As I mentioned last week, I'd ordered an OLP/Line6 Guitar Port pack because I wanted a Guitar Port, and I figured that for an extra $30 I might as well get the guitar (and strap, strings, picks, cheapie patch cord and headphones) too... Well, they arrived yesterday, and I have to say that it's a great little package for the money... I don't know if they're still producing them though, as it's clear from the software packed in with the GuitarPort and the inspection sticker date on the guitar that this particular package was produced before Christmas 2002... Anyway, about the guitar...
The OLP MM4 is basically a Silhouette-style guitar manufactured in China. From a distance, it could easily pass as a Silhouette with it's familiar shape and 4x2 headstock, but of course it isn't. The first thing I noticed about the guitar was how very light it is; maybe 6.5 or 7 lbs (max.), and because of that I'm presuming it's made of Basswood - which is fine, 'cause I like Basswood as a tone wood. On closer inspection, I could see the finish was very well applied to the body and headstock, and the hardware appears to be of a decent quality - nothing spectacular, but as good as the stuff on my MiM Strat. In fact, my $600 MiM Deluxe Strat came straight out of the box with fret-ends jutting out of the fingerboard and a bridge with a handful of stripped hex-bolts (the ones that raise/lower the saddles) and a hex-key that was completely the wrong size to adjust them. My MM4 - on the other hand - has a great feeling neck and the bridge is cleanly manufactured and comes with a hex-key that fits. Also, the neatly-cut, three-ply pickguard and backplate are worthy of mention if for no other reason than that they are so much better than the crap that came attached to my Carvin DC-127... The pickups sound surprisingly good - much better than I had reason to expect at this price point - and the neck/middle combo is especially fruity and sweet. I really like the fact that the exposed truss-rod adjustment wheel at the base of the neck has been kept here - it's one of my favorite features of EB/MM guitars, because I live in a rather extreme climate and frequent truss-rod tweeks are a requirement... The tuners feel smooth, and hold the tuning well - I stretched the strings for a while and then tuned up and went to town on some of my fave, double-bends and blues riffs for about 20 minutes, and everything was still in tune after the fact. For the price, I don't think I can criticize the hardware, really...
The biggest disappointment was that the neck is nothing like any EB/MM neck I've ever played - it has a shallow "C" shape with a relatively flat radiused board, and feels very much like the neck on my aforementioned MiM Deluxe Strat. Still, it has neatly finished frets, and a nice smooth feel, and it's very playable. Of course, there are some rough spots in the finishing: the nut slot is too wide for the nut that's set into it, the edges of the headstock could have used a good hand-sanding after coming off the CNC, and there's a chip about the size of half a matchhead missing from the bass edge of the fretboard just in front of the 10th fret (it doesn't affect playability but I can feel it with my thumb). Also, there's a knot grain in my fretboard! Yes, an actual knot! like in knotty pine! I've never seen a fretboard with a knot in it before... it's kinda cool!
All-in-all, however, I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of this guitar. Is it an Ernie Ball Music Man guitar? No, but it looks like one
Is it as good as a real Silhouette? Not even close! but it is a far better guitar than the bargain basement price would suggest... In fact, this guitar compares very favorably with that MiM Strat I keep mentioning, only at about one-third the price (retail). For what I paid, it's a steal, and I think I'll be keeping it around for a while.
The OLP MM4 is basically a Silhouette-style guitar manufactured in China. From a distance, it could easily pass as a Silhouette with it's familiar shape and 4x2 headstock, but of course it isn't. The first thing I noticed about the guitar was how very light it is; maybe 6.5 or 7 lbs (max.), and because of that I'm presuming it's made of Basswood - which is fine, 'cause I like Basswood as a tone wood. On closer inspection, I could see the finish was very well applied to the body and headstock, and the hardware appears to be of a decent quality - nothing spectacular, but as good as the stuff on my MiM Strat. In fact, my $600 MiM Deluxe Strat came straight out of the box with fret-ends jutting out of the fingerboard and a bridge with a handful of stripped hex-bolts (the ones that raise/lower the saddles) and a hex-key that was completely the wrong size to adjust them. My MM4 - on the other hand - has a great feeling neck and the bridge is cleanly manufactured and comes with a hex-key that fits. Also, the neatly-cut, three-ply pickguard and backplate are worthy of mention if for no other reason than that they are so much better than the crap that came attached to my Carvin DC-127... The pickups sound surprisingly good - much better than I had reason to expect at this price point - and the neck/middle combo is especially fruity and sweet. I really like the fact that the exposed truss-rod adjustment wheel at the base of the neck has been kept here - it's one of my favorite features of EB/MM guitars, because I live in a rather extreme climate and frequent truss-rod tweeks are a requirement... The tuners feel smooth, and hold the tuning well - I stretched the strings for a while and then tuned up and went to town on some of my fave, double-bends and blues riffs for about 20 minutes, and everything was still in tune after the fact. For the price, I don't think I can criticize the hardware, really...
The biggest disappointment was that the neck is nothing like any EB/MM neck I've ever played - it has a shallow "C" shape with a relatively flat radiused board, and feels very much like the neck on my aforementioned MiM Deluxe Strat. Still, it has neatly finished frets, and a nice smooth feel, and it's very playable. Of course, there are some rough spots in the finishing: the nut slot is too wide for the nut that's set into it, the edges of the headstock could have used a good hand-sanding after coming off the CNC, and there's a chip about the size of half a matchhead missing from the bass edge of the fretboard just in front of the 10th fret (it doesn't affect playability but I can feel it with my thumb). Also, there's a knot grain in my fretboard! Yes, an actual knot! like in knotty pine! I've never seen a fretboard with a knot in it before... it's kinda cool!
All-in-all, however, I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of this guitar. Is it an Ernie Ball Music Man guitar? No, but it looks like one
Is it as good as a real Silhouette? Not even close! but it is a far better guitar than the bargain basement price would suggest... In fact, this guitar compares very favorably with that MiM Strat I keep mentioning, only at about one-third the price (retail). For what I paid, it's a steal, and I think I'll be keeping it around for a while.
Last edited:
