Musicman sabre

[patrikmarky]

I'm thinking of purchasing a musicman sabre around 1978 age , anyone got one or have thoughts good or bad?...I've had a craving for another musicman in my life ...

[molan]

Great basses but make sure you play them before buying.

Some of these have some serious neck issues and unless you like a very high action then it can be a bitch to get these ones even reasonably low.

There can sometimes be problems with the lacquer on the body paint. Again this is fairly random and in many cases just adds to character but every now and then you find one where lacquer on the back of the body is cracking quite nastily

[Dingus]

In addition to what Barrie has said, a lot of the 1970's Music Man basses are very heavy ( then again, so are a lot of the new ones, to be fair ) , so make sure you get an accurate weight for any prospective purchase.

[sblueplanet]

Ditto.
My brother's early Sabre had a ridiculously high action with high string tension. He stubbornly held on to it for a long time though as he had swapped his late 60's Jazz for it in a trade and instantly regretted it.

[Shaggy]

Gigged an '80 Sabre for many years; great bass with a massive tonal range, superb if you're into slapping (which I'm generally not), for an active bass the basic sound is far more "old school" than "hi-if modern". Mine had no issues at all with action, but did have the typical MM weak G string. When you try the controls don't assume the treble boost switch is broken - it just doesn't do anything......
A seriously cool looking bass too

[Chiliwailer]

The only bass I ever regretted selling was a '78 Sabre. The tone was outstanding and recorded beautifully. Molan is spot on about the necks though, mine was very twisted and needed a slightly higher action, but it was worth it for the tone!

[RhysP]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1396714528' post='2416712']
One of the most disappointing basses I ever played was Musicman Sabre - weighed a ton, totally unresponsive & had none of that classic Musicman tone that people want.
This was in 1988 at the bass centre in Wapping - it was £300 less than the bass I bought but even if they'd offered it to me for nothing I wouldn't t have taken it.
[/quote]

One of the most disappointing basses I ever played was Musicman Sabre - weighed a ton, totally unresponsive & had none of that classic Musicman tone that people want.
This was in 1988 at the bass centre in Wapping - it was £300 less than the bass I bought but even if they'd offered it to me for nothing I wouldn't have taken it.

Edited April 5, 2014 by RhysP

[patrikmarky]

I'm told the necks good with low action ...lot of money for a gamble as it's ebay and I can't get to try 1st...