Jaspergretsch
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
- 30
Initial impressions: This thing is gorgeous. The pictures don't do the neck justice. I generally don't like gloss necks, but this one is so smooth that I think I'll get over it. It's a fairly chunky neck (to me), 1.625 width, which I'm used to, but a little flatter and thicker front to back than say my LB-100 which is more rounded and a little slimmer. I guess it's a D more than C. But it's comfortable.
Playability is everything I'd expect from Musicman and from what I remember about 12 years ago when I owned a Sterling. The fret work is perfect. I still need to change the strings (Ernie Ball Medium-Light Nickels I think...meh). It will either get Pressurewounds or Brite Flats. I haven't decided yet.
Tonally, it's probably the fattest sounding bass I've owned. Turning the bass up all the way is TOO much, and the same goes for the treble, so there is a lot of room for tweaking in the controls. It's actually the first active bass I've owned in probably 10 years. So far I'm liking the active controls, though I'm sure when the battery dies I'm going to forget there IS a battery and freak out for a minute lol It's extremely versatile. Generally I find two pickup basses useless to me. I've never been a fan of most bridge pickups since they can be nasally or farty, but as you'd expect from a Musicman, it's a very powerful, thick sounding pickup that growls nicely when you dig in.
...and speaking of growling, I know some people don't like Stingrays or other MM's because they feel like that's all they do. If you watch a lot of videos of Stingrays in particular, they extremely buzzy. This bass can definitely bark at you if you ask it and dig in, but if you restrain yourself you can get a nice warm, round, traditional tone out of it. It's still a bit more ballsy than a traditional passive bass, but it's more versatile than people give them credit for.
Also, it does a fairly good P impression depending on what position you put it in, which is what I was hoping for. Since there are a few different P tones out there, I think you can find everything from a wooly mudbucker type tone, to a airy P tone, to a nice tight punchy P in the first 3 positions. When you engage the mutes that helps it thump nicely. The mutes don't sound the same as wedging some foam under the strings though. They don't mute that aggressively, but they're more than useful for going old school. I actually think I may throw flats on it. I originally wanted a second bass to have rounds on it because I wanted that growly aggressiveness, but I really don't think I need rounds on this bass to achieve that.
The only nitpick I have (because every bass I've ever owned has to have one), is that there is a hairline neck pocket crack. Maybe a 1/4" long, and it's hard to find. It doesn't bug me since it's extremely common and it's in the finish only. But it wouldn't be my bass if I didn't find SOMETHING to bitch about ;-)
This will be a Musicman week for me. I have a Stingray HH fretless on the big brown truck due to me tomorrow thanks to a guy on Talkbass. My credit card is melting...
Oh and I actually got a free Ernie Ball Power Peg Pro with it. Sweetwater is throwing them in with any U.S. Musicman bass for a limited time. Neat...off to dig in the box and find my candy...
Playability is everything I'd expect from Musicman and from what I remember about 12 years ago when I owned a Sterling. The fret work is perfect. I still need to change the strings (Ernie Ball Medium-Light Nickels I think...meh). It will either get Pressurewounds or Brite Flats. I haven't decided yet.
Tonally, it's probably the fattest sounding bass I've owned. Turning the bass up all the way is TOO much, and the same goes for the treble, so there is a lot of room for tweaking in the controls. It's actually the first active bass I've owned in probably 10 years. So far I'm liking the active controls, though I'm sure when the battery dies I'm going to forget there IS a battery and freak out for a minute lol It's extremely versatile. Generally I find two pickup basses useless to me. I've never been a fan of most bridge pickups since they can be nasally or farty, but as you'd expect from a Musicman, it's a very powerful, thick sounding pickup that growls nicely when you dig in.
...and speaking of growling, I know some people don't like Stingrays or other MM's because they feel like that's all they do. If you watch a lot of videos of Stingrays in particular, they extremely buzzy. This bass can definitely bark at you if you ask it and dig in, but if you restrain yourself you can get a nice warm, round, traditional tone out of it. It's still a bit more ballsy than a traditional passive bass, but it's more versatile than people give them credit for.
Also, it does a fairly good P impression depending on what position you put it in, which is what I was hoping for. Since there are a few different P tones out there, I think you can find everything from a wooly mudbucker type tone, to a airy P tone, to a nice tight punchy P in the first 3 positions. When you engage the mutes that helps it thump nicely. The mutes don't sound the same as wedging some foam under the strings though. They don't mute that aggressively, but they're more than useful for going old school. I actually think I may throw flats on it. I originally wanted a second bass to have rounds on it because I wanted that growly aggressiveness, but I really don't think I need rounds on this bass to achieve that.
The only nitpick I have (because every bass I've ever owned has to have one), is that there is a hairline neck pocket crack. Maybe a 1/4" long, and it's hard to find. It doesn't bug me since it's extremely common and it's in the finish only. But it wouldn't be my bass if I didn't find SOMETHING to bitch about ;-)
This will be a Musicman week for me. I have a Stingray HH fretless on the big brown truck due to me tomorrow thanks to a guy on Talkbass. My credit card is melting...
Oh and I actually got a free Ernie Ball Power Peg Pro with it. Sweetwater is throwing them in with any U.S. Musicman bass for a limited time. Neat...off to dig in the box and find my candy...
Last edited:
