Music Man SUB

[Golats]

Hello folks, I'm after some advice as ever. This isn't a "For Sale" post, I just need something clarifying.

My mate has asked me to sell his bass for him as he doesn't have an account on any of the selling sites. He told me he wanted £175 for his SUB bass, which I assumed was a Sterling. When I came to take the photos however it appears to be a Music Man, made in the USA. Is £175 way too low?

See images of the bass below:

Edited August 30, 2018 by Golats

[jezzaboy]

I will give you £175 for it!! 😀

 

Nah, it`s worth about £450 -£500. Do a search on the for sale forum.

[Golats]

Cheers @jezzaboy I did a google search but there seems to be so many variations of the same thing...hence the confusion. Then again; I'm easily confused. I'll check out the for sale section as you suggest.

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Golats

[mr zed]

It's a USA Sub. Jezzaboy is spot on at £450 - £500.

[bassmachine2112]

Hiho I ve got one ,I'll give you 175 for it.Bargain of the year.

It is a USA SUB.the real deal not a copy.Fantastic basses had my one for 15 years now-it's a keeper.

[Chiliwailer]

If it's the passive version it'll be slightly less then the prices quote above. Check to see if it's got a battery cavity in the back. 

[Deedee]

I’ve had a couple.  They really are great basses but both of mine sold for less than £400.  I personally think £500 is a little too near to the £700/800 you can pick a full fat version up for.

Although (as covered in some other threads) due to the recent huge price increases in new basses, I do see that the used prices of MM basses in particular seem to have also gone through the roof.  Some sellers are asking for more than their basses cost when new.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Deedee

[mcnach]

14 hours ago, Deedee said:

I’ve had a couple.  They really are great basses but both of mine sold for less than £400.  I personally think £500 is a little too near to the £700/800 you can pick a full fat version up for.

Although (as covered in some other threads) due to the recent huge price increases in new basses, I do see that the used prices of MM basses in particular seem to have also gone through the roof.  Some sellers are asking for more than their basses cost when new.

 

True, but whatever they cost new years ago means nothing today. Second hand value will be determined by how desirable they are and what the alternatives are. 

I've owned 3 active SUBs, a 5-string that cost me £350, a 4-string that I paid £375 for, and the one I kept which cost me £415 about 4-5 years ago. When you look at what instruments £450 get you new these days... a SUB looks like a very good proposition to me. With the new Stingrays costing around £1800, it's only natural that the used ones are going to go up in price, and I imagine the SUBs will follow.

[drTStingray]

7 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

True, but whatever they cost new years ago means nothing today. Second hand value will be determined by how desirable they are and what the alternatives are. 

I've owned 3 active SUBs, a 5-string that cost me £350, a 4-string that I paid £375 for, and the one I kept which cost me £415 about 4-5 years ago. When you look at what instruments £450 get you new these days... a SUB looks like a very good proposition to me. With the new Stingrays costing around £1800, it's only natural that the used ones are going to go up in price, and I imagine the SUBs will follow.

New Stingray Specials start at £2250.

US Subs (great basses btw - still love mine) were around £400 or just over when new in, say 2006 - the Bass Cellar as was were selling them at that price whilst in the window was a new 30th Anniversary Stingray for £1800 IIRC.

The price of used Stingrays and pre EB has gone up in line with the new prices - the original invoice for my 93 Fretless is about £740 or so. But that's 25 yrs ago and an average house would have been about £60k!!! 

US Sub 5s seem to command a slightly higher price - say £500 +

Edited September 3, 2018 by drTStingray

[drTStingray]

On 30 August 2018 at 21:55, jezzaboy said:

I will give you £175 for it!! 😀

 

Nah, it`s worth about £450 -£500. Do a search on the for sale forum.

It's also a very late model one in that cinnamon colour. 

[floFC]

47 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

It's also a very late model one in that cinnamon colour. 

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[mcnach]

4 hours ago, drTStingray said:

It's also a very late model one in that cinnamon colour. 

 

It has the standard, not the compensated nut... so it won't be a late model. They started with the compensated nuts in 2005 I think and continued well into 2006 until they discontinued the range.

I'd say it's a 2004 as the serial number is not particularly low...

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, floFC said:

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

Neither

 

Actually, early ones seemed to have the pickup wired in series rather than parallel. I never understood why and I don't know if it was just a batch or what. But every single early 4-string SUB I have been able to check (2003 and some way into 2004) were series. I personally prefer that, because the extra prominent mids of that configuration work very very well with the 2-band preamp, for my liking.

I have kept my 2003 SUB for that reason. I used to own a 2005 wine red one, much like that in the picture but with the compensated nut (and standard parallel wiring), and it was lovely, but I preferred the series SUB (and I owned already a 2002 2EQ Stingray, so the SUB was redundant in a way)

 

I just checked here: 

http://www.musicmanbass.org/mycustompage0057.htm

and it suggests your friend's bass dates from mid 2004.

