Musicman with a Birdseye Maple body- real?

[A-Step-Towards]

This bass has recently generated a lot of controversy as a well known Musicman endorse (who has a signature model ) has called it fake and claims that Sterling Ball himself was phoned by him and supposedly Sterling said it was fake- however no record of Sterling saying that was shown. What's the talkbass community say ?

The controversy started over YouTube on the channel riffsandbeards by musicman artist Ryan "Fluff" Bruce. He stated the bass has genuine Musicman parts but claims the body and neck are likely Warmoth. The bridge serial number is 038175. Which returns the results on musicmans website as Manufactured July 27th, 1993 and Model BASS STERLING BLACK MAPLE. The bass is black and the neck is maple although it's finished translucent black. The serial number is also 10 days earlier than a known original Music Man prototype Sterling. It's also been said by Ryan that no birdseye maple body was ever produced by Musicman , but that's what this clearly is when looked at closely.

here are some photos- I am the current owner of said bass , it also has a period correct case for 1993.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Here is a photo showing the neck heel of said bass with another random Sterling found in images posted on talkbass

 

[A-Step-Towards]

This other known Sterling prototype was made 10 days after the above Sterling with a production date of August 6th 1993.

One of First! Ernie Ball Music Man Sterling 1993 Pre-Model! Unique Bass, piece of history! | Reverb

 

[tindrum]

That's CLEARLY a bad refinish job. Like comically bad. I've been around body repairs for 30 years, which includes all levels of paint work. That bass looks terrible and wasn't painted by a legit professional.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

That's CLEARLY a bad refinish job. Like comically bad. I've been around body repairs for 30 years, which includes all levels of paint work. That bass looks terrible and wasn't painted by a legit professional.

It comes back as "black" with the serial number. So you believe it was repainted black again after being painted black ?

 

[Killing Floor]

That bridge with the mutes but NOT with the serial number looks a good 20 years prior to 5 bolt neck joint. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The mysteriously shiny chrome battery cover that is orders of magnitude more chromed than all the other plated hardware is totally real I never understood why the battery covers are basically telescope mirrors but they are.

Music Man Bass Global - Home. Musicmanbass Global

This dude's name is Gav and he's beyond cool. He knows more about MusicMan basses than @5StringBlues knows about stuff Jaco didn't need.
Send him an email and the pics.

Or just email EBMM customer service and they can yes/no for you.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

That bridge with the mutes but NOT with the serial number looks a good 20 years prior to 5 bolt neck joint. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The mysteriously shiny chrome battery cover that is orders of magnitude more chromed than all the other plated hardware is totally real I never understood why the battery covers are basically telescope mirrors but they are.

Music Man Bass Global - Home. Musicmanbass Global

This dude's name is Gav and he's beyond cool. He knows more about MusicMan basses than @5StringBlues knows about stuff Jaco didn't need.
Send him an email and the pics.

Or just email EBMM customer service and they can yes/no for you.

Thanks ! I've seen his page and in his sterling list the 2nd Sterling he describes is the one I linked above in the reverb ad.

The 1st Sterling he describes sounds a lot like mine - but that's not the same serial as mine - here is that one


"37125...2 Mar 1993. Black with Birdseye Maple. Flea bridge (saddles string grooves offset to left). Made without pg and no pg holes. "Ernie Ball Music Man" appears on headstock logo but no model name for Bass. No stampings on the 5 bolt neck plate. Owner advised by EB...one of the first made and instrument built as a pre-series model for European market. "

It almost sounds like mine but I do have a stamping on the neckplate. As for my bridge that's standard for the period.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Also I emailed Musicman customer service in 2021- I just found that old email. They basically said they cannot provide further information than the serial database provides

 

[Sharko]

That's CLEARLY a bad refinish job. Like comically bad. I've been around body repairs for 30 years, which includes all levels of paint work. That bass looks terrible and wasn't painted by a legit professional.

I agree, the orange peel texture on the upper horn and headstock tell me this was sprayed with trans black from a rattle can.
looks like a parts bass to me

 

[Sharko]

And I forgot to mention the weird fretboard and all the glue around the nut. This thing is def homemade

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I agree, the orange peel texture on the upper horn and headstock tell me this was sprayed with trans black from a rattle can.
looks like a parts bass to me

There isn't any orange peel. The neck finish is perfect. The body finish is applied like other musicmans I have but the birdseye Maple figuring is very heavy and in lots of areas it's caused dimpling

 

[Bikeguy57]

The reflection in the rear shot looks like a Vincent Van Gogh painting.

