Minininjarob

So I’m looking for my 2nd bass and found out my favourite bass player actually has an EBMM Sterling bass - not a Stingray. They are a bit smaller (not short scale) than a Ray and have a 9v preamp as far as I can tell. Anyway does anyone sell one new? Not that I can see. I don’t even know if EB make them any more as the colours they have on their website both say discontinued and “new ones coming soon!” And of course searching for EBMM Stingray brings up the whole myriad of confusing names of Rays and Sterlings they have made over the years so it’s stupidly confusing. OI ERNIE BALL!! You make great instruments but you don’t make them easy to buy!!! if anyone is even slightly interested in my rant here is the bass I want. https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/sterling

I reckon you and the OP need to go to the masters - Mr Gallien and Mr Krueger.

Couldn’t agree more!!

I didn’t think I’d be in a band but I made it something I would try and I love it, we haven’t played a gig yet and the guitarist is as new as me so it’s been a voyage of discovery for me too. The studio 40 rumble with the effects is more expensive than the standard 100w version so it’s a no brainer to get the 100w version if you can.

Welcome aboard - I’m a relative newbie and of more advanced too. When I started I was looking for an amp and I was so glad I made the time to go and try some out. I could barely fret a note but the guys in PMT and Richtone were so helpful and nice even though it was clear I couldn’t play. I wasn’t expecting the amps to sound so different to be honest, so I am glad I tried them out. One warning - don’t try amps you can’t afford it’s infuriating!! I tried Ampeg combos and thought they were ok but a bit “meh”, I tried Ashdown, again I thought they sounded a bit boring. I didn’t try an Orange because no one had them in stock but wasn’t bothered as I don’t like the look of them. Then I tried a Fender Rumble - wow! So clear but punchy, just plucking one note I was like “yes that’s the sound I want”. I could turn up the drive if I wanted to to make it sound more gritty and there was a few buttons I could press to make it sound different (I didn’t know what they did at the time but they were a scoop option, vintage option etc). Couple of things to think about - I had briefly borrowed a small practice amp and hated it as there was barely any bass in it. When I tried the Rumble 40 then the 100 there was so much difference. I could hear what I was playing with the 40 but the 100 sounded like a PROPER amp. I figured that the extra money on the 100 would be well spent as I could feel like a real bassist (and to a beginner that means a lot!) and I thought it would do me for home practice as well as maybe my first band playing too. The 40 would not have worked in a full band. Also, as an electronics sort of guy I didn’t want the built in effects like the Studio version has. I figured that there is more to go wrong, and I might be paying more for something I don’t need or want and I could always buy a pedal or two later if I needed them once I knew a bit more about playing bass. I was going to buy new as I wanted the guarantee from a shop. In the end I got a 2nd hand GK amp but I was literally on the way to buy the Rumble 100 new when the GK was offered to me. If anything happended to my GK I’d be buying a Rumble 100%. Hope that helps!

I could spell your name “nasty old bitter jealous man trying to defend his misogynistic opinions”. Cos that’s how I like to spell it.

I’m a middle aged man just starting out on bass and I’m frankly appalled by some of the comments on here about Blu and whether she deserves a signature bass. No wonder young people - especially females - aren’t picking up basses any more if these sorts of attitudes are around in the bass playing world.

Do the people who have tried out the z7 think it’s worth having the extra jazz pickup? I’m not fussed about the sweeping mid control and I love the glitter black finish which only comes with a z3.

Yes yes a thousand times yes!

At least I have a PMT near me that I can order it to and try it out. Might be very heavy which isn’t a problem if it sounds good but if I hate the feel of it then it’s game over.

Hmmm very spendy. The G3 might be worth it if it sounds like the original and I do prefer the silver burst finish. Might need to save harder.

I expect it’ll be more than I can afford. 😭

That looks fantastic.

From 12min in on the rig rundown First half of video is about Mikes basses and he is using his original G3 on the tour and his new Epiphone G3 model Have to say it looks amazing to me, I am saving up now!

Good thing is that from 35 years of building and restoring bikes and houses I have some very nice tools! However finding out that the Fender used imperial sized Allen keys was a bummer. 😂

I’ve got friends who are asking me to help them with their instruments and I’m like “woah!!”

So I’m a relative beginner and only have one bass, my fender P I bought new. I like a slightly higher action cos I play hard with a pick and I’ve always struggled with fret buzz in various places. I wanted to send my bass to a pro to set up but after looking at some setup videos it looked really easy. My first few attempts didn’t work too well. I got new strings and did the whole thing properly. Polished the frets, set the neck, installed the strings and it sounded great. But still got a lot of buzz above the 12th no matter what I did. Eventually found that if that happens then the neck might need shimming so took strings off, unscrewed the neck and slid in half of one of my wife’s business cards. Put it all back together and WOW sounds great, no fret buzz, action perfect. And for no cost and without having to do without a bass for 2 weeks while a pro sets it up. I do have an advantage that I’ve spent decades setting up bikes and I am a very competent DIYer but in reality if you are carefully and do things in the right order it’s not hard. Now all I have to do is learn to play better but that’s gonna be easier with the instrument set up nicely.

Hanging on to see your review. I love my first bass and am ready to buy my second and a z7 looks ideal. I’d love an EB but they are comically expensive. I actually prefer the Sire headstock to the EB one, I always thought the EB one looks a bit ungainly. I can’t decide between a mint or white one. 4 string for sure.

I used to work in retail and the lead time for a container you are looking at least 8-9 weeks from ordering and that’s if the stock is reading and waiting in the far east. They don’t get flown over. So that theory doesn’t stack up I’m afraid.

If the quality was good enough in their country of manufacture then they could just ship them to the countries to be sold direct - you’re paying duty to get them to the USA then again to the UK. I bet we’d be flabbergasted to find out how much they cost out of the factory door, I’d wager £100-150 at most for a £500 bass if it has to go via the USA. You’re paying a lot of money to get that “checked by our awesome techs in the USA” promise.

I’ve never looked at Reverb much as whenever I did it was all in the USA - didn’t realise it was UK as well Totally missed the Edinburgh one. 😢 I have no idea how. You know where to come if you ever want to sell one!!

BTW I have a friend who hires our backline and he has a 2001rb into a GK 4x10 and that combination is terrifying in a very very nice way.

Where are you finding these? I’ve not seen a 400rb for ages and none for sale since I decided I really wanted one. So frustrating.

I’m a relative newbie but isn’t the point of a ‘Ray that it’s an 18v active bass?