Fantastic quality for the price

Sounds and plays like a bass 2-3 times the price. Came set up well out of the box with a nice low action and minimal fret buzz, intonation was more than good enough to play on. I ended up raising the action a little bit since it would buzz when I tuned down even a half step. The pickup is pretty hot out of the box, ended up lowering it to compensate. Pickup is also a little noisy as far as background noise and hum is concerned. Before adjusting the pickup height, I'd say the noise was worse than the "noiseless" single coils on my American made Fender Jazz Bass, but after adjusting, they're about the same. Did some recording with it, pickup was definitely a little too hot out of the box, but after adjusting it was fine. Pickup should be good enough for most players, but for serious gigging or recording, that would be the first thing I'd upgrade. The neck is fast and comfortable to play, and the body is well balanced and ergonomically shaped for both playing while sitting and while standing with a strap. Tuners are cheap feeling, but do their job and I haven't had issues with tuning stability thus far. You can tell by looking that most of the components are cheap, but everything you actually touch while playing feels more than up to the task. Volume and tone controls are solid feeling. Volume pot seemed like more of an on/off switch at first, but it's better after lowering the pickup. Tone controls have a nice detent in the middle, and offer a surprising range of tonal options for just one pickup. You aren't going to make it sound like a P bass or J bass, but it does sound like a stingray, so mission accomplished there.

Great bass for the $

Right out of the box this bass was fantastic! The frets were nice and beveled. The neck was smooth and very playable. The body paint was perfect. And it weighs about 8.5 pounds. I had to adjust the neck and set the action to my liking but the bass was able to do that with no problem The pickup is great old school Musicman sound. Tuners worked great. I totally please with this purchase even though I had my doubts going into it. I have owned many high end basses over the years including many American made Musicmans. This bass can stand up to any of them for playability, sound, look and feel. Don't hesitate on buying one. I got one in pink. Love the color.

Great buy for an elemental bass guitar

This Bass especially for its price range has solid construction, good fret work and flexibility for adjustments when needed. The truss rod wheel, a typical MusicMan/Sterling component is the best in the industry allowing for easy adjustments when needed. The tuning machines, preamp and and pickup are passable but can easily be upgraded when needed. The solid construction of the neck, body and fingerboard are the strongest assets for this budget bass. Excellent bass in this price range.

Nice Bass but Needed Fret work & Set-up

I really wanted this Sterling Sting Ray 4 in Ruby burst to be right. It's a cool-looking satin color (minimal finish) and has a nice feel. But mine had fret buzzing on strings D & G at frets 1, 2, 4 and 6. A set up and fret repair would cost about $150. Maybe some of them are better than others. Other reviews stated theirs are fine, right out of the box. Other than that, it had a nice tone & neck feel. Luckily, Musician's Friend will take it back if this happens. Thank you.

Thump city...

Overall:

Pretty good for the price but has some issues.

Based on glowing reviews from other purchasers, I thought this bass would be awesome. It's actually just pretty good. The lack of finish on the neck feels cheap. With the action still somewhat high I've got a lot of fret buzz going on, I'm no set up expert so I either have to spend close to 100 to get it done, or just try to figure it out on my own. Not impressed.

There's a reason so many people use Stingrays

What can I say, this bass is amazing.

Exceeded my expectations

I have been eyeing a Music Man for a while and the sale price made this a no brainer. I got this expecting to replace the pickup and preamp but so far I am happy with the tone of the stock electronics.

Music Man Sound & Quality, Affordable Price

Always wanted a Music Man, never had one. But when I saw this bass and the price, I pulled the trigger. I have too many basses, including the 2 Fender Tele Basses I used to gig with back in the day (almost 50 years ago now) and many others I've acquired after my gigging days were over. Once upon a time, any instrument from the Orient, outside of Japan or Korea, was suspect for quality, but the quality of Indonesian made instruments is, IMNSHO, on the same level as anything from Japan, Korea, or the USA, for that matter. This Sterling is Indonesian and is another example of this high quality: fit, finish, and playability are superb. The sound is KILLER and, for older ears like mine, to be able to play a bass that sounds like this is a thrill. I must also commend the seller (whom I cannot mention here as this bass is available in many places) but this seller advertised a setup before shipment, so I chose him. Out of the box, I just tuned it and played; no fiddling and diddling with the bridge for intonation and string height or the truss rod and this is something that I much appreciate. In all, this is a 5 star product, a most excellent instrument. I could only wish that I would have had an instrument of this quality and price back in the '60s.

Value far exceeds price!

Almost 40 years of playing experience and this bass is by far the best value that I've experienced. I've had my share of Precisions, Jazz basses, etc. over the years up to the $1500 range. When the pandemic kicked in I had sold most of my equipment but decided I had to have one bass. The neck is solid and similar to a P-bass thickness which I prefer and I don't need a 24-fret, 2 octave one anymore based on playing blues, jam, reggae, and rock. The tonal landscape is phenomenal rolling off the treble or bass dependent upon what I'm playing. Bright highs and deep lows are easily accomplished. I've never written a review before, but this was worthy of the time. Enjoy!