 

[beatdatthang]

That bridge with the mutes but NOT with the serial number looks a good 20 years prior to 5 bolt neck joint. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The mysteriously shiny chrome battery cover that is orders of magnitude more chromed than all the other plated hardware is totally real I never understood why the battery covers are basically telescope mirrors but they are.

Music Man Bass Global - Home. Musicmanbass Global

This dude's name is Gav and he's beyond cool. He knows more about MusicMan basses than @5StringBlues knows about stuff Jaco didn't need.
Send him an email and the pics.

Or just email EBMM customer service and they can yes/no for you.

Nope. All of that is legit. I have a 1994 Sterling with the same bridge (mutes), battery cover, and recessed 5 bolt neck plate. Definitely looks real to me. Never seen those inlays before but if it's a custom job, anything is possible.

 

[sawzalot]

So, this bass has many things that are right, but many that are not. Let's start off with what isn't right: the fingerboard isn't right, the headstock looks too big, the body wood isn't right. But what IS right is what's interesting: the bridge is period-correct for USA Sterlings, the countersunk neck plate, the battery cover, the control cavity cover, the truss rod wheel, the controls/switch/pickup, the birdseye neck, all look correct and many of those are details that are hard to fake. Clearly it's a refin (not a very good one), but it has many period-correct details. What does the back of the headstock, especially the tuners look like? Do they have the MusicMan logo on them?

 

[moon-bass]

The headstock finish is bad. It doesn't look like the logo was painted over, so whoever refinished the neck either removed the logo, or it wasn't there to begin with. The neck is def birdseye maple, and of all of the MM basses that I have owned, I have never seen a painted neck, It's a prototype tho, so who knows.

The front of the bass looks more like flamed maple than birdseye, but the back is def birdseye. A pro paintjob would not have dimpling regardless of the wood - I've seen plenty of birdseye, flamed, etc. translucent paintjobs that have a mirror flat finish. So, either the bass left the factory with a bad paint job, it's a bad refin, or it's not a real body.

To me, it looks like it was definitely refinished or came with a bad paint job from the factory. The fretboard has some weird glue and doesn't look right, and those fretboard markers don't seem right either.

Again, given that it might be a prototype, who knows. Just my $.02, and I'm certainly no expert.

 

[tindrum]

There isn't any orange peel. The neck finish is perfect. The body finish is applied like other musicmans I have but the birdseye Maple figuring is very heavy and in lots of areas it's caused dimpling

The factory would have grain filled that body prior to shooting color. It's guitar body finishing 101. It's a genuinely bad rattle can finish job I can assure you. EB would never, ever put trash like that out.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

So, this bass has many things that are right, but many that are not. Let's start off with what isn't right: the fingerboard isn't right, the headstock looks too big, the body wood isn't right. But what IS right is what's interesting: the bridge is period-correct for USA Sterlings, the countersunk neck plate, the battery cover, the control cavity cover, the truss rod wheel, the controls/switch/pickup, the birdseye neck, all look correct and many of those are details that are hard to fake. Clearly it's a refin (not a very good one), but it has many period-correct details. What does the back of the headstock, especially the tuners look like? Do they have the MusicMan logo on them?

I see zero evidence of it being refinished. This bass predates the known blue prototype above. That blue prototype was sold to an employee. These are pre production instruments, it having an imperfect finish as a bass that wasn't meant to go to a guitar center and be sold isn't surprising to myself. The finish is well applied , it seems like any other EBMM finish I've seen. I've owned dozens of musicmans and see no difference except the figuring of the birdseye caused dimples in the body. You don't feel it but when it catches the light you see it. I assume this could be a reason Musicman didn't use this for production sterling bodies , or maybe the weight is a reason.

I've also wondered if this was employee built. I've owned regular production Sterlings , 3-4 of them including one from 1994. This one's headstock is the same size , it maybe appear larger without the logo.

 

[Sharko]

of all of the MM basses that I have owned, I have never seen a painted neck.

The original MM SUB had a painted neck tho, so they have been known to do it. It wasn't translucent or gloss tho, kinda a weird textured flat black (it was awesome)

 

[A-Step-Towards]

User Killing Floor above provided a link to musicmanbass.global. The very first Sterling serial number there comes back with the same description as my bass in the "model section"

First image is that other sterling , second image is mine.

 

[sawzalot]

So the tuners are exactly right, and it's pretty hard to come by a set of four of those. The only things that don't look right to me are the fingerboard and the body wood, but all the details on the body (countersunk neck plate/battery cover/etc) are really hard to fake. Usually in the serial # database when it says "Bass [model] [color] Maple" it means maple fretboard--which it could have been at one point.