Wow! That looks amazing.
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@lee_editorial Nice!!! I have thought about getting a custom paint job for one of mine, but didn’t really know where to start looking for someone to do it.
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Really cool looking bass, love the color.
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Beautiful Bass Brother!!
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Another Gorgeous Bass!
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I can’t see all the bass, so what color are the tuners.
I am a fan of black hardware.
I love everything about your bass, and it is fine as it is
but
if I were to change anything it would be to change the Bridge to a black bridge, and change the control panel to black to match the pickguard like you suggest, and I would also use Black tuners. And then I would use those orange knobs, I think that just look sexy AF on that bass, but it is a little different then yours, and they each have their own character, and charm, and they both have plenty of each, so I would probably just leave everything for now, and then you can know, if you want to change the look a little sometime down the line, there are a few mods you can make
Black bridge, cover plate and tuners, and those orange coltrol knobs…
so you have one perfect bass, but in a few years when the hot little trophy wife starts to sag, just slap on a new set of tits, a wig and face lift the old bag is a brand new trophy in steps 1-2-3-4, with no pre-nup and no divorce proceedings.
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I ordered a zero fret kit today. Going to put it on my Jazz and do BEAD tuning. I don’t remember who suggested it but thanks, I think that’s a good idea.
Also bought a hardcase today at my local store, one from Schecter. Brand new, $80 which I think is a good deal. Think he wanted it out inventory.
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Haha… I had a feeling this orange beauty might strike a chord with you. (Since you have such affinity for the orange shade!)
I only posted photos from the paint shop and have not taken any myself yet- once the bass arrived I dropped it off with my local luthier to get new strings/setup.
(So no full photos of the bass yet) The headstock is black, so any black hardware should look killer with the orange/black combo)
This was my first short scale (30") about 3 years ago when I started this course. Very inexpensive ($225) but great reviews and a lot of people bought them as mod projects. Body, neck and playability really sweet, but pickups/stock strings a little lacking. I replaced the pickups with EMG Geezers along with DiAddario flats… this little gal was rockin. I’m still really a novice, but from what I read, the tuners are fairly low end as well- so I will definitely go black at some point when I upgrade. Same thing with eventual bridge replacement as well.
Despite the popularity, they quit making these a couple years ago- sort of re-emerged this year with 32, medium scale model. (Occasionally used models pop up on Reverb for $300-$400)
I will take some full length photos in a few days once I get it back.
The paint job cost as much money as I already had in it (original cost, plus pickups, setup, strings,etc) but to achieve that Fender (Squire) PJ sound in a small package with Jaguar style in a unique one of a kind satin color was totally worth it.
I won’t turn my back on at at parties if you are lurking about!
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Nice, I can’t wait to see her all dressed up.
And of course when you decide to give the old gal a youthful face lift in time, I will be waiting for some porn. LOL
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Today’s upgrade consisted of installing a Tone Monster SKB-3AD 3 band preamp on my Sterling SUB Ray 4.
Kinda scary 
Fortunately it went back together smoothly, and even worked on the first try! 
Using stacked controls meant I didn’t have to drill additional holes in the control plate. Now I have (left to right) stacked bass and treble boost/cut, mid boost/cut over frequency shift, and of course volume.
It sounds great - noticeably more punch than the original preamp and it plays nicely with the Aguilar pickup that was my last upgrade for this bass.
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Nice!
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Yeah, from the demo’s I saw, it really changes it drastically. And it is really awesome, and a great Metal head bass for sure, I think it does lose the Stingray flavor, but that is not a bad thing.
It depends on what you are going for.
Like me, I have a Ray4, Ray4HH*, Ray34*, Stingray BFR SLO Special.
So I got my stingray sound covered, especially with the Aguilar pick up in the Ray4.
*I have these two listed for sale, so I might not always have them
So if I were to get another Sterling Ray4, I would seriously consider getting the Tone Capsule from Darkglass for the Pre-amp, and then have my pick of pickups.
But I would do it because I have the Ray sound covered, but I LOVE my Ray4. it is still my favorite bass to play, sound is a big part of that, but the bigger part is that it feels better to me then most to all other basses I have played.
