Funky Dunky

Ah righto. I'm going to get the Stinger. It's just a case of soldering four wires, pretty much? I can't solder but I have a mate who's a whizz.

Is that a step-by-step guode to a preamp upgrade? Seems harder than I thought :-(

That does indeed help Tom, thank you. Yeah, I totally agree with you on the volune control, I find mine the same. Provided it doesn't in any way hamper the tone of the bass, I will most likely have one of these fitted to mine.

From a bass/rhythm section perspective, I'll say Emergency on Planet Earth by Jamiroquai.

Kany.....nah, forget it...

Iconic: after a right good test of the bass, I have to say that the preamp is quite hot when I dial in more bass. I hadn't explored that side of the preamp control much, but when I did tonight, I noticed that any more than about a third of the way and it distorts. This is unacceptable from Sterling. I will be upgrading to a Stinger post haste - this simply won't do.

I cannot BELIEVE Sterling are still putting Subs out like this.

Wow, that's a beast!! Want!!

It really is a beaut, and I looked up those pickups - that is staggering value!!

VERY nice. Well done, sir, you've done some great work on that bass and it has enhanced it nicely.

We're takin' over!!

Tell me about that new pickup - how does it compare, and what improvements have you noticed?

Here's a question - what would, say, the Aguilar OBP 3 offer opposed to the Stinger? There's about £100 of a difference in price, and I don't know much about preamps and wonder what would be so much greater about the Aguilar. My only real interest is in how would it better enhance my sound?

Tom, can you tell us a wee bit more about how the Stinger improved the bass please mate?

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1423611324' post='2687149']
Kanye West Giving Up His AMA Award Back In 2008 To Lil Wayne Because He Didn't Feel He Deserved It

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhuE8gNcxGVhF9G5wF
[/quote]

That's fine and dandy, but he has no right to speak of other artists and say they do or don't "deserve" the award. His opinion is not the flippin' word of God, but he seems to think it is. I wonder if he even listened to the Beck album, and if so, how many listens did he give it?

Shirley.Manson weighs in:

http://uproxx.com/music/2015/02/shirley-manson-kanye-west-grammys/

My take on it is this:

It's laughable. How DARE Kanye West insult Beck, who writes and performs his own music by talking about artists and creativity as if Beck was in fact Beyonce, singing songs written and produced by dozens of people who aren't Beyonce? Beck winning Best Album IS a victory for artists, it IS a victory for creativity. Kanye West made himself look even more foolish and delusional than ever with this latest outburst.

He hasn't done Beyonce any favours here, this is insulting to her as well as Beck. Where does this muppet get off, thinking he can decide who should and shouldn't win awards? Talk about cloud cuckoo land? Sheesh!

Kanye West: Kanye rap? Kanye hell!

My only criticism of this bass - why is it not glossy, like the black Sub Ray4? It would look a million dollars.

Pete, "I want one" is adequate justification for a new bass :-)

1) the nut width is 38mm and it is superb. Very quick.

2) the preamp clipping isn't that bad at all. It doesn't bother me, and I don't notice it on mine. I played a 5 last week though, and it was ridiculous. Try before you buy if possible.

3) I haven't really noticed the G string being particularly loud.

4) there is indeed a preamp fix. It's on one of the other threads in this 'ere forum I'm sure.

Oh I'm smitten, Pete. I want a collection. I want Sterling Ray34s, Ray 35s and the big daddy - the MM Stingray. I draw the line at the Bongo though - that thing is hideous!

After much delay, deliberation, nearly sending it back and exchanging it for a Ray5, I have opted to keep it. I tweaked the truss and saddles and it plays nicely.

First impressions: The colour is what drew me to this. I had to have it. I mean HAD TO. I had tried the black one when they originally hit the shops, almost bought a honeyburst, and various other distractions got in the way. Then I saw the Trans Blue Satin and fell in love. This is a good bass, and when you consider I paid £250 for an active bass which apes the Stingray sound pretty well, it's....well it's madness. This should retail for £400 and I got it for £250 NEW from Thomann. New strings and .0000 steel wool down the neck and we have ourselves a beast.

The preamp is a bit hot, especially over the E. This issue has existed with these basses since day one. Sterling are fully aware of it, and yet still make them this way. I find that very odd. Anyway, some say to lower the pup and others say to fix the preamp. Others say to swap out the preamp. I will lower the pickup for now, and in the future I will probably upgrade either the preamp, the pickup or both - as I said on Tom's NBD, the Aguilar AG M4 and OBP-3 are what I would go for, but would cost almost as much as the bass did. Anyway, here she is: (sorry about the pics, they're all reversed for some reason)

Stoo - Mayer's sound is quintessentially Fender, and I believe he will still play them, but I half-expect a PRS endorsement and sig model before long.

John Mayer took to twitter the other day to announce his partnership with Fender is over, saying he will still play Fenders, but is no longer a Fender artist. He went on to say that Fender are not the company today they were when he began working with them. I would love him to elaborate on that.

He performed on The Late Show last week, supporting Ed Sheeran on 'Don't' and was playing a Jackson.

EDIT - massive apologies guys, upon further research I learned he announced his split with Fender in October. Old news. Sorry.

I played that very bass. It's a belter, congrats man.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1423572504' post='2686428']
Nice bass at a crazy price.

That Aguilar modded MM... wow
[/quote]

I know, right? £230 buys that upgrade. Almost what I paid for the bass!! Tempted to go for it later in the year.

Congrats Tom, that looks beautiful! I really like the black, and I'll wager the tone is great with that maple board :-)

Thanks all, will try each suggestion. I use Dunlop Super Bright strings.

That's pretty steep, but I guess I only paid £250 for the bass and it's not bad if it makes it sound like a dream. Like I say, that would be my main bass so I reckon it'd be money well spent.

Sincere apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread somewhat.