Yes, I really have to refrain to not just go and buy this bass, it is possibly the nicest instrument I have ever seen. I am very very very fortunate that none of the local stores have one in stock.
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That is a bummer, those are both such great feeling / playing basses IME. Hopefully you are able to at least find some 2hand so you can at least play them to see if you like.
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Used from public people, and used from 2nd hand stores / pawn shops. I have had great success at both to get some great deals.
My last Stingray 34, which the closest example for price I could find for the same exact bass from 2012 was EBay, and there was two for sale, one in Australia starting at $2240 AUD IIRC and another somewhere in the UK, buy it now for $1300 USD.
The pawn shop I went to listed it for $650. It was / is in excellent, near new condition.
I paid $400 for it out the door…
So, when looking at 2hand adds, in retail stores, pawn shops and a persons home, the price, as mentioned already, is a starting price.
I am watching an amp I want to get, that is starting price $350. Ther person listed it 5 months ago, so has not had success selling it at that price.
If / When. I decide to get it, and I go, I will be going to purchase it for $200. Possibly $250 if I am really really attracted to it after paying it, but nothing more. If not, I won’t get it, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Good luck
Yes, as I think I said in an earlier post, had I not acquired and played so many basses, I would be playing an Ibanez SR, possibly also an ESP LTD B-4E and that would be the end of that.
But, I still play those daily, I have added the Stingray to the top, and am so happy to have been able to play so many basses, not just in the shop, but really play, own, set up, re-string, clean, play, play, play.
I had a lot of basses picking me from the get go, and I was happy with ones that picked me, but it took a little time for the right bass to have the opportunity to pick me, and we couldn’t be happier, well, me and my 3 stingrays.
Sorry, but its a path that I highly recommend everybody at least try to walk down once.
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agreed.
I think in my case it wasn’t really. The dialogue went like:
“You said the Cort costs 400€ - how much does the ESP cost?”
hesitantly looks at it “I… yeah, you can have it for the same price as the Cort.”
Of course it could’ve been show/sales technique but I think 2/3 of the original price is a good reduction and I don’t think it was a starting price at that point but I think I was at an advantage as the store struggles due to corona and was looking very hard for a sale.
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Are the stingrey “SUB” great? There is a lot of different version if the stingray I’m a bit lost 
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so unfortunately the naming thing with music man is a big source of contention, because it’s just so damn confusing. Music Man was started by Leo Fender after he quit fender because he thought he was dying (he wasn’t, you can look the story up). Ernie Ball, a musician who made guitar strings bought music man a bunch of years later and renamed it Ernie Ball music man. ernie ball has a son named sterling ball. so when he wanted to start a company that would offer step down versions of their expensive basses (like fender does with squire) he named the new company after his son. so you have the original expensive line, ernie ball music man (EBMM) and the cheaper sterling ball music man (SBMM). to make things a hundred times more confusing, EBMM also makes a model of bass also named after his son called the sterling. AND the cheap version of the stingray made by SBMM used to be called the SUB, and had a lot of quality control issues. they started making them in a different country, fixed the quality control issues, and are now very nice and nicely priced, and they renamed the SUB the RAY. if you go to the current sterling ball music man site, these are the stingrays for sale there. they offer them in a bunch of different configurations, 4 strings, 5 strings, different finishes, etc. confused yet?
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Ok, after 2 times read your message it becomes more clear than confusing… But that’s super cool to learn more about the history of brands!
To summarize, SUB are better now than before?
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Yes 
. The old subs were more hit or miss. The new rays are consistently good.
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BTW one problem with the naming is when buying a used music man bass they are frequently named wrong and you have to do a little investigation to find out what you’re buying 
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I found out this week that I will be off on a 5-6 week project starting in September and the first thing I thought about was how do I bring my bass along with me. I found this company Traveler Guitar that makes travel size guitars and basses. I found a used TB-4P at a GC nearby for $150 off list price so I called and it arrived today. It plays and sounds great . I guess the antibodies for GAS still have not gotten into my system just yet.
