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MusicMan Sabre not popular?

LadyLoveStingRay5

LadyLoveStingRay5

Jul 17, 2004
15,288
41,364
#1
Why is the MusicMan Sabre rarely mentioned here? I know there are players here that enjoy them but the numbers seem so few in comparison to the other models .
I’ve seen Louis Johnson play them for a lot of years after his Stingrays and Yamaha BB’s and Trekker signature model . He seems to be the player that I associate with the Sabre. Don’t really know of any other well known players that favor the Sabre.
 
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#3
Well, since you asked "Why is [it] rarely mentioned?", I’ve been playing bass for 15 years, own 8 basses and I’d never heard of the Sabre until just now reading this post, lol. No joke. I mean, it’s my own ignorance so I’m not proud of it (though I’m not embarrassed), but there you have it

LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
Why is the MusicMan Sabre rarely mentioned here? I know there are players here that enjoy them but the numbers seem so few in comparison to the other models .
I’ve seen Louis Johnson play them for a lot of years after his Stingrays and Yamaha BB’s and Trekker signature model . He seems to be the player that I associate with the Sabre. Don’t really know of any other well known players that favor the Sabre.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question.

Also, just reading up now on what a Sabre is, I see they were out of production for 22 years...
 
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#4
As to the title question, ‘Why aren’t they more popular?’ (to paraphrase), that’s a good question.

Spec-wise, a StingRay with the flexibility of an extra pickup, it seems to make a lot of sense. I’ll be interested to read the responses to why they didn’t catch on as well as their more popular Music Man siblings
 
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#5
My first MusicMan bass was a wonderful Sabre and I've owned a bunch of them since. I'd still have one if I could find a lightweight one, but they've all been quite heavy, unfortunately. My favorite MM is now a very light HH4 Sterling, and I wish they had used the HH switching on the Sabre reissues.
 
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#6
I love my Sabre (pronounced Sa bray for all you Office fans). I love Stingrays too, have had quite a few including an HH, but the two different pickups and the switching on the Sabre works better for me as does the slightly smaller body.

MusicMan suffers from the same thing as Fender does, they have their iconic models and as much as they try and innovate, turns out the public just wants Stingrays, P’s and J’s.


EC776663-46FE-46FC-BCE7-F130212039D7.jpeg
 
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#7
I've had a well used pre-EB Sabre neck for a loooong time but I've never found a Sabre style body for it. It already had Fender neck screw holes added so I installed it on an aftermarket P bass body. Best of both worlds? ;)
 
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#8
The one I played was very interesting.
Build quality was top-shelf (the figuring on the maple neck was amazing), it looked & sounded fantastic, but the neck had a very different profile from any I've ever felt before.
It was only slightly wider than a typical Jazz Bass at the nut, but it was incredibly thick & beefy front to back.
So much so that it was enough to keep me from purchasing the bass.
 
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#11
superdick2112 said:
The one I played was very interesting.
Build quality was top-shelf (the figuring on the maple neck was amazing), it looked & sounded fantastic, but the neck had a very different profile from any I've ever felt before.
It was only slightly wider than a typical Jazz Bass at the nut, but it was incredibly thick & beefy front to back.
So much so that it was enough to keep me from purchasing the bass.
Click to expand...

Your description makes me wanna try one!

I have big hands though.
 
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#14
When I owned one in the early 80's I found that I was only using the back pickup most of the time. Even though the pickups are slightly smaller than the Sting Ray pickup it still gets that tone. I never cared for the Sabre after they changed the pickups and added the 5 way switch. I also liked that it had body contours because the early Sting Ray basses had none.
 
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#15
I still have a '79 Sabre that I found at a shop over ten years ago. Took way too long to get around to a good setup job and now it's a much more playable rig. Lots of mileage on the finish only ups the mojo.

This bass became my #2 behind a cozy parts Jazz that worked well for me for a good stretch, but before finding that J-bass I had a US made G&L L-2000. That bass turned me on to the HH layout in a 4-string, but after a while I realized that I just didn't have a fit and sound that really clicked, so I moved on.

When I found the Sabre, I already had the appreciation for the double humbucker design, but the Sabre was just more of everything... gotta love more, Teddy Bro-sevelt. Mildly more compact and playable (my L2K had more of a P-bass neck than a Jazz), but the sound was as big and fat as a supertanker. Huge, warm tone from the solo neck pickup, maybe the best slap sound I've ever known with both pickups running together, and a super useful sort of nasally aggressive bridge pickup tone that gets nicely rounded out with a little boost of the lows at the on-board preamp. Generally a little more dark sounding, but a bump of the mids at my amp easily brings out a little extra warmth.

Yes, they're heavy. Even though the bodies are more Sterling than Stingray, they're dense. I bought this bass back when that wasn't an issue for me, but now that it's nicely squared away, I'll need a wide and cozy strap if I try to use it for full gigs. The neck is also J-bass narrow and thick (maybe deep?) as mentioned above. Since my Jazz has a semi-similar neck, I didn't mind this profile, but it's definitely a little more baseball bat than some. No bass does it all, but this one does a whole lot.
 
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#16
mdogs said:
A couple of things here, one, what has happened to the rules around this place? Specifically, refering to another persons bass in such a derogatory manner.

Second, clearly vanity is far more important to you than actual functionality, let me know how that works out for you...and I’m not really being defensive as the Sabre is far from my favorite looking bass.
Click to expand...
You're right.
 
#19
groove pump said:
When I found the Sabre, I already had the appreciation for the double humbucker design, but the Sabre was just more of everything... gotta love more, Teddy Bro-sevelt. Mildly more compact and playable (my L2K had more of a P-bass neck than a Jazz), but the sound was as big and fat as a supertanker. Huge, warm tone from the solo neck pickup, maybe the best slap sound I've ever known with both pickups running together, and a super useful sort of nasally aggressive bridge pickup tone that gets nicely rounded out with a little boost of the lows at the on-board preamp. Generally a little more dark sounding, but a bump of the mids at my amp easily brings out a little extra warmth.

Yes, they're heavy. Even though the bodies are more Sterling than Stingray, they're dense. I bought this bass back when that wasn't an issue for me, but now that it's nicely squared away, I'll need a wide and cozy strap if I try to use it for full gigs. The neck is also J-bass narrow and thick (maybe deep?) as mentioned above. Since my Jazz has a semi-similar neck, I didn't mind this profile, but it's definitely a little more baseball bat than some. No bass does it all, but this one does a whole lot.
Click to expand...

This sums it up well.

Regarding weight, they seem to vary widely especially when it comes to ash. Picked up a low S/N 2 pc swamp ash in CL couple years ago. That bass runs in the low 8's. I typically prefer heavy basses but AB'ed it with an heavier one of the same wood combo and year and it was a clear winner.

Why they're not popular has been subject of long discussions here on TB. My take is it did not really catch on at the time overshadowed by the ray and came too late in the CLF days of MM for it to be manufactured in large quantities. Like the L2K, I think it embodies a lot of the features and tone that became popular once repackaged in the new generation of modern boutique basses (tobias, smith etc).
 
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#20
Stingrays were just too good and became 'the' MM to have. Plus, relatively speaking, they didn't make a lot of them, and they weren't available for a lot of the time MM's have been in production. These days, a H-H MM is a valued option. Go figure . . . . .
 
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