NZGuitars.com

Had a look at some basses in the Botany RS today, since playing the Radian bass at the last Akl Gearfest I've had my eye out for a P Bass, so I was chatting to the shop assistant about basses round the 1k mark, and had a bit of a play on a Mexican P Bass, which wasnt bad, but wasnt good either.

Next I tried out a Musicman Sterling - black, one beefy active humbucker pickup, satin neck.

The sound was big and in your face thick, just what I was looking for, and the neck felt really good with no buzz anywhere. The bass was also really heavy, which I like in a guitar. Felt much more substantial than the MIM P bass, build quality and finish felt better, sound was huge and consistant across the strings which was my biggest criticism of the fender, and the neck was superb.

Made in Indonesia though.

So I tried a proper musicman next, MIA, nice looking flame maple neck. It was much lighter than the Sterling, the neck buzzed, it seemed lower output - didnt have the same thump, and I didnt like the gloss on the back of the neck vs the satin on the sterling.

Glad I tried them in that order, cos if I'd played the expensive one 1st I'd never have tried the cheaper one.

Having had a few epiphones, ibanezes and squiers I'd made a little pact with myself that I'm not buying any more cheap guitars. I find the honeymoon is usually pretty short and a month or 2 down the track I'm not satisfied and wishing it said Fender or Gibson on the headstock. Also I have a fair amount of respect for Japanese and even Korean made instruments, but I never considered I'd buy a Chinese or Idonesian made guitar. In this instance I wouldnt buy the US made Musicman they had in stock, didnt like it. But the Sterling ticked all the boxes I was looking for tone and playability wise, only things against it are 1 its active, and 2 made in Indonesia. (and 3, I wasnt planning to buy another bass, before playing this I didnt really need one).

So has anyone ever put Passive pickups into a musicman / sterling bass? Is this an option, and can it be done without losing the massive thump this bass had?

$1100 also seemed quite a lot of pingu for an Indonesian made bass - to me thats mid range, not cheap and cheerful - at $500 I'd have taken it home with me. Yes Im guilty of being a bit prejudiced here. Sorry to all the luthiers in developing nations. Also I'd prefer to spend my $$ on products made in countries that pay their workers a reasonable wage, but I'll leave the politics elsewhere.

Was it this model?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/music-instrume ... 561087.htm

If it helps, I'm going to be buying a cheapish ($700 or less new or second hand) bass guitar for home studio use this year and the Sterling Sting Ray is one of the prime candidates.

EDIT:
Regarding the active/passive thing I'd say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm certain that the active electronics must have at least played some role in what you liked about the tone.

As for the Indonesian thing, rely on your ears/"the feel" and try not to let it worry you. I've played some nice guitars that were made in Indonesia and heard positive things from other people whom I trust.

Looked pretty similar, though the one I tried was black with a rosewood fretboard. Wouldn't buy without a test drive 1st myself, but that one on Trademe could be a bargain, especially if its plays as well as the one I tried out.

The way Ernie Ball Musicman have structured their lines is a bit weird.

At the top of the line they have a Stingray and a Sterling. Stingray has a P bass-ish neck, has a rounded body & uses Alnico pups and is wired in parallel, Sterling have a J bass-ish neck, slightly more angular body shape ceramic pups, have coil splitting options and are wired in series.

Sterling are more aggressive sounding compared to the Stingray. The one on trade me is a Sterling which should go for around $1500.

What muddies the waters is that they have a cheaper budget line called Sterling by Musicman, which is what you guys are actually talking about, as well as their new Ray34 series. These are cheaper, overseas made Stingray and Sterling style basses, and I agree, they're quite a bit of gold for something ho-hum; the G&L tribute series blows these out of the water in terms of value or money IMO.

Thanks for the advice - wasn't aware that was the way the different lines are structured.

Is it possible that the setup on MIA was the issue resulting in neck buzz and low output?

You should have a chat to Scott or Richard at the Auckland Bass store if you can ... they know a bunch of mad sh!t about basses. Far more than me.

Did you look at any Warwicks? I've sorted this into Warwick, 4 String basses and you have the price options off to the side.

I don't think it will happen soon, but it will happen where Warwick will become the fifth model that people go look at

Gibson / Fender / Musicman / Warwick and that other one ... Rickenbacker

That's interesting, Dave.

As a longtime bassist who has played/owned many a different bass over the years, I'd not have Gibson or Warwick anywhere on my 'want' list. More experience than personal preference, I'm afraid. I've found Stingrays to have a neck almost identical in feel to a Fender precision. Rickenbackers entirely different, almost feel like a PRS compared to a Fender. I had one for several months, but couldn't wait to get back to my Precision. I loathe Gibby basses, really loathe them, having had 4 (from memory) of them and played many more. I had a bad experience with a Wal and I have yet to try a Status bass, but hear good things about them. I don't like Ibanez basses (although I did have a Soundgear at one stage - awful thing) and I had a Hofner (Beatles bass) in the '60s that was simply not nice.

Having said all that, the waters have definitely muddied in recent years and the headstock names are less indicative of quality than they used to be. If I had to have a MM, it'd be a 'real' Stingray.

Me? I'll be sticking with Fender. They just sound and feel right to me.

NZRS-Dave wrote:Is it possible that the setup on MIA was the issue resulting in neck buzz and low output?

Its possible, but that said the MIA bass is well out of budget when shopping for a bass I don't need.

The Indonesian bass played superbly though, the 1st bass that I could see using as a #1 bass ahead of my Jazz (which I've had for 18years now). Other than my dislike of batteries, and my general bigotry about cheap asian made guitars ofcourse

NZRS-Dave wrote:Did you look at any Warwicks? I've sorted this into Warwick, 4 String basses and you have the price options off to the side.

Nope. No desire at all. Aside from looking bad I like a substantial body which they don't have.

Have played a few, didnt like any, was loaned one for a gig once and didnt like that either. The battery also went flat 5mins in which is probably the basis for my dislike of active pickups. That and the awful actives on the Ibanez Soundgear I once had.

I don't think it will happen soon, but it will happen where Warwick will become the fifth model that people go look at

NZRS-Dave wrote:Gibson / Fender / Musicman / Warwick and that other one ... Rickenbacker

I'm with Rog on this one - The 4 basses people go to look at are Fender, Musicman, Rickenbacker and Ibanez. Who goes shopping for a Gibson bass?

To be honest I'd love a ripper or a grabber, but they havent been on the market for 20 odd years so you can't count them.

Warwick make up the wall of the rockshop that Im about as interested in as the wall thats got casio keyboards and ovation guitars. Their amps get no love from me either. I'd suggest you stop stocking them and get some decent ampeg stock in instead, but then ofcourse you'd have to keep restocking your stores instead of having these god awful warwick amps sitting there for as far as I can tell as long as the Botany and Sylvia Rockshops have been open.

(sorry for getting ranty, but I dont get up to the K Rd rockshop ever, and there's very rarely any bass amp stock worth looking at at those other stores. Case in point, when I went to try out those basses today, the guy couldnt find the ampeg mini stack he wanted to demo them on because it had been sold, whats left? Warwicks from wall to wall.)

jimi wrote:Who goes shopping for a Gibson bass?

A lot of people come to try out the Thunderbird, EB0, and the hollowbodies ala Jack Cassidy.

jimi wrote: Warwick make up the wall of the rockshop that Im about as interested in as the wall thats got casio keyboards and ovation guitars. Their amps get no love from me either. I'd suggest you stop stocking them and get some decent ampeg stock in instead.

What do mean by 'decent' Ampeg stock? Do you mean more of it? Or just that we are ordering the wrong models?

jimi wrote:Warwicks from wall to wall.

We are the exclusive seller in NZ for them and we love 'em so that's not going to change anytime soon. And the amps aren't all that bad but that's just personal preference.

I think Warwick basses are love them or hate them basses. They are ridiculously adjustable and feel great. The electronics can sometimes leave a lot to be desired if they're MEC ones IMO but sound great with passive pickups. The shape is ergonomic but in some people's minds they're hideous. I had a Warwick that was my one and only for a long time, nice instrument.

Bass amps are turds, their cabs aren't bad though. I guess being the distributor means can't cherry pick what you receive to sell, hence the overload of Warwick amps.

NZRS-Dave wrote:What do mean by 'decent' Ampeg stock? Do you mean more of it? Or just that we are ordering the wrong models?

More of it. I'm a fanboy I admit, but its been a while since I've seen an ampeg head in one of those 2 stores, probably since prior to buying mine back in 2006, and it was playing them in the RS Botany that got me hooked on Ampeg amps.

I've only ever seen full tube bass heads in the K Rd store, I know this is the flag ship store, and I will admit that if I was going to drop 3 grand on a new amp I'd make the effort to go in there, so whether having them stocked in Sylvia / Botany would get me to part with more $$ is debatable, but generally you don't know you need something till you see it, so I'd love to see those stores a bit better stocked with the top shelf stuff.

The portaflex cab you've got there looks interesting, especially as I dont have a wagon any more and don't like wrestling a 4x10 into the back seat of my car, but with no comparable head to try it with I didnt bother.

NZRS-Dave wrote:

jimi wrote:Warwicks from wall to wall.

We are the exclusive seller in NZ for them and we love 'em so that's not going to change anytime soon. And the amps aren't all that bad but that's just personal preference.

Good on ya :p

Yeah, all personal preference, and I know its not fair me having a rip, but I just can't feel the love for the Warwick stuff. I'd love to be able to try out a bass on an SVT, but honestly I'm only ever at the shops because the Mrs is clothes shopping and I need somewhere to hide, otherwise I wouldnt be going near any malls and I'd be content with what I have.

And I should have mentioned, while Im ragging on the range, the service I got in there was excellent, the guy was pretty knowledgable and very helpful.

jimi wrote:Yeah, all personal preference, and I know its not fair me having a rip, but I just can't feel the love for the Warwick stuff.

No need to apologise ... and you are entitled to have a rip. That's what it's all about.

Makes a fair point though.. There's gold in them thar pockets what be visiting places like Botany and Sylvia park.
It's always puzzled me that they still get stocked like they're a sub branch of the Henderson RS.

Levelling the playing field so MW can has a fair crack too?

Like all of our stores.... when it opened, we stocked Botany Rockshop with a full range of across-the-board product. We quickly found that the majority of pro buyers will either a) go shopping at K'Rd or b) are happy to wait a few days to get some specific gear shipped into Botany, (which we'll do on request, at no charge). The current stocking out there reflects what actually sells in that store.

Notwithstanding that.... there are some great points made here. I will revise the overall stocking of Botany and see if we are able to sex it up a little.