PLUS
PLUS, with a price tag of $299, and as low as $220 on sale, or even cheaper 2nd hand, down to $150, it is a GREAT platform to upgrade. It is right up there with Squire P-bass and J-bass as far as upgrade the electronics, and hardware if you want, and you get a GREAT bass for a little price. Or if you pay as much for the components to upgrade as the bass, you still end up with one hell of a CUSTOM bass for $600 or less, and not only did you do the upgrade to make it a highly personable bass, but it is an upgrade that has lots of possibility.
That all said, for a Stingray sound and a 2 band pre-amp, I almost find it unnecessary to upgrade anything more then the pick up if you just want a stingray sounding instrument with the classic 2 band configuration.
notice I say Stingray sounding and that the 2 band is the classic configuration, but am not saying you get a Stingray with a CLASSIC 2 band pre-amp, that is absolutely NOT what you will get. You will have to upgrade a Ray34 with a better pick up and a classic MM 2 band pre-amp CLONE to get some ting that resembles a stingray with classic 2 band pre-amp.
Which
would be kind of silly considering the Ray34 is already a 3 band pre-amp which is pretty close to, if not the same one put in the 2017 and earlier Stingray CLASSIC’s, so there you may just upgrade the pick up to get a LITTLE better sound.
And that is why the Ray34, although a decent model to upgrade if you. want to spend less then $1000 and have something that is almost apples to apples what Ernie Ball makes in California,
But back to the Ray4 and the DarkGlass Tone Capsule.
It would not be my first choice for my first Ray4,
but
it will be my next choice for my next Ray4 upgrade, because it will give me something much different in a very familiar package that is comfortable and fun for me to play
In Fact, since the trade for my Ray4HH is on hold, and for all I know may not happen, and if I don’t end up selling it, I may actually get the Tone Capsule for it, cuz in fact it IS a 2 pick up pre-amp.
Then I would just have to upgrade the pick ups.
Problem there is I am gonna pay as much for the components as I did for the bass.
Tone Capsule runs $150
Pickups are gonna run $100 or more, and after tax, and an upgraded pick guard, it will easily be around $400 and the bass was $425 out the door.
I have expressed my dislike for my Ray4HH, basically because that everything put pick up position 1 does not sound good to me.
It sounds like a Ray4 at position 1 like it should, but all the other combinations of the pick ups sound crap.
I am not a huge fan of the extra pick up, just cuz I am not used to it being there and can feel “in the way”, but it is one thing I could easily get used to.
But now that I know the instrument alot better, and know more about specs and configurations way better from the SBMM Ray4 and Ray4HH, all the way up to the EBMM Stingray Special being produced today (Face lift and slight build upgrade from the Stingray Classic they stopped making in 2018). Thats why I said the Ray34 is the same as the 2017 stingrays, and not the new ones. I know the pre-amp got a new design, upgrade, change, whatever it is, I just know it is different. whether it is better, worse, equal or whatnot is a debate I don’t choose to engage, cuz it will be different for everybody. But the Ray34 gets the MM pre-amp that was used on the last version of EBMM Stingray called the Stingray Classic
But from what I know now, from the bottom end (like I said, this is a GREAT PLATFORM to build upon, and you can see huge differences for as little as $140 up to $300) is the SBMM Ray4 Pick up is the weakest link to the whole line. There is really NOTHING you can do to it but get it out and replace it.
Why is it like this, one reason is because they need to justify the $200 between the Ray4 and Ray24. Using this crap pick up, that you can’t change unless you really un pot the thing and get access to the wires, does drive down cost, this is like a $12 pick up.
So on the Ray4HH, you get 2 $24 pick ups.
The pre-amp on the Ray4 and ray 24 are identical, eventho they lead you to beleive you get an upgrade on the 24, they just use that ultra gimicky word “Vintage” inspired pre-amp that is noting different then the “9v Pre-amp” that comes with the Ray4
You can change the preamp in the ray4, and you end up with that same hot mess you had before, where either Hi or Low boost will distort the pick up and you can’t really boost it any further then you could with the stock pick up, so changing the pick up can be good, but it is not enough to change the stock Ray4. There is a trick to making a preamp upgrade to the Ray24 work better, but nothing for the Ray4
So now that I know how the pick ups for the 4 are and how to help them (throw them out) I kind of am thinking I could just replace the two pick ups and change the sound of the Ray4hh HUGE, and it would.
Will I like it? IDK?
is it worth $200 to find out? Not sure yet.
I am kind of thinking, if I am gonna do that, I may as well do the preamp as well, and put in the darkglass since it is a 2 pick up preamp anyhow
If I were doing a Ray4, another one for me, I would 100% go Darkglass ToneCapsule with new pickups (not sure, lots to choose from, but I am leaning Herrick pickups)
The thing I am not sure of in the whole thing is, weather the pre-amp in the Ray4HH is any better then the one in the Ray4 or not. And I think the one in the Ray4 will work fine. My Aguilar works with it perfectly.
If you want a 3band for the Ray4, you can get a stack mid / high or use 4 holes in the cover plate and drill another for the jack, or drill thru the side and get a jack plate and make it look real.
I am find with my 2 band preamp that is really BOOST only. it is not boost cut which you would think cuz the notch at 12oclock, but from the mouth of Sterling Scott Ball, you should always start a stingray flat and boost as you go.
Sure if you consider the mid notch to be flat, then it is a boost cut I guess, but that is not the way it is worded or specked from what I have been told
(I should fact check that myself sometime)
So if I keep the Ray4HH, I will start with the pick ups.
Ray24 does not have an HH option
and if you have a Ray24, the SECRET HACK is to open up the cover panel and wire your pick up in parallel.
Both the Ray4 and Ray24 come wired in Series, which is not the Stingray sound from the Stingray pick up. The Ray 4 is potted in glue with no access to the wires, except the two they allow you.
The Ray24 has access, so you can quickly solder them to be paralell, and you will instantly improve the sound of your bass.
it is still a pretty hot pick up, and you will still clip the crap out of it if you boost above 50%, but it will sound much better flat or mid boost.
Pre-amp still doesn’t do much to help with the distortion from the ultra hot cheap pick. up, but at least is sounds more like a Ray.
Another reason I think the Ray4HH sounds so shitty (and this is a guess only) is because, not only are the pick ups a steaming hot mess, but being wired in series, when you change the pick up selection, you are not getting true to form combinations that the Stingray 4HH from Music Man would get, and you get some abomination of it.
I have to look further to what I would get if I added two pick ups in paralell, with no paralell / series switch to this Ray4hh. and if that works, would it be better to get 2 pick ups that can be switched series / paralell,
and furthermore, if I want to get Bridge Paralell / Bridge series / Bridge - neck paralell / neck series / neck paralell, do I then have to change pre-amps.
I am not 100% that those selections are what is the standard, but I am sort of paraphrasing here, just to get a point across.
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after saying all that
I do want to say how FREAKING rad that is, what you did, and how bad ass it should sound with the Aguilar pick up.
Where did you get the stacked knobs, did you order them separate?
Also
am I right that the tone capsule is a 2 pick up capable pre-amp, or is there a single pick up version that does not do 2 pick ups?
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With your knowledge of everything MM related, have you had a chance to check out the Sire M2? I often wonder how their pickups compare (Or even the Yamaha TRBX). I’m always considering one of those, or a SUB/Sterling bass.
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The preamp is a Tone Monster SKB-3AD, not a Darkglass. I looked at the Darkglass (and the Aguilar and several others), but at roughly 1/3 the cost of those I figured that the Tone Monster was worth a try - and I was pleasantly surprised.
The stacked knobs were not included but were available from the same eBay seller.
Out of the box it is set up for two pickups and includes a blend pot. Single pickup setups require cutting the leads going from the pot to the preamp and attaching the pickup wires directly to them.
To me it still sounds like a Musicman as long as I don’t get too extreme with the bass and treble boosts; if I do it sounds awesome, but less of that classic Musicman sound.
It requires use of the -20 dB pad on my Behringer UMC204HD audio interface (another recent upgrade), otherwise it’s clip city.
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I have not had a chance to try a SIRE. THANKS COVID-19
There are lots of basses I would love to play, try, buy, love, hate, etc…
I know there are some really strong Yamaha fans here. I never tried a TRBX or a BB, so I can’t speak about them and I assume what I hear about them is correct.
I have not heard of those with Yamaha trbx either 304 or 504 and up, needing or wanting to upgrade the pick ups. But for the price tag (which is reasonable) I would expect pick ups that I would be able to use and keep.
