Frankie5Angels
Well-known member
True. I think the actual weight difference is only a couple of ounces. But after using the S.U.B. for a while, the SUB Sterling seems weightless.
Last edited:
- Thread starter DaphneBlue
- Start date
True. I think the actual weight difference is only a couple of ounces. But after using the S.U.B. for a while, the SUB Sterling seems weightless.
pepperman
Well-known member
Try playing a SUB5! 
I've got one of the passive ones and I just love it! Secret weapon, indeed!
I've got one of the passive ones and I just love it! Secret weapon, indeed!
koentje_bassist
Well-known member
Sub in action
OK, this thread is only 3 1/2 years from the last post.
First to break your heart, my guitarist found me a white SUB 4 in a pawn shop. I paid $140 out the door!!! (I'm bragging I know, but still). It took me 30 minutes to clean the accumulated grime off the fretboard, and has been my main bass every since, of course it has.
As to the finish, I love it. I don't worry about whacking it on a cymabl stand on a small stage and ruining a $400 paint job. And that, my friends, is why I believe they discontinued making SUBs. You could buy a new one, sand the hell out of it, put a beautiful finish on it yourself and save $500.00
Of course this is just a theory, but I like it.
P.S. My Sterling only comes out on big stages, I am afraid to ruin that finish.
First to break your heart, my guitarist found me a white SUB 4 in a pawn shop. I paid $140 out the door!!! (I'm bragging I know, but still). It took me 30 minutes to clean the accumulated grime off the fretboard, and has been my main bass every since, of course it has.
As to the finish, I love it. I don't worry about whacking it on a cymabl stand on a small stage and ruining a $400 paint job. And that, my friends, is why I believe they discontinued making SUBs. You could buy a new one, sand the hell out of it, put a beautiful finish on it yourself and save $500.00
Of course this is just a theory, but I like it.
P.S. My Sterling only comes out on big stages, I am afraid to ruin that finish.
Bought mine last April for £99.99 aprox $153 & I love it, to get an American made bass from such a respected company puts a smile on my face every time I look or play it. I love the fact that it is more like the Classic Stingray, someone here called it the working man's Classic I think that sums it up nicely.
On some other Bass forums you get a little bit of SUB bashing from time to time, but I don't care I would have the SUB over the SBMM Ray 34 every day. I think that the SUB will be a collectable bass.
On some other Bass forums you get a little bit of SUB bashing from time to time, but I don't care I would have the SUB over the SBMM Ray 34 every day. I think that the SUB will be a collectable bass.
fly
Well-known member
damn fine basses.......glad i scored mine when i did.
it's nice to see the SUB love too..........
it's nice to see the SUB love too..........
Long time lurker, first time poster. Just got my 2005 SUB4 as a complement to my 2009 fretless 'Ray. Loved the 'Ray so much, my other old fretted got flipped. The SUB is just awesome value, and sounds great. Nice to have the 2EQ as a complement to the 3EQ in my fretless. When I get a set of flats on it, it will be perfect There's a lot of debate across some bass sites as to whether the SUB is a match for the 'Ray in the sound and electronics department, whether its serial or parallel wired or whether the pickups match. Can only say that on my experience thus far, it totally matches the 'Ray in punch and roundness (I'm mainly fingerstyle as opposed to slap/pick), albeit it still has roundwounds fitted. Playability and build are like for like, i.e. world class.
Pic of my babies :
There's a lot of debate across some bass sites as to whether the SUB is a match for the 'Ray in the sound and electronics department, whether its serial or parallel wired or whether the pickups match. Can only say that on my experience thus far, it totally matches the 'Ray in punch and roundness (I'm mainly fingerstyle as opposed to slap/pick), albeit it still has roundwounds fitted. Playability and build are like for like, i.e. world class.Pic of my babies :
bovinehost
Administrator
I have Stingrays. I have a SUB. I have a Ray34ca.
I am thankful that I don't have to decide which I like better. (bongo)
I am thankful that I don't have to decide which I like better. (bongo)
Ian Perge
Active member
It's interesting in that by my un-scientific viewing of posts on various bass forums online, a fair percentage of SUB buyers both when New & since the Discontinuation of the line on the Used Market were buying for the same reason as mine (a Textured Cinnamon SUB Sterling in 2007 & Black SUB 5 Passive in July, which is going to change as soon as I can research what aftermarket preamp would get be the closest to the stock EBMM Active 3-Band)... people that weren't primarily StingRay, Sterling or Music Man players but who wanted that classic tone for playing, cover band or recording purposes or "Professionals" (on numerous levels) who knew it was a good thing to have that tone in their "Musical Toolbox", and both were not willing to drop down to the OLP-level of Quality Control but felt that the SUBs with the removal of their labor-intensive features had if not totally then extremely close to the "full-on" StingRay & Sterling sound.
