Feeling complete again (Musicman content)

[Mudpup]

I've had various Musicman basses over the years and always liked them but never seemed to keep them for various reasons.

The first was a very early USA S.U.B with the series wiring - absolutely loved the sound but sold it on here because i couldn't quite get on with the slab body. I foolishly thought that if i got a regular Stingray later then it would sound the same. I was wrong, it seems the series wiring was providing the sound that i loved and i didn't know at the time that a regular one was different. Fortunately i know who has it and i keep an eye out for it coming up for sale again - i'll be on it like a tramp on chips and get a forearm contour done on it :-)

Next was a USA Sterling in honeyburst/maple. A lovely mint bass and sounded fab but i couldn't quite get on with the neck profile. I was sort of ok with the narrow nut width but the deeper C profile was an issue at long gigs as i found my hand cramping up a bit.  Sounded great though, i like aggressive sounding basses and this was the mother of them. But it had to go as i wasn't gigging with it......

Someone on here was keen to swap a USA Stingray for my Sterling and i went down this route as he was just up the road. I ended up with a really nice black/rosewood 2 band late 90's USA Ray with the best neck i have ever played in my life. Really worn in and felt like an old pair of boots every time i picked it up. A good swap imho but i traded it a few years back to try a 5 string G+L partly because it didn't quite work in my band but also it was a really nice G+L. I still miss that neck though.....

At the same time as the black Stingray swap a 3 band USA Stingray popped up in Germany in my wish list colour - Autumn Sunrise Sparkle/maple. Super rare and i was a bit flush at the time so i went for it. Spent more time gazing at it than playing it though as it was too nice to risk at some of the grotty dives we were gigging at and it didn't quite have the booty that my black 2 band had. I put a John East MMSR in it which helped but i also found that the lower fretboard edge felt too new and dug into my hand a bit. As it was maple i couldn't just get it rolled which would have sorted it i think. Consequently it didn't really get played so much and i buy basses to gig them not look at them - 'Sparkles' headed off to a really nice guy in Wales 😞

And so i've been MM'less for a few years now - i have/had some lovely basses in the meantime but more recently during lockdown boredom I've been thinking that i really miss that gritty edgy sound and i was sort of thinking about grabbing something if it popped up.

And it has - i snagged a Sterling SB14 yesterday locally. Got it without a test drive obviously so i took a chance on it and having changed the strings and tweaked the neck a bit to my preference I'm really pleased with it. Time will tell if its a keeper - i need a gig to know that - but early signs are good. As far as i remember it sounds as good as my old USA Sterling but the neck is more to my liking, still quite narrow but a flatter profile. And due to the switching it can do series like my old S.U.B as well as classic Stingray, happy days :-) 

So now i have a nice gooey warm feeling about having a (sort of) Musicman back in the house......

 

Here's my old USA Sterling...

 

 

And here's Sparkles complete with her John East MMSR preamp and a grubby fretboard:-)

Edited February 7, 2021 by Mudpup

[ped]

Congrats it’s a nice place to be, to know that you’ve found a suitable bass after trying loads out. What strings are you using in your Musicperson?

[Mudpup]

5 minutes ago, ped said:

Congrats it’s a nice place to be, to know that you’ve found a suitable bass after trying loads out. What strings are you using in your Musicperson?

I like clangy steels usually so it's got some Markbass ones on it now - i grabbed a bunch when they were on offer and i'm working through them. Alternatively i have about 10 sets of Dr Hi Beams from a previous job lot in the drawer and i'm also happy with cheapo Warwick Red steels too. I don't like nickels in general...Anything gnarly and nasty is preferrable really

Edited February 7, 2021 by Mudpup

[ezbass]

Quality post there @Mudpup and a lovely looking bass. I had one of the original SUBs too and bought a full fat ‘Ray (untried from eBay) on the strength of that. A lovely thing to be sure, but not in the same league tonally as the SUB. I later had a ‘Ray5 and used to run that in series, as that was my preferred setting. My Maruszczyk ‘Ray-a-like is always running in series too, it’s a lovely tone.

Enjoy your new toy.

[Mudpup]

Cheapo basses seem to be the way forward....I've gone from Spector Euros and USA MM's and G+L's to a the current 3 basses that have all been less than a £500 spend and my guilty pleasure Zon which wasn't much more. And not for commercial reasons either, purely because they are so good. Value for money nowadays is unreal.....

Edited February 7, 2021 by Mudpup

[dub_junkie]

This past year I’ve been buying Cort, G&L Tributes and the Overwater by Tanglewood basses. All are brilliant imo and it’s been both a worthwhile exercise and a great experience trying different models from each of the three. I particularly like the offshore Overwaters - they’re outstanding and I have hung onto three of those - a four, a five and a fretless five. As well as those three,  my Cort GB94 is a keeper. 
I’ve got a few USA basses as well but the Cort and Tanglewaters (?)  aren’t going anywhere.