So the title of your video post caught my attention. Buying instruments online (without trying it in person) is only risky if you're buying from a private seller (i.e. ebay, Reverb, Facebook marketplace, Mercari, etc...) but not so much from big chain stores. However, I will caveat that by adding that buying used gear from the big chains can be a bit of a crap shoot, even though you have a 45-day return window. I saw a used Ray34 4H in a natural ash with a gorgeous roasted maple neck that caught my eye on the GC website. As the bass was located at a GC in another state, I called the store and asked the representative to inspect the bass for any dings, dents, scrapes, gouges to the body or neck or any other mechanical or cosmetic issues. The rep told me that apart from the base needing a good cleaning, it was in excellent condition. When I finally recieved the bass, well it was definately a different story. The back of the neck had a welt about the size of a quarter at about the 12th fret and a few small gouges at the first fret. I was really annoyed about this but was willing to live with it. But the nail in the coffin was when I discovered that the trussrod was siezed. While i was able to return the guitar and get a refund, it did end up having to eat $21 shipping cost and lost time and effort. While this is not going to stop me from buying used gear from a big chain store, I am going to insist on closeup pictures and that the trussrod is checked and working.
Most of the basses I have bought on-line came from Sweetwater or Chicago Music Exchange. Set up was perfect and never had a problem. Love my Sterling Stingray Ray4 in mint green.. I have been a Sweetwater customer since 2008, always great customer service.
Sweetwater is amazing. Silly fast shipping and was better than playable out of the box. You could tell they opened it to set it up and sealed the box again. I dont like the color i got, but it was $100 off on sale lol. Ill deal with the beige to save that.
Funny I run into your video, very good by the way..I am waiting on an Ibanez SR5005 , $2400, I went with Sweetwater because no dealer around south Texas has any good bases in stock , it’s on Back order, I hope it goes well.
Looks good if I were going to buy online it would be from Sweetwater because I've heard nothing but good things about them I hope you let us hear how it sounds thanks for sharing
Let me tell you you. Buy on line you’re making a gamble. I bought a Epiphone SG bass and for it deliverd. I didn’t realize the neck dive was that terrible. So I sent it back and took a wile to get my money back. I if had played in Guitar center I would not have bought it and waisted my time!
I hear you. I would always recommend trying it out before buying, especially if you can. What I found with Sweetwater music is that their return and refund policy was easy and prompt so in that respect it minimized the risk.
@@pastorgroove true.. that’s where I got my SG Bass lol sent it back I still had to pay return shipping lol I should have driving the 60 miles to Guitar center and tried one there. Lesson learned lol
@@ChrisJohnsonChannel oh wow! Wonder if they changed their return policy? I returned the Sterling and then returned a squire jazz for quality issues and never paid shipping. I landed on the Sire V10.
Can someone answer this for me? Im looking for a $300-400 bass. A Squire/Fender P-bass or Ray4HH are it. I will be running a flanger, reverb, delay, and/or a muff or some other combo of effects. I doubt it will ever be used for just the sounds the bass alone can make..Will there be a difference between the two options in the end sound? I guess Im asking if the effects will cancel any difference is the "base" bass sound. I prefer the look of the Ray4HH over the P-Bass(at the $400 price point), its really the only reason I dont just get the Pbass.
What style of music do you play? You’ll definitely get a more aggressive tone from the Ray4HH. You will also have more options of tone from the HH. A pbass is a very specific sound with minimal options.