I fell into the latter - not a Music Man player by nature but had always wanted one "in my arsenal" if needed for both the classic "Pick & SVT tone" (to my ears a great example being '90s Industrial Rock band "Stabbing Westward" who had it throughout their catalog but whose first album "Ungod" is packed full of wonderfully recorded lines of picked overdriven StingRay) as well as the equally classic "Super Nappy Bass" of Tony Levin's playing & tone on Peter Gabriel's "So". And so when I saw a dusty SUB Sterling on the walls of my local Guitar Center around 2007 with a terrible setup and rusty strings but otherwise in extremely great condition with a killer finish ("Textured Cinnamon", the Poor Payer's "Mystic Dream" ) and at a steal of a price I grabbed it... even talking them down a fair amount, it had been on their wall for that long. I played it on-and-off as my "Pickstyle Bass" over the next few years & grew to appreciate the Music Man tone more from then on, especially as my appreciation of and playing with various amount Overdrive/Distortion and my purchase of an "Interstellar Overdrive" which was SWR's SVT, but it wasn't until I moved fairly suddenly at the end of 2010 and have all of my other Basses packed way with only the SUB accessible to me to jam on. And over that 6 week period of packing/moving/unpacking & setting back up "Studio VicoDim" I suddenly realized that "This is a killer-sounding bass, easily 90%+ compared to the "high-end" versions I've played for MY needs and while it doesn't have to be my Main Bass I can enjoy it for what it is" (and what it is after some ear-training is a P-Bass but with the Solid Midrange I crave ) and that the call for a 5-string version suddenly hit me like a two-ton heavy thing.
Luckily I was able to find another killer deal on eBay - I believe that after tracking SUB 5 sales for a few months the Seller didn't have it listed correctly & that I was the only person aware of and ultimately bid on the listing: I won't give numbers of both my SUBs out of politeness and possible death threats ) but this Summer found myself with an Excellent Condition passive SUB 5 tht only needed 15 minutes of cleaning, a fretboard oiling & set of new strings (even the setup was dead-on) that I'm coaxing new and non-familiar sounds from. And while I don't see myself becoming a 'Ray, Sterling or Reflex player full-time (a pair of fretted & fretless Bongo 5 HSp, I could see happening) I'm damn glad I took that Leap Of Faith and bought the SUB Sterling in 2007... without the Wife's consultation: at the monetary & numerical level of my Basses in general, you're damn right I "make my case" to her... and she's been far more accommodating than she could be!
...but I suppose all of the above could have been summarized in "I'm glad to be part of the family with EXACTLY the Music Men I'm using!
I fell into the latter - not a Music Man player by nature but had always wanted one "in my arsenal" if needed for both the classic "Pick & SVT tone" (to my ears a great example being '90s Industrial Rock band "Stabbing Westward" who had it throughout their catalog but whose first album "Ungod" is packed full of wonderfully recorded lines of picked overdriven StingRay) as well as the equally classic "Super Nappy Bass" of Tony Levin's playing & tone on Peter Gabriel's "So". And so when I saw a dusty SUB Sterling on the walls of my local Guitar Center around 2007 with a terrible setup and rusty strings but otherwise in extremely great condition with a killer finish ("Textured Cinnamon", the Poor Payer's "Mystic Dream"
) and at a steal of a price I grabbed it... even talking them down a fair amount, it had been on their wall for that long. I played it on-and-off as my "Pickstyle Bass" over the next few years & grew to appreciate the Music Man tone more from then on, especially as my appreciation of and playing with various amount Overdrive/Distortion and my purchase of an "Interstellar Overdrive" which was SWR's SVT, but it wasn't until I moved fairly suddenly at the end of 2010 and have all of my other Basses packed way with only the SUB accessible to me to jam on. And over that 6 week period of packing/moving/unpacking & setting back up "Studio VicoDim" I suddenly realized that "This is a killer-sounding bass, easily 90%+ compared to the "high-end" versions I've played for MY needs and while it doesn't have to be my Main Bass I can enjoy it for what it is" (and what it is after some ear-training is a P-Bass but with the Solid Midrange I crave ) and that the call for a 5-string version suddenly hit me like a two-ton heavy thing. Luckily I was able to find another killer deal on eBay - I believe that after tracking SUB 5 sales for a few months the Seller didn't have it listed correctly & that I was the only person aware of and ultimately bid on the listing: I won't give numbers of both my SUBs out of politeness and possible death threats
) but this Summer found myself with an Excellent Condition passive SUB 5 tht only needed 15 minutes of cleaning, a fretboard oiling & set of new strings (even the setup was dead-on) that I'm coaxing new and non-familiar sounds from. And while I don't see myself becoming a 'Ray, Sterling or Reflex player full-time (a pair of fretted & fretless Bongo 5 HSp, I could see happening) I'm damn glad I took that Leap Of Faith and bought the SUB Sterling in 2007... without the Wife's consultation: at the monetary & numerical level of my Basses in general, you're damn right I "make my case" to her... and she's been far more accommodating than she could be! ...but I suppose all of the above could have been summarized in "I'm glad to be part of the family with EXACTLY the Music Men I'm using!
Holdsg
Well-known member
I never felt my SUB was inferior. It was one of the basses I learned on, so if anything, I was the inferior party. Made me feel thrifty and intelligent. Eventually, as my skills got better, I craved upgrade to the real real deal, thinking that was just the ticket that would make me play better (back to being stupid). I still think fondly of that SUB.
fly
Well-known member
different animal than my Sterling of course but.......the SUB is pretty damn fun to play too.......it feels as good as it sounds....
Old_Guy
Well-known member
BP answered this a long time back, and I don't want to misquote, but it was something to the effect of "I shoulda put a $100 bill in the case along with the instrument as that's what I was losing on every one I produced." If you own one, good on ya!
fly
Well-known member
have another SUB lined up........oh man this could be a sweet score.......
.......and I found,they sound deadly tuned a half step down.......just a great bass period
.......and I found,they sound deadly tuned a half step down.......just a great bass period
Hutton
Well-known member
It was my first bass. I've still got it. Love it. Will never part with it.
theroan
Active member
I'm considering a Sub 5, does more closely resemble a Sting Ray or Sterling?
Holdsg
Well-known member
SUB5 has conventional oval shaped PG, like the classic SR5, not the "quote bubble" PG on the SR5. In every other way, its a SR.
