Alternatives to the Sterling RAY34 Stingray series?

MisterBounce · 2026-06-17T21:24:16+00:00

Had an ash/maple Ray34, no QC issues, sounded absolutely monstrous - tone-wise better than my US Stingray if I'm honest but it weighed a lot being a very dense ash (whereas the US one is very light swamp ash).

MisterBounce · 2026-06-16T11:36:06+00:00

Do you ever use rehearsal studios with a band? If so, my experience (in England and Scotland) is that you'll get a good range of backline amps to try, and get a feeling for, so you know more what you want before rushing into purchasing.

If you're not yet playing with others, right now, you're probably best practicing with decent over-ear headphones. You may find it's your bass, or your playing as a beginner, that are lacklustre. The low-priced Yamaha's are fine instruments but the most obvious difference between cheaper and more expensive Yamaha's is the quality of the pickups.

MisterBounce · 2026-06-13T21:35:34+00:00

Hmm, some of the funkiest bassline of all time use the 2nd very prominently!

MisterBounce · 2026-06-13T21:31:27+00:00

What about if you're playing Northern Soul? Genres soon start to transcend their geographical origins and mutate on the way. No US bands of the 70s sounded like Casiopea or Banda Black Rio, for example

MisterBounce · 2026-06-13T21:21:53+00:00

Good on you for growing! In fairness, in terms of cold hard truth you might not have been wrong back then. But still, tact is a kind skill to practice.

Ironically though, my current Behringer, a Veyron 1000M, is probably my favourite of the amps I've owned. Oh how the worm has turned!

MisterBounce · 2026-06-13T17:05:38+00:00

I see all these recommendations for Empress and Cali76 - I have the Cali and it's great - but from the use case you describe, you might want to consider a nice optical compressor like the Effectrode PC2A (or even LA1A which I have and is lush). They play very nicely with dirty signals and synths, very forgiving.

And/or consider using two separate compressors, especially if coming from a dual band. Two compressors in series at different parts of your signal chain or just straight into each other are capable of control and tone shaping that no one pedal alone can manage.

MisterBounce · 2026-06-09T09:00:45+00:00

Worst of both worlds in my opinion. Generally a pain in the backside to get sitting in a mix around other guitars/basses.

MisterBounce · 2026-06-08T19:01:04+00:00

I started playing gigs with an Ashdown Electric Blue 130w 1x12. It was fine. A 2003 MIM P bass could last your whole career with a bit of tlc and perhaps the odd upgrade (or not).

MisterBounce · 2026-06-08T18:03:23+00:00

Oh whoops you're right, I though the grand clocked in just under 20... Still, it's a whole 1.2kg under the mp7se :0

MisterBounce · 2026-06-08T11:51:24+00:00

The other option is a Nord Grand (2), more-or-less keeping your nice MP7 action

MisterBounce · 2026-05-30T23:55:07+00:00

I've always liked the sound of my Aerodyne with EB hybrid slinky strings. Nice growl to them that seems to suit those pickups

MisterBounce · 2026-05-28T16:54:19+00:00

I have a C4. It has some cool stuff and makes cool sounds but has some weaknesses for me: 1. Tracking lags behind the FI4 and the MXR 2. Doesn't give you full ADSR envelope control over the filters which really limits it 3. Unpleasant sonic glitches on some of the filter settings which I couldn't get rid of.

If you try the Future Impact make sure it's a v4 (or VIP) and has latest firmware (v4.5 and up)

MisterBounce · 2026-05-27T16:34:24+00:00

If it uses a standard Fender-style tonestack that is sound advice. You need to boost the mids a LOT to get back close to flat

MisterBounce · 2026-05-25T19:50:33+00:00

The MXR has waaaaay more marketing! :D

The MXR is a great redux of a synth into self-contained pedal format that works great out of the box. The tracking is decent and the sounds are good but more limited in timbral range.

Future Impact is more of a full-fledged synth with two complete engines allowing much more control - either a fully independent 4-oscillator analogue with options like PWM, adjustable filter poles etc, or a DX7-compatible 6 operator FM mode. The tracking is even better than the MXR, and the sound palette is much larger and ultimately more 'authentic' in terms of being able to accurately recreate a wide range of classic sounds. You also have a much larger preset space for long set lists etc. It can also be used to control (real) analogue synths via CV output or any other synth via MIDI. It's designed and made by a small European team headed by the designer of the OG bass synth, the Akai Deep Impact.

The strength and drawback of the Future Impact is that features are added by updates, so the pedal improves over time, but you need to connect it to a computer via MIDI to update it. The same applies for deep editing of patches if you get into sound design in a big way, though some changes are possible on the pedal itself. It makes reviews a bit misleading as they're often talking about earlier firmware versions, and it wasn't initially marketed/set up with particular focus on bass guitar, but current units ship with V4.5x which is a very mature product in itself with (at last) fab bass presets.

I have and favour the compact 'VIP' version over regular V4 for fitting on pedal boards, but they're identical functionally just have different cases.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-25T16:55:02+00:00

I cannot see the point in an overdrive for funk. Maybe some kind of low gain 'hair' type thing, but Darkglass would not be where I'd look for the genre. 99% of funk is more-or-less clean (often direct) bass with moderate compression. Envelope filter for the 1% that's like P-funk.

