...available NAMM '25. plus sterling charge you almost twice the dollar in europe. plus Thomman's Guitar and Bass stock levels are awful.
abysmal setup out of the box. very little adjustment left on the truss rod. awful chinese pickup lottery. 2 band EQ that, while adding bass and treble, still sounds like a mid range echo chamber. Feels and plays like the strings got swapped out somewhere for those awful Harley Benton 45's
taking it apart reveals super poor routing (part of the control cavity is visible under the plate), the neck screws are barely long enough to anchor the neck. the body is made from some kind of wood that splits like mahogany and drills like basswood. no idea what it is, but its really soft. The neck routing was decent.
the only bright side to this bass is the finish is very good and the fretwork is decent. which is the basis for a good instrument if the truss rod wasn't suspect. the tuners are tuners. the bridge is the nasty one on all cheap MM copies. for some reason sterling decided a black pickup looks best on this white pickguard. it doesnt even get anywhere close to that stingray sound. sounds like the Muffle O Matic machine from 20 years ago.
If you want a MM copy at a cheap price, buy the Harley Benton. you can mod it and it will still be cheaper. If you want the headstock and the label from a MM, spend more money. this Ray4 is a super expensive "Murica approved" mod project and nothing more.
as a side note, Thomann, you really need to improve your supply/stock of guitars and basses. 2024 was not your best year. you guys do know Gear4Music exists right?
