Sterling by MusicMan sub series Stingray Ray4

[Explorer84]

I took one of these in on a trade the other day. Anyone own one and did you upgrade it? I will be upgrading the pickup with either a Seymour Duncan or an Aguilar because the stock pickup is too hot. I'll decide after installing a new pickup if I'm going to replace the preamp as well. Any recommendations and suggestions on parts are appreciated.

 

[ICTGoober]

The pickup is NOT hot. The preamp is.

 

[Explorer84]

The pickup is NOT hot. The preamp is.

This is my first and only active bass so my experience is lacking. Videos I've watched stated that the issue is with the pickup. Maybe I misspoke about that. My understanding is that the issue with the hot preamp was taken care of before they came out with the latest model. Supposedly, the model that has the "SUB" on the headstock was the one with the hot preamp. But, that could be wrong, I don't really know. I'll have to do some more research. If it's the preamp also I'll be looking to replace that, as well.

Do you have more information ICTGoober? Thanks.

 

[Explorer84]

After reviewing the specific video about this bass, the guy does state that both the preamp and pickup is hot. I clearly missed him stating that the preamp was hot. So I'll be replacing the preamp. Thanks for the clarification ICTGoober.

 

[jeremy]

stingrays are usually pretty hot basses all around

 

[Chistopher]

I have a 2020ish model Sub4 that is pretty great. The preamp is fine volume wise, but the thing was loud. Swapping the pickup on it's own should fix the problem purely because the factory pickup is wired in series, but Stingrays are traditionally wired in parallel. I replaced mine with a GFS model that made a pretty big improvement. The new GFS MM pickups with the quick connect system have a 3 wire system, so unless you tweak the internals, your only options with it are series/split.

 

[jeremy]

couldnt ya just rewire the stock pup in parallel? when i made basses with mm pups, i always wired em for series/split/parallel to get more options

 

[Explorer84]

I have a 2020ish model Sub4 that is pretty great. The preamp is fine volume wise, but the thing was loud. Swapping the pickup on it's own should fix the problem purely because the factory pickup is wired in series, but Stingrays are traditionally wired in parallel. I replaced mine with a GFS model that made a pretty big improvement. The new GFS MM pickups with the quick connect system have a 3 wire system, so unless you tweak the internals, your only options with it are series/split.

They are great little basses! Yep, they’re loud. Replacing the pickup was suggested in a video I watched. In the video, the guy installed a new pickup and kept the stock preamp in it. Definitely an improvement. He ended up installing a new preamp as well.

I’ll start with installing a new pickup and then decide if I need to replace the preamp. When I set the bass knob in afterburner (full) mode the signal does distort. I can back off on the volume to remedy this but I find it as a temporary solution.

I’ll check out the GFS pickup. I’m not familiar with the brand at all. I’m looking to keep things in parallel. Keep things standard. Parallel pickup, bass/treble cut/boost. Simple. Speaking of parallel. It was stated that some pickups did come with four wires so that you could wire it in parallel. I haven’t pulled the pickup to see if I happen to be one of the lucky ones. It’s odd that they would send some with this option and not all of them. Cost of production, I suppose.

Did you replace the tuners/bridge on your bass? If so, did you find drop-in replacements? I’m having a hard time finding tuners. Hipshot has/had tuners for this bass but I’ve read that they’re no longer produced or they’re a custom order item.

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

 

[Explorer84]

couldnt ya just rewire the stock pup in parallel? when i made basses with mm pups, i always wired em for series/split/parallel to get more options

No and yes. Some basses were shipped with pickups with the option to wire it in parallel. If I understand this correctly you need a pickup with four wires to do this. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I don’t know squat about active electronics. Some basses had them most of them didn’t. I haven’t pulled my pickup to see if I’m able to do that. My next string change I’ll check and see.

 

[jeremy]

the pup itself is passive, so like any other passive humbucker, but yes you do need four conductor wiring. even if yours isnt that way, you could make it that way

 

[Explorer84]

the pup itself is passive, so like any other passive humbucker, but yes you do need four conductor wiring. even if yours isnt that way, you could make it that way

How? I’m all ears!

 

[jeremy]

there is a start and finish wire for each coil, connect each one of those to a longer wire. you can buy the little four color wire plus bare bundle that you typically see on four conductor humbuckers. im sure theres a youtube video out there

 

[donaldr]

Definitely rewire from series to parallel if your pickup has 4-wire leads. Don't know much about GFS but they are not known to have top of the line pickups/accessories. Maybe save money a bit longer and get a better pickup.

Lowendlobster made some videos on youtube about Sub pickups and preamps. Have a look before swapping anything.

 

[Explorer84]

Definitely rewire from series to parallel if your pickup has 4-wire leads. Don't know much about GFS but they are not known to have top of the line pickups/accessories. Maybe save money a bit longer and get a better pickup.

Lowendlobster made some videos on youtube about Sub pickups and preamps. Have a look before swapping anything.

That's the guy! He has a great series on modifying a Ray4. I've watched each video a couple of times to see what direction I wanted to go with the preamp and pickup. He did a good job with the videos. Very informative.

 

[Coma]

What was the deal with the SUB series? Were they the same as Stirling or something else entirely?

 

[donaldr]

There are 2 SUB series, one was licensed made by OLP in China and the second one is the entry level Sterling by Music Man (SBMM). SBMM renamed the SUB series the Ray4 and the Ray5.

 

[Mincer]

Originally, the SUB series was a cheaper USA-made Ernie Ball. I have a SUB1, an HH version of a Silhouette Special with a very cool textured paint finish. They were about $600 new, and Ernie Ball claims they lost money on every one. Now they go for about $1k.
EBMM re-used the SUB name for imports after that.

 

[ErikH]

I had a SUB Ray4 for about 5 years (bought new in 2018). Sold it last December. The stock pickup is wired parallel internally and is 2-wire. I did swap it out for the Seymour Duncan Alnico MM pickup and used it with the stock preamp. Wire the pickup in parallel. Series is hotter and actually quite boomy, IME. After a while I yanked the preamp and wired it passive with the volume and tone control. Put it back to stock before I sold it. Great basses really. The thing was solid and reliable. The other mod I did was adding a Hipshot Bass Xtender.

 

[Chistopher]

From my measurements the stock pickup on my Ray4 is wired series internally. It read 6.5k which is either two 3.25k coils in series, or two 13k coils in parallel. I'm leaning towards the first one.

 

[Explorer84]

I had a SUB Ray4 for about 5 years (bought new in 2018). Sold it last December. The stock pickup is wired parallel internally and is 2-wire. I did swap it out for the Seymour Duncan Alnico MM pickup and used it with the stock preamp. Wire the pickup in parallel. Series is hotter and actually quite boomy, IME. After a while I yanked the preamp and wired it passive with the volume and tone control. Put it back to stock before I sold it. Great basses really. The thing was solid and reliable. The other mod I did was adding a Hipshot Bass Xtender.

How did you test the pickup to find out that it was wired in parallel? I'm going to eventually replace the pickup and preamp but it's something I'd like to know/learn.The pickup in my bass has only two wires. I was told that my bass was produced in 2019. I was also told that it was hit or miss on basses that were shipped with pickups wired in parallel.