommendations?

Dude I love your channel but I wish you would drop that Healy Lobster claw routine. It's way past it's prime IMO .

This is a good option if you want to walk into a guitar center and just quickly pick something for $350. But I’m willing to bet you would be better off with a squire or Yamaha for the same amount of cash. The tone is way too “zingy” very aluminum tone sounding bass. The best thing about this bass is that it’s very easy to setup a low action, which makes playing a breeze. The most unfortunate thing about this bass is the tone and cheap hardware. It feels like a $200 bass imho. These used to be $279.

as a rock and metal loving new bass player am I wrong thinking too hot is a good thing?! :) cheers.

Besides the tuners, the control knobs are crappy plastic on the inside. I'm interested in getting one of these to do a mod on it. Does anyone make hole-for-hole replacement tuners?

i think you tried upgrading a Harley benton MM type bass recently ? here in europe this SUB costs about 500 euros (used about 300 ) the Harly Benton is 140 euros (new) , but listening to you here i think buying a sub is stil money well spend , or do you have other thoughts about that? i have a Preamp and pickup comming in from retrovibe , so i am going to upgrade it... hope you still see my comment on this already bit older video...kind regards Johan

I just don’t get WHY Musicman use the same name for different stuff. Both Sterling and the S.U.B. monickers are used in a confusing way.

Aye! Lovely

Man, I bet it would be a 1 hour long video if you ever get a Peavey t-40.

Ive just bought one and its great. It sounds good, and it looks good, and i would say at the price, it's a bargain, i feel like i stolen it .

I bought a SUB Ray4 to have something to fiddle around with during the holidays coming up (modify, that is). I adjusted the stock Pup down, away from the strings, and this lowered the level that overloaded the preamp. Does the distance of the pickup from the strings do anything to the tone balance, would you say? Other thing I did was to lower the action and change strings. Now I just have to get used to the super slim neck which none of my earlier basses have.

My D string is much lower in volume than rest of the strings and I don’t know what the reason is . Any idea?

I have a Wilkinson mm pickup what i want to build in my Ray 4,can i compare this Wilkinson ceramic pickup with the stock pickup from the Ray 24?