Which bass is better?

Hey guys, just a beginner here looking to get a good deal on a starter bass. I’ve got a couple options:

  1. An OLP StingRay with a broken tone knob (otherwise great condition) for $150.
  2. A Yamaha TRBX174 with a few bumps and scratches for $180.

Which would you go for? I was leaning Yamaha on sound alone, but I’ve heard great things about the real StingRay and read that OLP does a pretty masterful job of imitating the original instrument. Anyway just curious if anyone has strong opinions on this. (Feel free to tell me neither.)

Thanks guys!

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Really kind of impossible to say without knowing more about the condition of both, but the price on either seems high to me. The TRBX is not terribly more than that new. The 174 is a perfect starter bass though, that whole line is fantastic.

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Both, but cheaper. I think @howard is totally correct on not being far from the list price on the Yamaha. That said, you might be getting a better deal on the Stingray. But you have repair to make on it already.
As far as tone. You’ll get all kinds of tone out of each. The advantage to the Yamaha is that it’s a PJ. So, you can get that P-bass tone and introduce that Jazz tone to whatever degree you like.
In my experience, I tend to play with a bit more funk and aggression on Stingray’s I like they way they growl. I tend to play more dynamically on PJ basses–lots of different genres.

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Yamaha.

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I’d go with OLP. You can just swap out the knob or better yet the entire electronics. There’s no sub $200 bass profile that’s wider than P bass at 41.3, most are Jazz bass neck profile at 38mm at nut. It probably means nothing to you right now but the closest profile to the MusicMan Stingray is the Sterling Ray 34(Stingray) and the price starts at $1000.

If you get a natural finish you can always make a project out of that and make a Joe Dart signature bass. I’m a fan of MusicMan so my vote goes to OLP. You can make it sounds pretty close to a USA Stingray for a couple hundred bucks worth of upgrades.

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Absolutely, MM ftw.

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I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl. However, as I was researching various Ray34’s and the like, I came to an understanding that the OLP version was not that good. Now, granted, the people that told me were members of TalkBass and may have just been talking out of their asses, but they did sway me to not consider one no matter how cheap.

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I think it depends mostly on what you want to play and what kind of sound you’re looking for as they’re going to be quite different. The stingray is going to be better if you like slap and the tone knob is simple to fix. The yamaha is a good PJ with a solid build, the stock pickups are pretty meh. I’d probably take the OLP (esp since i dont have a MM style bass) but it’s hard to say for sure without playing it.

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It’s actually the opposite from my experience. I still own 4 OLP (for project) they are quite awesome. I can’t comment on electronics and pickups. They are well built and heavy just like MusicMan.

I have my reserve with the TB people, not a lot of them know what they are talking about and worse, there’s a lot of 2nd hand knowledge where people repeating what other have said and most time it’s out of context. Most time they get combative too, lol.

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Out of the two I pick the Yamaha TRBX174 but as @howard said the $180 price seems a bit high.

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Josh has a good review on beginner basses

Good luck!

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My very 1st bass was a slightly used TRBX304 and I still play it on occasion today. Never regretted buying a Yamaha. The TRBX line are good basses & the 174 used with a few scratches should be no more than $130. List price brand new with warranty is only $320 in Canada so I would expect around $230 in the USA.

hey everyone, thank you all so much for sending me your advice, I’m really grateful. Just wanted to send the update that after some more research & looking i ended up with a Yamaha TRBX174 EW, natural wood color, like new (pre owned, effectively never played) for $150. i’m so happy and can barely put it down. thank you again

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Excellent choice!

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