I had a RBX-170. lowest model made.
It felt nice, neck was nice. body felt ultra light, like the too light to be wood type, but it was sturdy.
I could not play that bass, or I could not get used to it in the limited time I had it, I did not like the placement of the P pick up, it interfered with my fingers while plucking, and it was really in the area I like to pluck.
I didn’t think it sounded remarkable and I did not think the preamp was much to speak of either, but it was a $179 bass, so it was great for what you pay for.
Like the Ray4 is great for what you pay for, even with the crap pick up, it is easy and not overly expensive or hard to replace, and once you do it, it is no longer a $399 bass, not even a $400 bass (with price of pick up), but it competes with many basses up in the $500 to $800 ranges IMHO.
For the Sire reviews and for the Extensive Stingray reviews, Mods and comparrisong, AND for the Yamaha BB734 review, and many other great reviews from Sires to Ibanez, to Serek, to FGN (japanese master builders) to Charvel new San diman, etc…
A GREAT channel to watch on Youtube that does cover ALL the SIRE’s and all the others with excellent, honest reviews and letts you know if it is worth the money, for the money what you could get that would be better, or if getting a Ray4 and modding / upgrading it would be better.
for all of this, look up the channel LOWENDLOBSTER.
for bass reviews and projects and just alot of great bass talk, I love this guy.
sure, he has an ultra corney gimmick made from his NICKNAME Lobster, and he holds a lobster claw in the beginning of his videos, and uses it as a way to get you to “like suscrube and smash notifications, to turn my hand back to normal”
Ok, yeah, it is kooky as all get out, it is like “so lame”, but he knows it adn runs with it, and he doesn’t use other commercials or ADVERTISEMENTS to get you to subscribe to his channel and press like on the video,
He, Like Josh, HAS FUN WITH IT.
I have actually gotten alot of my knowledge passed along from his reviews and shows. I have fact checked some that sounded a little out there, but I find he does a great job fact checking and he os pretty spot on with all his reviews.
He can help with Sire for sure, SOME yamaha, but I don’t think he ever did a TRBX review yet.
One reason, he reviews alot of basses that are already in his collection, or basses he buys, or basses he swaps with other you tube bass channels that send basses back and forth to help each other have content to review,
and he BUYS all the basses he reviews, unless in the rare exception, SEREK sent him a bass to review that he sent back to SEREK.
and Lakeland sent him a very special, personal bass to review, and he sent it back.
I honestly wonder if he would get a TRBX to review. I feel like he covers that style of bass very well with Ibanex and other japanese builders, adn I am not sure he has a desire to own one, so he may not be in a hurry to do a review.
Of coures if you like and subscrube, you can fill out requests and he would consider getting a bass for a future review. Basses he doesn’t wan to keep, he sells on Reverb.
He has alot of Stingrays, EBMM, SBMM, BFR Specials, Stingray Classic, Stingray Special, and all the mods he did to the RAY’s.
When he bought a RAY34 Natural ASH and reviewed it, and in the review said, if you don’t want to spend the money for a US built stingray, but want the stingray sound and feel, he said that thing is DAMN CLOSE, possibly the same, but it is for us (the player to get and ) to decide.
So he sold that one on Reverb. I actually almost bought it, before I knew who he was, and I was reading about he bought a bass for a review, it is great, but he has no need for another stingray, and it sold for like $400, which is great considering he put a great set of strings on it and had a pro set up on it.
After it sold, andd then I learned who he was, I thought, OH YEAH, he was selling a bass on reverb, and I quickly scanned his channel and found the review, and yeah, there was that bass, in the same backgraound that the add was in, so yeah…
He gets basses to test theories, like is this as good as a US stingray,
or by customer request
or if another bass youtuber sends him a bass
or if he genuinely wants to buy and own the bass.
I just don’t think he wants a TRBX. I find him to be very unbiased, and he never plays favorites, not to stingrays (which is not his favorite bass either, he likes many others) not to any basses.
I think he is very honest, knowledgable and can give a great review.