Great bass and quality for under $300??

About a month ago I went to my local Guitar Center to sell a bass cabinet I didn't really need. I planned to take the cash and leave, but being a bassist I found myself standing in front of the bass wall. I believe you have to play an instrument unplugged to really hear it's voice. I sat down and played most of what they had in the store and hung all of them back up unimpressed. Either they had some quality issues from the factory (sorry Fender) or they needed some set up help. I've owned a lot of basses and have only kept my favorites. I have high standards. I own a Squire bass which I love, also made in Indonesia. I do think you can get an inexpensive instrument and get it to sound and play like it isn't with some modifications. That brought me to the Sterling Ray4. I've never owned a MM Stingray or copy but have always been interested in them. First impression was "this thing is built like a tank". A little heavier then what I was used to but the build quality was excellent. No fit or finish issues and the neck and fret work felt great. It had a really nice sound acoustically. Understanding that factory set up specs are really just a starting point and are meant to be forgiving of climate changes so the instrument will sound decent when played (and the reason many were put back on the wall) I knew it could be even better. I didn't need another bass, but after my cabinet trade offer and 10% off the Sterling... I walked out with the bass and $90 cash. I put new strings on it (45-105 Slinky's), set the neck relief where it should be (factory sends it with extra relief to prevent fret buzz or dead spots). I lowered the action which I was able to get lower then any other bass I own (again great neck), and I lowered the pickup height a little. I had read reviews that the pickup output is a little hot, and it's true. I just played it for about an hour and put it down saying "I can't believe how awesome this bass is." Under $300? This ones a keeper...

Sounds great, looks great. Frets cut up my hands.

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Pleasantly surprised

Overall:

This is the sound that made players lose their Jazz Bass

This is my son's main bass. He has played this in his school jazz band for a few years (with a 1 year break). He got the Cherry Burst color with rosewood neck. I have played bass for like 30 years myself and this bass is so much fun to play, has a great sound, is very comfortable and inspirational. Yes, inspirational. Old folks like me remember when all the jazz , R&B and Funk guys played the Fender Jazz and then switched to the Music Man. The funky, deep, strong sound of the humbucker pickup caused Leo Fender to beat his previous best. I still LOVE the Jazz sound but this bass is just different. The neck on this bass is screwed on with 6 rather than 4 screws and the backing plate is a little longer than a Jazz bass. The neck is solid and the shape feels very comfortable. A solid neck makes for a punchy sound. That is one reason why the maple-neck Fenders pop so well. The electronics are 2-band active and give a nice usable range of humbucking sounds. It's a well-balanced bass and the body shape is very comfortable. There are great Fender/Squier Jazz basses in this price range (and we own a couple that we love) but I think this Sterling is a little more unique. It's got a bunch of power. If you are going to play rock, jazz, funk, and everything of a wide variety or just one of those genres you will be well served by this bass. Pick a color you like (in person if possible) and play it.

Great bang for the buck

I bought this simply because I have heard them before and my favorite bassist, Bernard Edwards, played one. I sounds great. The active pickup really makes this thing growl and it has solid sustain. I get a little fret buzz on E, but I think the original strings I bought with it need changing.

So far, I'm really pleased with the Ray4; it's my first try with an active instrument, and I feel like the tone controls have a lot of scope to then (2-way, treble and bass). The tone controls aren't labelled, but it deodorant take long to work out which is which - you can tell them apart from volume because they've got centre detents.

Excellent Bass

Overall:

A great first (or backup) bass

I'm a long time guitarist with some really fine instruments who decided to pick up a "value" bass just to learn for fun. Knowing what to look for in guitars, I translated that over to basses and went to GC to try some out, see what appealed to me, and how far I could stretch the dollars I was willing to spend on an instrument to start out and, maybe, stick with.

Love it!

Just got this baby yesterday and fell in love! The look, the sound and the feel is great for the price. The Satin black body is just gorgeous with the rosewood finger board. It's hard to distinguish between the shades of black between the body and the middle body in picture. But in person it is definitely distinguishable with a gorgeous look and feel of the wood on the body. Been playing bass since 2008 and this bass has a great sound for the price. I've been used to Squier P-Bass sounds for a while and have been wanting to get a Music Man for a long time because of their great sound. Still not able to afford one yet so decided to go with the Sterling version and man this bass has a unique tonality to it that's bright and toned up but with enough deep end to maintain that bass sound and feel. My only issue with it is that the D and G strings' intonation is sharp. The notes are too sharp above the 12th fret even after lowering the saddle to the lowest. I'm hoping this is something a simple set up will fix when I take it for a set up. This is the only reason why I give it 4 stars instead of 5. Besides that, this bass is amazing. Definitely buy one if you're looking to jam with friends, practice, and/or perform. Play this with a high watt amp, and this bass is performance worthy with the sound it brings. Absolutely recommend buying one if you're looking for a close to Music Man sound for an affordable price.

Great bass for any price. Insane play-ability and sound

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