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MM Sterling/Neck Question

B

burgerdj

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
8
Location
Charleston, SC
Hey All - I'm new to the board and hope to be in the market to buy my first MM Sterling in a couple of months. Quick question - I understand from a couple of dealers/players that EB stopped using birdseye maple in the necks because of stability issues, but that they are still available as "custom" options. Has anyone had issues with their necks?

Cheers,
Dan
 
Dan,

I don't think it was stability so much as it was availability and price. Blame the furniture makers for driving up the price and buying up the stocks!

Jack

PS: No, not available as a custom option.
 
As far as I know the stability of birdseye had nothing to do with it. I had two Musicman Axi guitars with heavy birdseye maple necks and there was never an issue.

I believe the reason for the change was the price of that wood shot up beyond what would be feasible to keep the insturments reasonable for all of us.
 
sterling owner

well i bought my sterling about 8 months ago, and i have the rosewood, and i think its better than the maple but thats just me.
 
When you say stability, do you mean the structural stability of the wood or the market stability?
 
burgerdj said:
Hey All - I'm new to the board and hope to be in the market to buy my first MM Sterling in a couple of months. Quick question - I understand from a couple of dealers/players that EB stopped using birdseye maple in the necks because of stability issues, but that they are still available as "custom" options. Has anyone had issues with their necks?

Cheers,
Dan
Click to expand...

Dan I Have many of these Sterlings that look like this and they sound incredible. The wood is just getting Harder to get.
 
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Thanks for the follow-up everybody - that really helps. Hopefully I'll be in the position to seriously start my search soon. I'm slowly getting tired of my current bass (Warwick Thumb N/T) and have always loved the functionality and durability of the sterlings. Don't get me wrong, I do love my Thumb, it's just not the kind of bass I want to worry about at a bar gig.

If anyone hears of a natural/rosewood sterling (with a BE neck!) on the market, please let me know.

Cheers,
Dan
 
Have a Warwick Thumb 5 BO. Nice sound but I have numerous problems with the bridge saddles coming loose or some problem with the nut. Tried to fix the saddle myself but completely threw the neck out of adjustment so I had to take it to a shop to get fix.
So, I started looking around for something that better mechanical stability. Ended with a Sterling and haven't regretted it. Great sound and the truss rod wheel doesn't require take off the strings to make adjustments. Finally, the addition of the compensated nut keeps the intonation dead on...liked 'em so much that I bought SR5 HH!
 
Ooh... Opportunity/possibility of that "random luck of a draw" birdseye neck in my future... :D
 
I'm actually really glad my neck isn't birdseye... as sometimes I think the nature of the wood makes the neck look a bit... grubby?

I prefer the nice clean look of my Sterling :)

*ducks*
 
my '96 lined fretless Sterling has some rad birdseye......

96STERLING-02.jpg
 
I was curious if anyone has compared the size and girth of Sterling necks to their EBMM counterparts. For example, I understand the Luke is great because it has a small neck (I have small hands) and I'm wondering if specs are the same on the Sterling Lue. Thank you!
 
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