2004 Textured Teal MusicMan SUB

[HeadlessBassist]

Sadly not mine - just in my custody while waiting for it's new owner to pick it up, but a delightful example of a 2004 Textured Teal/Checkerplate 2EQ MusicMan SUB.

 

 

 

 

[Mrbigstuff]

I missed out circa 2007 but I’ll have one of these one day!

[Sean]

That's lovely, Richard. There were a few times back in the day where I nearly bought one...

They were an absolute gem for the money. The likes of these don't exist anymore. 

[HeadlessBassist]

Just now, Sean said:

That's lovely, Richard. There were a few times back in the day where I nearly bought one...

They were an absolute gem for the money. The likes of these don't exist anymore. 

 

Hey Sean, yes - I was chatting to the new owner earlier - He was saying that most of the original SUBS have tatty necks where people have misguidedly tried to strip the gloss paint off. This particular example played like a demon. It was a very nice bass.

[Sean]

11 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Hey Sean, yes - I was chatting to the new owner earlier - He was saying that most of the original SUBS have tatty necks where people have misguidedly tried to strip the gloss paint off. This particular example played like a demon. It was a very nice bass.

Yes, I've seen a few "shipwrecked" Subs out there. I've only ever owned 2 MM basses; a 5 string Ray for a few weeks and a Sterling (USA) that was lovely but got sold/traded for whatever reason. It could be a future endeavour, who knows what this crazy world of Bass GAS brings 😃

[ezbass]

14 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

tried to strip the gloss paint off

The problem was that it wasn’t gloss, it was matt, made glossy by playing, which in turn made them sticky. I never regretted stripping mine, it felt and played so much better.

[casapete]

I had a couple, and regret selling one in particular ( on here IIRC ). Mine were teal and black. 

Great basses, although weren’t the lightest of things.

MM did a passive one as well, along with a SUB Sterling which are really rare.

[Mrbigstuff]

10 hours ago, ezbass said:

The problem was that it wasn’t gloss, it was matt, made glossy by playing, which in turn made them sticky. I never regretted stripping mine, it felt and played so much better.

Often someone just went at the top 7 frets with a bit of sandpaper leaving an awful mess. But then even if it was done well, the painted headstock then looks odd.

[Veils]

I was fortunate enough to pick one of these up in white when they were first released. One of the best basses I’ve ever owned and it cost me about 400 quid. This one here looks lovely!

Edited yesterday at 06:34 by Veils

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Often someone just went at the top 7 frets with a bit of sandpaper leaving an awful mess. But then even if it was done well, the painted headstock then looks odd.

I stripped the whole neck and left a curve for the headstock transition and it looked OKish. I saw another owner’s attempt, where the black started as a point behind the nut and flared out to the full black headstock, which looked much better. I think stripping the back of headstock would have been the best solution.

 

9 hours ago, casapete said:

 

Great basses, although weren’t the lightest of things.

 

Mine was beast, weight-wise, but marvellously balanced.

[BlueMoon]

Great basses for reasonable money back in the day. Prices are creeping up now and there are many butchered ones out there.

 

I was lucky enough to find an unmolested Stingray 4 SUB in black not so long ago.

[casapete]

1 hour ago, BlueMoon said:

I was lucky enough to find an unmolested Stingray 4 SUB in black not so long ago.

Black is the best colour IMO. Goes with the headstock well, and easily made a bit stealth with

the addition of a black guard once the original has been binned. 

IIRC the colours available were teal, black, white and a kind of burgundy red, all textured. 

[wavemaker]

And Graphite, which is a really nice silver grey that works very well with the texture as well as with the black neck and pickguard:

 

I honestly think the SUB line is about the least aesthetically pleasing thing to ever leave San Luis Obispo but if one can look past that, they are fantastic. Also, being face to face with these really helped me appreciate their utilitarian approach - you won’t ever spend a second thought on dings & scratches with this finish. 

