How Did You First Discover EBMM Guitars?

[Purple ASS]

I saw Geoff Whitehorn (Bad Company, Procul Harum) demonstrating Marshall amps in the early nineties using an Axis EVH. His tone was to die for. Never thought anymore about it until I swapped my Les Paul Deluxe for an ASS about five years ago. Had no desire to play any other brands since. Sold all my others and only have EBMM in my stable now

 

[spychocyco]

I'd been aware of EBMM for a long time, and I've been using Slinkys just about since I've been playing guitar. I'd never tried any of their guitars though. I'd been watching the price drop on a Wolfgang at a local guitar store (this was a couple of years after they'd been discontinued and they were trying to get rid of it). I finally decided to pull the trigger, but got to the store and it had been sold. The salesman pointed me toward an Axis Sport that also had a good price on it. I loved the neck, but it was a hardtail with MM90s and was a silver sparkle color that was a bit gaudy for my tastes (sorry sparkle fans), so I passed. Took me another four years to finally get my hands on an Axis.

 

[crywolf71]

It was 1993. At that time i played guitar for 1,5 year. I was getting more and more into Van Halen, totally hypnotized by his playing on F.U.C.K. I dicided to get the same guitar Eddie uses. Had to save a (long) time. The guy at the guitastore made an apponiment with the MM distibutor in the Netherlands. They had 2. One was Purple and the other natural. The Natural had a dirty fretboard (real dirty). It had been played............by EVH himself!!!!!!!!!
But since purple is my favourite colour and i had know idea how to get a fretboard clean i took the purple one.
Back at the guitarstore a quick setup and played the guitar for the first time. Everybody was blown away by the sound and feel of the guitar.


My first baby

 

[Fusionman]

Ive been a fan of MM since the late 70's and the Leo Fender days. Great amps but I always liked the design of the basses especially the 3+1 headstock and the active electronics. Very unique. I always wanted a Stingray guitar but never was able to find one. When I started shopping for a new gtr several years ago I decided to see what MM was offering and again I thought the designs were innovative and different from the usual stuff and the quality was high....I was right

 

[Jamie M]

When I discovered EVH in 1991 I had to have that guitar of his and that's how I discovered EBMM which was hard to do in England back then pre internet era.

 

[johnnyboogie]

Cool thread =)

JOHN PETRUCCI

 

[phillybri]

When I saw this...



...and this...

 

[ohbugger]

"Holy thread resurrection, Batman!"

The first time I really paid attention to EBMM was when the John Petrucci model first came out, around the time I started getting more serious with playing guitar as a teenager.

 

[peterd79]

So this goes back to 96-97

I grew up Aaaaaaadoring Eddie and i walked into the library at my high school and there was a guitar magazine with his signature guitar on it... natural quilt just gorgeous i picked it up and started reading and being a Slinky user from the beginning i was familiar with the brand.

I grew up with very limited financial resources so buying that guitar just a mere dream...

I was living the EBMM dream on a squire budget

As i got older and more financially independent and stable i was able to afford my "gateway" guitar and OLP MM1F tobacco burst with a nice flame top (still have it too). Played it for YEARS and then saved up enough money to buy my first high end guitar and ended up buying my 20th off of FingBeagles the day i bought it i fell in love... that week i bought a standard silhouette and sold it to buy a silhouette special

got married and had a few guitars kicking around and they got stolen so i replaced them with Sterling by MusicMan guitars and couldn't be happier

 

[DrKev]

It seems I didn't respond to this the first time round, so let's continue the thread resurection!

"The Guitar Handbook" by Ralph Denyer, the book that informed much of early guitar knowledge, had a natural quilt top EVH on the front cover, and gave the guitar a prominent plug in the Van Halen biography. But much as I enjoyed the Carnal Knowledge album, I was not a huge VH fan. I was somewhat aware of Steve Morse because of the instructional videos, but I was however a big Toto/Luke fan. The "Luke" solo album had a photo of Lukather with the new guitar (a Luke prototype with white passive pickups, as I recall). That really put Music Man on the map for me. The guitar tones and Luke's playing on that Luke album and Toto's "Tambu" were just amazing to me (and I still think Tambu is one of the best sounding recordings of all time).

 

[edhalen]

HUUUUUUUGE VH fan (hence my username ) dating back to the late 70's. When EVH started the EBMM relationship I wanted one REALLY bad but could never afford it. Fast forward - I somehow stumbled upon these forums - I don't remember how - started reading and the rest is history.

 

[Eilif]

Luke's "Candyman" album 1994.

 

[headcrash]

When I saw this...

View attachment 33214

...and this...

Similar for me; on top, I think it may have been the F.U.C.K. CD booklet, and some review in a German magazine (it may have been German Metal Hammer who on occasion reviewed some musician's gear).

