NGD! But, I dont exactly know what I have!

[ohdamnitsdevin]

It's a 1978 Music Man Guitar. The serial number under the base plate reads #78 and the seller claims it was made by Leo himself!

Heres the story he told me:

"It was back when Leo Fender owned Music Man. Leo gave a guitar that was blonde wood to the head of the prototype division, he then made a copy of the guitar with a dark wood. My dad was friends with the guy back in the late 70's. He really wanted one of my dads acoustics and offered to trade. My dad had it ever since. It was then passed to me about 10 years ago. Good story but theres no documentation. Where the serial # is it only says 78. The pick ups are 78 and a Sabre 2 is closest I've found to the body style."



HD album:
1978 Music Man Guitar - Album on Imgur


*After further inspection I discovered there is a Serial number on the bridge! It reads: A001904

 

[megaroel]

What the !! Humbuckers look totally badass!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kestrou]

You've got me - but looking forward to somebody who does know to enlighten us - great score!

Kevin

 

[TripHazard]

Now that is an epic NGD. Congrats!

 

[RockyStar]

Great guitar...enjoy it in good health!

 

[SBMM]

BP can probably help with this.

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

BP can probably help with this.

I'm hoping he chimes in!

 

[John C]

Interesting guitar - it's likely either an early production or a preproduction Sabre, maybe as a test mule for a mahogany body (I suspect the "blonde" finish one the original owner mentions would be an ash body). It doesn't have anything but the MM decal on the headstock, so it's very early any way you cut it.

Can you tell what the fingerboard radius is? That is what makes it a "I" or a "II" - a "I" has a 12" radius and a "II" has a 7.5" radius.

 

[xjbebop]

Badazz indeed... outstanding!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Can you tell what the fingerboard radius is? That is what makes it a "I" or a "II" - a "I" has a 12" radius and a "II" has a 7.5" radius.

It's hard for me to tell but it does feel pretty flat. Not nearly as flat as the Majesty or anything but, if I had the hazard of guess, I'd say its the 12" radius.

*EDIT* Verified that it's the 7.5" radius.

 

[MJK28]

Very nice NGD! Hope we get enlightened with the story behind it! Can you tell us about the sound?!

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Wow, that's an awesome new guitar! The very early pieces are always interesting to see, lots of history in that axe.

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Very nice NGD! Hope we get enlightened with the story behind it! Can you tell us about the sound?!

it's sounds...... vintage! lol I'll be posting a video of how it sounds once I get the time so stay tuned!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Wanted to update everyone with some info I received recently on the guitar:

"This guitar seems to be in near unplayed condition. I can say that the finish was not a stock finish for a couple of reasons. First, the stain used on the body was put directly on the wood. All of the finishes we did were applied over clear base coats of lacquer. We used shading stains that were mixed into the clear nitro we used at the time. The body was also not filled prior to finishing. We used a paste wood filler on all Ash bodies prior to applying the finish. There is also not enough finish on it to be able to buff it out. As far as a prototype goes, it is possible that the neck was finished in the factory but I doubt it. Most of the protos had the complete sticker on the headstock. The exception to this was when any available neck was used on a proto body because they ( Leo and George ) were interested in the function of the electronics and most of the necks were interchangeable. For instance, my El Toro proto ( 1 of 2 ) has an SB 2 neck on it. This was how I purchased it from Leo's office.
If I had to guess, this guitar was assembled from parts that were taken from the factory when we stopped the production of Music Man. This of course, does not mean you have a bad guitar by any means. It appears that it was assembled well and although the finish is not the way it would have been done back in the day, I would say you have a great playing instrument. The tonal range of that guitar takes some getting used to but with a bit of practice, you can get that thing to scream. Make sure you have a good battery in it and you will be surprised at how well it responds.
I hope this helps answer some questions you have about it and keep in mind I do not consider myself a historian or any kind of expert, I just know what I experienced and saw first hand."

 

[xjbebop]

Awesomeness....who wrote that?

 

[dibart77]

Yeah, who wrote that?

​

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

After doing some google searches on the Sabre, I was led to a G&L forum where people were discussing it. On said thread there was someone who's handle was "Fred Finisher" who seemed to know his stuff so I emailed him with photos asking about my new axe and it turns out he worked alongside those guys in the early days of Music Man.

Fred is a terribly nice guy!

 

[xjbebop]

"Fred is a terribly nice guy!"

ironic, ain't it??

Very cool!