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Oh that’s very pretty! 
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Nice love the colour/pickguard combo
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That is a beautiful bass!
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Oh wow, that transparent blue is gorgeous.
I didn’t know there were P Basses with powered pickups but of course there are. Is it 9V or 18V?
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@Dani, If you buy a new Sterling Stingray Ray today, you are purchasing a quality instrument.
There are 3 basic models, each with sub models
The Ray 4 (5). [4 string {5 str5in)
The Ray 24(25)
The Ray 34(35)
The major differences are
The Ray 4 - Body = BassWood - Active 2 band EQ
The Ray24 - Body = Mahogany - Active 2 band EQ
The Ray 34 - Body = Mahogany - Active 3 band EQ
The Ray 4(5) also comes as Ray 4(5) HH
The Ray 34(35) also comes as Ray 34(35)HH
HH equals Double Humbucking pick ups
I own a
2020 Sterling Stingray Ray4
2012 Sterling Stingray34
And I pick up tomorrow
2020 Sterling Stingray Ray4HH
I have bought and sold many basses in the past 6 months, learning what I liked, keeping those, and selling the ones I didn’t like so much. I also bought some Bass/ Amp packages, where I was able to sell the Amp head and speaker cabinet for equal to what I paid or more, making a profit.
After selling two basses and making a $300 profit a few months back, I went into Guitar Center and bought my Sterling Stingnray Ray 4.
I took it home, added it to my rotation of Ibanez SR300, SR400, and LTD B-4E, and played all 4 of those basses daily for about 3-4 weeks, and at the end of the 3-4 weeks, I found myself playing the Stingray Ray 4 more and more and more.
I found myself playing on one of the Ibanez basses, and having a little trouble playing certain things, or just didn’t feel really good playing certain things, and then wishing I was playing my Stingray.
More and more, I just started picking up my Stingray first, and often finishing the day without picking up any others (unless I needed 24 frets, almost never.
So
I sought out and SCORED AN INCREDIBLE DEAL on the 2012 Stingray 34 from a Pawn shop selling it for $650. I did some homework to find out what I could, cuz just like @itsratso was saying, in years past, you need to make sure you are buying quality and not a problem bass.
From what I could find, the only other two identical bases I could find were going for a bit over $1000
I bought it for $400 and couldn’t be happier.
Also
Because I played my Stingrays most, then my ESP LTD B-4E, then my Ibanez SR400, I decided that I could give up my Ibanez SR300 (the SR300 and SR400 were all but identical. The year they were put out, the difference was almost only the quilted maple finish on the 400). Since I bought it used, online from Guitar Center, and since they have a special 6 month return police due to Covid, I decided that I would take it back to Guitar Center so that it, 1, would not sit unplayed, collecting dust, and 2, more importantly, so I could trade it in on the STERLING Stingray Ray 4 HH, which I pick up tomorrow, I am so excited, it’s GREEN, which is next best to Orange.
Ok, I will wrap it up here, its a long post, but
IN MY HONEST OPINION AND RECENT EXPERIENCE.
I beleive these prices are accurate but not certain
Sterling Ray 4 - $299. /. Ray 4 HH $379
Sterling Ray 24 - $499
Sterling Ray 34 - $749 and up
Sterling Ray 34 HH - $899 and up
So
****The Ray 4 is absolutely amazing, I love it, love it, love it. The difference between basswood and mahogany body, YES, I am sure there is a difference, and it is a higher quality, however, I am nowhere near being able to tell the difference myself, and it could be years before I might be able to notice much difference, and it is going to be a very subtle difference when I do notice it.
The Ray 24,-yes it had mahogany body, but it is pretty much the same build, same active EQ, and same pick ups (IIRC, there may be a pick up upgrade too). It is nice, it comes in limited colors, some are nice, but for me, it is not worth the extra money, between the Ray4 and Ray24, the $200 extra is not worth it. From what I have played, they play and feel the same, and they even sound the same to my novice ears.
