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Sterling by Music Man… Joe Dart model by stealth?


fretmeister

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23 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

It was mentioned in a comment on the YouTube launch video for the latest Joe Dart model. If you thought the full fat Music Man versions sell fast, these will literally (fearlessly) fly out the door.

 

I see what you did there!

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4 hours ago, neepheid said:

Confusing recycling of model names though - the first Sterling SB14 was a fully fledged, active Sterling a la the USA EBMM model.

 

image.thumb.png.c4b3835d674794e38251b06df75f4273.png

I swear the product manager who signed off on naming it the Sterling by Sterling by MusicMan needs their head examined

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10 hours ago, velvetkevorkian said:

I swear the product manager who signed off on naming it the Sterling by Sterling by MusicMan needs their head examined

I thought you were joking, but it does actually say that on the headstock!

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1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

I still don't know the difference between a Sterling and a Stingray 

 

Sterling has a smaller body that is a slightly different shape, and has a jazz dimension neck. It also usually has a more aggressive ceramic based pickup.

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2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

Sterling has a smaller body that is a slightly different shape, and has a jazz dimension neck. It also usually has a more aggressive ceramic based pickup.

 

... and coil switching options, even on the single pickup.

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You know what. I kinda like this in a weird way. Nice to see SBMM do some weird(ish) stuff. The short scale Ray in Fiesta Red they revealed at NAMM is absolutely glorious, and on my wish list for the next few months.

 

Problems for me though are twofold;

 

The price.

 

A shade under £1100 for an alarmingly basic instrument that's made in Indonesia (no issue with country of origin, but we know labour costs will not be commensurate with the price).

 

The naming convention SBMM use.

 

Does anyone within the Sterling by Musicman company stop to think about how bad it's become? The Sterling By Musicman Sterling Bass. The ego involved in this is comical. 

Edited by 40hz
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13 minutes ago, 40hz said:

You know what. I kinda like this in a weird way. Nice to see SBMM do some weird(ish) stuff. The short scale Ray in Fiesta Red they revealed at NAMM is absolutely glorious, and on my wish list for the next few months.

 

Problems for me though are twofold;

 

The price.

 

A shade under £1100 for an alarmingly basic instrument that's made in Indonesia (no issue with country of origin, but we know labour costs will not be commensurate with the price).

 

The naming convention SBMM use.

 

Does anyone within the Sterling by Musicman company stop to think about how bad it's become? The Sterling By Musicman Sterling Bass. The ego involved in this is comical. 

Yeah, it's the Sterling Sterling. But then it's got us talking about it so while it may annoy people it's not going to actually put anyone off buying one? 

 

The £1100 for an Indonesian bass? Well. I don't know. I'm holding off judgement. If you'd asked me four years ago would I pay top dollar for a Chinese made bass I'd have laughed but then I got a Dingwall and I have never had a regret about that so... Maybe the wood, components and build quality will be up there but they'll be competing with much cheaper Sire and Yamaha basses that are flawless so good luck.

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11 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I paid more than that for an Indonesian Ibanez Blue Floral Jem Steve Vai guitar about 5 years ago.

 

It was an exceptionally good instrument.

As I said, I have no issue whatsoever with where a Bass is made - CNC is CNC at the end of the day. It's more that they move production to these places due to the cheap labour, but continue to charge eye-watering amounts for the instrument (look at the SBMM Dark Ray). SBMM are by no means the only guilty ones here though.

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But I can get a South Korean made Reverend which does more (ie. has two pickups) and will be excellent quality for less than £900.  The grand is quite the psychological threshold to cross, so manufacturers had better provide reasons why I should.  This bass doesn't provide any reasons why I should when you stack it against cheaper instruments of excellent quality which are manufactured in places with theoretically higher labour costs.

 

Hard no from me.  Sorry, EBMM/SBMM fanbois, but their pricing has been ridiculous for a while now.  I'm still prising my jaw off the floor at >£1000 SBMM Rays.  What is this market segment they're aiming at?  The affluent cheapskate?  Does it even exist? 

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Folks might also wish to consider the Sterling by Musicman Pete Wentz Signature Bass.  Same passive Stingray type bass but a lot cheaper.  I picked one up preloved for a chunk less than the JD by Sterling or whatever it's called.

 

OK, mine is black not natural, but it does have a roasted maple neck and nicer knobs if we are being picky.  I think the controls are better placed than on this new bass too.  That being said I do love the look of the JD by stealth bass.

 

image.thumb.png.bb743b0b4340f82d1b85d1ae0e4d58a9.png

 

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3 hours ago, 40hz said:

As I said, I have no issue whatsoever with where a Bass is made - CNC is CNC at the end of the day. It's more that they move production to these places due to the cheap labour, but continue to charge eye-watering amounts for the instrument (look at the SBMM Dark Ray). SBMM are by no means the only guilty ones here though.

 

I think that is only seeing one side of it.

 

It may be that the only way to be able to offer the instrument at that price at all is by making it in Indonesia, and if it was built even in China it might have been £1500

Quite often profit levels on instruments are not as high a percentage as we might think they are.

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