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'79 Musicman Sabre electronics

K

Kellraj

Oct 2, 2007
10
0
#1
So, I picked one of these up, and as a long time passive/P-bass player, I'm finding the electronics confusing. Sure, I'm experimenting with different settings- but before I take this on a gig next weekend, I want to know:

1. exactly what the different knobs and switches do.

2. suggestions on settings from people familiar with this bass. (essentially I want to have 2 or 3 sensible starting points that I can tweak on the gig)

Oh yeah, it has a volume and two tone knobs- and it has three switches- one 3-way over the volume know- and two 2-way switches.
 
#2
The front switch is a pickup selector, forward is neck only, middle is both, and to the back is bridge alone.

The middle switch is a phase so it will instantly drop you volume and give a pretty useless sound IMHO, the rear switch is the "bright" which is so subtle most can't hear a difference.

Since the tone controls are active I find for some P type sounds to roll both controls nearly all the way back. I prefer to use both pickups or the neck alone.

Just an FYI you are gonna hear a lot of negative stuff because many EBMM fans absolutely hate the Sabre. Judge it by your ears and fingers not by all the text people will type hating the thing.

There are a couple of us that own Sabres and love them.

Got pics?

Jim
Spacing005-1.jpg
 
#7
spideyjg said:
The front switch is a pickup selector, forward is neck only, middle is both, and to the back is bridge alone.

The middle switch is a phase so it will instantly drop you volume and give a pretty useless sound IMHO, the rear switch is the "bright" which is so subtle most can't hear a difference.

Since the tone controls are active I find for some P type sounds to roll both controls nearly all the way back. I prefer to use both pickups or the neck alone.

Just an FYI you are gonna hear a lot of negative stuff because many EBMM fans absolutely hate the Sabre. Judge it by your ears and fingers not by all the text people will type hating the thing.

There are a couple of us that own Sabres and love them.

Got pics?

Jim
Click to expand...

Excellent- I understand the bass much better, thanks to your thorough explanation. As I've been exploring the instrument , I notice it has really cool looking bridge mutes- I don't quite get how to use them yet. It also has pressure wound strings, next step is to put some rotosounds on to hear they sound :)
 
#8
Kellraj said:
Excellent- I understand the bass much better, thanks to your thorough explanation. As I've been exploring the instrument , I notice it has really cool looking bridge mutes- I don't quite get how to use them yet. It also has pressure wound strings, next step is to put some rotosounds on to hear they sound :)
Click to expand...

My mutes the screws were frozen in place when I got it. The black circles in you pic are the screws. Notice in the pic of mine they are little "wheels" that will screw in and out lifting the metal leaf of the mute, where there should be foam padding, up to mute the strings close to the saddles.

It appears on your pic somebody put foam on the screws so it is not gonna work like that.

see.....
gears001.jpg


Tell me that is a rosewood and not an ebony fretboard.

Jim
 
#10
kellraj,

On your mutes, your spring plates and thumbscrews are there, but the foam pads are completely gone, so obviously you will not get any muting action until your replace the pads. You can see them in my pic of my '80 Sabre.
DSC01367.gif


I also did a write-up on restoring the mute assy a few months back. If you do a search you'll find my thread.
DSC01358.gif
 
#11
You asked about usable settings. I own 4 Sabres and use two pretty exclusively (a 79 pre EB and an 88 EBMM). For the 79, which has your switching scheme, I tend towards both PUs on, with the treble knob slightly dialed, and the bass between a little nudge on and 1/2. (The previous poster got it right: the coil switch and the treble boost should always remain off.) I run an Ampeg SVT-III Pro with the graphic EQ off, bass and low mid boosted a bit past 12, treble about neutral and high mid at 10 O'clock. This gives me a sort of boosted P-Bass sound--great bottom but she cuts through the mix as well. I've never found a bass that feels as comfortable, or gives me the tone I've always craved. If you're interested, here's a link to some rehearsal demos my band just recorded (into a Zoom H2--so this is not multitrack recording): the bass is the 88 Sabre through an Ampeg B-100 Rocketbass amp. Link Removed
 
#13
Kellraj said:
Here is a closeup of the mutes- interesting how they are on the screws instead of behind them like yours.

No idea if the fretboard is Rosewood or Ebony- how do you tell?
Click to expand...

Ebony has very few pores in it. It is a very tight grain unlike rosewood.

The mute foam probably deteriorated over the years and somebody "replaced" them. Caca De Kick's thread will tell you exactly how to fix them right.

Jim
 

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