Tony Levin Signature OLP is Out

[phatduckk]

sounds like a great candidate for my "i think ill try out a 5 string soon" campaign.

ive heard a few great things about it and i trust TL wouldnt put his name on something that sucks. and like Derek said, for $300 ... sounds like a winner.

 

[DR. Cheese]

The hoepfully, the new batches will be well set up. I really have no need for another bass, but these do look good. They are cheap too. Who knows?

 

[AnthonyD]

sounds like a great candidate for my "i think ill try out a 5 string soon" campaign.

I am soooooo trying to stay away from that campaign!

 

[phatduckk]

I am soooooo trying to stay away from that campaign!

ya me too .... i just moved. so between those expenses and the HS Sterlign on order i should really abort this 5 string mission. we'll see

 

[marleaux-user]

I went to my local dealer and asked about ordering a TL. He gave a weird look of pain and said that OLP and EB have some kind of issue with the current batches of basses produced, and that no US-site would sell to asia even if we tried to order. ??? Someone please tell me that is bull.

 

[Big Poppa]

bull....double bull...double secret bull......Do they whip uninformed retail sales people in Singapore still....if so bring a digital camera and post

 

[marleaux-user]

Thanks BP, I'm gonna get back to that shop today and play some REALLY LOUD bass

 

[bovinehost]

You know, you just have to laugh when you go to some dinky little store and get a line of what you suspect to be BS...then you get home, sign on to the forum and get to ask the head of the company if it really was BS.

I swear, the concept just makes me laugh.

You want to talk about informed consumers? Lord, Lord.

 

[AnthonyD]

I've heard it said that an educated consumer is the best customer...

 

[marleaux-user]

Thing is, I was just going there to order an OLP which i KNEW wasnt there yet. So i was kinda asking about new shipments or possible orders with the owner of the shop. But his dumbass son (whos notorious for his rudeness to customers) cut in and served that BS story which rendered me kinda sad, as basses shipped to Singapore would cost an extra 250 US...

Next thing i did was pick up a Natural OLP MM3, which was the next best thing that I could afford. I was pleasantly surprised to find med-low action setup, pumped it through a GK backline amp, and i kinda heard an SR4 in that SR5 design. Hmm.

 

[tkarter]

In my mind the OLP is just what it is. A licensed copy. I had an guitar once with a licensed floyd rose bridge it was workable but not the original.

This is probably nothing more than an excellant entry level SR 5. I am sure it will be better than most of the basses I thought I could play when I started out.

I am a one bass guy now. I play my SR 5 or I don't play. That is a me thing. I won't tell the rest of the world to do what I do.

I am sure that is playable and as so many said a good backup bass. I know this. You buy one of the real SR 5s you don't need a backup bass unless you are the one that needs some quality control on your behaviour.

Anyone that is getting along with any OLP bass should just know that when you can get the real thing you will be happy. Anyone happy with the OLP may just be able to get along his or hers for their whole life and be happy. That is good. The EB built bass is just great. Try one and call me wrong.

I say play what you play and enjoy. I am not one to say the Bongo doesn't fit in this band because of looks and I won't say the OLP isn't going to work in a band cuz I haven't played one.

The pic looks good. How are the fret ends? Is the neck stable. Is it in tune when you pull it out of the case? Are you happy with it? Answer all those yes and I say you found your bass.

I also think we all put more into the bass than we do the strings and the amp and cabs we play.

Find your sound, find your strings that get that sound, find the amp and cabs that do the same. Then find the bass that gets you all that and more. You will be happy. And you won't need me or anyone else to tell you that you are right or agree with you.


IMHO

tk

 

[jongitarz]

Another fine post my friend

 

[marleaux-user]

Lemme throw my deck of cards out as well...

The last time i remember trying someone's Natural SR5 (maple), i recall not even trying much (finger-wise) or even tweaking the amp and onboard controls to get good tone. With the OLP, i had to do both to make sure i get the sound which i expect from a copy. In short, i'm not saying that the OLP substitutes an SR5. Theres no way basswood can turn into ash in a zillion years. There no way mass produced workmanship can rival EBMM's quality control and expertise. Theres no way a passive copy can sound like its active predecessor with different pickups and the lack of a preamp which gives it the signature tone we all crave.

Yeah i can make it sound 'like' an SR4 (or at least the way i want it to sound). But i couldnt possibly type out all the effort i put in sitting down with that backline amp + all the tweaking i did. It'll bore the crap outta you drinkers...

The bass is 200+ dollars... throw in a Tonebone D.I and the tally goes to 600...still not happy with the sound? throw in an SD preamp....how much is it now? Everybody has a choice. Agreed.

 

[bovinehost]

I like Tony's attitude about the bass. Let's build something decent and affordable. I don't imagine he ever thought it would, at that price point, compete with the Stingray 5. Most of us here are not going to make a 300 dollar bass our main player, but when I think back on the "bargain" basses available when I was a kid?

Hooo, I would have KILLED for that Tony Levin OLP.

 

[tkarter]

I like Tony's attitude about the bass. Let's build something decent and affordable. I don't imagine he ever thought it would, at that price point, compete with the Stingray 5. Most of us here are not going to make a 300 dollar bass our main player, but when I think back on the "bargain" basses available when I was a kid?

Hooo, I would have KILLED for that Tony Levin OLP.

+1 hell yeah

tk

 

[marleaux-user]

I like Tony's attitude about the bass. Let's build something decent and affordable. I don't imagine he ever thought it would, at that price point, compete with the Stingray 5. Most of us here are not going to make a 300 dollar bass our main player, but when I think back on the "bargain" basses available when I was a kid?

Hooo, I would have KILLED for that Tony Levin OLP.

Yeah I'm kinda short right here for the Levin, and i'm contemplating that.

 

[SteveB]

Hey, for many years when I was a teenager I played a Hondo II Les Paul copy. It had DiMarzio pickups, played great, and I never would have known the difference if a certain guy across the street didn't have a '78 tobacco sunburst Les Paul...

I can't even remember what happened to that Hondo...

 

[peterd79]

OK... I have to throw in my .02 here.

I am a 25 year old musician who has been playing regurlarly for about 10 years and have had a guitar in my hands since I was about 5. I would not consider myself a beginner by any means. I am very picky about the tone that I have and will not sacrifice my tone for anything. I play a 56' Les Paul Junior (NOT A RE-ISSUE) and an 2003 ESP Eclipse. A few months ago I ran across a web site that had a COPY of an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis by OLP. I was intrigued to see what this thing could do. I drove to my local Guitar Center to see if I could play one. They didn't have anything remotely close to it. SO... I went home... Later that evening I ran across an OLP MM1F (Music Man Axis w/ Licensed Floyd Rose) on E-Bay. The buy it now price was $250 and thought i'd buy it and give it a try... When the guitar cam in I was please to see the quality versus cost of this instrument. The guiat has a real flame maple top and a very solid maple neck. The Licensed Floyd was very solid.
After doing an initial set-up on the guitar and replacing the strings (Which were said to be Ernie Balls... they were not EB's) I was very please with the instrument. I've been seen playing this one more that my other guitars. The Les Paul has to be re-wired... but will soon be my NUMBER 1.
All that being said... An OLP is a great instrument for the Price range. I would honestly say that it is the Best guitar in the $300-400 price range. Having not played an OLP BASS i can't comment on them but... from what i've experience with my OLP guitar... with a little bit of work it could be meet your needs.

 

[whamonkey]

Ok, I'm in. I know that the" idiot dealer out in Vegas-who remains nameless" will take an OLP axis copy and totally work the thing (ie: fret job, pickups, tremelo, etc.) and sell it to you for the $600-$700 range. His claim is the thing will tear up any guitar out there after he's done. My point is how good can the thing be outta the box if you have to drop another $450 into it to make it playable? My SR5 came from the factory PERFECT....no exaggeration. Plug it in, crank it up.....wow! I wonder why TL didn't sign with EB proper instead of going with..... IMO..... El Cheapo. I have handled OLP products and again, IMO, they feel and play cheap. By the time you invest the cash required to make it a player, you could have a nice used Ray, the real thing. Do I understand the marketing behind this deal? Oh yeah, and I don't blame TL one bit. Has EB ever produce an artist signature bass guitar? There are what, 4 different artist guitars right? (Including the AXIS-EVH) Why not an EB TL signature bass? (Ooops....my rant has made me like the aforementioned idiot!)

 

[kbaim]

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