1979 Music Man Sabre bass body front.jpg
1979 Music Man Sabre bass body front.jpg

For sale 1979 Music Man Sabre bass with hardshell case

Sold
$2,150.00
Strings
4
Status
This item has been sold and is no longer available!

Details

  • 1979 Music Man Sabre bass $2150​

The bass has an ash body and one-piece maple neck, and is extremely lively. The electronics set-up is two humbuckers wired to an active EQ with dedicated Bass and Treble knobs; a mini three-way pickup selector; Bright switch, and Phase Reversal switch. There are lots of tonal option and there's plenty of punch and growl.


The bass weighs 9lbs 13oz.


The one-piece maple neck has a C-shaped profile carve and measures .765" deep at the 1st fret and .910" at the 12th. The original medium jumbo frets are intact and show no wear and would seem to have been leveled and crowned at some point.


The scale length is 34", and the nut measures 1 11/16" in width. The headstock retains the original Music Man clover button tuners along with a Hipshot Drop D Bass Xtender.


The neck heel and pocket have date stamps from September 1979.


All of the electronics work as they should, and the original CTS pots have visible date codes from the 19th week of '79.


The bass is a player, with LOTS OF MOJO. Comes with non-original hard shell case.

$2150

Sold AS IS, buyer to pay actual shipping.

There are additional photos further down in this thread.

1979 Music Man Sabre bass body front.jpg
1979 Music Man Sabre bass full-length front.jpg
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Reactions: makaspar, mustBmtd, sethlow3 and 13 others

Comments

basshista

basshista

Dec 13, 2013
102
28
54
mantova (Italy)
Body looks like poplar. Probably it had a solid color like black or white and it was stripped . I said this because poplar was used for solid colors and sometimes for sunburst. To be sure you have to look at the neck pocket where normally the dots (left by the paint stick shape) of the original color remains
 
2

2F/2F

May 26, 2009
4,292
6,577
Los Angeles, CA
basshista said:
Body looks like poplar. Probably it had a solid color like black or white and it was stripped . I said this because poplar was used for solid colors and sometimes for sunburst. To be sure you have to look at the neck pocket where normally the dots (left by the paint stick shape) of the original color remains
Click to expand...

Along the lines of what I was saying.

That was definitely not a natural finish when it left the factory, and it's definitely not ash. This was brought up on another forum where this bass was recently listed, so the seller was already made aware.

It looks like poplar (or even alder) that has been clearcoated. It's a perfectly fine guitar wood, but it was sprayed with opaque finishes only for cosmetic reasons.
 
Last edited:
The Balance

The Balance

Feb 10, 2015
49
62
Sorry for not being more responsive on this posting. I’ve been 24-7 recording, which is most of the reason, but also I have been sitting on the fence about keeping this bass or not.

In terms of the wood: When I purchased the bass the seller (a retail store) represented to me that the bass is ash, with a maple neck. To paraphrase Mica at Alembic, who once wrote about a different bass when people were arguing over the wood types-- without doing a DNA test on the wood, I can only go by what was represented to me. I was told by the original seller that the finish is a laquer.

'79 Music Man Sabre.png
1 neck pocket dates.png
2 rear 3-bolt plate.png
3 full rear.png

I really love the sound of this bass-- it is a Funk Machine-- but I find that I like skinny necks better, so I think I am going to let this one go to somebody who will appreciate the bass as it is. Feel free to make a reasonable offer.
 
ElliottStrong

ElliottStrong

Supporting Member
Jun 1, 2013
2,833
3,257
Flint/Detroit
Definitely not ash, definitely refinished.
You can say it's a certain type of wood, but if the majority of people are saying it isn't, I would trust that it's not, especially if you don't know.
 
conttador

conttador

Supporting Member
Jun 10, 2010
1,639
2,228
San Antonio, TX
Are the pickups & preamp original. Not a Music Man connoisseur so I’m not sure what these older ones had or didn’t have.
 
The Balance

The Balance

Feb 10, 2015
49
62
I believe they are. I'm not an expert either, but that is my understanding from when I purchased the bass, that the pickups and preamp are original. The sound is there.

BASS IS STILL AVAILABLE. [As of May 8, 2023]
 
Last edited:
sj_bass

sj_bass

Supporting Member
May 23, 2010
1,734
603
Long Beach, CA
tinyurl.com
Disclosures
Proudly Supporting Moody Leathers
This was my Sabre Bass. Bought it in 1979. It was a thing of beauty. So beautiful, that someone decided to take it for themselves.

by the looks of the neck pocket, I see some black overspray. The two dark colors Sunburst and walnut were reserved for Ash bodies. The black is probably a better guess.

I sure do miss that bass. It was the first real instrument I ever owned.
 

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ElliottStrong

ElliottStrong

Supporting Member
Jun 1, 2013
2,833
3,257
Flint/Detroit
sj_bass said:
This was my Sabre Bass. Bought it in 1979. It was a thing of beauty. So beautiful, that someone decided to take it for themselves.

by the looks of the neck pocket, I see some black overspray. The two dark colors Sunburst and walnut were reserved for Ash bodies. The black is probably a better guess.

I sure do miss that bass. It was the first real instrument I ever owned.
Click to expand...
It was your bass but you don't remember what color lt was?
 
sj_bass

sj_bass

Supporting Member
May 23, 2010
1,734
603
Long Beach, CA
tinyurl.com
Disclosures
Proudly Supporting Moody Leathers
ElliottStrong said:
It was your bass but you don't remember what color lt was?
Click to expand...
The picture in the advert was my bass. Natural Ash, thin C-shape maple neck. One of the first off the line - here I was laying down tracks for Jasper Koster in ‘81.

The OP’s bass has some black-ish overspray in the neck pocket. While it could be from a Sunburst finish, it’s more likely a solid black, as they would spray burst over ash.
 

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The Balance

The Balance

Feb 10, 2015
49
62
This has been up for awhile. It's great bass. Right now it's just sitting in it's case, not being played... Somebody make me a reasonable offer?
 

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The Balance
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For Sale: Bass Guitars
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