Sweetwater only carries the American made EBMM lines for whatever reason
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Good to know!
Thanks Howard!
Well….we worked out a deal and I just purchased my first Sterling bass!!
Model Ray34H in Neptune Blue Quilted Maple.
Thank You guys so much for all of your help and advice!!
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Nice!
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….with matching headstock of course!!! 
God is good!
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Congrats, can’t wait to see pictures of it when it arrives.
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Yay. Another Ray owner is born.
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Love it QM Neptune blue. Just take out the pickguard and show off the QM. I did and doing my blue one soon. What a waste covering up the largest beautiful real estate with plain pickguard.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
That’s Sacrilegious.
The teardrop must stay, it is part of the iconic stingray look. Without it, or with a clear open, BOO HISS 
. .
Of course its yours, you can do what you want with it, Al does, so I guess its ok.
But did my stance on this come across? Do I need to be more articulate? Dramatic? To the point? HAHAHAHAH
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Transparent pickguard, maybe transparent blue or purple 
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As long as you can make out the teardrop shape, then maybe, but you have to be able to see the teardrop, thats what makes the bass a stingray.
That’s my position, of course anybody can do what they like with their basses, but I need that teardrop.
Even if I were to get this Ray34 that I love, it comes with a clear pickguard, and I would put on a colored one, or diamond plate one, or something to give it the teardrop look
Of course an Orange one would look sexy AF, but I have never been able to find an orange one.
Orange Pearl is closest, and it is pretty sick, but they were always out of stock.
Maybe now that Covid is over they will have more.
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Now that @Steve73 has hit go on his purchase - (congratulations BTW 
), I might jump onto this thread in true hi-jack fashion. @Al1885 @T_dub @howard - I’m based in Australia and can get a SBMM Ray4 for the equivalent of USD$550 or a Sire Marcus Miller V7 (V2) for USD$750. Given I will want to change the pickup on the Ray4, which of these would give me the best bass for the buck? I’ve read a lot of what you’ve both written, however looking for some pros and cons to each bass. I recently bought an Ibanez SR600E, which I am really enjoying playing. I’m looking for something very different in sound to the Ibanez as I’m wanting to broaden my experiences. Also … Looks. The Ray4 and Sire are both very good looking basses and both look very different to the Ibanez (which I also think is a nice looking bass). TIA.
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I don’t really know anything about either - I will say that if it were me I would go for a humbucker over a J/J any day though. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of J pickups. They are fine in a P/J though
note: this is not a common opinion, it’s just my own.
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I just model mine after the BFR. I thought it look cool so why not, lol.
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As we would say here in the states, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. I have a Sire V7, just arrived today. It’s gorgeous, and is really well constructed. I like Jazz basses, they are very versatile.
I am not as familiar with humbuckers. My Sr600E came in with a faulty preamp, hence the new Sire, and I have a Jag with a humbucker due in tomorrow. I have ordered a new pickup to upgrade it with, .
So I think both options are good. Not much help, I know.
Have you thought about a Sire P7? It’s a PJ with a preamp.
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There are a lot to like about both basses. Both would have skinny jazz neck, I almost want to say that Sire feels even skinnier than the normal jazz neck at the nut.
Ok here goes my 4 cents.
Let’s start with Sire, excellent electronics there’s no need to change the electronics really. Very traditional jazz setup taken another notch. Love, love, love the roll end fret works. Very highend level fret work. It’s more expensive but less to spend to upgrade.
Next is the Ray4, there’s something to like about the MM pickup and location as it produce a unique tone. Ok let’s get the bad news out of the way. Fret works are not great on these, you might get one that doesn’t require additional edge filing but I had to do them on a few of mine, it’s not difficult especially with the right tool and you only have to do it once. It happens when the wood(neck) shrink frets stay the same size so they stick out.
On to the plus side, 6 bolt neck is cool, neck share similar profile as the highend sterling and the caprice. A little TLC, it would feel incredible. You said the you plan to upgrade the pickup and it’s a great idea.
There are so many great options safest would be the EMG MMCS with VMC. Super quiet and great tone. If you want to go nuts then I’d do the Delano hybrid and somewhere down the road you want more jazz vibe you just add a jazz neck pickup and you’d get the best of both worlds, that’s what I’m planning to do with one of my Ray. HS setup is pretty awesome.
I’m definitely have my bias toward the Ray4, although $550 to you Ausies are a bit steep when we can grab them at $300 new.
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They are about $400 new here too, FWIW.
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Yeah I should stress that my dislike of J/J is weird and unique to me, as far as I can tell. Just not my thing, I prefer other pickup types.
Most people do not feel this way 
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Have a browse on eBay. I got $120 off my Ray4 from tourbusentertainment but I am an eBay plus member so it rushed me $590 aud delivered
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That’s fair, not going to disagree. You like what you like. Dazed and Confused, the opening bass riff, was a Jazz…
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