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Musicman Sabre Club

#881
Interesting thing happened last week. Went to a bass-hang at a friend's house here in the Detroit area. About eight of us there, including three of the top "1st call" bass players in the area. I took one of my Alembics and my Sabre. Another guy brought a Sadowsky and an MTD 535. There was a Brubaker there, another Sadowsky, a couple custom basses. A Fodera came and left before I got there. Had a gig (yes he was one of the three). The bass that most everyone wanted to take home with them? Yup, my Sabre.
 
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#882
Killing Floor said:
Hi, glad I found y'all. I am the original proud owner of Sabre mfg. date 9/14/1988 in the Steve Morse edition blue burst. Plays as easily today as when I got it. Funny story, I was working for a guitar company and would sometimes make deliveries to local music stores on my way home. So I got the handshake discount and paid $750 with hard case.
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Congrats! Beautiful Sabre.
 
#883
Anybody had any luck with replacement pick guards? Not an emergency but thinking about it. I got one of those clear guards ('88 in Morse blueburst) and once in a while it bugs me a little that the stress lines from the screws have that spider web look.
 
#884
Killing Floor said:
Anybody had any luck with replacement pick guards? Not an emergency but thinking about it. I got one of those clear guards ('88 in Morse blueburst) and once in a while it bugs me a little that the stress lines from the screws have that spider web look.
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I got a nice custom pick guard made at Pickguard Heaven. Traded that bass, though (the one on the right). Considering getting a tort guard for the sunburst, because....tort. They also did the tort guard for my Fender American Deluxe P5.

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#886
Killing Floor said:
Anybody had any luck with replacement pick guards? Not an emergency but thinking about it. I got one of those clear guards ('88 in Morse blueburst) and once in a while it bugs me a little that the stress lines from the screws have that spider web look.
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One of my two 1988 Sabres came with a replacement guard when I bought it in late 2018. I ordered two guards from Chandler Music, one clear and one white. They both fitted my other 1988 well but on the bass they were intended for they needed some filing down around the control plate edges and also around the neck pocket to help with the screw hole alignment. Weird.

The Chandler clear is about twice the thickness of the original clear guards from back in the day, so you shouldn't have any problems with cracks developing around the screw holes.

If you want to get rid of your original clear guard, let me know - I'll take it! :)
 
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#887
I just picked up a sunburst 79 sabre bass, upon arrival I noticed that the bright switch did not work once I opened up the control panel I noticed that the bright switch was not connected but the preamp looked like the original. sent some pics to joel at ernie ball and he confirmed that it was a genuine replacement and that they omitted the bright switch function. it sounds great and compared to my 77 stingray which has the epoxied pre I cant tell the difference. my ? is has anyone else had this situation and is it worth finding the original pre just to have that bright function. I have read that this feature was pretty much worthless and wondered if it would effect the resale value as the rest of the bass is original. I guess worst case is I could have a producer switch like lee sklar it may come in handy LOL.
 
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#888
jdthebassman said:
I just picked up a sunburst 79 sabre bass, upon arrival I noticed that the bright switch did not work once I opened up the control panel I noticed that the bright switch was not connected but the preamp looked like the original. sent some pics to joel at ernie ball and he confirmed that it was a genuine replacement and that they omitted the bright switch function. it sounds great and compared to my 77 stingray which has the epoxied pre I cant tell the difference. my ? is has anyone else had this situation and is it worth finding the original pre just to have that bright function. I have read that this feature was pretty much worthless and wondered if it would effect the resale value as the rest of the bass is original. I guess worst case is I could have a producer switch like lee sklar it may come in handy LOL.
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I don't own my '79 Sabre anymore. I only used the pickup selector switch. The other two ones - I didn't really know what they are doing.
I made an album back then (hope it helps):
https://www.talkbass.com/media/albums/sabre-pre-amp.481/
 
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#891
N-Bass84 said:
Thanks. I want a nice round sound like this guy on youtube...maybe slap a little. To me the tension is a little to high on the EXL`s. I remember that the sunbeams used to have a relatively low tension and not so much pressure on the neck as a result. NEver tried fat beams, but I´m curious now. In Germany DR strings are pretty pricey in comparison to EBs or EXLs.

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Great player, but he's got a ton of fret buzz going on... he needs to twist that truss rod just a tad.
 
#894
jdthebassman said:
I just picked up a sunburst 79 sabre bass, upon arrival I noticed that the bright switch did not work once I opened up the control panel I noticed that the bright switch was not connected but the preamp looked like the original. sent some pics to joel at ernie ball and he confirmed that it was a genuine replacement and that they omitted the bright switch function. it sounds great and compared to my 77 stingray which has the epoxied pre I cant tell the difference. my ? is has anyone else had this situation and is it worth finding the original pre just to have that bright function. I have read that this feature was pretty much worthless and wondered if it would effect the resale value as the rest of the bass is original. I guess worst case is I could have a producer switch like lee sklar it may come in handy LOL.
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It really depends on the tone you want to achieve. Had a poplar fretless sabre with flats for fingerstyle i always bypassed the switch with but the ash maple i kept i keep it on all the time. This bump in the 6k range in combination with dual wide spaced humbuckers is the quintessential, mean as f##k sabre slap tone. It has its place in complement to say a stingray of the same wood combo and makes that bass worth keeping just for that.
 
#897
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#899
FenderOli said:
Didn't know they were yours. The pics were very helpful back then when my electronics failed and helped a lot others. I can delete your 9 pics and leave the remaining 12 pics.
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No not at all! Please keep em posted, I'm glad they are being used as a reference. Didn't mean to imply anything
 
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#900
Hey there gang can I join the club?

Let me introduce the second bass that I've owned. I purchased this natural ash with maple neck Sabre new in 1979. It was my only bass for almost two decades after I sold my 1977 Sting Ray (purchased that one new as well but sold it in 1980 because I just didn't care for the width of the neck). Along with the purchase of the bass came the strap. 41 years later I still have both the bass and the strap with countless gigs and miles and hours of smiles on both. So many basses have come and gone from my small collection but this one has stayed and will remain mine.

Shown on the picture below is my G&L L2000 fretless bass that I purchased new in 1996. It's amazing how similar the Sabre is to the L2000. Leo definitely used the Sabre to birth the L2000 at G&L.

Also in the picture is the Music Man HD150 amp and 212RH cabinet that I purchased in 1980. They were both almost new and remain in remarkable condition thanks to the heavy covers that Music Man made back then. This amp and cabinet have accompanied my Sabre bass on almost as many gigs. The other amp in the picture is my 1966 B18N Ampeg. I purchased that amp back in the mid-90's when most guys just wanted them gone because they were so damn heavy. A lot of sweat was poured on that hot summer night when I gave the guy $400 for the amp but then I had to carry it down 3 flights of stairs in an old apartment building in Chicago. Fun memories! Good thing I was young and in great physical health back then. The other two basses in the picture are my newer additions to the herd......G&L SB2 and SB2T basses.

So many awesome Sabre basses in this club!!!

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