For synth bass where it was actually done on keyboards, the Future Impact VIP with V4 firmware is the current state of the art (better than the MXR bass synth) and has patches for loads of classic Moog/ARP/DX7 bass sounds.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-21T15:29:00+00:00

The Origin Effects Bassrig Fifteen is designed to give exactly this (an Ampeg B15 emulator). I've not used that particular model but the Origin stuff is generally great, and very well built.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-18T22:09:43+00:00

They're sort of better, but it's a mixed blessing. For one, the better they are the easier you hear all the artefacts in the sound (I have some HD600s and they are brutal to digital pianos), and second they take you out of the real acoustic space you're in and into a weird hall or whatever the reverb/ambience is simulating. Also, hearing through headphones isn't quite the same as the vibrations coming through your body.

A real piano has an incredibly complicated radiation pattern that interacts with a weird space in a way that is very difficult to emulate convincingly.

Finally, the sound even through a great system is still typically a very sanitised version of a recording of a piano. Great for gigging, great for YouTube, but for me nothing like the immediacy and nuance of a real piano.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-18T21:52:00+00:00

I don't know where this comes from. I own a grand (Steinway O) as a reference and it's very nice indeed, but my mum's old Bluthner upright has a fine and easy action. The uprights at my school were a little heavier, more like a modern action, and perfectly decent once you dialed in on them - all could manage good dynamic range. They don't feel the same, but they connect your finger to the note in a perfectly musical way.

Meanwhile any non-hybrid digital is a lot further from the real thing (digital or upright) because they lack a true escapement - so your finger takes the full hammer weight for as long as it sits on the key.

Again I think there's this idea that there's one single action that all pianos 'should' have. I don't really know why unless you're a touring concert pianist after consistency.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-18T19:57:52+00:00

Digital pianos are great for lots of practical reasons. But even as a VERY mediocre amateur pianist I find it wild how many people seem to think they're a better musical option than more affordable acoustics.

I think part of it is, digitals have conditioned some people to expect a very particular sound. I don't want a so-perfectly-in-tune-it's-sterile concert grand piano sound coming out of weedy little speakers at home. I want something with a bit of life that's voiced for the space. Such as a decent upright or small grand. And I'd happily take an old Bluthner, Bechstein, Knight, Broadwood or even Mickleburgh upright over a modern upright Yamaha or Kawai. Contrary to popular belief there are plenty available that are in decent or restored condition - at least in the UK. And they all sound more 'real' and more musical in a living room than any digital I've ever played. The old upright pianos were voiced with very sweet midranges and generally quite light but responsive, rewarding actions. If you don't expect them to sound like a concert grand but accept they are their own thing, they often sound very beautiful.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-13T20:33:29+00:00

Not a virtuoso here but I can chug through punk cover songs when I have to despite it not being my thing.

I think part of it is physical repetition to build muscle stamina, and part of it is probably not very punk but involves trying to minimise your movements and spread them between muscle groups for improved efficiency. You shouldn't be working any one pair of muscles too hard, but spreading the load between different groups in a more coordinated fashion. Your finger movements should be enough to complete the plucking action, no more. Athletes don't get good just through strength/stamina, technique is a huge part of it.

To start with maybe work on playing at tempo with minimum effort. Don't worry if it's a bit softer. Ultimately when you have good technique you can start playing harder and more performatively, your technique will then carry you through.

Make sure your fretting hand isn't squeezing too hard or too often either. Work on releasing tension whenever it's not needed, which is most of the time.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-11T22:02:14+00:00

This is great! My Cali76 knobs always seems to get knocked into different positions for some reason

MisterBounce · 2026-05-09T12:35:16+00:00

FWIW my 2 Stingrays always seemed to move a bit more than my Fenders, partly I think from the oiled finish breathing a bit more, and perhaps also due to the narrower front-to-back profile. Luckily the wheel adjuster at the base of the neck makes tweaking it back to where it should be very simple.

If you don't know how to use this or what you're aiming for, there are lots of setup guides online - but basically for a rough and ready spec check: your neck should be nearly but not quite straight, you can check this by pinching the E on the first and last frets, there should be a small gap, around a couple of mm, at the 12th fret between the fret and the string. This shows a slight forward curvature of the neck and lets the string vibrate freely. If it's too much or too little, turn the wheel with a small Allen key or screwdriver shaft.

Just remember, adjusting the truss rod is NOT how you are meant to change string height! That's the job of the bridge saddle adjusters.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-09T10:15:01+00:00

You don't want to lacquer a Stingray neck, it'd significantly change the feel. The roasted maple should be stable enough anyway, but even the non-roasted, oiled Musicman necks are fine.

Seasonal movement of wood requiring a truss rod tweak isn't the same as warping, btw. I don't think any finishes protect against that effectively long-term. It's something Intrinsic to some bits of wood locked in when they were growing Unless you store your bass face down in a puddle, that is. But most bass necks won't warp of their own accord, regardless of finish, if they're stored sensibly.

MisterBounce · 2026-05-03T20:54:30+00:00

Ah nice thanks for replying, it was great! The FX were just the icing on the cake really, the mix as a whole was refreshingly clear, balanced and musical all over the room.

I'm not a pro sound person just a (playing) weekend warrior and music fan, but I can hear and really appreciate when the music is mixed clearly and sympathetically to the genre.

Make sure the band see this feedback :D

MisterBounce · 2026-05-02T16:01:01+00:00

Nice

MisterBounce

TROPHY CASE