Okay so I’ve been a musician for over 20 years and bass has been my main instrument and passion since I was 11 i spent countless hours practicing with my band and also played drums for elementary school band and then I took a little break from school band to focus on practicing with my band I think also started taking lessons again I did take lessons when I was in fifth grade but I was also taking drum lessons through the school and performing in front of my classmates so I took that a little more serious because I was nervous about messing up in front of the kids. Surprisingly my bass instructor and drum instructor were actually in a band at that same time lol The instructor was nice however he didn’t teach me in a way that my adhd brain would not only comprehend but stay interested and just enjoy being there. It wasn’t until I was in seventh grade that I had a friend come over and and I just so happened to have left the bass out and he was very excited because he was about to get a his own guitar before he had been practicing on his father’s many guitars his father was a professional music recording engineer who also played guitar and taught my friend to play and also recorded himself and helped him to listen to his own mistakes that In the long run he was able to progress faster It didn’t work out with my very first bass instructor but I did try it for two years and I thought I was not cut out for that then my friend got his own guitar and he and I started a band but I didn’t know any songs or at least the ones that we wanted to play it was at that time I learned about Mx tabs.net I think my cousin taught me how to understand them And I also decided that it was time to take lessons again however the place I went to didn’t have any bass instructor so I was put with a guitar instructor and player to teach me to play bass the first lesson was just a standard run through you know how to tune,properly fret a string and how to pluck a string and also learned the major scale the blues scale and the arpeggios for them I wasn’t any good but I was acquainted with them. At the end of the lesson I was like great more of this but this time I was serious and committed to practice everything that he expects of me but then he said something that changed everything he said that you on the next lesson pleasea bring in a song that you would like me to teach you to play I asked him why don’t I need to learn the basics first he said that he would teach me the basics of the song after I learned the song. Anyway sorry I was a little long but I’m just giving a backstory. Anyway played in a band all through high school at first it was just my guitar player and best friend and I playing and practicing cover songs and original songs as well everything changed when we finally got a drummer and luckily we all got along he and I learned drums in elementary school together and were in all the same classes. Anyway I digress I have ordered a total of 3 basses my life the first was back when I was in high school back when catalogs were a thing and the internet was not and option I called one of the dealers from the catalog it was a music store in Connecticut and unfortunately they didn’t have it in stock and had to special order it for me and then mail it to me, the whole process took six months when it arrived in a custom molded case there was however a chip on the neck but it was too far down that I didn’t notice it when I was playing. The next bass that I bought online was 11 years after I had to sell all my basses and music equipment because my mother got into trouble financially so it was a no brainer for me to help out my family, one Christmas my aunt gave us a lot of gift cards for Walmart worth a lot of money and just as a wim I went on Walmart.com and low and behold I actually found something worth looking at it’s a sterling sub ray 24 HH I was in shock not only do I love music man’s but the double mm pickups are my favorite style so I ordered it and when it arrived it came in a box with a piece of foam on the bottom and a flimsy piece cardboard that was supposed to stabilize the neck and headstock and it was fine at first maybe because I haven’t been physically playing for around 11 years now I should clarify that even though I had stopped playing physically I never stopped playing in my head I spent countless hours working on my ear my rhythm and also watching bass tutorials on you tube and of course trying to stay updated on my theory and I also had access to a keyboard and garage band so I was able to practice my chords and singing the solfège along with intervals so when I picked it up and started playing it was very natural for me to play I did have to strengthen my muscle memory on my fingers and re callus my fingers. Anyway sorry for the long back story but I’m noticing that there are some bubbles on the back of the neck and at the second fret there is a glue that was supposed to be wiped off but it wasn’t and I don’t know how to get it off without ruining the fret the plastic nut is slightly cracked. The most concerning thing is that the humidity in my house has been messing with the neck and there are gashes in the body that weren’t there when the bass arrived but it literally came with nothing except an Allen wrench and a pole to adjust the truss rod didn’t come with a gig bag or a strap or anything that would normally be with a bass when you purchase it I mean every bass I have ever purchased came with a case hell my Warwick came with a really nice gig bag extra sets of strings a strap that was outfitted with strap locks