His review of the BB734 was a little surprising to me considering I know how much @PamPurrs loved hers, and knowing and respecting @howard opinions on instruments, so I was a bit surprised the BB734 only got a 3 of 5 'CLAWS"
But he just doesn’t give a score and say, there you go.
he gives reasons for why he rates things the way he does,
and he gets and tries out a lot of basses,
and when he gets a bass that cost $899, and has sharp frets, and the tuners are cheaply made, and the bridge doesn’t even have a standard hole pattern for upgrade, adn the knobs are all cheap and almost falling off, and the pots are weak and sticky, and the jazz pick up is not hum cancellilng and they are noisy as hell,
he calls them out and rates them on it.
DISCLAIMER: That bass I just described is not a real bass, it is not word for word anything Lobster said, it is just an example of what he would say if he played a bass like that. And what I just said is in no way meant to be about the TRBX or BB734 or any Yamaha made, it isn’t about any bass.
on the contrary
When he gets a bass that right out of the box, with less then 5 min to tune and drop action a little bit, is ready to play, and only. cost $89, he gives a 4 claw rating.
and follows it with, yes, it has cheap tuners, but this cheap bridge is easy to replace, because they used the standard hole pattern, and the pots are smooth, but the knobs are made from cheap materials,
but the bass holds a tune and plays and sound nice,
the single coil pick up IS hum cancelling and the pickups are not noisy.
so for $89 this Glarry IS A GREAT DEAL if you are just gonna go get a first bass to play bass on.
And yes, it could be a candidate to pimp out with better electronics and hardware if you wanted to, so yeah, it is well worth $89.
So, like I said, I would fully trust his reviews on Sire’s. I have not watched them all, and I know that some lines he sings high praise, and other lines he says WTF. mostly the more expensive ones that should have upgraded features and really doesn’t, and sometimes has worse featres. I recall him saying something like that about some sire models, but don’t take my word for it, go watch
lowendlobster on youtube. suscrube, like and smash notifications and you won’t deal with his claw for long. LOL
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My mistake, I get the Tone Monster and Tone Capsule mixed up.
I thought I had it figured out already, and then look here, I mixed them up again.
Yeah, for sure, I bet that pre-amp is better then the stock one.
I never upgraded my pre-amp, cuz I thought the Aguilar pick up was enough.
If I was to do one for somebody on a budget, that Tone Monster would be the one I would recommend.
I might recommend just get the Aguilar or EMG or Seymour Duncan or DeLano pick up instead and forget the pre-amp,
UNLESS
you want to have the 3band and get low, mids and high’s
The tone capsule actually has Low mids and High Mids and leaves the High boost out. consider that most stingray pickups with high boosted is reallyscratchy.
so the tone capsule gives actual better boost ranges.
But yeah, for sure, that tone monster should work very happily with your Aguilar.
And it should very much stick pretty true to the Stingray sound.
Sorry for the mistake, and for running on and on with an error in reading on my part. LOL
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Absolutely. I was only saying that when I was thinking ToneCapsule, because that is a freaking awesome pre-amp, and it is in the middle of the pack for cost, where DarkGlass I am used to seeing top of the pack prices.
But it has a mind of its own and stingray or not, it is going for those deep dark rich metal distortions that Darkglass eats and shits every day.
I fully expect your bass to hold to the Stingray sound and you should dig it for a long time.
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Yeah, I’ve known about LowEndLobster, but never really watched his channel. Been meaning to subscribe, but I’m not on YouTube as much lately. He does some cameos with some of the other guys I follow: Bully ThaKidd (who’s actually the one that got me looking at Sire and has done lots of reviews), and Rumblin Man.
Yeah, I have a thing for these basses with the large pole humbuckers. Even if they don’t sound like a MM, they still have a growl to them.
There’s a guy (Dane E Wedderburn) who has over 60 covers, no talking, playing on Sires. Really good way to hear the differences between them.
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His reviews seem good. I actually had a couple issues with this review though. First was that he was having an issue with the B string that was probably just pickup height or his choice of strings (0.125 B string - puny! 
) not going well with the bass. That was his biggest knock. And he was comparing it with a 4-string
Next was when he said the 434 was the same bass without the preamp and it was the real value. First, that’s inaccurate - it has different pickups - and second, the preamp is a killer feature after all. The 434 is great but you get a whole lot more with the 734.
It was kind of weird, he praised the thing up until he got up to the B string, then just took it down to three claws
The bass he was comparing it to is a remarkably good one btw - the BB414 - a very different bass, much heavier, passive only with really hot pickups. Classic.
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