New Old Like New Bass Day

[jlepre]

Can't wait to see the front of that Sabre.

 

[oli@bass]

There you go...

 

[Caca de Kick]

Purdy!
Is that a satin-velvet finish?

BTW, the other one played pretty well last night.

 

[MrMusashi]

nice bass, bad teasing

congrats!

MrM

 

[FunkyPunky]

Now that IS a nice bass, dear Oli!
Congratulations!
If I had seen that one, I couldn't have resisted...

Nothing in comparison to the fretless 20th that I recently got though, of course, but... you knew I was gonna have to say that, right

All the best to you!

 

[MattOfSweden]

That's a clean looking Sabre indeed - wonderful!!
Congratulations Oli!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Nice bass Oli! The bird's eye figuring is fabulous!

 

[fly]

wow............freaking awesome bass man..........whole new respect for the Sabre now.

 

[fly]

those factory pups?

 

[five7]

It looks like it has been in a time capsule. Clean machine.

 

[Bart B]

Nice!

Does it sound and play like you hoped?

which year btw?

 

[oli@bass]

Thanks everybody for your kind words, and for keeping playing this little "revelation game"...

Just curious - the strings at the bridge appear to be "offset" - on an angle between the bridge tail piece and saddles - perhaps just the camera angle - or perhaps they are supposed to be that way(?)

This is the design of the top loading bridge as it was used from around 1980 to 1992. Indeed, the strings run in an angle over the saddles.

You can read more about many details on Rod Trussbroken's website:
BRIDGES - Musicmanbass.org, Music Man, Musicman, Music Man Bass, Musicman Bass, Music Man Guitar

Nice score, Natural is a great finish on a 'Ray.

Who said something about a StingRay?!

Wow - looks like you got a real Classic EBMM early 90s Ray there Oli (or is it a Sterling ) - is it 36250? I have 36876 (sunburst fretless 3 band SR4).

I'm hoping you're going to extend your sound samples to include this one Oh and some pics of the whole bass!

It's 26250, a 1988 EBMM Sabre with 2 band preamp.

And yes, I'm planning to extend the sound samples with some of the vintage Music Man basses I recently acquired and another that's on it's way. I find it very interesting to play all those instruments from various production periods and hear the different sounds you can get from them.

My lips are sealed! .... I know nuffin'...

I know you know.
THANKS, Matt!

Show us the bass! ...and change the battery for crying out loud!

Yes, sir! Battery is replaced!

My guess is Sabre.

You are paying way too much attention to what I'm mumbling on the interwebsè!

Can't wait to see the front of that Sabre.

Who said it was a Sabre?!

Purdy!
Is that a satin-velvet finish?

BTW, the other one played pretty well last night.

Hey, it is indeed very pretty. The body is not satin-velvet finish, but it is less glossy than newer EBMMs.

those factory pups?

Yes, they are. The Sabre always had pickups different from the StingRay (many are not aware of that). They are slightly smaller, and from about 1982 on the pole pieces were covered and the neck pickup actually uses 16 small magnets instead of 8 large ones.

wow............freaking awesome bass man..........whole new respect for the Sabre now.

So, I've done my job well

It looks like it has been in a time capsule. Clean machine.

Indeed, it is. At first sight, it looks as if it was never played. But when inspecting the finish more closely, I've found many superficial scratches, and some depressions on the back of the body, probably from belt buckles. So it was played, but very very well cared for.

 

[oli@bass]

Does it sound and play like you hoped?

Frankly, never having played one of these before, I didn't know what to expect but was extremely curious about the Sabre (with lever switch electronics). My hope was probably that it would give me tonal options similar to a modern StingRay HH but with a "classic" 2 band EQ.

This Sabre is a nice feeling instrument, and with a weight of 4.46 kg (9lbs 14oz) it is very similar to most of my StingRays. The neck, like my '88 fretless and '81 SR, feels a bit thinner than today's 'Rays -- it's profile is comparable to the 25th/Reflex/Bongo neck shape -- and is very comfortable to play. The setup could be optimised, but it's already very playable right as it was.

Soundwise, I am extremely pleased with the options: Judging from my experience with other double PU EBMM models and the switching diagrams of the Sabre, I'd have expected to not like positions 1 and 2 (neck single coil, and H+S) but find both of these settings very attractive as well. I did expect to get a lot of noise on the single coil settings, but it didn't have more hum than any of the other settings. Actually, those could become my favorites on this Sabre!

I've expected that the remaining positions sound very similar to the modern HH StingRay but maybe a bit mellower. I was wrong. The bridge H sounds similar to a classic 'Ray, maybe a tad less open with more of the gnarly mid range bite. The neck H and the HH combination both sound different from the StingRay HH, offering a less growly sound with great warm bottom and much more high end sizzle than I'd have expected. Naturally, I'm still in the learning phase with this instrument and my observations may change over time and with experience.

Bottom line: IMO, this is a great allround model which covers many grounds from the classic StingRay bite to vintage P bass style (single coil neck) to scooped slap funk (HH) to deep dub bubble (neck H) and many in between. A very interesting aspect of this bass is that all the pickup settings work extremely well with effect pedals (octaver, auto filter) without getting too muddy or lost. As often mentioned already, the 2 band EQ is much more versatile than it seems, especially when using it to cut instead of just diming everything. I love the sounds I can get from this bass, and I will definitely try to find a fretless with these electronics.

 

[Rano Bass]

Very nice bass, congrats.

Those late 80s early 90s basses were really good looking IMO.