Question Is there an official update on the Purple Sparkle Sterling Ray34 QC issues?

[Rossmallow]

I'm in the market for a Ray34 bass and love the look of the new purple sparkle finish. I've seen quite a few discussions online, though about QC issues with the tuners grinding themselves down and various things regarding the truss rod.
Before this, I've only heard gread things about Ray34s, so it seems to me like it's just a bad run. The issues seem to only be on the purple finish too, I haven't heard anything about the other finishes.
Based on some other forum posts on the internet, I get the impression that Sterling is aware of the issues and issuing refunds or will provide replacement parts if they're contacted. Some people seen that it's difficult to find these new basses in stock and have suggested it's because Sterling has slowed manufacturing to fix the issues at the factory. I haven't seen any official statement regarding this, though so I wonder, is Sterling aware and when can we expect new basses to roll out?

I was really excited to get my hands on that new bass, especially after hearing all the great things about the brand in the past, but these reports about bad QC has left me with a bad impression and I definietly don't want to pick one up now if I'm going to have to send it back to get fixed or spend upwards of $100 on top of the price of the bass to get some new tuners.


Sources:

• Sterling Ray34 Sparkle Basses... New for 2022... Unfortunate Situation...
• https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/whr4p1

 

[jimoya4132]

oh no, I wasn't aware of this issue, and also had my eye on this bass.. gonna investigate a bit about it now, thanks for posting

 

[Rossmallow]

oh no, I wasn't aware of this issue, and also had my eye on this bass.. gonna investigate a bit about it now, thanks for posting

You're welcome.
I'm probably not going to get one until I hear some response from Ernie Ball or Sterling about the situation and when we might see a new batch with those issues resolved.

The whole thing gave a bad impression towards a company who's instruments I used to be really excited to own. I'm hoping we can see a representative respond to this thread and give some more information on the issues.

 

[jimoya4132]

funny thing, I was interested in this finish because of the black hardware, under the assumption that it wont rust with time as happens with the classic metal parts, cause I live in a humid area.. now I feel like I should avoid the black hardware... I'm having such difficult time getting what I want from Sterling that I'll end up with a fender once my patience runs out

 

[Rossmallow]

funny thing, I was interested in this finish because of the black hardware, under the assumption that it wont rust with time as happens with the classic metal parts, cause I live in a humid area.. now I feel like I should avoid the black hardware... I'm having such difficult time getting what I want from Sterling that I'll end up with a fender once my patience runs out

I haven't tried out Fender's new meteora bass but I think that's supposed to be a stingray competitor so maybe I should.

Fender's boxer basses also sound awesome and they have black hardware if that's what you're looking for specifically.

 

[mcnach]

I'm in the market for a Ray34 bass and love the look of the new purple sparkle finish. I've seen quite a few discussions online, though about QC issues with the tuners grinding themselves down and various things regarding the truss rod.
Before this, I've only heard gread things about Ray34s, so it seems to me like it's just a bad run. The issues seem to only be on the purple finish too, I haven't heard anything about the other finishes.
Based on some other forum posts on the internet, I get the impression that Sterling is aware of the issues and issuing refunds or will provide replacement parts if they're contacted. Some people seen that it's difficult to find these new basses in stock and have suggested it's because Sterling has slowed manufacturing to fix the issues at the factory. I haven't seen any official statement regarding this, though so I wonder, is Sterling aware and when can we expect new basses to roll out?

I was really excited to get my hands on that new bass, especially after hearing all the great things about the brand in the past, but these reports about bad QC has left me with a bad impression and I definietly don't want to pick one up now if I'm going to have to send it back to get fixed or spend upwards of $100 on top of the price of the bass to get some new tuners.


Sources:

• Sterling Ray34 Sparkle Basses... New for 2022... Unfortunate Situation...
• https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/whr4p1

I have one of those sparkle purple Ray35 basses (got it a week ago), ordered before I knew about any issues, and mine didn't disappoint. I mean, it didn't disappoint in the sense that yes, it had issues too.

The tuners are garbage made apparently of cheese with metal dust. Mine work enough that I can tune the bass but I already see some metal shavings coming off a couple of the tuners and one of them is rather stiff too so I guess it'll go soon.
Truss rod was 'stuck' rather than 'maxed-out' in my case. It didn't move at first, but I remembered having seen a similar issue (on a much cheaper bass 'though) and by thumping firmly but gently (yeah I know) along the back of the neck and then attempting to loosen the truss rod it did the trick. It's not smooth, there's a bit more resistance than I'm used to, but it's adjustable and I was able to set it up really nicely.

I didn't bother asking for a replacement for teh tuners because it seems they'll send the same bad ones. I just bit the bullet and ordered a set of hipshots, because once set up it's a pretty nice bass.

It doesn't exude the same 'quality' that my 2002 Stingray does, but it's a good bass even if it weighs as much as a small planet.

A used EBMM Stingray5 (pre-2018, not the Specials) over here tends to go for less than the Ray35 new and it would be a much better proposition. But I am a sucker for that sparkle purple finish and the heart wants what the heart wants...

Bottom line is... those tuners shouldn't go on a bass that cost £1300. In fact, it should not go on any bass, they're not fit for purpose. I hope they address teh situation although it's been going on since April as far as I can tell.

Which brings me to the reason I am posting this:

SBMM is a separate entity completely to EBMM, but at least in the early days of SBMM they proudly advertised that the instruments were built and assembled overseas but received a setup and QC by EBMM.
I think it's safe to assume that this is no longer happening.

I'm keeping the Ray35 because I wanted that specific look, but I'd recommend buying EBMM instead if at all possible. Used ones in great condition will typically be cheaper than new Ray35/34s, and the new Specials while being a fair amount more expensive are way better instruments, so save up a bit and get one of those instead.

 

[DividedbyFender]

Which hipshot tuners did you order? I ordered the 20655B ones and now I’m worried they won’t fit the Sterling Ray34 purple sparkle bass? Thanks for the help!

 

[baabooshka]

I ordered one of these when they first released. My tuners were junk after a few weeks. In the beginning I heard they werent sending new black ones, but could give you chrome. I reached out to support 4 months ago to see what they could do and they sent me 4 brand new ones free of charge and no issues still to this day, seem much better in quality. included is a pic in the sun to see the sparkles. I love this bass.

 

[Jdowns]

The tuners ate themselves from first restring