Sterling Ray35 by music man - worth it?

[Jregal]

I'm looking to upgrade my bass from a Model-less jackson 5 string to something new. I've liked the sound of the Ray35s i've seen online, but havent had a chance to look at them in person yet.

What are your opinions? Are there better things out there for the money (or as good for cheaper) with a similar sounding tone?

thanks a lot.

[bcfoxtransy]

I've really liked all of the Sterling by MM products I've played. They're great bang for the buck. I played a JP50 that I was particularly surprised about. They are what they are: Asian made Music Man instruments. You can take that as you will, but I've not noticed any issues with what I've played except for the Silhouette copy(Ray34, Ray35, JP50, the Silhouette copy). I just didn't care for the single coils in it.

[Guitarplayer]

I just took delivery of a Sterling by Music Man Ray 34 a couple of days ago and all I can say is HOLY CR@P!!! It's a Sting Ray! The neck and fret work are WAY above most in this price range, the pickup and preamp sound so close to their USA counterparts that you could probably line up 3 or 4 Asian & US versions and they would all be very close to each other. The ONLY thing I can say that is even slightly negative is that it's a little on the heavy side; around 10 lbs, which is about the same as what was considered to be a lightweight Les Paul back in the '70's :-)

I don't think you'll find anything with the same tone as a Ray - other than a US made Sting Ray, and it's more money. The Sting Ray sound is quite unique.

Simply an amazing bass for the dough!