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Musicman Sabre Club

#104
basshista said:
Sabres are best basses ever. I bought this '79 some years ago and definitely I fell in love with her. My 77 jazz bass has become jealous....
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I think I deserve a special prize... since I am so devoted to this club that I double my participation.... I bought today this beauty!!!
Now I have 2 sabres: natural and white ...thinks my wife will realize that they are two??!!?
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#108
j.kernodle said:
How's everyone still liking their reissue classic Sabres?

I tightened the truss rod on mine to bring it back to factory spec relief and found that I actually had a good bit of room to lower the saddles before I would get buzzes. The fret work on this one is boutique quality.
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I had to work a little on mine too - It had been a demo bass, strung on flats and had the action up in the sky - So I've got it strung on DR High Beams now, with a lovely low action and just a little relief in the neck. It's my goto bass at the moment, with the playing jobs I'm on (Brian Poole's Electrics & a really good Everley's Tribute on a theatre tour.)
 
#110
j.kernodle said:
How's everyone still liking their reissue classic Sabres?

I tightened the truss rod on mine to bring it back to factory spec relief and found that I actually had a good bit of room to lower the saddles before I would get buzzes. The fret work on this one is boutique quality.
Click to expand...

I'm still loving mine. I have the neck almost completely straight and insanely low. It actually plays a bit better than my Mike Lull in that I can get the action even lower and it lets me decide if I want buzz or not. With my Lull, I need a little more relief though still close to straight, and the action is still under 5/64 at the 12th on the E, but at that height it buzzes a bit easier. Basically the Sabre feels like the playability is tight while the Lull is loose, if that makes sense. Both excellent boutique built basses but different animals.
 
#111
j.kernodle said:
So far, mine still has the stock strings. when they go I'll probably replace them with a set of balanced tension D'addarios or DR sunbeams. I think this thing sounds almost exactly like my old 78 Ray. The neck on that old Ray was slightly more *perfecter* feeling (I feel more at home with a slightly narrower but thicker neck) but I'm sure I'll get used to this quickly!
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Yes, the Classic Sabre does sound rather like an old and seasoned Stingray in a way, especially with the selector in position 2 or 3. In position 3 in particular, it sounds like it ate all the P basses and made them sound better!
 
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#112
Hello,

Here is a question from an aspiring club member.

Would you say that in the Classic Sabre (AKA the reissue) the neck pickup has a usable sound on its own? Do you ever use it that way?
I'm looking for a P-like sound, and I always thought the Sabre could not produce it. But in some demoes I watched, it seems the neck pickup in single-coil gets in the vicinity.

Of course, I don't expect it to nail the P-tone, but I have a P for that. ;-)

I have tried HH-Stingrays in the past, but I found the neck pickups on those not very nice on their own. I understand the neck pickup in the Sabre is a 16-pole, so that would make it quite different.

Thanks!
Ray
 
#113
BobaMosfett said:
Hello,

Here is a question from an aspiring club member.

Would you say that in the Classic Sabre (AKA the reissue) the neck pickup has a usable sound on its own? Do you ever use it that way?
I'm looking for a P-like sound, and I always thought the Sabre could not produce it. But in some demoes I watched, it seems the neck pickup in single-coil gets in the vicinity.

Of course, I don't expect it to nail the P-tone, but I have a P for that. ;-)

I have tried HH-Stingrays in the past, but I found the neck pickups on those not very nice on their own. I understand the neck pickup in the Sabre is a 16-pole, so that would make it quite different.

Thanks!
Ray
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Hi Ray,

Yes, the Classic Sabre will do exactly that. In selector position 4 it sounds like the most creamy, soulful Precision bass you've ever heard. Raise the string mutes as well, and you're into James Jamerson territory.

I've just got an Enfield Lionheart which can electronically split it's pickups vertically and horizontally - Using the split coil sound on the front only gives a very authentic Precision impression (albeit with much higher quality woods!), but the Sabre's Precision impression is just so... Wow! I don't know what they did with the Classic Sabre, but it's speciality is shovelling out a wall of tone. If you spent several thousand having a luthier make you the perfect P, the Sabre is how you'd want it to sound.

Enough said? :)
 

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