Music Man Caprice: True Boutique Quality

[SLO Surfer]

The Cutlass neck is a little wider than the Caprice btw

Yes, I have explored both passive Ernie Ball basses extensively. the Cutlass neck width is closer to a modern P neck, and Caprice closer to a Jazz bass neck. And he said the Caprice neck was too narrow for him so I suggested the Cutlass or another P bass.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

The Cutlass also has different pickup. It can give you that deep low tone turned off thump that Pino favors . The Caprice doesn't give that .

 

[kinopah]

The combo of the 7.5 radius with the 1"5/8 nut is pretty great on the Cutlass. Super comfy. It's WAY more of a 1-trick pony than the Caprice, but MAN if you like that one trick... which, btw, is a fairly classic, thick, growly-Motown trick... it's a winner. I've got cobalt flats on mine now, but also liked nylon tapewounds. Mine has a maple neck and I found rounds too clacky and unnecessarily bright for the sound I was after. Reeeeally want to get a Caprice now if only to mess around with different strings - I've only tried them with rounds.

 

[copacetic]

Seeing this page is transitioning a bit back and forth between the MM Caprice and the MM Cutlass. I've owned the Caprice for a bit now and have been playing a friends Cutlass back and forth and I can say that the Cutlass has a unique voice and stands on its own. The Caprice is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The Caprice has that light weight and thin neck going for it but in a studio I'll take the Cutlass.

 

[AngelCrusher]

May have missed this but is anyone playing Chromes on a Caprice? I'd love go hear some clips of that. Been thinking of just going with 2 passive basses with Chromes since I just can't get enough of the sound and I am able to use it on every record I get hired for. I already have an AVRI Pbass, which is my favorite bass I have owned, so I think the Caprice is the logical other bass to get if I am picking between Caprice and Cutlass.

Pretty sure the Caprice also has humbuckers on both neck and bridge, which I believe is what separates it from the typical P/J. You can solo the rear pickup and it's so much bigger than the typical J singe coil, which I usually dialed in as a compliment to the neck pickup and not it's own thing.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I did check rounds on the P's I mentioned in my earlier post. The only bass that for me really worked was the 59 CS

I'll be honest - once you get used to flats and what you can do with them, it's going to be very tough to switch to rounds and instantly have a wow moment playing the genre that you do. I just wrapped a neo soul record and used a Pbass with flats (AVRI) and it just sounds so much better than with rounds. If you are into a warm, thick tone that still has heavy focus, it's just unbeatable. Hell, I even take jazz/fusion solos and it kills. I had rounds on the same Pbass and it was still great, but not nearly as special.

It is possible that you may need to demo new basses with flats, and least to start. It's too much of a change to go to a new bass and new strings sometimes.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Seeing this page is transitioning a bit back and forth between the MM Caprice and the MM Cutlass. I've owned the Caprice for a bit now and have been playing a friends Cutlass back and forth and I can say that the Cutlass has a unique voice and stands on its own. The Caprice is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The Caprice has that light weight and thin neck going for it but in a studio I'll take the Cutlass.

Yeah I have been listening to both but only played the caprice. How does the Cutlass neck compare to a P in terms of size? I really like the thick pbass neck, but something a little thinner front to back and in fretboard width could be cool when you add the extra fret plus the rasier upper fret access. I like to play high on the necks of my P just as much as the low notes.

 

[Groovegestapo]

Yeah I have been listening to both but only played the caprice. How does the Cutlass neck compare to a P in terms of size? I really like the thick pbass neck, but something a little thinner front to back and in fretboard width could be cool when you add the extra fret plus the rasier upper fret access. I like to play high on the necks of my P just as much as the low notes.

Not as wide as the standard P neck. I would compare it to a fender elite Pbass width, but with much better fretwork and comfort

 

[AngelCrusher]

Not as wide as the standard P neck. I would compare it to a fender elite Pbass width, but with much better fretwork and comfort

I will need to play one then. I love the simplicity of Ps and one that i can shred a little faster on sometimes may really be all i want. Well that, plus the ernie ball quality.

