Interesting.
Right now there's one for $450 (+ $50 shipping) on the bay. In the TB classifieds I've seen a few go for anywhere between $400 and $600. Never seen one selling for under $400 though.
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Musicman OLP basses
- Thread starter KingRazor
- Start date
Interesting.
Right now there's one for $450 (+ $50 shipping) on the bay. In the TB classifieds I've seen a few go for anywhere between $400 and $600. Never seen one selling for under $400 though.
Yeah. The $350 ones are a deal usually, and harder to find. You can almost always hop on and find one for $400, but, at that point I'd personally just save for a used Sterling or Stingray...
If I had $400 to spend on a bass, I might hold out for a real EBMM, but I'd be pushing it even at $350. Just don't have the extra money lying around to spend $500+ on a bass.
But $150, or even $200, I can do, without even having to save up.
look, $150 is nothing for it, the one i bought was going for £200, so thats nearly double what you would pay, and i thought it was well worth it.even if you dont mod it, it will always be a great bass for the money you payed for it. ii think if you can afford it, buy it, because any other copy in that price range is almost guarenteed not to sound as close to the real article as these do.
I have a 4 string OLP. I think it's around about a 2001 model with a chinese elm 3 piece body, (natural finish no figured top) and maple fretboard. I got it second hand for next to nothing.
I would describe the neck profile as very fat; baseball bat type. The fingerboard feels and looks less curved than the 9.5" on my jazz bass, but more curved than my carvin LB75. The OLP was a bit tiring until I got used it to it. I couldn't tell you what the radius is for sure.
Honestly, passive I didn't like the sound at all, not enough bass and very weedy. II put in a seymour smb4a and that improved things a hell of a lot, i.e. more bass and treble, but then I like aggressive tones. However when i put in a seymour stc3m3 premamp (routing required) the thing turned into an absolute beast. The natural bass thump is really accentuated and its slap tone is amazing. If you want air movement here you go..........
I think you'll need to spend some money to get the best out of it but it's my first choice bass for slap (and I have some expensive basses) and if I want deep bass or reggae tones it's the only choice.
I am aware that I have spent more on this bass than it's worth, but i spent slowly. I have also put on hipshot tuners and a d tuner and I wouldn't have done that if i didn't think it worth it. (25 years on bass and counting). I now have no desire to buy a musicman as I think this is 105% (or more) of a stingray as is.
Get a good one though, I think the quality control comment is justified.
I would describe the neck profile as very fat; baseball bat type. The fingerboard feels and looks less curved than the 9.5" on my jazz bass, but more curved than my carvin LB75. The OLP was a bit tiring until I got used it to it. I couldn't tell you what the radius is for sure.
Honestly, passive I didn't like the sound at all, not enough bass and very weedy. II put in a seymour smb4a and that improved things a hell of a lot, i.e. more bass and treble, but then I like aggressive tones. However when i put in a seymour stc3m3 premamp (routing required) the thing turned into an absolute beast. The natural bass thump is really accentuated and its slap tone is amazing. If you want air movement here you go..........
I think you'll need to spend some money to get the best out of it but it's my first choice bass for slap (and I have some expensive basses) and if I want deep bass or reggae tones it's the only choice.
I am aware that I have spent more on this bass than it's worth, but i spent slowly. I have also put on hipshot tuners and a d tuner and I wouldn't have done that if i didn't think it worth it. (25 years on bass and counting). I now have no desire to buy a musicman as I think this is 105% (or more) of a stingray as is.
Get a good one though, I think the quality control comment is justified.
The neck on mine is 1 5/8 at the nut,pretty flat fretboard radius,and fairly thin front to back.The neck seems thicker due to the radius,but it's actually only 3/4" in thickness. The stock tone was surprisingly 'Ray-esque,even tho mine's passive.
For the price that these can be had,they make a great modding platform. About the only thing stock on mine now is the neck/control plate/bridge..currently in the shop getting re-routed for Jazz p'ups..That's right,the worlds first (i think) JazzRay!
I can't wait to get 'er back and reassembled and plugged in!
For the price that these can be had,they make a great modding platform. About the only thing stock on mine now is the neck/control plate/bridge..currently in the shop getting re-routed for Jazz p'ups..That's right,the worlds first (i think) JazzRay!
I can't wait to get 'er back and reassembled and plugged in!
I have a 4 string OLP. I think it's around about a 2001 model with a chinese elm 3 piece body, (natural finish no figured top) and maple fretboard. I got it second hand for next to nothing.
I would describe the neck profile as very fat; baseball bat type. The fingerboard feels and looks less curved than the 9.5" on my jazz bass, but more curved than my carvin LB75. The OLP was a bit tiring until I got used it to it. I couldn't tell you what the radius is for sure.
Honestly, passive I didn't like the sound at all, not enough bass and very weedy. II put in a seymour smb4a and that improved things a hell of a lot, i.e. more bass and treble, but then I like aggressive tones. However when i put in a seymour stc3m3 premamp (routing required) the thing turned into an absolute beast. The natural bass thump is really accentuated and its slap tone is amazing. If you want air movement here you go..........
I think you'll need to spend some money to get the best out of it but it's my first choice bass for slap (and I have some expensive basses) and if I want deep bass or reggae tones it's the only choice.
I am aware that I have spent more on this bass than it's worth, but i spent slowly. I have also put on hipshot tuners and a d tuner and I wouldn't have done that if i didn't think it worth it. (25 years on bass and counting). I now have no desire to buy a musicman as I think this is 105% (or more) of a stingray as is.