 

[Jamie M]

Eddie really got a lot of interest in EBMM. It is to bad things ultimately didn’t work out as who knows what incarnation of an EVH would be available now.

 

[GWDavis28]

EVH didn't push me into an EBMM, though I thought they were wicked cool, just way out of my price range. I happened to be in Guitar Center and stumbled across this SSH small body electric guitar with the wicked cool head stock design and loved it. I had been longing for a 57 Reissue Fender Strat for year, but just couldn't pull the trigger, so glad I waited and snagged my first Silhouette Special. Greatest guitars in my opinion.

Glenn |B)

 

[vuduhwy]

1988ish. I was 18 and working in my first guitar store. We sold a ton of Ernie Ball stuff but we weren't a MM dealer. Ernie Ball always sent us cool posters and advertising stuff. I'll never forget the day the poster we got in was Steve Morse. I'd always heard about him but never took the opportunity to listen but I LOVED that guitar the minute I laid eyes on the poster. Over the last several years I've owned 6 of them including 2 Y2D's. I'm down to 3 now and I play all of them almost every day. I've sold off most of my other guitars because I've modded the 3 to the point that they will do anything I need them to do.
I got to meet Steve several years ago after a Purple show. I had yet to buy a Morse model at that point but I told him how cool the possibilities seemed with it. We also talked about all kinds of stuff. He was so nice and polite that I didn't even feel like I was talking to a rock star. I enjoy Steve's playing but I don't even try to copy one thing that he does. I used this guitar my own way and completely enjoy how versatile it is.

 

[JayDawg]

Sometime in the late 80’s, I used to go to the 2 story Guitar Center on El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego, Ca.. This was long before Guitar Center had gone corporate and they only had a few stores in Southern California. I remember going in and seeing a bunch of Stingray basses. I picked a few up to play them and noticed they were some of the most expensive basses in the store. When I started playing them, I absolutely hated them. They were way to heavy for my liking, I hated to feel of the neck and hated the tone. Then when Eddie Van Halen debuted his signature series Music Man guitar, I fell in love with it. I wanted one so bad but as a teenager still in high school and supporting my own music career because everyone in my family opposed what I was doing, I simply could not afford one at the time.

In 1993, I was back at the same Guitar Center and they were selling the new Sterling basses next to the Stingrays. They were lighter and the neck wasn’t as chunky but I still hated them.

Fast forward to 2005. My last thing to do with Music Man was 12 years prior, when the Sterling was released. I had since then gotten married, had 4 children and my family and I had moved to Sterling, Colorado, where my wife was from.(The irony of the name of the town we live in because my opinion of Music Man was about to change.). My family and I started attending a new church that I would end up coming on staff at. The senior pastor and I both played bass and we would switch off playing. Since 1993 I had played Ibanez Soundgear basses that were incredibly light and had very thin necks. That probably played a huge part why Music Man basses seemed so much heavier to me and the necks felt so chunky. The senior pastor had a Stingray that he played. Every time I played it, I experienced the same thing. A much heavier bass and chunky neck but the bass sounded so good sitting in the mix.

Fast forward to 2010. My senior pastor had moved to Montana but I was really starting to like how Stingrays sounded. I then considered buying one or a Sterling but didn’t know anything about Music Man. I joined the forum here to educate myself and learned that Sterlings had a smaller body and neck so I ended up trading a guy on here, one of my Taylor acoustic guitars for a Sterling 4H. I immediately fell in love with the bass. The thinner neck helped me transition over more easy.

A month after joining the forum and maybe 2 weeks after getting my Sterling, tragedy hit my family. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had always been involved with Relay for Life and had an annual team but now, everything was more personal. We had no idea if my wife would survive or not? I wanted to build a breast cancer awareness bass to help raise funds and awareness. I posted on here asking to have one made but was told custom shop builds were only done for endorsed artists. I understood and was getting ready to start looking elsewhere. BP saw my post and said he would build the bass. He then offered to donate 100% of the funds to our Relay for Life team. Bass Central, where I ordered the bass from also donated 100% of their portion to our team and then BP encouraged the forum members on here to donate to it as well. In total, that year our team raised just under $9k from everyone’s donations with around $7k coming from EBMM, Bass Central and forum members. Thankfully, my wife is now a survivor and we will forever be indebted to Sterling Ball and everyone who donated, prayed for us or wished us well.

I would then discover Bongos and would but 2 in faith from BP’s recommendations. From 2010 to current, I have purchased probably close to 30 EBMM basses and guitars and still own probably 15 or so and plan on buying more this year.

What’s even more exciting is I plan on opening up a guitar store in the next 2 or 3 months. The majority of instruments that I will sell will be EBMM and SBMM guitars and basses. In all honesty, I may carry very limited numbers of other brands but my heart is really to sell EBMM and SBMM instruments. Sterling Ball and everyone have been so good to me and my family that I want to give back in some way. I don’t have the name or notoriety to ever be an endorsed artist for EBMM but I still want to do my part to help promote them and grow their brand so opening up a retail store is the next best thing that I can do.

