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MusicMan Sabre not popular?

#61
I have a classic sabre and I absolutely love it. I have a Ray34 so not exactly a StingRay but the tone on the bridge pickup is not the same, though definitely MM. Slap tone is also different. I play it with selector in mid position (both pickups) and go either way (neck or bridge) depending on what I play. The mute foams also yield an interesting tone when on the neck pickup. I use them from time to time. I'd use them more if it were not such a hassle to raise/lower them on a per string basis. My only critic would be the neck pickup output volume which is noticeably weaker than the bridge and needs to be raised above EBMM specs. Even then it's still weaker than the bridge PUP. I guess it's logical for the 4th position (neck H acting as single coil), unfortunately it's the position where the sabre is closest to P sound (IMO).
 
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#63
knight of ni said:
I have a classic sabre and I absolutely love it. I have a Ray34 so not exactly a StingRay but the tone on the bridge pickup is not the same, though definitely MM. Slap tone is also different. I play it with selector in mid position (both pickups) and go either way (neck or bridge) depending on what I play. The mute foams also yield an interesting tone when on the neck pickup. I use them from time to time. I'd use them more if it were not such a hassle to raise/lower them on a per string basis. My only critic would be the neck pickup output volume which is noticeably weaker than the bridge and needs to be raised above EBMM specs. Even then it's still weaker than the bridge PUP. I guess it's logical for the 4th position (neck H acting as single coil), unfortunately it's the position where the sabre is closest to P sound (IMO).
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The Ray34 has a 3-band preamp, whereas the Classic Sabre has a 2-band, so that may account for at least some of the difference. I have an EBMM SUB, again, not exactly the same as a StingRay, but the pickup and the preamp is the same as was used in the 2-band StingRay. I can get pretty close to that tone soloing the bridge pickup. I can’t say I’ve noticed the neck pickup being weaker, but then I don’t use it that much on its own. It could probably be solved with some judicious use of the volume control should you need to switch quickly between them. I like the string mutes, they’re useful for that Motown thump, and I find I can engage them in a few seconds, even if they are a bit fiddly. :)
 
#66
I have a root beer colored 1980 Sabre I bought from a TB'er several years ago, and love it... it was my main player for a while. Then something strange happened with the electronics where there is almost no signal coming through... might be a bad wire, but it got put in the stable and haven't addressed the repair yet.
 
#67
JakobT said:
The Classic Sabre can get a pretty good StingRay tone soloing the bridge pickup. At the same time, it gets well into P territory with the neck pickup, with plenty of good tones inbetween. I think that is both its strength in terms of versatility, and its weakness in terms of popularity. The Sabre is staggeringly versatile, but as a consequence has no clear personality of its own, in contrast to the StingRay or the P-bass. As such it never caught the imagination of bass players in quite the same way, and never had that «must-have» vibe.
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The Sabre has the Musicman vibe, no doubt but, to my ears, misses the Stingray's sonic print.
Yes, it gets somewhat close but I never felt comfortable running the bridge pup solo as it didn't duplicate the low end of a Stingray. More throaty; not unlike J bass with bridge pup soloed.
Now, before someone misinterprets what I'm trying to convey, I'm NOT saying a Sabre sounds like a J bass. I am saying that, for me, both Sabre and Jazz Bass loose low end with bridge pup soloed. A Stingray, by contrast, has truckloads of bottom with that one, large strategically placed pup. I agree, a Sabre gets into P Bass territory(and I'm not saying a Sabre sounds like a P bass) with the neck pup soloed and I'd feel much more comfortable soloing the neck pup over the bridge pup to achieve low end.
Now, I haven't owned a Sabre since 1979, so my memory may be slipping a bit but those are my lasting impressions.
 
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#70
knight of ni said:
My only critic would be the neck pickup output volume which is noticeably weaker than the bridge and needs to be raised above EBMM specs. Even then it's still weaker than the bridge PUP.
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When comparing to the original 78-80 8-pole neck pickup: Eventually they had to do something about the neck pickup because the original 8-pole was strong and pulled weird on the strings and caused strange wolf overtones. I had to set my neck pickup just barely above the pickguard to keep a clear tone.

In 81 MM switched to a 16 pole design, and obviously EBMM was also concerned about having the same thing on the Classic.
 
#71
mikeswals said:
When comparing to the original 78-80 8-pole neck pickup: Eventually they had to do something about the neck pickup because the original 8-pole was strong and pulled weird on the strings and caused strange wolf overtones. I had to set my neck pickup just barely above the pickguard to keep a clear tone.

In 81 MM switched to a 16 pole design, and obviously EBMM was also concerned about having the same thing on the Classic.
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The question is though ; why does the Stingray HH have an 8-pole neck pick-up?
 
#72
Wood and Wire said:
The question is though ; why does the Stingray HH have an 8-pole neck pick-up?
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I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact there’s only one pup and it’s in an area with less string excursions.
I don’t know what to think about this whole magnets affecting strings thing though :eyebrow:. There’s someone here with an Ibanez with a whopping 4 MM humbuckers.
 
#73
Fender_Bender said:
I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact there’s only one pup and it’s in an area with less string excursions.
I don’t know what to think about this whole magnets affecting strings thing though :eyebrow:. There’s someone here with an Ibanez with a whopping 4 MM humbuckers.
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There are 2 pickup on the HH Stingray :)

It was Ernie Ball MM that specified that they changed the pickup to 16 smaller poles, due to an unintended effect the larger, more powerful 8 pole pickup caused.
 
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#78
I can't say anything about the new Sabres since I've never played one of them but the late 70s example that I owned back in the 80s was a stellar instrument in just about every conceivable way and would likely make the "top 10 basses" list pushing out some far more expensive pieces that I've owned over the past four decades or so. It was almost impossible to get a bad sound out of that bass. I will, however, agree that none of these sounds matched what one would get from a StingRay 100%.
 
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#79
mdogs said:
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.


View attachment 2866203
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and even the pic of this one isn't the same as my 78 Sabre
 
#80
Mike Sorr said:
I think the 4HH Musicman offerings have pretty much filled the gap that the Sabre used to. At this point the Sabre seems redundant. I'm not sure what the difference would be between a Sabre and my 4HH Sterling.

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If you had the pleasure to own the original Sabre ( 78 ) there's a helluva difference.. I owned a HH for about a year..Great sounding Bass but it wasn't a Sabre. Not that it's a bad thing either.
 
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