Y2D and its versatility

[Testudo]

Hey guys! I am new to the forum and new to Music man guitars. I have always been more of a Fender guy.

I was in the market to buy a new Strat, possibly custom shop or master built, but then i saw the Steve Morse Y2D model, Tobacco sunburst or Purple sunset and i went nuts about how good it looks. I haven't been able to play one yet, but based on peoples testimonials and clips it sounds great too. I played Music man guitars before and liked them a lot, especially the Silhouette special my co-band member has.

Here is my dilemma. I am more of a blues type player. SRV, Winter, Mayer, Hendrix, Bonamasa ... I play harder music too. My main amp is a 68 Deluxe reverb.

Will Y2D be able to play more blusier tones and tunes? I have heard clips of it before but they are mostly trough FX units and its very rare to hear it played clean or trough a Tube screamer.

Gosh, i just love this guitar!!!

 

[ScoobySteve]

I have never seen a Y2D in real life before. I would love to, but Bonamassa has been playing several Y2Ds with BCC and his solo work. So it can do blues. There many clips an photos rocking a Y2D.

Another Music Man which both Mayer and Bonamassa sport is the Reflex(25th Anny.) which I do own. An incredibly
Resonant and guitar and by far the most versatile of the Music Man stable. For now anyways. There are a. Few videos of Mayer playing his reflex and you can see Joe B playing his on Mountain Time on the Royal Albert Hall performance.

 

[Roubster]

The Y2D is taylored for the rock side of things, however it is incredibly flexible. The neck pickup is so smooth and warm...absolutely perfect for blues. It can do it all really...plus I love the balance and feel and of course I can't stop looking at it hehe. I also added a push pull pot to split the pickups for some added single coil tones which to me sound great. I have owned a silo, silo special, 20th anniversary silo and LUKEs but the Y2D is the main guitar.

 

[LawDaddy]

Is it versatile = YES.

You probably came across my threads when searching, I indeed play traditional blues/soul through a Fender backline, currently either a Twin, a Jazzmaster Ultralight, and use Fender-flavored stomp boxes like a Tech21 Blonde or Boss Bassman.

I haven't read this opinion here yet, so I'll just come out and say it, but to my ears Y2D is really a Super Modern Monster Tele type of sound, with the addition of the single coil middle pup. By this I mean 1) the bridge pup sounds like a modern take on a fat Tele bridge, 2) the neck pup sounds like many people's dream Tele neck pup, and 3) the traditional 'middle' position nails the great Tele funky rhythm thing. Even though the pups are ceramic, they still sit in the mix like some kind of Monster Godzilla Tele. It's a very mid-range focused presentation, plenty tight in the lows, but *never* harsh. There are no ice-picky sounds to be found.

The Tune-O-Matic bridge gives a more focused, fundamental sound, and in combination with the quick ceramics, makes for a great player's guitar. Point it, and it drives, if you know what I mean. It's a very fast guitar underhand.

The only issue I've had is on the rhythm side of things. The 250k pots were a little too dark, so I replaced those with 500k pots and swapped out the .047 cap for a .01, and that helped open up the neck pup a lot. But i am still having issues playing rhythm on the neck up alone, which is a big part of my set list. Again, think neck Tele pup here. If I replace anything, it would likely be the neck pup for a PAF Pro or 36th PAF.

Note that I knew about the neck pup going in, it's pretty clear in Morse's demos this is what he uses for soloing in the higher register. And - wow- it sounds golden up there. Really nails the Les Paul neck pup with tone control half-way sound. Woman tone for days. But that's not what I'm doing in my act.

I've used the single coil for some SRV-type stuff during the night, it's a great option to have there. The position 2 that enables the bridge + single coil has a lower volume slightly-qucky sound that cleans up real nice.

For me, the most interesting sound is the 'middle' position with the bridge + neck hums on, which is actually position 4 on the guitar. I play most of my night lately in that position. I'm currently running a Stax/Memphis tribute act, and that sound nails the Cropper vibe. I'm actually hesitant to replace the neck pup so as not to lose this cool new sound.

The beginning to "Soul Man", for example, sounds great in the two-hummer position. I can also get country twang out of this position. But the best thing for me is it gives a great Freddie King-ish 335 lead tone. I think I posted in another thread that a local record producer thought I was playing a 335 from across the room. I do some Albert King in the act, and that position nails it. I've really been favoring that position lately. You just read that right, I've actually changed my playing to better use this guitar.

As far the actual wood, it's my new favorite player. I love the way it sits on my frame (a little better than the smaller Axis, but lighter than my Les Pauls), and the neck shape is great. I've always favored fat '50s necks, but this one has quickly grown on me. And the purple... the purple kills.

I agree that there are few clean samples online. I have a couple of gigs coming up where I'll be recording, and should have some clean samples up in a few weeks.

