After many years of having an OLP bass in the back of my mind I finally bought a MM3- 5 string from the used section of Guitar Center online. It was $150. When I got it, it was a little beat up, set up horribly and the front volume knob didn't work. I was worried let me tell you. I looked inside and saw two wires not connected and just hanging there. After looking at some schematics of basses I got them back where they belonged. Whew! I then shimmed the neck to get the super low action that I use. Got new strings and just about straightened the neck with the truss rod. I plugged it in and I was astonished! The B was thunderous! As thunderous as a Czech republic Spector that I used to have. I also used to have a SUB 5 string that got compliments all around when I picked it up. This bass hangs with my Geddy that has been modified with Seymour Duncan Quarter pounders and an EMG BT circuit and another Fender Jazz that I have that has similar upgrades. I've been playing about 35 years and I've had many basses. I don't plan on changing a thing on this OLP. Just goes to show you that with the right set up, a lot of the time you can get a cheap bass to perform well. SXs are like that as well.
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My OLP story.
- Thread starter guidobassman
- Start date
Your story doesn't surprise me a bit! Some people have complained about certain OLP basses not being very good. My experience is totally the opposite. And quite a few people posting to the internet have reported similar experiences.
My OLP Flamed maple top 5er was a Guitar Center demo model. Had some busy little fingers on it, but still was pretty much like new. $100. (eat your heart out!) But I had been looking at these for some time. Plus I had the advantage that GC had several "real" Stingrays there for comparison. And I compared them on many occasions before I ended up with this one.
What I found was that when EQ was set flat on a real stingray and the OLP was dialed in right. You could NOT tell them apart either in sound or feel! Now that to me was what I call a bargain!
The main problem with the OLP is that it is passive while the real Ray has an extreme preamp that gives you a range of tone that is really amazing. This makes the OLP kind of a one trick pony, but it's REALLY a good trick!
You may not want to do anything to your OLP, but the one mod that would be very worthwhile would be a stingray preamp. They are kind of hard to get because they are unique and EB doesn't let them out. But there is one aftermarket clone in a two band version that people mention here a lot. One of these days I'd really, really like to find a Stingray 3 band preamp and convert my OLP into a "real" Ray. A preamp mod is about all it takes.
I have a similar story with my OLP SB4 (Spector Design). I visited a great boutique bass shop here in Seattle looking for a bass for my son. I have an old Spector Legend Custom that he loves so I thought that I might find something similar. The least expensive bass in the store was a used OLP SB4 at $139.00. I tried it out since it actually looked a lot like my bass, although I had never seen an OLP like this, but when I played it I was amazed - It felt like an old friend. The sound is fat and full like a P bass but the neck is like an old Ricky 4001 that I had in the 80's.
Long story short, my son now plays the Legend. This is one of the nicest basses I have ever played, regardless of price, and I have owned about 40 basses in the past 45 years. I actually prefer the passive electronics because of the classic tone that they give and because they are dead quiet. It's also about 2 pounds lighter. Another funny thing is that all the women that have seen it in comparison with the real Spector said that it was a much "prettier" bass - so go figure...
Long story short, my son now plays the Legend. This is one of the nicest basses I have ever played, regardless of price, and I have owned about 40 basses in the past 45 years. I actually prefer the passive electronics because of the classic tone that they give and because they are dead quiet. It's also about 2 pounds lighter. Another funny thing is that all the women that have seen it in comparison with the real Spector said that it was a much "prettier" bass - so go figure...
