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  • Sterling by MusicMan

edhalen

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Oct 27, 2009
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I took delivery of this beautiful guitar on Thursday - only one day late thanks to the big blizzard that hit the NE. MANY thanks to Pete DuBaldo for the great service! Pete's the best! See this thread for his heads up on this "special edition" SBMM JV60. I think he still has some left - http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-b...mm-valentines-flamed-roasted-maple-necks.html

First - a few pics followed by some thoughts on the guitar.

View attachment 31578 View attachment 31579 View attachment 31580 View attachment 31581

Thoughts - first a disclaimer - I have owned an EBMM Reflex, Morse, AL and a Silhouette at one time or another. Those were my standards to which I compared this guitar. Fair? Maybe not given the price difference but nonetheless a good benchmark in my book :).

1. The neck - thanks to this guitar I have come to the conclusion that a 12" neck radius is it for me. More room for my large fingers on the fret board. This neck is VERY comfortable. The soft-V (the V is not even noticeable to me really) to C profile suits me to a T. Enough mass to get a good grip on chords but still the right amount for leads as well. Very smooth as well. VERY nice flame on the neck (special to this group of guitars - not standard). I've had about 2 hours of play on it so far and it's breaking in nicely. Pete's fret polish job (another special feature of this group of guitars) is top notch.
The only issues I have with the neck are while it is plenty smooth it will be getting the light sanding and Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and wax treatment. That makes the best feeling neck in my opinion. The other issue is the fret board edges are very abrupt. If they were rounded a touch that would be an improvement (they will likely get rounded a bit during the aforementioned neck treatment). Neck score - 8.5 out of 10.

2. Fit and Finish - given the price point of this guitar the fit and finish are outstanding. Neck pocket looks good, frets are good - no sharp stuff. Paint job no flaws, etc. All around a great job. FF score - 9 out of 10.

3. Electronics - between the boost circuit in the volume knob and the split HB switch in the tone knob (special mod only offered by DuBaldo's with this special group of guitars) this guitar yields a boat load of different tones. I'm a huge humbucker fan and I find I'm not missing a bridge humbucker at all. The single coil is dead quiet and has plenty of growl when needed. NOTE - the tone knob is your FRIEND. It really expands the sonic palette of this guitar by a ton. Make sure you use it! Electronics score - 9 out of 10.

4. Playability - let me just say that after I fine tuned the setup to my liking (lowered the action a bit and adjusted the intonation a tad) this guitar holds its own with EVERY EBMM guitar I've ever played. While it doesn't quite have that "it" that all of the MM's are known for it comes VERY close. It has its own "it" going on for sure. Like I mentioned I've only had about two hours of play on it so far and it is breaking in nicely. It felt very stiff when I first started playing it but that is fading fast.
The only major (in my OCD mind for sure) thing missing from the playability standpoint is the compensated nut. If at some point MM would license SBMM to install it on their guitars it would be all over for me. :) Playability score - 8.5 out of 10

Please keep in my this is only my opinion and of course your mileage may vary. Also keep in mind not all JV60's have the flamed neck, fret polish and split HB split feature like mine does. I hope this helps anyone out there considering an SBMM JV60.
 
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Studio270

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Mar 11, 2017
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They look like nice guitars. One of these may be my next.
Congrats.

How much snow did you get. We got only about 6-8 in. I'm in NNY.
 

edhalen

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Oct 27, 2009
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Location
Illinois
Thanks - I live in the Chicago area so no blizzard for us. The storm affected the shipment time of the guitar as DuBaldo's store is in Connecticut.
 

edhalen

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Oct 27, 2009
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Thanks to you Brian (and Pete) for making the special "mini-run" with the flamed goodness. Very special guitar.
 

edhalen

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Oct 27, 2009
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Update - first - absolutely LOVE this guitar. The ash body resonates like heck and the neck is really nice. The body is a nice slab of wood and really feels substantial. A meat and potatoes kind of thing to me anyway. A little sand paper and some oil and wax on the neck and it plays like a MM. After the Graphtec saddle upgrade (separate post - love them!) I decided to upgrade the tuners to these Schallers - they look identical and should be a direct replacement. I can order left and right sides individually to get what I need.

Schaller Mini Locking Tuner, Left Side, Chrome

I also decided to upgrade the pickups. While I like the sounds of the stock pups (bridge single coil and neck HB) I think these two DiMarzios will do nicely. PAF 36th anniversary bridge in the neck and an AT-1 in the bridge. Both black. Should look cool with the black pick up rings (at least to me anyway). Higher output for a little more of a rock sound. With the coil split tone switch Pete put in I figured I can have them wired so I can split both of them. That will make six different sounds with the 3 position switch. I'll report back after the mods are done. Looking forward to it.
 
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xjbebop

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Jan 8, 2013
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AZ High Country
Imho, the "Valentine" pickups are what make this guitar. And the stock hardware works just fine for me.
That being said, you gotta do what you gotta do to be happy with yours. I've certainly modded plenty...got a couple more in process as we speak ;)
 

edhalen

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Oct 27, 2009
Messages
1,756
Location
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Update - the DiMarzio AT-1 (bridge) and DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF (neck) have been installed along with a set up. The Schallers have been installed also (definitely tell the difference from the stock tuners). I did this for a number of reasons, but mainly because I wanted more of a rock sound with this instrument. I also figured as I already have a coil split switch why not have a HB in the bridge and take advantage of another sound? I only have two guitars so this one needed to give me some more options tone-wise to fit what I like to play.

Anyway - this guitar with these pickups ROCKS! The warmth, clarity, harmonics, overtones and different sounds available by changing pick attack are amazing. I did my research and wanted something warm sounding and these are outstanding!! Together with the coil split and boost switch this guitar does it all. I've found my home. I seriously doubted I could ever get anything close to what I had with my AL HH unless I bought another one. This guitar is its equal in all respects IMHO. BTW - I got a few really nice complements on the guitar while it was in the shop. All that's left now are to get the EB black knurled knobs installed after they arrive tomorrow. I'll post a few pics after I install the knobs. Peace!! :)
 

CHill

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Oct 26, 2009
Messages
281
Location
British Columbia Canada
The Sterling Valentine looks like a great guitar and platform for mods. The black pickups and knobs look classy.

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