Waddycall Posted November 10, 2018 Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) Went up to Exeter today to have a look at a few basses. Not really getting on with my MIM p bass and as I’m back in a band again I thought I’d have a look around, try a few and see what I like. I was expecting to be coming home with, if anything, an Ibanez SR as I had an SR600 in the last band and quite liked it. Anyway I tried a few out today - Rockbass NT Streamer MIM jazz Aerodyne Jazz ibanez SR500 Mustang PJ And this Ray 34 that was heavily discounted at Project Music. I’d never played a stingray type bass before but always been interested. Once I’d played it I kept coming back to it and nothing else seemed to have as good a combination of playability and tone for me. Pretty versatile tone wise too. Can’t believe the punch, definition and clarity. I absolutely love the neck on this. The notes seem to just flow out of my fingers! ! Very happy and can’t wait to try it out at band practice this week. cant stop playing bullet in the head! Edited November 10, 2018 by Waddycall 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Isn't it great when a bass just fits you? And neck love is the best. The body may have the looks but it's the neck makes or breaks the relationship. Wonder what a shiny reflective silver scratch plate would look like on that black beauty... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 The Ray34s are very good basses, I had one and a "real" Stingray at the same time and there really wasn`t much difference between them. The Ray34 maybe slightly toppier in sound, but the Stingray was nearly 20 years old so could put that down to older parts etc. But playability wise, nothing in them for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 24 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: The Ray34s are very good basses, I had one and a "real" Stingray at the same time and there really wasn`t much difference between them. The Ray34 maybe slightly toppier in sound, but the Stingray was nearly 20 years old so could put that down to older parts etc. But playability wise, nothing in them for me. How do they compare, weight-wise, and are the necks chunky on the Ray34's Lozz? I had a Ray some years back - but it weighed a tonne! Lovely bass, great sound, but it was heavy, and the neck was a bit too chunky for me I tried a Sub, sometime back and quite liked the neck dimensions..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I found the Ray34 and Stingray I had to be pretty identical, Marc. Both had nice chunky Precision like necks, similar weight, I`d say from memory - was 6 odd years ago - about 9lbs2 something like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblueplanet Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I had one of these too. Loved the tone and could hear little difference between it and a US Stingray I tried in comparison. I only moved it on because of the weight. Was too heavy for my liking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddycall Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 21 hours ago, stewblack said: Isn't it great when a bass just fits you? And neck love is the best. The body may have the looks but it's the neck makes or breaks the relationship. Wonder what a shiny reflective silver scratch plate would look like on that black beauty... Yep, not happened before. What’s really weird is the fact I thought I liked narrow necks. When I got my p bass it seemed to wide at the nut. This is a few mm wider but fits just right. 7 hours ago, sblueplanet said: I had one of these too. Loved the tone and could hear little difference between it and a US Stingray I tried in comparison. I only moved it on because of the weight. Was too heavy for my liking. This one weighs in at 4.3kg. 400g heavier than my p bass. Band practice tomorrow. Let’s see how it feels after a couple of hours hanging off my shoulder. Looking forward to hearing it in the mix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Excellent choice 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Blah blah blah weight blah tone blah blah. Get a grip everyone. Matching black headstock trumps everything. 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 10 hours ago, Waddycall said: Yep, not happened before. What’s really weird is the fact I thought I liked narrow necks. When I got my p bass it seemed to wide at the nut. This is a few mm wider but fits just right. This one weighs in at 4.3kg. 400g heavier than my p bass. Band practice tomorrow. Let’s see how it feels after a couple of hours hanging off my shoulder. Looking forward to hearing it in the mix. That's 9 ounces in old money - not a lot so long as the base line weight wasn't 10 lbs in the first place!! I have started wondering whether as bass players we're all becoming wimps - back in 1980 people were raving about Ibanez Musician basses - and they were often 12 lbs +. I count myself in this as I have a Stingray Special - and it's around 8 lbs - having used this a lot it's noticeable when I pick one of my other basses up. Perhaps it's an age thing..... Congratulations I'm sure it'll sound great 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 16 minutes ago, drTStingray said: That's 9 ounces in old money - not a lot so long as the base line weight wasn't 10 lbs in the first place!! I have started wondering whether as bass players we're all becoming wimps - back in 1980 people were raving about Ibanez Musician basses - and they were often 12 lbs +. I count myself in this as I have a Stingray Special - and it's around 8 lbs - having used this a lot it's noticeable when I pick one of my other basses up. Perhaps it's an age thing..... Congratulations I'm sure it'll sound great 👍 Ah, but perhaps some of us aren't becoming "wimps".... we're just becoming "old"? I recently played 2 long sets, using a bass which is only a tad heavier than my standard gigging bass (for longer gigs) and it did induce some aching in my shoulder and neck.... Yes, I've done my time lugging heavy heavy gear around. Back in the day, I had a heavy P bass, a very heavy valve head, a 4x12 and a (Traynor) 2x15 that was the size and weight of a fridge (one full of beer, at that! lol) So anything that can help save my back / shoulder / knees / wrists /slightly arthritic fingers.... etc etc is a very welcome thing But you do have a point. Back in said "day" I just had to play what I had, and what I could afford (no one in their right mind would have given me a credit card back then) And music shops had far less choice (no such thing as on-line shopping) so we bought what was in our budget, from a very limited range - more so if you could only afford your chosen bass 2nd hand. Nowadays, we have so much more choice, we have credit card companies and banks willing to give us almost limitless credit - so we have become more fussy.... or is it "discerning"? All this talk of different nut width / neck profile / fretboard radii..... Personally I blame BassChat! ..... now, I've got 10 minutes - I'm off to the marketplace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddycall Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Well, hopefully just a minor teething problem but last nights practice with the Ray wasn’t good! The punch and clarity completely disappeared in the mix and I was struggling to hear myself. The only way I could get it to cut through was with a tone I didn’t like! ive just put my set of fender flats on. I’ll give those a go next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 6 minutes ago, Waddycall said: Well, hopefully just a minor teething problem but last nights practice with the Ray wasn’t good! The punch and clarity completely disappeared in the mix and I was struggling to hear myself. The only way I could get it to cut through was with a tone I didn’t like! ive just put my set of fender flats on. I’ll give those a go next time. Hmmmmm, ok so Im going out on a bit of a limb here..but.. having gigged a Ray5, a Fender Custom shop Jazz and a 75 fender P. the P cuts through the mix despite weighing the most and the chunkiest neck, its my to go to gigging axe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I was half expecting you to say that! It will take some messing around with the EQ to get it right but once you do I find they cut through better than most basses. Amp set as flat as possible, boost the bass a bit, middle about centre and treble boosted a tiny bit for finger style and cut a bit for pick for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddycall Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Bit too soon to know how it’ll sound with the band but with flats on this bass is sounding great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddycall Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 Wow! Just got back from band practice with the flats on. Can’t believe how good it was sounding. Very pleased. Ray with flats through an ebs multidrive. Hartke head and fender 115. Sounds great clean too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddycall Posted December 12, 2018 Author Share Posted December 12, 2018 Well I got a bit fed up with the flats so tried some new slinky’s and swapped the Hartke head for my Rumble 150 head. Totally different! The clarity/transparency of the Hartke head was amplifying elements of the sound that aren’t audible through the rumble. Sounds loads better and has brought the zing back under control. It’s there when I want it. With the flats a bit of zing was out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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