Well all, I’m looking to buy a Sterling Stingray 34 as my first “high end” bass after using a Squier Jazz (which I love) for the past few years. Still scary thinking of spending so much money on a bass xD but its been on my mind for a while and I’ve always wanted to play a Stingray style bass. If anyone has used these basses can you get the action really low with little fret buzz? Action is a problem I’ve been having with my Squier and maybe its my fault but I can’t seem to get the action to as low as I want without horrible fret buzz, its playable but not ideal. Also is the neck and fretboard nice to play? The roasted maple neck on my Squier jazz isnt my favourite comparing it to more expensive basses I’ve played and was wondering if the Stingray is smooth. Sorry if the posts a bit long but responses would be really appreciated thanks.
I can’t answer to most of your stuff but, concerning the action, one thing to try is re-checking the neck relief after you’ve lowered the action to a level you like. I had something similar happen to me with one of my guitars. Action was Snoop Dog high and after I lowered it I got some nasty buzzing. Checked the relief and even though it was fine before, it needed adjusting after I lowered the action. I have no explanation as to why. Something something angular tension something question mark.
It’s essential to do a setup in sequence to get the best results efficiently.
Set neck relief first, then set string height action and intonation at the bridge.
Next, if the string action is high/high-ish on the lowest frets, some nut lowering is the fix - whether by sanding the entire bottom of the nut for overall strings lowering OR by nut slot filing one or more strings, as necessary.
Hi,
My local shop has Sterling Stingrays which were all great to play. The owner of the shop got them on the inter-dealer market and fixed them up. So, there might be some variance and ordering online would be a slight risk if you don’t have a shop around to check it out.
For your Squier, try going to a shop to get it set up, it’ll be worth the 30-40 bucks you spend. Like Mike said, you could have other issues than a simple setup. Maybe some frets are simply high and need to be sanded down a bit? Who knows - a good shop might! 
Cheers
Antonio
Yeah. In modern cut nuts I think it’s rare for the slots to be off much individually, especially on bass; so sanding the base of the nut is the method I would recommend here, but you never know. Easy either way, no special tools needed.
@pcal73 when you mentioned the roasted neck on your Squier Jazz I assumed that you have the contemporary jazz bass. I’m surprised you don’t like how the neck feel. That neck is the closest to fender American neck.
As for Ray34. The new model are just about as close in feel as the music man stingray and the tone is very close too. They produce crisps clean thumpy tones and the spec and geometry is almost identical to the Stingray. I own several Ray34 and ray35 I love them.
its a 70s vintage vibe but i have tried them contemporaries theyre gorgeous basses, thanks for the ray34 info too ive heard demos and i love the sound, so simple but versatile.
My Stering StingRay 4HH is great! The neck is smooth and fast and the action is low. It happens to be my heaviest 4 string bass. That bothers some people more than others. Personally I’m not a fan of the double humbuckers, I wish I had the single, but that’s just me. All those things I mentioned above I like better than my Squier CV 70s P bass, but I still play my Squier 90% of the time.
I think this is the key essential here because if you have what I think you have I think it’s one of the Squier finest. Roasted maple neck and narrow tall frets it’s something you’d find on the older American elite/ ultra fender. I think that the bass plays exceptionally well and feel awesome. I did the setup myself and nothing major jumped up as a red flag.
Check your setup,if you plan to pay someone to do it spend a few minutes and note things you don’t like and hope to improve on playability. It goes a long way. These are mine, may be it’s the same as yours.
Have you played a Sterling? When I first did I didn’t like the pickup position as it felt uncomfortable to me as a place to rest my thumb. I loved the tone though, so did some research and found you can by thumb rests which screw into the existing pick guard holes. Problem solved! It’s now my go to bass for the Aussie rock covers my band plays!
OP is getting a ray34 which has a different kind of pickup profile. It’s taking from the ebmm Sterling and Bongo it has a nice smooth ramp where the mounting tabs are. It’s the perfect place and shape to rest your thumb in a pickup. They do the same thing on the jazz pick as well as P pickup.
Personally, I’m not a fan of ZeroMod. It’s just too high to be useful. I 3D printed my music man version of the ramp and it’s a killer. PM me if you want one, you just have to pay for the shipping I’ll print you one.
Thanks @Al1885 appreciate the offer, however I found a file for the zero mod online and had a friend print one up for my EBMM Stingray and I find the height fine for my style of playing.
I remember your bass, what a great score with the Flea bridge. I have the EBMM sterling both 4 string and 5 string in that color and Sterling SB14 in black as well as for the Stingray I have it in white. It’s safe to say I kinda like MusicMan, lol
I have 2 EBMM Stingrays, one is the Stingray Special 4H
and the latest one I got is the Ray 35, which is super heavy but man, that low B string is like BUTTA’ LOL.
Anyway, to answer your question, if you have the funds to buy one, I highly recommend them. My 5 string cost less than my 4 string, but the sound is still pretty comparable between the two. I have yet to find another bass that sounds as good as these. Hope that helps 
Sparkles are where it’s at! My bass matches my boots 