Musicman Cutlass 1

[NancyJohnson]

I just read an article in Bass Player (US) about the Musicman Cutlass 1 bass, which was produced in limited quantities until 1984. Stingray body, (Modulus?) graphite neck.

Anyone had any experience of these?
P

[Wil]

Crazy Kiwi has owned and may still own some cutlass basses... I've never seen let alone played one, but if Cass Lewis from Skunk Anansie is a fan, so am I

[warwickhunt]

I'm sure there is a BCer from the North east who had one of these many years ago and I doubt he'd have gotten rid of it

[obbm]

I had one that I bought from the USA. I sold it to CK who sold it on again. Having had an SR5 with a Status neck for several years I agree with dlloyd that it's a better option.

[ped]

I had a go on the one Kiwi got from the AC/DC bassist, it was quite nice but there was a fair bit of relief in the neck so wasn't very suitable for my tastes. My friend's bassist borrowed the Cutlass owned by the bass player from Skunk Anansie and quite liked it, though he now borrows an Antiqua jazz bas from the same chap. Must be quite generous?!

ped

[obbm]

[quote name='ped' post='131994' date='Feb 1 2008, 03:48 PM']...there was a fair bit of relief in the neck so wasn't very suitable for my tastes..[/quote]

Mine was the same and there is no way to adjust it other than by changing strings I guess.

[Kiwi]

I have a Cutlass 1, its a lovely sounding bass apart from the well documented neck issues. Best Cutlass to get is probably an early one, before Geoff Gould took his eye off the ball as far as production quality went. But you'll probably have to fight me for it. .

Clips and pics here:
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm[/url]

Compare with my 78 stingray here:
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm[/url]

[NancyJohnson]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='132004' date='Feb 1 2008, 04:00 PM']I have a Cutlass 1, its a lovely sounding bass apart from the well documented neck issues. Best Cutlass to get is probably an early one, before Geoff Gould took his eye off the ball as far as production quality went. But you'll probably have to fight me for it. .

Clips and pics here:
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm[/url]

Compare with my 78 stingray here:
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm[/url][/quote]

Cheers for the links to your pages. Interesting your quotes about the neck being like a banana! Sounds like my first Streamer!
P

[BossHog]

I've had two of these, both Cutlass 1 Stingray style instruments. One solid black on ash and the other three tone sunburst on alder, the latter was by far the superior sounding bass. Neither had neck issues, I may have been lucky there by the sounds of things. Great sounding basses but I do think you sacrifice a little body to the tone of the bass with the addition of the Modulus neck over a standard MM bass of a similar or earlier vintage. You occasionally see them popping up in the states for around the $1200.00 - $1800.00 mark on ebay. I was fortunate enough to pick my black one up for $890.00 around five years ago from a guy in New York and the sunburst one was sold back to the original owner. There was a trans red one on ebay in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago that was selling for around £1700.00 but IMO if you're interested in one, wait for one to appear in the States and get the advantage of the favorable exchange rate.

If you're a MM fan they are fantastic bits of kit and the limited availability makes them a desirable piece of the company's history as well sounding great..

Mick

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='BossHog' post='140236' date='Feb 14 2008, 12:37 PM']I've had two of these, both Cutlass 1 Stingray style instruments. One solid black on ash and the other three tone sunburst on alder, the latter was by far the superior sounding bass. Neither had neck issues, I may have been lucky there by the sounds of things. Great sounding basses but I do think you sacrifice a little body to the tone of the bass with the addition of the Modulus neck over a standard MM bass of a similar or earlier vintage. You occasionally see them popping up in the states for around the $1200.00 - $1800.00 mark on ebay. I was fortunate enough to pick my black one up for $890.00 around five years ago from a guy in New York and the sunburst one was sold back to the original owner. There was a trans red one on ebay in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago that was selling for around £1700.00 but IMO if you're interested in one, wait for one to appear in the States and get the advantage of the favorable exchange rate.

If you're a MM fan they are fantastic bits of kit and the limited availability makes them a desirable piece of the company's history as well sounding great..

Mick[/quote]

Your sunburst one may well be the one that I referred to further up the page... did you have it quite a few years ago?

[BossHog]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='140246' date='Feb 14 2008, 12:48 PM']Your sunburst one may well be the one that I referred to further up the page... did you have it quite a few years ago?[/quote]

Yeah, I owned it for a long time. It was a great stable gigging bass, temptation had the better of me at the time and I sold it to fund other purchases. One of the very few basses I really wish I had kept.