Poor man's Musicman ??

Ibanez ATK.

 

check out olp basses. licensed copies of the stingrays. quite a few guys on here have em and seem to be happy with them. i'm actually thnking of one myself. i think there's one for sale in the classifieds right now, might be a five string for $375.

 

+100000000000000 I have the original (1995) ATK 305 and it has cured my bass gas, period. Search for it, lots of love for the ATK

 

The Ibanez ATK series are the most obvious basses, IMO. TBC, both the new ones and old ones, are great too. MTD imports are some nice Stingray style basses also. Another great choice is the OLP Tony Levin Signature model. All of these can be had for under $600.

 

+1 again

I love it even more than the Stingray.

 

What a lot of people (including myself) like about this is it has less high end zing than a stingray (which can be good or bad depending on your own opinions) Mine is pretty hefty, but has a freaking hefty tone to it. Its simply amazing for a 12 year old instrument and I get compliments on its tone almost everytime I play

 

Musicman made a poor man's Musicman and it is called the SUB. It was made in the same factory as the rest of the MM line. Don't settle for also rans.

 

Yeah, the SUB, good call!

 

I'd Go 4 the Ibanez ATK over the SUBS ANYDAY!!!! Thats IMO!

 

I've owned a couple ATKs, and have played a handful of SUBs. I'd go with the SUB.

 

If you want a Music Man, save your money and buy one.

 

ebay and lots of patience. i bought a sterling 4 off ebay for $545 shipped. sucker arrived in perfect shape, lookin all brandy-new. it's been my main working bass ever since.

 

Sometimes if you dig around hard enough you can find a Musicman for $600.

But if you need one right away, I'd buy a Musicman SUB.
They were made in USA in the same factory as the 'regular' ones. And they come with my favorite 2 band eq, same eq my expensive Stingrays have.

 

ATK. SUBs are quickly becoming very expensive, some are close to what they sold for new. ATK can be had for cheap, I got mine this summer for $212 shipped from eBay, and it's beautiful. You get a 3 band EQ instead of a 2 band, a more massive bridge, a 3 way switch for more tone versatility, string through construction, more contoured body and I'll bet it's lighter too. Nothing against SUBs, but ATK is giving you more for less money.

 

Well, I think that says something.... it either retains it's value, or actually appreciates in value as time goes on.
I'm all about buying the piece that holds value.

I've walked in stores that still have new SUBs hanging there.

 

+1 4 SUB !!!

 

This one only took 15 seconds of searching...a StingRay listed at a used dealer for $650. That's a helluva good price if you ask me.

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=1717746

 

Tsss, and you even have the luxury of the US-prices ...
If you were living in Europe you would be paying through your nose for a Musicman

 

I'd say +2 (one for each of mine) to the ATK, they are great basses. But seriously, go out and lay hands on these basses. They sound somewhat alike, they are all good basses, but different things appeal to different people. I got incredible deals on my ATK's, which I of course am very happy about. I am not someone who gets especially hung up about finishes, but the finish on the subs just puts me off. Sound and playability are good, but they're also orders of magnitude more expensive than ATK's are here in New Zealand.

Play them and get what you like best. Tony Levin apparently actually plays out his stock OLP sig model, which is a pretty cool thing, I haven't had a chance to try out one in person though.

Steve