I love everyone at EBMM and love their basses and guitars more than any other manufacturer instruments. I fully believe in the brand and from personal experience see they have the highest quality of any mass produced basses and guitars.

Here is to the future! I am very excited for things to come.

 

[vuduhwy]

Sometime in the late 80’s, I used to go to the 2 story Guitar Center on El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego, Ca.. This was long before Guitar Center had gone corporate and they only had a few stores in Southern California. I remember going in and seeing a bunch of Stingray basses. I picked a few up to play them and noticed they were some of the most expensive basses in the store. When I started playing them, I absolutely hated them. They were way to heavy for my liking, I hated to feel of the neck and hated the tone. Then when Eddie Van Halen debuted his signature series Music Man guitar, I fell in love with it. I wanted one so bad but as a teenager still in high school and supporting my own music career because everyone in my family opposed what I was doing, I simply could not afford one at the time.

In 1993, I was back at the same Guitar Center and they were selling the new Sterling basses next to the Stingrays. They were lighter and the neck wasn’t as chunky but I still hated them.

Fast forward to 2005. My last thing to do with Music Man was 12 years prior, when the Sterling was released. I had since then gotten married, had 4 children and my family and I had moved to Sterling, Colorado, where my wife was from.(The irony of the name of the town we live in because my opinion of Music Man was about to change.). My family and I started attending a new church that I would end up coming on staff at. The senior pastor and I both played bass and we would switch off playing. Since 1993 I had played Ibanez Soundgear basses that were incredibly light and had very thin necks. That probably played a huge part why Music Man basses seemed so much heavier to me and the necks felt so chunky. The senior pastor had a Stingray that he played. Every time I played it, I experienced the same thing. A much heavier bass and chunky neck but the bass sounded so good sitting in the mix.

Fast forward to 2010. My senior pastor had moved to Montana but I was really starting to like how Stingrays sounded. I then considered buying one or a Sterling but didn’t know anything about Music Man. I joined the forum here to educate myself and learned that Sterlings had a smaller body and neck so I ended up trading a guy on here, one of my Taylor acoustic guitars for a Sterling 4H. I immediately fell in love with the bass. The thinner neck helped me transition over more easy.

A month after joining the forum and maybe 2 weeks after getting my Sterling, tragedy hit my family. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had always been involved with Relay for Life and had an annual team but now, everything was more personal. We had no idea if my wife would survive or not? I wanted to build a breast cancer awareness bass to help raise funds and awareness. I posted on here asking to have one made but was told custom shop builds were only done for endorsed artists. I understood and was getting ready to start looking elsewhere. BP saw my post and said he would build the bass. He then offered to donate 100% of the funds to our Relay for Life team. Bass Central, where I ordered the bass from also donated 100% of their portion to our team and then BP encouraged the forum members on here to donate to it as well. In total, that year our team raised just under $9k from everyone’s donations with around $7k coming from EBMM, Bass Central and forum members. Thankfully, my wife is now a survivor and we will forever be indebted to Sterling Ball and everyone who donated, prayed for us or wished us well.

I would then discover Bongos and would but 2 in faith from BP’s recommendations. From 2010 to current, I have purchased probably close to 30 EBMM basses and guitars and still own probably 15 or so and plan on buying more this year.

What’s even more exciting is I plan on opening up a guitar store in the next 2 or 3 months. The majority of instruments that I will sell will be EBMM and SBMM guitars and basses. In all honesty, I may carry very limited numbers of other brands but my heart is really to sell EBMM and SBMM instruments. Sterling Ball and everyone have been so good to me and my family that I want to give back in some way. I don’t have the name or notoriety to ever be an endorsed artist for EBMM but I still want to do my part to help promote them and grow their brand so opening up a retail store is the next best thing that I can do.

I love everyone at EBMM and love their basses and guitars more than any other manufacturer instruments. I fully believe in the brand and from personal experience see they have the highest quality of any mass produced basses and guitars.

Here is to the future! I am very excited for things to come.

What a truly fantastic story!

 

[JayDawg]

Thank you!

 

[B2D]

In 2003 or 2004 I was guitar-hopping because my import Strat wasn't doing it for me, and I found a used Silhouette Special at a local GC for $700 or so. It was sparkle white, which I didn't care for, but the headstock and the body contours got my attention. I picked it up and immediately fell in love with it how it felt in my hands... I'd never felt anything like it before.

I didn't have the $$ to put it on layaway, so I saved up the money and came back a few weeks later, and it was gone. The hunt was on!!

My 1st EBMM purchase was a Silhouette with a Floyd, but it wasn't really doing it for me. I actually traded it to a guy on here for my Gunsmoke Pearl Silo Special and it's been in my stable since 2005.