So it's probably one of the first to use the 3 band eq. The neck is dated Nov '86 and they usually date them fairly early in the manufacturing process.
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Musicman Sabre Club
- Thread starter fourstringdrums
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Ok. For some reason I thought EB came in in '82. Not sure why that is in my brain.
Only out by 2 years and as we've said, there weren't major changes, so it's not that important.
I've seeen people trying to claim that Leo Fender sold to CBS in '75, instead of '65. That one is important, as the quality went down quite quickly after the sale.
I solved the problem of the weak neck pickup, by making a new one. See what you think?
Running through the 5 positions, from neck to bridge. Original pickup and then mine. It's a combination of ones I built for my Ibanez Musician and the MM design.
Running through the 5 positions, from neck to bridge. Original pickup and then mine. It's a combination of ones I built for my Ibanez Musician and the MM design.
Do you have the Sabre Classic or the older one? I seem to notice the same thing on my Sabre Classic.
That's great! Your stock neck pickup sounds stronger than mine as is, the new one sounds more "there". I emailed EB about mine, and they had no suggestions or thoughts.
I solved the problem of the weak neck pickup, by making a new one. See what you think?
Running through the 5 positions, from neck to bridge. Original pickup and then mine. It's a combination of ones I built for my Ibanez Musician and the MM design
View attachment 2747266
'13 Sabre Classic.
Running through the 5 positions, from neck to bridge. Original pickup and then mine. It's a combination of ones I built for my Ibanez Musician and the MM design
View attachment 2747266
'13 Sabre Classic.
This is the second one I've owned and I thought the pickups in the first sounded better than this one. I only sold the first one, as I needed a lighter weight version.
I had the stock neck pickup much closer to the strings than I would normally.
I have a small variation to the pickup that I plan to try next week. I can make more of these if anybody else wants one.
Not discounting that fantastic offer, but what about adding a standard, 3rd party 8 pole MM pickup? Is that even possible?
No. Sabre pickups are smaller than Stingray pickups. You'd need to enlarge the PU cavities and have a custom pickguard cut. Doable, but not without considerable effort.
thanks for the pic, it's so cool to see side by side. and nice sabre, reminds me of an '89 i traded a long time ago
I used the Sabre with the new neck pickup, 3 times over the weekend: with 2 bands. Very nice. Blends well with the bridge pickup and has more authority on its own.
Here's my '89 Ernie Ball Sabre. LaBella flats. This instrument is a true joy to hold and to play.
Ernie Ball 5way switch in the 80ties worked a bit different:
Switch: 5-way (First position is closest to neck),
V2 (1986)
1 Neck pickup, both coils
2 Both pickups, both coils
3 Bridge pickup, both coils (Stingray)
4 One coil of neck pickup + both coils of bridge pickup
5 One coil of neck pickup only
V3 (2013)
1 Neck pickup, both coils
2 One coil of neck pickup only
3 Both pickups, both coils
4 One coil of neck pickup + both coils of bridge pickup
5 Bridge pickup, both coils (Stingray)
Switch: 5-way (First position is closest to neck),
V2 (1986)
1 Neck pickup, both coils
2 Both pickups, both coils
3 Bridge pickup, both coils (Stingray)
4 One coil of neck pickup + both coils of bridge pickup
5 One coil of neck pickup only
V3 (2013)
1 Neck pickup, both coils
2 One coil of neck pickup only
3 Both pickups, both coils
4 One coil of neck pickup + both coils of bridge pickup
5 Bridge pickup, both coils (Stingray)
Thanks. So they have the same coil combinations, in a different order. The 2013 version seems most intuitive, although you'd obviously get used to V2.
