I told myself that if I stick with this for 6 months and still feel motivated to continue, I could buy a second bass. A nice one. Something I’d really enjoy. I eventually found the one I wanted … right after the finish was discontinued and stock was all but gone.
It took some effort, but I got one: a Sterling Stingray Ray34 with poplar burl in a dark scarlet burst.
I have another thread about the trouble I had getting my hands on this thing. If you don’t want to click through, suffice to say this is the third one of these I’ve bought in less than two weeks because the other two showed up with damage that definitely did not happen during shipping.
But my persistence paid off, because I saved $300 in exchange for accepting this small flaw on an otherwise mint condition bass:
It changes a lot depending on the light, I nearly chose the orange but in person the red was far better. I love the 5-piece neck, why they chose to hide with lacquer on the BB734 is beyond me.
I’m assuming the 434 has the same neck finish as the 605 which I really like. Much more matte than the Jazz. Both the 605 and Jazz necks feel right in my hand.
Now that I’ve learnt more I wish I still had the BB400 I started on. I know where it is but I’ll need to be crafty. It would make an excellent restoration project. Now I have a passive Jazz and the active 605 and I’ve seen the reputation that Yamaha has I thought I’d convinced myself that the 434 not only looked better, in burnt Tobacco, but offered more of what I wanted i.e. passive with more direct volume control of each pick up.
We’ll see, I’ll sit on it for a bit but since I’m not bike racing anymore there is a little more room for other things.
I can’t think of the 605 off the top of my head, but here’s the neck on the back of my 435. I really like my 435 but there’s no doubt that my 734 is simply a superior instrument in every way but the number of strings.
. Love the pick guard on white.
Congrats!