The brand NEW SUB Series StingRay Plus…my thoughts

I’ve been a StingRay fan for a long time. I currently own three Music Man StingRays: a 1978 four-string and two five-strings, including a beautiful BFR Moonbeam and an older one that was my working bass for twenty years.

So when Sterling by Music Man got in touch and asked if I’d like to try the brand-new SUB Series StingRay Plus, I was very interested to see what they’d done with a much more affordable version of a bass I know extremely well.

They sent me the Seafoam Green four-string, and in the accompanying video I put it through its paces, demonstrate the different tones, and give you my first impressions.

What Is the SUB Series StingRay Plus?

The SUB Series has long been Sterling by Music Man’s affordable entry point to the StingRay family. The new StingRay Plus builds on that idea with considerably more tonal flexibility and some nice cosmetic upgrades.

At its heart is a ceramic humbucker paired with a 2-band active preamp, but there's now a three-way selector that switches the pickup between series, parallel, and single-coil operation. That gives you several noticeably different voices from one pickup.

There’s also a push-push volume boost that gives you additional output when you need to cut through.

Visually, the Plus gets some attractive upgrades, including block inlays and a colour-matched headstock. The Seafoam Green model Sterling sent me looks particularly good.

SUB Series StingRay Plus 4-String Specs

The four-string is a full-scale 34-inch bass with a hard maple neck, 9.5-inch fingerboard radius, and 21 medium frets.

Key specifications:

• 34" scale length
• Poplar body (with ash veneer on the Vintage Sunburst version)
• Hard maple neck
• 9.5" fingerboard radius
• 21 medium frets
• 38mm / 1.5" nut width
• Six-bolt neck attachment
• Ceramic humbucking pickup
• Series/parallel/single-coil switching
• 2-band active EQ
• Push-push volume boost
• Fixed bridge
• Open-gear tuners
• Dual-action truss rod
• .045–.105 strings

The result is a familiar StingRay layout but with more tonal options than you might expect at this end of the market.

What Do the Three Pickup Settings Do?

This is probably one of the most interesting additions to the StingRay Plus.

The three-way pickup selector changes the wiring of the humbucker between series, parallel, and single-coil modes.

That means you can move from the familiar punchy StingRay character to a bigger, hotter sound or a leaner and more articulate tone. Combined with the active bass and treble controls, there's quite a lot of tonal territory available from a bass with a single pickup.

In the video, I demonstrate these settings so you can hear the differences rather than simply reading about them.

There's a Five-String Too

Sterling has also released the SUB Series StingRay 5 Plus for players who want the additional low B string.

The basic electronics are the same: ceramic humbucker, three-way series/parallel/single-coil switching, 2-band active preamp and push-push volume boost.

There are some physical differences. The five-string has a 12-inch fingerboard radius, 22 medium frets, and a 45mm / 1.77-inch nut width. The Seafoam Green five-string uses a hard maple neck with a Jatoba fingerboard, while specifications vary with the finish; for example, the Vintage Sunburst version has a maple fingerboard and ash veneer over its poplar body.

The five-string comes fitted with .045–.125 strings.

My First Impressions

I think the most interesting thing about the StingRay Plus is where it sits in the StingRay family.

A full Music Man StingRay is a serious investment. The SUB Series StingRay Plus isn't pretending to be one of those instruments; it's designed to make the StingRay concept more accessible at a much lower price.

If you're looking for your first StingRay-style bass and want the classic humbucker-and-active-EQ formula without spending Music Man money, you could do a lot worse than trying this bass out.

By the way, this isn't an advert, and I wasn't paid for this, but I was sent the bass for free. If you have the money, go for the full-fat StingRay, but if you want a StingRay without breaking the bank, check these out.

On that note, the 4-string runs for $499.99, while the 5-string will set you back an extra fifty dollars.