 

[Inara]

Yeah I have been listening to both but only played the caprice. How does the Cutlass neck compare to a P in terms of size? I really like the thick pbass neck, but something a little thinner front to back and in fretboard width could be cool when you add the extra fret plus the rasier upper fret access. I like to play high on the necks of my P just as much as the low notes.

It's 1&5/8" nut width according to the EBMM specs. That's pretty much modern P width, isn't it? As for front to back thickness, I'm not sure, as I haven't played a Cutlass ... Though I intend to remedy that as soon as I can.

 

[AngelCrusher]

It's 1&5/8" nut width according to the EBMM specs. That's pretty much modern P width, isn't it? As for front to back thickness, I'm not sure, as I haven't played a Cutlass ... Though I intend to remedy that as soon as I can.

Yeah probably. I think my avri is 44mm and the cutlass is 41mm. And the cutlass may get thinner towards the neck. I like the avri neck a lot, so something close but a little smaller and faster is ideal.

 

[GreyBeard]

Boutique basses have a handmade look and feel to them which is a cut above most other basses with the exception of MM. The latest MM basses I've played have a feel of a bass that has been polished and by that I mean the neck has been tweaked, the frets been leveled and has just been gone over in general.

 

[jorgvandoorn]

I'll be honest - once you get used to flats and what you can do with them, it's going to be very tough to switch to rounds and instantly have a wow moment playing the genre that you do. I just wrapped a neo soul record and used a Pbass with flats (AVRI) and it just sounds so much better than with rounds. If you are into a warm, thick tone that still has heavy focus, it's just unbeatable. Hell, I even take jazz/fusion solos and it kills. I had rounds on the same Pbass and it was still great, but not nearly as special.

It is possible that you may need to demo new basses with flats, and least to start. It's too much of a change to go to a new bass and new strings sometimes.

Hi AngelCrusher, I'm afraid you are right. I think the Pino flatwound sound companies me for 10years now. But the dilemma is: using flatwounds on other P's give me a Pino like sound but often not that great. So for a real alternative I think it needs to be a rounds setup. I've a 5-er P from a Dutch luthier that is really cool with rounds. Works alltogether (low B and flats is challenging is my experience). So I won't give up. And keep appreciating having the Pino. And I'll try to demo a Cutlass.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Yeah probably. I think my avri is 44mm and the cutlass is 41mm. And the cutlass may get thinner towards the neck. I like the avri neck a lot, so something close but a little smaller and faster is ideal.

I've played the Cutlass . I think you'll like the neck. Not too thick, not too thin, a good compromise .

 

[pickles]

Hi AngelCrusher, I'm afraid you are right. I think the Pino flatwound sound companies me for 10years now. But the dilemma is: using flatwounds on other P's give me a Pino like sound but often not that great. So for a real alternative I think it needs to be a rounds setup. I've a 5-er P from a Dutch luthier that is really cool with rounds. Works alltogether (low B and flats is challenging is my experience). So I won't give up. And keep appreciating having the Pino. And I'll try to demo a Cutlass.

Out of the box suggestion - get a sadowsky. It's like a J bass but you can dial in P-like lows with the preamp. Getting anything else P-like seems pointless since you love what you have, anything different will be worse in some way to you.

 

[Discount Saint]

Just picked up a Caprice, and I absolutely love this bass. Will be my main player, subbing out with my BB1025 when I need the low-B action. Sooo.. is this like a Caprice club thread.. or is there a Caprice club? If not, I plan to create one.

 

[kinopah]

If you do create one, you might want to make it a Caprice/Cutlass Club. Given their similarities and the fact that this conversation tends to include both models.

Or maybe that's just personal bias since I don't actually own a caprice. Yet.

 

[pickles]

Post a link here if you create one, this seems like the de facto club thread.

 

[Groovegestapo]

Post a link here if you create one, this seems like the de facto club thread.

It could function for both since the Caprice and Cutlass are closely related.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Just picked up a Caprice, and I absolutely love this bass. Will be my main player, subbing out with my BB1025 when I need the low-B action. Sooo.. is this like a Caprice club thread.. or is there a Caprice club? If not, I plan to create one.

Congrats !! Excellent choice. And I like your taste in basses. If I needed a 5 and cold handle the neck , the Yamaha BB would be my choice . I think they look great in white/black finish.

Which Caprice did you get?