compatible with the bass it even had a care kit that included a bar of beeswax cleaner for the frets and hardware I think they even had a tuner and cables out of all my basses the Warwick came with the best extra stuff that was supposed to keep your bass in top shape. The last bass I ordered was from Sweetwater it was the Kala u bass the model is the wanderer and I knew that I would have to buy that u bass first because wanderer is the meaning of my name but to a certain degree so are the the other two in that price range. When it arrived it was in a very nice gig bag the packaging was very impressive compared to the other bass I will say this the action was a little high but easy to correct that it sounded great played great even with the action high the percussion was incredible when I would play flamingo chords and use the body as a drums I loved that bass, unfortunately 3 days after I bought it my disabled mother accidentally fell on it and completely destroyed it the neck came right off and the fretboard is flapping and barely hanging on the worst part is when I tried to get the warranty from sweetwater there was a promotion where all warranty was free but it had loopholes and they weren’t able to do anything to help anyway sweetwater is a great delivery service but make sure you check the warranty, Walmart sucks for delivery definitely try and get there warranty and also the warranty of the store that they outsource from or at least have them package it better offer money if you can to get a case, and shoutout to the music store that had to special order my LTD/ESP ECLIPSE that thing came all the way from Japan got stuck in customs numerous times took six months to get to the music store and another 3 days to get to my house and all it had was a little chip that couldn’t be seen and I could never reach it even when I was playing down that high on the fretboard Unfortunately everything is online now and it’s impossible for me to get to a guitar center or even a guitar shop that has a luthier add a bone nut locking tuner a high mass bridge and a lot of other things that I am a little nervous to do especially since I only have one bass at the moment but I just saw on Amazon that they have very very cheap basses that I could practice on so I’m excited about that I just need the money for a few basses and a full tool set and bench if I get good enough maybe I could go to luthier school and open a business and store in my area that is just a pipe dream but to quote Kevin Garnett “ ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE “
![Is the CHEAPEST Stingray the BEST? | Sterling Sub Series Ray 4 [Review/Demo]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qXpH7zrH7Tw/mqdefault.jpg)
So the title of your video post caught my attention. Buying instruments online (without trying it in person) is only risky if you're buying from a private seller (i.e. ebay, Reverb, Facebook marketplace, Mercari, etc...) but not so much from big chain stores. However, I will caveat that by adding that buying used gear from the big chains can be a bit of a crap shoot, even though you have a 45-day return window.
I saw a used Ray34 4H in a natural ash with a gorgeous roasted maple neck that caught my eye on the GC website. As the bass was located at a GC in another state, I called the store and asked the representative to inspect the bass for any dings, dents, scrapes, gouges to the body or neck or any other mechanical or cosmetic issues. The rep told me that apart from the base needing a good cleaning, it was in excellent condition.
When I finally recieved the bass, well it was definately a different story.
The back of the neck had a welt about the size of a quarter at about the 12th fret and a few small gouges at the first fret. I was really annoyed about this but was willing to live with it. But the nail in the coffin was when I discovered that the trussrod was siezed. While i was able to return the guitar and get a refund, it did end up having to eat $21 shipping cost and lost time and effort. While this is not going to stop me from buying used gear from a big chain store, I am going to insist on closeup pictures and that the trussrod is checked and working.
Thanks for sharing that and watching. A lot to look out for when buying used.
Most of the basses I have bought on-line came from Sweetwater or Chicago Music Exchange. Set up was perfect and never had a problem. Love my Sterling Stingray Ray4 in mint green.. I have been a Sweetwater customer since 2008, always great customer service.
Thanks for watching. I was a little surprised to have two basses with qc issues. Sweetwater is an awesome store.
@@pastorgroove Elderly Music is also good.
Sweetwater is amazing. Silly fast shipping and was better than playable out of the box. You could tell they opened it to set it up and sealed the box again. I dont like the color i got, but it was $100 off on sale lol. Ill deal with the beige to save that.
Funny I run into your video, very good by the way..I am waiting on an Ibanez SR5005 , $2400, I went with Sweetwater because no dealer around south Texas has any good bases in stock , it’s on Back order, I hope it goes well.
Thank you very much for watching!! I have Guitar Center and Sam Ash local but Sweetwater is my go to.
Looks good if I were going to buy online it would be from Sweetwater because I've heard nothing but good things about them I hope you let us hear how it sounds thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching. I will be putting together a review video, but it’s gonna have a surprise twist. Have a great Christmas!
Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 to you
Let me tell you you. Buy on line you’re making a gamble. I bought a Epiphone SG bass and for it deliverd. I didn’t realize the neck dive was that terrible. So I sent it back and took a wile to get my money back. I if had played in Guitar center I would not have bought it and waisted my time!
I hear you. I would always recommend trying it out before buying, especially if you can. What I found with Sweetwater music is that their return and refund policy was easy and prompt so in that respect it minimized the risk.
@@pastorgroove true.. that’s where I got my SG Bass lol sent it back I still had to pay return shipping lol I should have driving the 60 miles to Guitar center and tried one there. Lesson learned lol
@@ChrisJohnsonChannel oh wow! Wonder if they changed their return policy? I returned the Sterling and then returned a squire jazz for quality issues and never paid shipping. I landed on the Sire V10.
@@pastorgroove now that you mention it i might have gotten it from zzounds I cost remember. I Should have went with Sweetwater 🥲
Hello, in your appreciation, how do you feel the weight of that normal Sterling or something heavy?
The weight is not too bad. But I’m also used to a Lakland Skyline 5 string. Thx for watching the video.
Can someone answer this for me?
Im looking for a $300-400 bass.
A Squire/Fender P-bass or Ray4HH are it.
I will be running a flanger, reverb, delay, and/or a muff or some other combo of effects. I doubt it will ever be used for just the sounds the bass alone can make..Will there be a difference between the two options in the end sound? I guess Im asking if the effects will cancel any difference is the "base" bass sound.
I prefer the look of the Ray4HH over the P-Bass(at the $400 price point), its really the only reason I dont just get the Pbass.
What style of music do you play? You’ll definitely get a more aggressive tone from the Ray4HH. You will also have more options of tone from the HH. A pbass is a very specific sound with minimal options.
@@pastorgroove mix of synth pop and shoegaze. With some early 80s Postpunk.
thanks.
Okay so I’ve been a musician for over 20 years and bass has been my main instrument and passion since I was 11 i spent countless hours practicing with my band and also played drums for elementary school band and then I took a little break from school band to focus on practicing with my band I think also started taking lessons again I did take lessons when I was in fifth grade but I was also taking drum lessons through the school and performing in front of my classmates so I took that a little more serious because I was nervous about messing up in front of the kids.
Surprisingly my bass instructor and drum instructor were actually in a band at that same time lol
The instructor was nice however he didn’t teach me in a way that my adhd brain would not only comprehend but stay interested and just enjoy being there.
It wasn’t until I was in seventh grade that I had a friend come over and and I just so happened to have left the bass out and he was very excited because he was about to get a his own guitar before he had been practicing on his father’s many guitars his father was a professional music recording engineer who also played guitar and taught my friend to play and also recorded himself and helped him to listen to his own mistakes that In the long run he was able to progress faster
It didn’t work out with my very first bass instructor but I did try it for two years and I thought I was not cut out for that then my friend got his own guitar and he and I started a band but I didn’t know any songs or at least the ones that we wanted to play it was at that time I learned about Mx tabs.net I think my cousin taught me how to understand them
And I also decided that it was time to take lessons again however the place I went to didn’t have any bass instructor so I was put with a guitar instructor and player to teach me to play bass the first lesson was just a standard run through you know how to tune,properly fret a string and how to pluck a string and also learned the major scale the blues scale and the arpeggios for them I wasn’t any good but I was acquainted with them. At the end of the lesson I was like great more of this but this time I was serious and committed to practice everything that he expects of me but then he said something that changed everything he said that you on the next lesson pleasea bring in a song that you would like me to teach you to play I asked him why don’t I need to learn the basics first he said that he would teach me the basics of the song after I learned the song.
Anyway sorry I was a little long but I’m just giving a backstory.
Anyway played in a band all through high school at first it was just my guitar player and best friend and I playing and practicing cover songs and original songs as well everything changed when we finally got a drummer and luckily we all got along he and I learned drums in elementary school together and were in all the same classes.
