mmbassplayer
Well-known member
Mr. Martin,
I recently returned home from a six month deployment onboard a United States Navy submarine. While I usually choose not to talk about my job on this forum, I feel this is an appropriate time to do so. This trip I decided to take my daughter's SBMM Sub SB14 with me as a way to keep my (limited) "chops" while not risking damage to one of my prized Bongo's. Plus, the thought of six months without playing was more frightening than any potential damage.
A quick submarine lesson... The atmosphere onboard is very strictly controlled for both temperature and humidity, but changes do come very quickly when we ventilate (let in the outside air) or surface. The first place new air arrives is the fan room, which sees these changes before any type of climate control equipment can work its magic. These past six months this room has experienced temperatures ranging from 0 to 95 degrees as we traveled well north of the Arctic Circle and quite a ways south of the Equator. This also makes the fan room the official worst place ever to store an instrument. Unfortunately for me, it was also the only place big enough (yes, room onboard is tight). Planning for the worst, I feared this instrument would return home with a warped or at least seriously bowed neck due to the drastic changes it saw (I also feared my daughter would want something more expensive bass when I broke hers). I am happy to report your instrument performed immaculately. In the last 6 months, I only made one minor adjustment to the truss rod. My SBMM still plays like an instrument four to five times what I paid and didn't suffer so much as a ding having been banged around on by many (I mean a lot) of non-instrument friendly sailors. If there was ever a question towards the durability of your products, I can confirm first hand your instruments are nearly indestructible. Your products are expertly manufactured and the quality is on par with there American made counterparts. I currently own two SBMM models (I also own a Stealth JP50) and will be adding a third when decide between a Stingray and a Majesty guitar. Bravo Zulu as we say in the Navy!
Chief Electronics Technician Joshua Johnson
(mmbassplayer)
I recently returned home from a six month deployment onboard a United States Navy submarine. While I usually choose not to talk about my job on this forum, I feel this is an appropriate time to do so. This trip I decided to take my daughter's SBMM Sub SB14 with me as a way to keep my (limited) "chops" while not risking damage to one of my prized Bongo's. Plus, the thought of six months without playing was more frightening than any potential damage.
A quick submarine lesson... The atmosphere onboard is very strictly controlled for both temperature and humidity, but changes do come very quickly when we ventilate (let in the outside air) or surface. The first place new air arrives is the fan room, which sees these changes before any type of climate control equipment can work its magic. These past six months this room has experienced temperatures ranging from 0 to 95 degrees as we traveled well north of the Arctic Circle and quite a ways south of the Equator. This also makes the fan room the official worst place ever to store an instrument. Unfortunately for me, it was also the only place big enough (yes, room onboard is tight). Planning for the worst, I feared this instrument would return home with a warped or at least seriously bowed neck due to the drastic changes it saw (I also feared my daughter would want something more expensive bass when I broke hers). I am happy to report your instrument performed immaculately. In the last 6 months, I only made one minor adjustment to the truss rod. My SBMM still plays like an instrument four to five times what I paid and didn't suffer so much as a ding having been banged around on by many (I mean a lot) of non-instrument friendly sailors. If there was ever a question towards the durability of your products, I can confirm first hand your instruments are nearly indestructible. Your products are expertly manufactured and the quality is on par with there American made counterparts. I currently own two SBMM models (I also own a Stealth JP50) and will be adding a third when decide between a Stingray and a Majesty guitar. Bravo Zulu as we say in the Navy!
Chief Electronics Technician Joshua Johnson
(mmbassplayer)
