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Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

NAMM photos 2016

I was one of those who wanted to see the sabre again, my dads old bass player had an old 78 one when i was a kid and it left a big impression on me.
A few weeks back i played a sabre in store and, because i play 5 strings now, it did nothing for me and i was really dissapointed. I love the look and style of the sabre but four string basses feel alien to me now.
You guys have got to trust EBMM and their judgement. They are a business first and foremost and as BP stated, they cant make instruments just to suit this forum.
Forums didnt exist back in the days when EB bought MM and i think they did a damn good job without the "benefit" of a forum where everyone can voice their opinion.
That said, i still might buy a sabre just to say ive got one

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
On another note for half-a-second...
I am grateful for NOT having to work at NAMM anymore since I relocated outta So-Cal a few years back; I know it's Disneyland for some, but try working a booth for (4) days straight dealing wih "NAMMpires"....

Anyway- What was the costume theme of EBMM? Seeing that, and drooling over their catering was always a benchmark for me, along with Lee Sklar sightings and $6 pretzels. Our booth was across from G-K and next to Epifani, so I heard much bass-shredding, some of which i actually thought was musical!

Back to the new MM basses- They're awesome, would love to have played them, especially the P/J.
I remember grabbing a Sabre, what, 2-3 years back, when they were intro'd, and wow, I wanted one so bad! Hard to believe they didn't succeed, but then again, nothing is for everyone.

My 4HH Bongo is so far-forward, I would never need any other bass, but I have plenty others, and still want more!
Like I said, that P/J looks so tasty... So good luck in sales to both EBMM and me for 2016.
 
Here is my take on things, although BP has obviously provided the official ‘word’ on changes.

Guitars are much easier to market compared to basses. Why? Because bass can be seen as not as important. Not by us, and not by professional musicians, but you will find there is probably much less concentration on bass in the market. You tend to find some people don’t understand why we play bass over guitar, or why we would spend £1500+ on a bass when you can just use a cheap non brand P bass then spend £4000 on a relic F*****.

I go against the grain completely. I have much more bass gear, but I have started to play more guitar and I’ve noticed it is a MUCH more ‘active’ market.

I can completely see why EBMMs guitars are taking over bass sales; they have built a superb rep from the Stingray bass onwards, but musicians are noticing EBMM as a fantastic high quality guitar design/manufacturer.

I have an Albert Lee HH. I wanted one as soon as I saw one. I got the Big Al bass first, still love it, then decided I had to have the Albert Lee. It satisfies my HH requirements without having to pay even more for another brand which we all know about, plus I know the Albert Lee Rosewood neck is just SUPERB.

I want a few more of their guitars as well. Cutlass, Stingray, Luke III, St Vincent, all great.

So, what about the basses? I have a fair few basses that are now unavailable due to colour or the model itself. The Big Al is one of my favourite basses, period. It is super cool, ace in passive, looks great, sounds stunning, what more could you want? It is a shame it isn’t around. I am also shocked the Sabre didn’t become a big hit.

We still have the Classic Rays, neck through Rays, Sterlings, and the Bongos. I am shocked like Jack is that the Bongo has stayed in the lineup for so long, but I think there will always be a niche market for such a bass, no matter what. It has basically proved itself. I have two and there is nothing like them at all.

We also still have the Gamechanger. Interesting bass. I owned a second hand one for about 3 weeks, and the shape and feel was stunning. I loved all the different tones. Why did I sell it? I am fussy. It came secondhand and althought the condition was good, something seemed very ex-demo about it…bits missing from the case that you need, the case was damaged, etc. If I could order one in sunburst/rosewood as a fiver I probably would. It is also a shame the Reflex has gone. I really wanted a 5 HH in Tangerine Pearl.

The new Chili Red is super cool, especially on the Ray 5 Neck Through.

I like the new basses. The Caprice would be more my thing. I hope EBMM do well out of them. I know I will always stick to Musicman for my main collection. I have heard some positive comments on other forums about the style of the latest models, and Ray owners saying they are glad EBMM went passive so they can now have a ‘p’ style/’p’ sounding instrument but with much better build quality and attention to detail.

What do I want? Videos of the new basses please!!!!

Cheers
 
I think the struggle between creating something innovative and creating something that will sell well is always a huge one, particularly in the music-gear industry where most people tend to presume that something that's older or "classic" or "vintage" is usually better than something that's modern. I work for a guitar pedal company and it's definitely frustrating to see when a really cool/interesting new pedal doesn't sell well while another tube screamer clone or simple looper tops sales charts. At the end of the day I think for a modern day company to survive you have to find the compromise, and I think EBMM does that when they simultaneously have, for example, the Cutlass and the St. Vincent. At the end of the day, if you're someone who really wants to go buy a Big-Al, you'll be able to find one on the used market, if continually producing new ones isn't financially sustainable by EBMM then that's just the way it is.

And with basses it's tough, I think for a lot of bass players they don't get as excited about an instrument with really interesting/versatile controls as a guitar player does. Despite the fact that I own a Game Changer (which is totally awesome), I myself admit to recently being more into some simpler, "classic" basses, which is why for me personally these new passive basses are actually something I'd probably be more likely to buy than something like a Big-Al or even a Bongo, and for better or worse I think the vast majority of the bass community feels that way. Either way, I too would love to see some videos of the Cutlass and Caprice, I'm pretty surprised there haven't been any even from just random blogs that bop around NAMM. I love the style of the new videos EBMM has recently put up for a lot of the guitars, hoping to see some similar ones with these basses soon.
 
thanks. I think that I should tell a story now....When working/bugging Leo and seeing the prototypes there were split pick up sting rays that didnt make it...vivid in my memory. What we did on both the guitar side and bass is the concept of Modern Classic. Classic designs that are in our DNA and applying things like the compensated nut, what we know about pickups, balance, silence and tone. This is what we presented

The ruffling over the Ole Smoothie is funny...we get asked to reissue all the time and I did....a very personal one off made for me by Leo and crew. I never took the neck off.. when they did there was handwriting. "for Sterling from Leo" Ill post a pic when I find it. This is a very special and great sounding bass....after he made ole smoothie it was a big discussion which one would get released to the public as the StingRay. Ole Smoothie lost that battle.

