Sterling by Music Man

[georg]

Heythere.

I need a new guitar and was thinking about getting a Sterling by Music Man JP60 or maybe an used EBMM JP.

What do you think, are the main differences between the less and more expensive series and would a Sterling be a good guitar, too?

I mean, the difference in cost is very high, so i definitely have to consider the Sterling in my calculations as well!

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[faris]

Both are really great guitars for their price. It's kind of unfair for me to compare between the two but really I have only good things to say about both. But if you want to compare I may be a bit bias (Sorry Sterling) as EBMM guitars are definitely more superior. For instance between the JP6 and JP100D I'd say the most noticeable differences are the neck, floating bridge and piezo.

The Neck
The neck on a JP6 feels thinner and the finishing really makes it a fast neck. The stainless steel frets feel great compared to the Sterling's nickel (?). Both are really comfortable to me.

Floating Bridge
The floating bridge wins my vote the most. If you'd ask me why I love my JP6 it's because of the floating bridge. I was used to a Floyd before but when I got my Sterling it sort of felt rigid and the way it is secured (small bolt on the side, secured with an allen key) makes it feel a bit loose, didn't use it much. Then when I got my JP6 and tried the tremolo I found myself using it like the time I used a floyd. You can feel and hear every movement of the tremolo bar and it's tight like it's supposed to be. Lastly the plate cover on the saddles make it a comfortable place to rest your hand while playing.

Both my JP6 and JP100D have excellent tuning stabilities though!

Piezo
My music style incorporates a lot of acoustic and distortion sounds and having this feature along with the Mono & Stereo jack and switch makes it really easy to switch between the two PLUS the piezo sounds superbly awesome.

I haven't been able to compare the sounds between the two but I can say the JP6 has much more clarity and sustain. You can always look up a tone comparison on youtube.

As I said, both are well worth their price. If you're on a tight budget the Sterling guitars are magnificent instruments for the < 1000USD range but if you add a little more you can get a used JP6 now for 1500usd with hardcase included.

This is just from my personal experience. Hope it helps!

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I have a sterling ax40d great guitar, but its heavier than the real axis and the necks are not highly figured birdseye and the neck is finished with poly not the oil and wax, i refinished my neck, and put a real chrome toggle switch. For the money the are great but if I had to do it again i would save and buy a used ebmm axis, or new. They truly are incredible and hold there resale value bigtime!

 

[georg]

Both are really great guitars for their price.
...
As I said, both are well worth their price. If you're on a tight budget the Sterling guitars are magnificent instruments for the < 1000USD range but if you add a little more you can get a used JP6 now for 1500usd with hardcase included.
...
Hope it helps!

Thanks for your very good answer. Now i know that i will not buy any cheap or low-quality stuff. The JP50 or 60 will be my second guitar, which i will only use in my living room for practicing some scales and technical stuff.
If i go to the rehearsal room or a gig, i will use my 7ender guitar, still


@Eric: Thank you, too!

 

[billy carr]

Save up and get something nice. You only live once and you might as well have a quality mm guitar.

 

[MajtasticVoyage]

FWIW, I own 4 incredible EBMMs and my next purchase is gonna be one of those signed JP60Ds... I need a "beater" JP that I don't feel like I should keep hermetically sealed when not in use lol.

My only complaint against SBMM is that the one local dealer takes absolute d*** care of their guitars so they all suck in the store. But I trust Sweetwater to send me a fine instrument.

I'll let you know how it compares to my "REAL" JPs.

 

[kestrou]

faris - great/thorough writeup!

MajtasticVoyage - My SBMM JP60D just arrived yesterday from Sweetwater - haven't really had a chance to "go for a ride", but I'm impressed with the quality and fit/finish so far. They started with 15 and not sure how many are left, but it ain't 15 so you better jump fast!

kestrou

 

[SBMM]

Can you PM me the dealer so I can see about getting this handled? I don't want any potential customer being skewed against us if a dealer is not representing our instruments as they should be.

 

[MajtasticVoyage]

PM'd.

 

[georg]

thanks for all your help. i decided to give sbmm a chance and order one in the next few days.

i just started another thread, because i'm not quite sure wheter i should take the jp60, the ax30 or the silo30.
unfortunately i don't have any chance to try it somewhere here in austria!!!

 

[gnomeo]

Hi ladies and gents i have question, how do i find out year of manufacture from serial no?. i have picked up a immaculate sub silo 3 which says made in china. i thought these were Indonesian built. Any help would be great cheers.

 

[GWDavis28]

So Sterling By Music Man is run through another company and if memory serves me correct they don't track manufacture dates like Music Man. You can contact them from their website and see if they can email you what information they have.

Sterling by Music Man

There is also a FaceBook group for Sterlings, you can try there.

Glenn |B)

 

[gnomeo]

Ok i will email them, cheers Glen.

 

[Vito Porkleone]

Anyone upgraded their saddles with success? I have one of the original Silo 30's and after a few years of fairly light playing, the high strings just sound thin and almost brittle (unplugged).