Get a good one though, I think the quality control comment is justified.
Listen to the Doctor! He's giving you the straight OLP skinny here.
Mine is a 5 string, figured top, maple neck, got it for $100 (new demo unit) at GC. Passive circuit in it was a nightmare. Bad tone, nearly impossible to dial in, etc. I rewired the passive circuit with series/parallel and blend and it was better, but now I'm putting a preamp in there (the uncle fluffy ones from here on TB) and tests so far show it to be amazing!
Personally my favorite necks are my G&Ls and my SX basses both of which have a kind of chunky neck. My least favorite is the flat Fender V jobbie. Now that would make you think I'd love the OLP neck. It's not bad but there is just SOMETHING about it that doesn't quite do it for me. I do not know what the problem is. But hey it plays just fine. No buzzes, great action and all. So go figure.
It's become one of my favorite basses and already with just the modded passive circuit it's about 3/4 of the way to a "real" 'Ray. I really don't get the folks who hate the OLPs and say how awful they are. I guess they just didn't want to take time to mod all the nasties out of it. I've not seen one with bad quality control, but then that doesn't mean they don't exist. And yes it's some money to tweak it in, but to get your perspective, go read the price tag on a "real" MM 'Ray!
With all the money you could spend on mods on the OLP, you could buy a decent SUB and only need to upgrade the pickguard if you want. I always read bad things about OLP. I would definitely go with a real MM. I read some OLPs don't even sound like MMs. Not sure the specifics of the neck but mine always played super fast and sounded great (mine is active).
How much do you think I'd spend in mods on the OLP? Rest assured, I'm not going to spend $300 in mods to a $150 bass.
Remember that generally, SUBs sell for THREE TIMES as much as OLPs.
The mods I make will depend on the quality of the parts it has already.
For example, I never changed out the tuners on my SX because they work perfectly. If the tuners are good on the OLP, no need to change them unless there is neck dive.
If the nut is good, no need to change the nut.
The one I'm looking at now has a white pickguard, which I like. If I don't get that particular OLP, I may swap the pickguard, depends on what one I get.
There's a good chance I'll replace the electronics and/or the pickup. I'm going to run it passive volume/tone, and simply make it sound the best it can with that configuration. No active preamp.
If the bridge is solid and works like a bridge should, I won't need to replace it.
So I'm thinking at most I'll be putting in $150 in mods. Bringing it to $300-$350 total.
I'd also put that much in mods to any SUB I get, because since SUBs have an active preamp, and I want passive controls, I'd be making the same electronics/pickup upgrades as I would to the OLP. So the cost of the SUB would be between $500 and $600.
I see no reason to go with anything but an OLP.
I have two. One maple and one rosewood. I bought them from an Ebay shop closing up business. I probabaly don't have $400 invested in both and the each came in hardshell cases. The necks are right. The tuners are very good. $30 worth of new pots and a couple of caps have them sounding great. They still say OLP on the headstock. I've toyed with the idea of moding them, but they are what they are.
You find a passive SUB, it will be cheaper than an active one. The quality of everything will be much better too including sound. Pickups, wood, qc, tuners, nut, everything you can think of is better.
Edit: More importantly, if you wanted to get the MM sound, you won't get it too well with the OLP. If you just want the look, go for it.
I don't think I've ever seen a passive SUB before, all of the ones I've ever seen for sale have been active, but if I do see a passive one, I'll keep it in mind.
When going passive on an OLP, I'd urge you to change the wiring to a volume/blend with a series parallel switch. It makes a HUGE difference in the tone and operation of the controls on the bass.
It's basically the same circuit people do for Fender jazz basses except that instead of a neck and bridge pickup you wire it with one coil (the one towards the neck) and the other coil (the one towards the bridge) instead.
The OLP comes wired with a parallel connection which has a very thin tone and the circuit in there makes all knobs interact like mad. This makes dialing in a 'Ray tone a nightmare. It CAN be done but takes a LOT of trial and error. I put series/parallel on a push-pull on the volume control and with a new blend pot, only the old tone pot remained. Bass just came alive!
The blend pot in the new circuit only works decently in parallel mode. In Series it tends to act as one-the other- both switch for the coils.
I see no reason to go with other than an OLP either (unless you've got some extra money laying around)
Good luck!
Yeah I want the pickup to act as a single humbucker, just one master volume control. No blend or pan control, no separate volumes for each coil.
I tend to prefer series wiring over parallel anyway.
I tend to prefer series wiring over parallel anyway.
KingRazor said:
Similar to a Stingray in dimension. Older ones tend to have deeper profile necks.
Not bad. I own two. But can really use a new pickup.
One of mine is active, the other passive. Both have a basslines pickup, model smb4a.
Not as nice as the real thing, but I love them almost as much.
Ric5 said:
That too.
I have owned four in total. Three were good. One was dreadful. Heavy, chunky, uninspiring plugged or unplugged... try before you buy.
KingRazor said:That's why I didn't call it an "ernie ball" OLP.
I didn't like half of the musicman instruments I've played, but after playing one I really liked, I've been interested ever since.
The subs generally run twice the price of OLPs. For not much more I could get a Sterling Ray34.
A SUB is superior to the Stirling range, to be honest.
And yes, I also have a SUB. I have a bit of an obsession ;-)
KingRazor said:
That's a strange calculation.
If you get a passive sub, you are done.
If it is active, and really want it passive (why on earth) the parts will cost you $20 max, and can sell the 2EQ preamp easily for $50...
It's your money, do what you want, but it is sounding like a false economy now...