We are working on the Bass videos. In the last year we did two web series, updated two websites, created content for Virgin and Music Man, rebranded MM,Produced and sold a TV show called Pursuit of Tone to DirecTV, filmed all the bonamassa and guitar videos. The engineers and Scotty and I creatled 8 from scratch instruments. The team has never worked longer hours including myself. We will get to all of it.....including the Majesty bass....hows that for a teaser.
 
Dont forget I designed the reflex bass and the big al and the sterlings and you think I like admitting that nobody wanted them?
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BP, it takes a lot of humility to publicly acknowledge this but I'm sure I speak for most of us when I say I don't see the introduction of the new Cutlass and Caprice models as a gesture of giving up MM innovation but merely a wise business move to ride out tough times until the economy pulls out of the doldrums. Please continue to push the envelope forward when it is fiscally healthy to do so again.
 
I used to own a 25th anniversary (later the Reflex) with rosewood neck, it was awesome I love the body shape (I have always loved the EVH/AXIS guitar). I get that bass from Basscentral and have to travel from Mexico city to Orlando to get it, a trip that my kids love, hahaha. I had to sell it 3 months ago, for necessity...very sad about that. The thing that I hated about selling it was that the guy that bought didn't have a clue about the special bass he was getting (it was 11 of 25 made).
At the beginnig didn't like the new basses, but they are growing in me...I also play guitar, and I will buy a cutlass guitar.
 
Big Poppa said:
We will get to all of it.....including the Majesty bass....hows that for a teaser.
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HOLY ****!!!!! Again, you guys are a great company that does great things. I was just afraid that the market forced you into a corner with the bass stuff. Hearing this got me immeasurably excited. I can only hope the buying public for basses starts giving you guys your due again.
 
the explode man said:
HOLY ****!!!!! Again, you guys are a great company that does great things. I was just afraid that the market forced you into a corner with the bass stuff. Hearing this got me immeasurably excited. I can only hope the buying public for basses starts giving you guys your due again.
Click to expand...

Ya just gotta have faith, Bro. ;)
 
So as bass players we always tend to get comfortable with what we know. Years ago I thought I would play Single Hum Stingrays all my life. Bongos are now my thing. The bass market has proven over and over again that it is completely happy with not innovating. The new passive basses open up a huge market that Musicman has been excluded from for so long. If the market wants a 50/60's inspired bass, why not make the best one on the market? We know the quality will be second to none. I like this move a lot. I will try one, probably won't be my thing but then again I am still holding my breath for a neck-through Bongo.
 
We will get to all of it.....including the Majesty bass....hows that for a teaser.[/QUOTE]

That is really cool!
It will also be cool a bass with the Armada design...just saying...just an idea
 
Majesty bass!!!

My first thought when I played a Majesty guitar for the first time last year: I must have one!

My second thought: a Majesty bass would be incredible!
 
This is awesome, I was hoping for a majesty bass when first seeing the guitar and it's incredible finishes. I love that design soo much and can absolutely imagine this looking superb with the longer neck and bulkier size.

I am very intrigued :)
 
I'd concentrate on the Stingray and offer more colours or even extensive colour/finish customisation options at time-of-purchase, for a marginal premium.
With all the focus on making the Stingray the pinnacle of design and sound, the decision would not be what bass? but what awesomely-coloured Stingray?

I have NFI of the practicalities of any of this. I'm just enjoying the thought of being a customer on the other end of such a thing.
 
Big Poppa said:
you know this thread is eating at me.....we didnt gut anything....we discontinued things that you guys liked and I liked and in many cases we didnt sell a single one in a year forget the twenty colors. We come up with three basses. We didnt do enough.

Now lets cartoon on Petrucci and the THOUSANDS of guitars he has sold and kept us alive.
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You should not take that personally. Like Jack already said, I think there is a difference between the typical guitar palyer and the typical bass player. While it is a natural thing for the tinystringers to have a decent collection of guitars and are willing to regulary spend money on new ones, I know a lot of bassplayers that are on the search for the one holy grail and believe it is the best to concentrate on one or just a view instruments. Also, the are less dentists or lawyers collecting basses than guitars.

And I think we allways forget another coincidence that occured at the peak creative bass output at EBMM in 2008/2009, that was the monetary crisis. I remember how exited we all had been when the 25th Anny and the Big Al where announced. Not even to mention the game changer. But a lot even of the forum regulars were not able to afford more than one new bass at that time. In 2008 and 2009, a lot of us had to sell stuff to get along.

It is obvious that you could not keep all that up with like 30 knuckleheads from the forum even if we were all dentists millionairs. But I think we all value and appreciate the passion and dedication you and all at EBMM put into developing really new concepts and instruments that even in 2008 were clearly against the vintage trend.

You did great, we liked it and as far as I can say, the Big Al and the Reflex are just now starting to get the credit they deserve over here in Europe. Good things take time.
 
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