Anyway I digress I have ordered a total of 3 basses my life the first was back when I was in high school back when catalogs were a thing and the internet was not and option I called one of the dealers from the catalog it was a music store in Connecticut and unfortunately they didn’t have it in stock and had to special order it for me and then mail it to me, the whole process took six months when it arrived in a custom molded case there was however a chip on the neck but it was too far down that I didn’t notice it when I was playing. The next bass that I bought online was 11 years after I had to sell all my basses and music equipment because my mother got into trouble financially so it was a no brainer for me to help out my family, one Christmas my aunt gave us a lot of gift cards for Walmart worth a lot of money and just as a wim I went on Walmart.com and low and behold I actually found something worth looking at it’s a sterling sub ray 24 HH I was in shock not only do I love music man’s but the double mm pickups are my favorite style so I ordered it and when it arrived it came in a box with a piece of foam on the bottom and a flimsy piece cardboard that was supposed to stabilize the neck and headstock and it was fine at first maybe because I haven’t been physically playing for around 11 years now I should clarify that even though I had stopped playing physically I never stopped playing in my head I spent countless hours working on my ear my rhythm and also watching bass tutorials on you tube and of course trying to stay updated on my theory and I also had access to a keyboard and garage band so I was able to practice my chords and singing the solfège along with intervals so when I picked it up and started playing it was very natural for me to play I did have to strengthen my muscle memory on my fingers and re callus my fingers.
Anyway sorry for the long back story but I’m noticing that there are some bubbles on the back of the neck and at the second fret there is a glue that was supposed to be wiped off but it wasn’t and I don’t know how to get it off without ruining the fret the plastic nut is slightly cracked. The most concerning thing is that the humidity in my house has been messing with the neck and there are gashes in the body that weren’t there when the bass arrived but it literally came with nothing except an Allen wrench and a pole to adjust the truss rod didn’t come with a gig bag or a strap or anything that would normally be with a bass when you purchase it I mean every bass I have ever purchased came with a case hell my Warwick came with a really nice gig bag extra sets of strings a strap that was outfitted with strap locks compatible with the bass it even had a care kit that included a bar of beeswax cleaner for the frets and hardware I think they even had a tuner and cables out of all my basses the Warwick came with the best extra stuff that was supposed to keep your bass in top shape.
The last bass I ordered was from Sweetwater it was the Kala u bass the model is the wanderer and I knew that I would have to buy that u bass first because wanderer is the meaning of my name but to a certain degree so are the the other two in that price range. When it arrived it was in a very nice gig bag the packaging was very impressive compared to the other bass I will say this the action was a little high but easy to correct that it sounded great played great even with the action high the percussion was incredible when I would play flamingo chords and use the body as a drums I loved that bass, unfortunately 3 days after I bought it my disabled mother accidentally fell on it and completely destroyed it the neck came right off and the fretboard is flapping and barely hanging on the worst part is when I tried to get the warranty from sweetwater there was a promotion where all warranty was free but it had loopholes and they weren’t able to do anything to help anyway sweetwater is a great delivery service but make sure you check the warranty, Walmart sucks for delivery definitely try and get there warranty and also the warranty of the store that they outsource from or at least have them package it better offer money if you can to get a case, and shoutout to the music store that had to special order my LTD/ESP ECLIPSE that thing came all the way from Japan got stuck in customs numerous times took six months to get to the music store and another 3 days to get to my house and all it had was a little chip that couldn’t be seen and I could never reach it even when I was playing down that high on the fretboard
Unfortunately everything is online now and it’s impossible for me to get to a guitar center or even a guitar shop that has a luthier add a bone nut locking tuner a high mass bridge and a lot of other things that I am a little nervous to do especially since I only have one bass at the moment but I just saw on Amazon that they have very very cheap basses that I could practice on so I’m excited about that I just need the money for a few basses and a full tool set and bench if I get good enough maybe I could go to luthier school and open a business and store in my area that is just a pipe dream but to quote Kevin Garnett “ ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE “