Sterling bass was introduced in 1993 after years of success of the Stingray. It was like the refined version of their signature product, and since EBMM revamped the Stingray line, Sterling now became their heritage line and it’s a personal favourite of mine.
Background:
Originally released in 1993, named after Sterling Ball, with a smaller body, a more refined shape and contour, slightly slimmer neck and pickup with ceramic magnet. Later on they released the 5 string configuration with multi pickup models (HH, HS). This one reviewed is a 2009 5 String HH model in pearl white finish
Specs:
- Ash body in pearl white finish
- Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard
- Dual Ceramic pickups
- Active preamp w/ 3 band EQ / 5 way pickup switch
- 34” scale length
- 17.5mm string spacing
- Roughly 12lbs
Playability:
Typical EBMM quality. Neck is straight, fretwork is decent. The entire bass is very stable. The refined smaller body and neck profile works extremely well for me(5’11”, 155lbs, ) the stock 17.5mm bridge makes it feel like home. It’s very easy to play and my hands can possibly do ‘more’ on this vs a Stingray 5. That’s a good sign about great playability when certain trick/move can be done easier ..
Sound:
This bass is no joke .. Dual ceramic pickups are big bold sounding, raw and way aggressive than the Alnico ones. Solid heavy Ash body delivers that chunky tone. lot’s of fun, can easily dig in and go wild.
I favour the bridge pickup solo (Stingray), and the all coils on position for a very refine, open, mid-scoop all on sound. Neck pickup only and the other soil split positions are okay .. position 3(middle) and 5 (bridge) really shine.
Thoughts:
2009 is a golden era of EBMM .. lots of cool great ideas at the time and this Sterling bass is a fully loaded example of that. There’s lots of pride in building them. It’s interesting that EBMM has introduced the Stingray Special and revamped the product line and where it sits on its own on their catalogue.
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