OLP Tony Levin 5 String

[gjbassist]

I have the opportunity to buy an OLP Tony Levin 5 string from a friend. It is the natural one with the tort pickguard and it is in great shape. I have only looked at it briefly but have not really played it yet. I have been thinking of getting a MM style bass and this one seems to be a good deal. I know these are no longer being made and are a bit hard to come by. What is the general consensus on these basses? Pros/Cons?

[gjbassist]

Really? No one has any experience with this bass?

[TMBTC]

I'm looking for one myself. I've heard good things about them. If ya find anyone who has one in peach let me know!

[whisper14072]

I had one of these basses in the peach... unfortunately I went through a stupid phase and sold it... I miss it terribly..

As far as the bass goes... they are fantastic!!!!! great sound, nice MM growl and can get good old thump from them too.

I played mine in a worship group at my church and when I would hit the low B you could feel the walls shake in the church

My set guy who has been doing this for 20+ years said that this was the closest he has ever seen to a real MM. at 1/4 the price.

..... i still miss my peach....

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by whisper14072

I had one of these basses in the peach... unfortunately I went through a stupid phase and sold it... I miss it terribly..

As far as the bass goes... they are fantastic!!!!! great sound, nice MM growl and can get good old thump from them too.

I played mine in a worship group at my church and when I would hit the low B you could feel the walls shake in the church

My set guy who has been doing this for 20+ years said that this was the closest he has ever seen to a real MM. at 1/4 the price.

..... i still miss my peach....

Yes. This is the "consensus". In other words, the "consensus" is that you should tell your friend that you really don't want the Tony Levin OLP, and refer him to me. [I'm not even asking what he wants for it!]

[Herbdee]

Don't know if you're still looking, but if so, try this ebay listing: Item no. 300536125255.

OLP Tony Levin 5 string bass - ORANGE | eBay

Auction ends Tuesday 3/22

[stflbn]

If it's not peach, it's not a Tony Levin. It's just a 5-string OLP MM copy.

No real difference between them though... just the color defined the Levin. As far as I'm aware.

OLP had both single pickup 5-strings as well as dual humbucker 5-strings. The later Dual humbucker 5-strings seemed to be a bit higher quality production level IMHO.

[Slackerprince]

I had an OLP MM 2 and sold it, too.
Worth keeping, but it had a chunky neck and didn't get much play.
Do wish I kept it, though.
One of the tuners pulled off right after I got it, so I put Hipshots on it.
I also had wiring problems and took the control plate off and "jiggled" the wires so that the blend knob worked. It could have used someone knowledgeable looking over the soldering, but all in all, it was a nice bass. Especially for the price. It was around $225 new off e-bay.
I'd nail the one you're after if it looks intriguing to you.
Good luck.

Here's mine:

[Jim C]

As I understand it, the TL model was active and possibly the only active OLP

[groucho]

The Tony Levin did indeed come in both natural and peach
(Barbie Flesh) I had BOTH of them! My first was a natural with
the tort PG and maple board - sounded great but had a badly warped neck out of the box...
Took ONE YEAR to resolve this warranty issue with OLP, the
replacement I finally got was peach with a rosewood board.
I still have it.

There are wiring mistakes in some these depending on when they are made. My peach one came with the wrong pot in the volume position, and the bass mid and treb pots in the wrong holes on the PG. They can also benefit greatly from shielding the cavity.

[wickedmrrogers]

Picked this one up a few months back for $350
I'll take some better pics soon.

[TRichardsbass]

There is one on eBay for $410 from NJ. Looks great. Auction ends soon.

[askrere]

Hey I am about to get a peach one tomorrow. What are the wiring problems to look for?

From thread searching, I've seen someone say it has a

1. 25k pot that needs to be 500k
2. It's some how wired with the volume in the wrong location
3. the pickup itself is supposed to be in parallel rather than series

Any solid advice would be appreciated, I am broke, but I do have a soldering iron and a few 500k pots so these mods are doable, but I won't be modding this bass to any major degree.

Though out of curiosity, the pickguard really clashes to me with the bridge, and I was curious if you could put a regular stingray pickguard on the bass, and use the metal control plate?

I think I'll like it for my first 5er, and only bass at the moment, just wish that dudes pringle man looking face wasn't looking up at me from the headstock.

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by Jim C

As I understand it, the TL model was active and possibly the only active OLP

I've been reading good things about the TL OLP, the main minus was shielding, but that is quite an easy fix. I've also seen one at the shop. It looked nice and well built.
My friend have a JP sig OLP guitar, which sound great, and he is very fond of this guitar. Seem to me like OLP gives very good value for the money.

[crapusername]

I have a peach one. It's my go to 5. Sounds great with the 3 band eq.
It ain't going nowhere!

[ginospice]

I have had the opportunity to get both of the Levin Models, Peach and Blond. Both are spectacular basses. They have been modded to fretless with epoxy coated fingerboards. Added switches to the pickup to wire single-paralell-single, which really adds some cool tonal variations. Quite possibly the nicest basses I've owned.