Sorry for the long post, but hope this helps.

-Tim

 

[RobertJFortner]

I agree with EVERYTHING said here. The Y2D is extremely versatile. In fact I've owned a custom shop strat. IF you play heavier stuff too get ready to buy something else for when you play the heavier stuff haha. I've always been a fender guy never a gibson guy. The feel of music mans is a great transition. In fact I play my Music Man stuff more than anything now. The tone, the quality, the feel, and all around awesomeness is there. You can't go wrong with EBMM stuff. Also where are you at? if you are close to the Upstate SC. Come by my store you can play my Y2D.

 

[joe web]

from the first time i picked up a Y2D (which was back in 2005/2006) until today i really love this guitar.
it is versatile for sure. you can play heavy stuff with it, you can play nice clean stuff with it and if you want to blues on it, just do it. it will sound fine.
and of course, those babes look hot!

 

[Testudo]

Thank you for these extensive answers guys. I am from EU and unfortunately there are not that many music stores here carrying EBMMs. I am going to Vegas next week. Hope to find some good guitar stores there ... can't wait!


I never digger Gibsons either. Great guitars, just not for me.

 

[guitarp77]

This is a great guitar. I´m more of a "metal" kind of guy, but the Y2D delivers a versatility which is amazing.

Plus the feel of it adds up a lot. I´ve been playing lots of Zeppelin lately, and the Y2D is perfect for that; clean tones are great, overdrive sound is very fat and when it comes to lead...wow, it BLOWS everything apart. The feel of the neck is just amazing, and once you get your hands on one of these, you´ll never look back.

Plus, the look of it is just mind-blowing.

Good luck with your quest!

 

[Testudo]

I ve found this beauty. It has a great price and looks mint.

Is this the older or the newer Floyd rose model?
Music Man Steve Morse Y2D

 

[SteveR]

I'm seriously considering getting a Y2D Purple Sunset next.

 

[fsmith]

It looks like the older non-routed Floyd. Beautiful guitar either way, I guess it depends on what you're used to with the trem.

fred

I ve found this beauty. It has a great price and looks mint.

Is this the older or the newer Floyd rose model?
Music Man Steve Morse Y2D

 

[joe web]

I ve found this beauty. It has a great price and looks mint.

Is this the older or the newer Floyd rose model?
Music Man Steve Morse Y2D

as "fsmith" said, it´s an older one with a "sitting on top" floyd model.
so you can only do divebombs with it, but due to the fact that the floyd rests on the top of the guitar, you get more resonance and sustain from the guitar.
if you want to have a floating trem, you can do it with this as well.
i set up my purple sunset to floating without doing any routings. just raise up the tremolo a bit and shim the neck, that´s it.
it works perfect for me. i do upbends on the high e-string for one step so high e gets a f# by full bend.
i think that´s enough for floating.
the next thing i did was adding a big brass sustainer block to get back the resonance and sustain....it makes the guitar heavier in weight, but it´s worth for the sound.

 

[Tubes4Tone]

Now that's what I'm talkin' bout !!

from the first time i picked up a Y2D (which was back in 2005/2006) until today i really love this guitar.
it is versatile for sure. you can play heavy stuff with it, you can play nice clean stuff with it and if you want to blues on it, just do it. it will sound fine.
and of course, those babes look hot!

 

[Richiesos]

It's probably the most versatile guitar I own. Although, this is probably why I still prefer using the axis. I can never decide which sound to use, so I'm always playing with the controls. On the axis, there are less choices (LOL.)

The 5 sounds are all very good. I find the difference between this and a strat is that a strat has less useful sounds, but has a consistent volume across the pickup selector. All 5 of the y2d sounds are awesome, but you'll probably end up using certain positions with distortion, certain ones with clean, crunch, compression...etc...

A really cool thing this guitar does that others wont do: If you're playing with high gain and using the obvious bridge and neck positions, you can switch to one of the middle positions, and the tone will clean up while still sounding good.

Hope this helps.

 

[Testudo]

Well guys, i came home from Vegas as a proud owner of a new MUSICMAN purple sunburst Y2D, with floyd rose bridge.

It just jumped into my hands at the Las Vegas Guitar center and i couldn't let it go.

Then neck, the sound and THE LOOKS! Amazing!!! Been playing it all afternoon and my wife is just about to deport me from the house as we are missing the new years party. But let me just say it again ... AMAZING!!!

HAPPY Y2D NEW YEAR!

 

[banjoplayer]

congratulations! please show us pics

 

[Testudo]

i will asap

 

[Testudo]

Here are a few pics of my beauty. I am having trouble uploading pics so i will post more soon. Now lets get back to playing

 

[LawDaddy]

Love the stripes. And I see you got a sparkly purple strap to go with it!

 

[joe web]

really nice top on this one!