Well you may want to go just a bit further back for a great Sterling sterling. The SB14 sounded like a great match for you. Strong aggressive tone in a sleek elegant package jazz neck profile it has almost identical electronics to the USA made Sterling even side by side you can’t tell the difference. Here are my of my SB14 and one if my Sterlings fretted and Fretless and one with the mute bridge, that was the first production year.
That said knowing what I know now and put in your situation I’d grab myself a caprice or a cutlass bass. Since you are into a jazz neck then the caprice would be the way to go. While it’s not exactly a unicorn but you gotta keep looking with cash in hand, this thing is very rare, but it’s an awesome bass. Let me know if you have any questions, I have a few Musicman
Anothe fun things you can do with ray34 and ray35 is either take out the Pickguard or get a custom ones. Like this
An SBMM Ray 34 is readily available from a lot of places right now. I’ve seen them going for $799 new, free shipping. There are also used ones, but you might not have a return option if you don’t bond with it.
There are myriad ways to go when shopping for a bass. Go with your gut on what to get. And, if you order a new one, either return it (if possible) to the online vendor you got it from, or sell it to someone else if it’s not the one for you.
You pays your money, you takes your chance.
Bottom line, get something in your hands. Not having a bass makes it damned impossible to play.
At the end of the day, if you have your heart set on a high(er)end bass there’s nothing that can satisfy your curiosity til you get one then going mid range will be plenty.
Take ray34 for example, a buddy of mine was in the same shoes as yours, he really wanted a stingray or USA sterling, I told him ray34 and sb14 are just almost identical in performance and feel, tried mine and got himself a great deal on ray34 and later sb14. End of story right? No.
The urge was so strong, ended up getting one each of the USA Stingray and Sterling, then I asked him can you tell the difference? He said when he played with mine, yes. The USA felt much better. Now that he has premium version of both, he could not tell the difference, lol.
From the English perspective on this side of the pond. When my wife recently decided to press ‘eject’ on our marriage, I ordered an options-heavy G&L L2000 to console myself. She should be a distant memory by the time I take delivery of it, and I can’t wait!
I looked everywhere and they were $900-$1100 online, talkbass, Reverb and Amazon. I looked at a local brick and mortar, Bailey Brothers Music near Birmingham. They had a new one listed for $799.00 with a case. It was burst and I really wanted a solid color but for a new one, I thought WTH. So me and my new little wife went. They had a used SB14 for $699.00 but no case. I got to play many different basses a real EBMM Stingray, a Bongo, a Warwick, a Fender Meteora, and the one I brought home, my Ray34. Honestly it played as well as the Bongo and EBMM. The Meteora was also great as was the Warwick. The SB14 felt cheap by comparison to the Ray34. I love my Ray34 and even really have come to love the color. It sounds wonderful with D’addario Chrome Flats on it. But alas, GAS has struck again and G&L has popped on my radar as well as Sandberg and Maruscyk. The GAS never ends.
Much of the feel on the SB14 is the fact that it’s a few pounds lighter than the ray34. Now SB4 is definitely feel cheaper.
The sb14 electronics is very interesting it’s almost the same as my ebmm Sterling but hotter I love using the phantom coil. Very nice tone from a stingray position pickup. Plus it’s a very growly pickup.
I was about to fulfil my normal MO and buy top end before even touching a bass. Srsly I have done that SO many times in life. Then, luckily, after signing up for B2B, I watched Josh’s video on beginner basses. I have taken his recommendation and gone for the Yamaha TRBX 304. Arrives tomorrow. We shall see!
That is a great quality instrument to start with. If you are anything like me, your instrument preferences will change as you get more time on the bass, and what you liked in the beginning is not what you end up preferring going forward. Nut width, fretboard radius, action, neck finish, wood, etc all became a factor for me the more I progressed.
Hmmmm…bit of a disaster, frankly. Now thinking I should have just gone for a Fender as was my initial plan.
I know this Yamaha is not an ‘expensive’ bass, but what a state it was in (bought online as new from Gear4Music in UK).
It did arrive as promised; packaging ok; looked in new condition; but there was horrific fret buzz most of the way up the neck and the intonation was way off. I have adjusted many strats for intonation and wasn’t able to correct it.
Huge disappointment that an instrument could be dispatched in this condition.
Took it to Professional Music Technology in Oxford and it’s currently with a local pro luthier to see if he can rescue it after PMT pointed out that the neck was kinked as well as bowed, the bridge was misaligned and some frets were not level. Prob should just have returned it and binned the item for a full refund, but hey ho, I like the idea of supporting local craftsmen!
Just had a further email from G4M saying a second order cannot be completed because of supply problems.
i see you have excellent taste!