[Jack]

You saw those for £200 around 10 years ago. They do seem to £400+ these days. Wish I'd bought some way back when!

[drTStingray]

22 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

It has the standard, not the compensated nut... so it won't be a late model. They started with the compensated nuts in 2005 I think and continued well into 2006 until they discontinued the range.

I'd say it's a 2004 as the serial number is not particularly low...

The cinnamon colour was, IIRC a later addition to the SUB colours. It's quite a cool colour as there's a certain amount of colour shift with the light.

You are right about compensated nuts being introduced on Stingrays in 2005 - I think they appeared at the same time as the dual pick up models, the first of which were available in the 2005 LE colour variant (maybe later in the year). Not sure ive ever seen a compensated nut on a SUB - no doubt someone will post a pic in due corse!! 

Edited September 3, 2018 by drTStingray

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, drTStingray said:

The cinnamon colour was, IIRC a later addition to the SUB colours. It's quite a cool colour as there's a certain amount of colour shift with the light.

You are right about compensated nuts being introduced on Stingrays in 2005 - I think they appeared at the same time as the dual pick up models, the first of which were available in the 2005 LE colour variant (maybe later in the year). Not sure ive ever seen a compensated nut on a SUB - no doubt someone will post a pic in due corse!! 

 

They were introduced on the SUBs around the same time. I owned one, I see if I can find a picture of it. It was the very late SUB period, so not that many of those around. Same colour as the OP's.

[mcnach]

Found a couple of pictures of mine... hmm, they make me miss it, it was a great bass

 

 

 

The last picture is a bit blurry and saturated on the white of the nut, but you can see it's the compensated type.

And since I'm at it, here's my 2003 white SUB next to my trusty 2002 Stingray. It has a white pickguard these days rather than black, but I don't seem to have pictures of that...

 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

And since I'm at it, here's my 2003 white SUB next to my trusty 2002 Stingray. It has a white pickguard these days rather than black, but I don't seem to have pictures of that...

 

 

White on white sounds very cool, definitely need to see that.

[mcnach]

12 hours ago, ezbass said:

White on white sounds very cool, definitely need to see that.

 

Here

Not the best light... but it's all I could do quickly.

Edited September 4, 2018 by mcnach

[ezbass]

52 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

Here

Not the best light... but it's all I could do quickly.

I was not wrong.

[Twincam]

I have a question. 

Here is my USA ebmm sub. I'm in the process of refinishing it. Ive sanded and oiled the neck (so so much better to play). Body is going to be a mint green. Pearl pg or aged pearl. Maybe change the pu cover to a white or cream one.

But I have a dilemma. If or not I should sand the front of the headstock, and apply a musicman stingray decal and lacquer it over. I would leave the rear of headstock as is. Any thoughts on that?

Edited September 5, 2018 by Twincam

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, Twincam said:

I have a question. 

Here is my USA ebmm sub. I'm in the process of refinishing it. Ive sanded and oiled the neck (so so much better to play). Body is going to be a mint green. Pearl pg or aged pearl. Maybe change the pu cover to a white or cream one.

But I have a dilemma. If or not I should sand the front of the headstock, and apply a musicman stingray decal and lacquer it over. I would leave the rear of headstock as is. Any thoughts on that?

 

I would leave the headstock as is... but it's not my bass

[Deedee]

1 minute ago, mcnach said:

 

I would leave the headstock as is... but it's not my bass

+1 to that.  Those headstocks have become pretty iconic in their own right, plus you’ll spend the rest of your life having to explain how it started life 🙄

[Twincam]

55 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

I would leave the headstock as is... but it's not my bass

 

51 minutes ago, Deedee said:

+1 to that.  Those headstocks have become pretty iconic in their own right, plus you’ll spend the rest of your life having to explain how it started life 🙄

Yeah i agree i suppose. It just might not fit in with my refinishing plans. 

Iconic? Well they certainly seem to have a fan base and are well known for being a good quality bass. Actually just in case they become a collectable and prices sky rocket I best just leave it alone haha. Actually looking at it I like it as is. 

Or I could send it to the guitar improver guy on eBay for some mods. Have a mismatched artec hotrail placed cockeyed in the pu cavity and some sort of three string conversion 😉 Hahahaha. 

[drTStingray]

On 4 September 2018 at 08:27, mcnach said:

Found a couple of pictures of mine... hmm, they make me miss it, it was a great bass

 

 

 

The last picture is a bit blurry and saturated on the white of the nut, but you can see it's the compensated type.

And since I'm at it, here's my 2003 white SUB next to my trusty 2002 Stingray. It has a white pickguard these days rather than black, but I don't seem to have pictures of that...

 

Love the basses - first time I've seen a Sub and noticed the compensated nut. Mine's a 2003 5 in white (standard nut)