There’s at least a couple videos about upgrading the Ray 4 with some excellent results.
Isn’t it the Ray 4 that has a 1.5 inch nut and a neck similar to a Fender Jazz?
If I recall all the other have a wider nut similar to a P style.
Are any other Stingrays or MM’s with a 1.5 nut and any thoughts on upgrading a Ray 4?
yeah the MM neck is the second widest compare to fender original P bass at 1.75". MM comes in at 1.6875"(11/16") and modern P bas is 1.625". Most people now tends to favor faster narrower jazz 105" but after I discovered the love of wider neck I just prefer them.
As for upgrades in terms of pickups I love Delano. I also love EMGs best is to go with the Vol and tone knobs only but if you really feel the need to fill that third spot then add the VMC Preamp would be an excellent mod. It’s a Variable Mid Control, so you’d have both Global tone and VMC. it covers just about all.
I also put the Aguilar pickup it’s ok running 18v is nice though.
I’ll need to play my P sometimes as I haven’t picked it up since getting the Geddy, and now also I play the Marcus around 50% of the time and both have the thin necks.
Your love for the wider neck tells me I should try them out and see how they feel and put some practice behind them.
Rush has been a huge influence always and since a teen I believed that a jazz neck was the only neck to get and I play a lot of Rush so it is just felt right.
I have thought many times about getting a Sterling or MM but the neck size has deterred me.
I’m going on a Steely Dan kick starting tonight where I’ll use the P.
If I can feel the love of the wider neck it could turn into another bass…
The MM or Sterling’s sound incredible, perhaps the best I’ve heard.
I do love the look of the Bongo. Sterling announced a Bongo this year but I’ve not found one yet. I think they are pre-order.
The Stingrays I held felt lighter and the contouring was nicer as well. I love the candy red one with the matching headstock.
Maybe the ones the store had had been on the floor for a while 
. I’ll check a different store.
Other thought I had is this will be my first active bass… maybe i didn’t set the pickups well. Or maybe I’m just a Fender guy 
Appreciate your sharing ideas/advice
This sentence right here can be so many things when it comes to this company as they have the history of making things as confusing as possible.
First off all, this year Sterling by Music Man is bringing back the “Sterling” model back to the line up. A decade+ ago they offered SB4 and SB14. They are smaller and sleeker profile with nice carved out neck plate and 1.5” neck profile. the SB4 is just your Volume/Tone active preamp. SB14 is the same price point as Ray34 and is almost the exact replica of the EBMM Sterling bass with some super cool electronics series/single(phantom)coil/parallel switch and 3 band EQ. Very aggressive tone. Metallic color with matching head stock.
2024 Sterling brought back SB14 but they only offer in natural wood and 2 knobs with passive Alnico pickup wired in parallel. This year they are offering the “Sterling” a metallic color but no matching head stock though. Both SBs have ramped style pickup tabs.
Original SB14 VS EBMM Sterling
New limited run SB14
I modded the original SB4, stripped the paint and sanded down change the pickup and made my own Sterling Joe Dart a couple of years before they released the official one.
Holy Moly… you need to start your own guitar brand!!!
Curious… why do the SB14 and EBMM Sterling have selector switch but only one pickup? Is that a passive/active switch?
One feature I preferred on the Fender was a blend dial for bridge and neck pickups
On the Fender I actually love the ‘62 stacked volume/ tone, volume/ tone a la Bobby Vega. If you want tone option that’s the way to go.
Then again I’m a minimalist when it comes to bass adjustments. I normally play with everything adjusted to neutral (middle). Funny my favorite bass has the maximum adjustment you can do on a bass,
Passive/ active
Series/ Single coil / parallel
3 band EQ.
I love crazy MusicMan basses. It’s only fitting that the model is called Big Al, 
I ended up getting a Ray34 (got it from @Al1885 actually). I love it. It has a great feel, and I much prefer the sound to the Squier P-bass I used to have and the Ibanez Soundgear I still have.
It’s also gorgeous in the Neptune blue.
They Ray34’s look like really excellent instruments. Congrats!
This has me curious, what do you mean exactly?
I ask because I have been getting some odd scratching but am unsure if it is bass (maybe jack), amp or cable
If it happens when you turn a pot, this is a great example of a place some contact cleaner will help.
Ahh, mine is a bit more random than that.
Are you sure it’s coming from the bass and not the amp or an effects pedal? If you’re using a lot of gain/overdrive, etc., that can add a lot of noise to the signal. It doesn’t sound scratchy, but my amp has Bluetooth, and sometimes my phone will cause interference if it’s too close.
Thanks. Yeah I really like it. Might upgrade to a Musicman someday if i have a windfall, but as @Al1885 says, the difference between the two is fairly minor, and more in the feel than the sound. Still a lighter instrument is always appealing.
HI, i am not sure, they may be a couple of sources.
I know what you mean about the mobile interference, I first had that with a work laptop years ago- it would start buzzing even before to phone rang too.
I do have a few noisy signals in the room, like laptop and TV (using as monitor), but I can isolate them.
I also seem to have a jack issue which is a bit hard to sort on one bass (it has that long enclosed jack).
I think I have some Amp issue going on, Drat I’ll just have to buy a bigger amp 
Hi Gloucester,
My answer is similar to Howard’s. When I turn the one of the dials (tone control or volume) on the bass, I hear a static-y crackling sound. Guy as a local shop suggests I spray it with a little cleaner on my guitar. I was getting same sound on the instruments at GC.
It’s really common.