******The Ray34 - upgraded body - upgraded fretboard, upgraded active electronics and pick ups, comes in many colors and designs, some I like, some not so much. it is really really really nice, It is not a MM, but you could almost upgrade it to one by changing the electronics. Once set up really god, they are awesome.
But, do they play and feel different then the Ray 3 or the Ray34. They feel and play pretty much the same as far as I can tell. They sound different, obviously with the 3 band EQ and pick ups. I love them, I love them I love them.
But, when trading in my Ibanez, I still chose to purchase the Ray 4HH instead of the Ray 34HH.
At this point, I didn’t want to spend the money since I already have a Stingray34, and because I love my Ray 4, I was very happily and willing to get the Ray 4 HH. And I absolutely love the color I am getting.
So all said and done. If you are able to play a Stingray, be it a 4, a 24 or a 34, and if you like the feel, and if you like the sound, and if you like the look, and if you decide you want to order one, I think you can’t go wrong weather you get the Ray 4, Ray 24 or Ray 34.
If it were me, I would take the Ray 24 out of the mix unless you really really really like the couple of creamy yellow and blue / green colors they come in. If you like thse colors and prefer the mahogany body, get a 24. But if you like Black, or White, then go with a Ray 4 or a Ray 34. For the reasons I listed above.
Try one, you may love one.
And
If you don’t, then get a MIM Fender.
But also try some
Ibanez
ESP LTD
Yamaha
Jackson
Schecter
Spector
Warwick
Etc…
The more you try, the more you will know what you like and what you don’t like.
and you may like everything about a Fender P-bass Best after trying all those, but you will know for 100% sure, and if that is the case, then an American Fender P-Bass might be your best option.
I was reading your story and just waiting to get to the end so I could add in “MusicMan also makes a smaller, lighter version bass of the stingray, called the Sterling“
But you gat it in there. Lol. 
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THank you so much for your your post @T_dub! It’s really interresting and I will try one if I have the occasion.
I already stop in a musicshop this week, I tried some basses, Squier CV '60s P, fender MIM Precision (the seller also put an american one in my hands), Jazz, epiphone thunderbird vintage pro, several yamaha, one LTD (B-204 maybe?) and a few Ibanez.
After 2 hours playing and feeling all those basses, I must say that I was impressed in the difference between the squier and the fender MIM. The fender looked way better done (maybe had I misluck with the squier. I’m much more in a classical look than the modern, so I was not really fan of the Ibanez and the Yahama (even though i’m sure those are really great instrument). Finaly I spend a lot of thime with the epiphone TB and the Fender P MIM. I was so fan of look and the finishing of the Epiphone, eveything was clean, smooth, the fact that I was able to see the wood. I was just a bit afraid of two thing: the neck is really narrow and I have long thin finger and I expect do some hardware modification in the future (for my pleasure) and this bass look already finish and perfect as it is now. In other hand, the fender was… heavy, really cool neck (better for me than the jazzbass), nice micro to put my thumb and everything look easely “upgradable”. My only regret is the fender MIM is always colored and I don’t see the bodywood. But the blueone is beautifull. I will not speak about the song because I tried all the basses on a huge markbass amp which gave certainely not the same song than my small ampeg. But I think that for my final decision I will go to the shop with my own amp. If I can I really would try a G&L LB-100.
Next shop I’ll try to find one with stingray and other model to test!
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I am curious, because you made no mention of the ESP LTD you played? Did you not like it?
The B-4E is wood tone with a neck thru body, 24 frets and beautiful.
Here is mine.
And this is a 2020 Stingray Ray34. They did black on the wood grain and put a clear pick guard so you could see the wood pattern.
I love this bass, but I would have to put a colored pick guard on it to give it the proper stingray look.
And this Music Man Stingray, the real thing, is to die for.
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