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What is the Musicman S.U.B (USA made)

Greggo

By Greggo,
in Bass Guitars

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Hutton Experienced

Hutton

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1380017091' post='2219454']
Yep and they dont all have the artex finish either, as Stu g says above he had a teal one, I'd track down one with a regular finish, swap the pickguard, make sure its wired in parallel (or even fit a push pull for both) and put a John East preamp in it, flat the neck off with some 1200 wet and dry, job done :)
[/quote]

I thought all USA SUB basses had the textured finish. Are there some colours which aren't textured?

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Black Coffee Mentor

Black Coffee

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The s.u.b. 5er I had was my first ray and it was the best of both worlds then some.
Killer sound and cheap enough that I didn't care if it got a knock.
The two eq rays are the mutts nuts for me. Just wish i hadn't sold mine as it was an eBay bargain at 300 quid. Amazing price for a bass from San Luis obispo, same factory as the real McCoy.

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stingrayPete1977 Grand Master

stingrayPete1977

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[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1380139060' post='2221500']
In the U.S. The finish is poly. Not sure if they ship overseas. They also run sales. [url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/sterling-by-music-man-s.u.b.-ray4-bass-guitar"]http://www.musicians...ay4-bass-guitar[/url]
[/quote]
Those are the new ones again though not the USA made ones.

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Qlank Apprentice

Qlank

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Got an Indonesian one a fortnight ago. New strings and set-up and it's great to play. Haven't picked up my Geddy Jazz to play at all since.
Don't know how they compare to the US made ones but if it was nicked I'd get another one right away. And it's pretty much as light as a feather.

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OliverBlackman Mentor

OliverBlackman

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1380138830' post='2221496']
The teal ones are proper trans teal, I'm sure there are others?
[/quote]

My old teacher had a teal one and it was the same textured finish as the rest. I've never seen one with a proper finish. Maybe the one you saw was a prototype, or the body had been swapped/ refinished? I had a trans teal MM Stingray and it was the sexiest bass I've ever seen. Kinda regret selling it but it was expensive and wasn't the sound I like.

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1380143228' post='2221571']
Are the new ones a patch on the older discontinued subs?
I haven't heard much good bout them.
[/quote]

The new ones really lack the low mid punch the old SUB's had. The new ones are god value for money but to me sound a little basic. Whereas the USA SUB's had bags of character.

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bassmachine2112 Collaborator

bassmachine2112

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I,ve got a SUB USA had it for 10 years now-bullet proof.
I haven,t been able to put a scratch on it.
Great basses and for the price even better.
It,s a teal one with a carbon fibre scratchplate and a hipshot d-tuner.
SUB was for sports utility bass so I was told at the time but more like super unembelished bass.
I tried one back to back with a stringray classic through my rig-all settings the same and couldn,t tell the difference sound wise but the classic was £2700.

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EMG456 Rising Star

EMG456

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To be clear, the USA Subs were made from Stingray parts, on the Stingray production line by the people who were making the Stingray bass. That more or less makes it a genuine Stingray in my eyes and the example I own certainly lives up to that reputation. The only differences between the Sub and a Stingray were the solid colour (black) neck finish, solid colour (textured) body finish, cheap scratchplate and poplar body with no contouring. The pickup coils are wired in series like the Sterling bass at that time.

I really like mine - it has that feel of a real quality instrument the moment you pick it up and at the price they command at the moment, I may well add a 5'er and a fretless version over time.

Cheers

Ed

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stingrayPete1977 Grand Master

stingrayPete1977

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[quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1380189307' post='2221976']


My old teacher had a teal one and it was the same textured finish as the rest. I've never seen one with a proper finish. Maybe the one you saw was a prototype, or the body had been swapped/ refinished? I had a trans teal MM Stingray and it was the sexiest bass I've ever seen. Kinda regret selling it but it was expensive and wasn't the sound I like.



The new ones really lack the low mid punch the old SUB's had. The new ones are god value for money but to me sound a little basic. Whereas the USA SUB's had bags of character.
[/quote]
A trans finish but textured?

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mcnach Grand Master

mcnach

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[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1380139060' post='2221500']
In the U.S. The finish is poly. Not sure if they ship overseas. They also run sales. [url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/sterling-by-music-man-s.u.b.-ray4-bass-guitar"]http://www.musicians...ay4-bass-guitar[/url]
[/quote]

No. That's not the Made in USA MM SUB (made only between 2003-2006). Entirely different instruments.

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Beedster Grand Master

Beedster

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[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1380004395' post='2219251']
I think they stopped making them due to the fact it just wasnt making them any money in the end.
[/quote]

That and the fact that, for all the reasons above, folks started buying the SUB over the more expensive and EBMM flagship 'rays.

I've owned 2, a 4er and a 5er. The 5er was at the time a massive improvement in both tone and appearance over the 'ray 5 at about half the price

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drTStingray Mentor

drTStingray

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Not sure about an improvement over a regular SR5 - some people prefer the look but the SR5 has a lot more tonal variance.

The USA Subs got specced with regular Stingray parallel pick ups (confirmed by EBMM in an email). My own view is the 5 ers may possibly have used the then SR5 standard pick up (series) - can anyone confirm they have the rounded edge glued pick up case?

They are all textured - one of the two bassists with James Brown used a teal sub - it sounded phenomenal especially for slap.

Some people have used the basses as a basis for an upmarket re fin. However they look good in original form and especially the white ones IMO.

The poplar bodies used could not be used for trans finish as the wood was all sorts of different colours (see pics on EBMM site) - that said these basses sound and feel every bit as good as a regular Ray (well the active version) the poplar possibly being a little mellower sounding than the ash bodied regular Ray. The passive version has a little less power especially at the extremities of the sound range but are also good and even better for the battery/activephobes amongst us!!!

A great choice secondhand - anyone want to sell me one preferably in white????!!

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dlloyd Rising Star

dlloyd

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I really like the original US SUBs. They were cancelled because there just wasn't enough margin in them to make them financially viable.

The differences are mainly cosmetic. There's the big obvious things like the textured finish (saves on sanding and buffing) scratchplate and painted neck, but there's smaller details like the unbranded bridge (and tuners?), unfilled fret slots etc. They sound great all the same.

There are a few different models:

SUB 4 string active (2 band)
SUB 4 string passive
SUB 5 string active (2 band)
SUB 5 string passive
SUB Sterling

The SUB Sterling is an interesting one in that it has an Alnico pickup as opposed to the ceramic pup in the Sterling... basically a Stingray in Sterling shape.

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machinehead Mentor

machinehead

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I just bought a USA Sub in white. It has obviously had a hard life, with player wear on the body where the right arm rests and a fair bit of paint worn off the back of the neck.

It still plays well and sounds good although it will get its first gig next week so I'll hold back on giving too much praise for now.

One thing for certain - these basses represent very, very good value for your hard-earned cash.

Frank.

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mcnach Grand Master

mcnach

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[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1382274369' post='2249894']
I just bought a USA Sub in white. It has obviously had a hard life, with player wear on the body where the right arm rests
[/quote]

The previous owner must have arm fur rough as sandpaper! That finish is remarkably tough! :lol:

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