 

As I personally seem to have quite a thing for Sterlings-without-contours (I have accumulated three over the past 11 months), my SUB certainly did scratch the itch and kept me from buying a third Classic Sterling. And while prices are indeed starting to get into stupid territory, you simply won’t get a better deal on a US Music Man (I paid 800€ for the one above because I wanted the rarer Sterling in this colour specifically and it was in excellent condition. Around here, 600-700€ seems to be standard for a well-worn SUB Stingray). Even cooler if you’re into the Classic line - surprising, really, how there’s a budget friendly alternative to these rare birds. 

 

Also, I saw somewhere on here an example of a stripped neck with an intact black "matching headstock" (front) and found that to have been a rather great call:

 

[casapete]

1 minute ago, wavemaker said:

And Graphite, which is a really nice silver grey that works very well with the texture as well as with the black neck and pickguard:

Ah yes, I forget the grey - that Sterling looks fantastic!

[Bagman]

@basshead56  has a Teal Sub 

[Bagman]

I bought a Sub 5 last December unplayed , not seen in person

 

It's had corrective surgery but now I quite like it . The 2EQ is best 

it's a heavy instrument , but manageable with a proper strap 

[basshead56]

39 minutes ago, Bagman said:

@basshead56  has a Teal Sub 

 

Sure do, identical to the OP one above.

Absolutely adore it, sadly it doesn't get out as much as it used to! But an absolute weapon of a bass!

Had a red one when they first came out and used it but never really liked the sound (I was too young to appreciate the active Ray sound in those days) and moved on for yet another Precision of some kind...

 

SUB's are perfect in every way as workhorse instruments. Prices are definitely creeping up these days, but rightly so - they are EBMM USA instruments after all and are becoming quite collectable.

Would love to have one of each colour; White, Black, Graphite, Teal, Red, Blue and apparently there was a Cinnamon too? Never seen one in the wild, I thought it was the Red but apparently not) 

[Bagman]

19 hours ago, wavemaker said:

And Graphite, which is a really nice silver grey that works very well with the texture as well as with the black neck and pickguard:

 

I honestly think the SUB line is about the least aesthetically pleasing thing to ever leave San Luis Obispo but if one can look past that, they are fantastic. Also, being face to face with these really helped me appreciate their utilitarian approach - you won’t ever spend a second thought on dings & scratches with this finish. 

 

As I personally seem to have quite a thing for Sterlings-without-contours (I have accumulated three over the past 11 months), my SUB certainly did scratch the itch and kept me from buying a third Classic Sterling. And while prices are indeed starting to get into stupid territory, you simply won’t get a better deal on a US Music Man (I paid 800€ for the one above because I wanted the rarer Sterling in this colour specifically and it was in excellent condition. Around here, 600-700€ seems to be standard for a well-worn SUB Stingray). Even cooler if you’re into the Classic line - surprising, really, how there’s a budget friendly alternative to these rare birds. 

 

Also, I saw somewhere on here an example of a stripped neck with an intact black "matching headstock" (front) and found that to have been a rather great call:

 

Bongo is very much worse than a Sub surely 

[Bagman]

10 hours ago, basshead56 said:

 

Sure do, identical to the OP one above.

Absolutely adore it, sadly it doesn't get out as much as it used to! But an absolute weapon of a bass!

Had a red one when they first came out and used it but never really liked the sound (I was too young to appreciate the active Ray sound in those days) and moved on for yet another Precision of some kind...

 

SUB's are perfect in every way as workhorse instruments. Prices are definitely creeping up these days, but rightly so - they are EBMM USA instruments after all and are becoming quite collectable.

Would love to have one of each colour; White, Black, Graphite, Teal, Red, Blue and apparently there was a Cinnamon too? Never seen one in the wild, I thought it was the Red but apparently not) 

I trust Eire went well

 

 

[basshead56]

7 minutes ago, Bagman said:

I trust Eire went well

 

 

Sure did.

Didn't come home with a bass this time though 😆😆

[Sean]

There's a decent one on eBay. It's got a gash but it's priced accordingly. 

 

https://ebay.us/m/r2dTGV

[Bagman]

1 hour ago, Sean said:

There's a decent one on eBay. It's got a gash but it's priced accordingly. 

 

https://ebay.us/m/r2dTGV

I think there is very few passive models. Rare Bird 

[Bagman]

2 hours ago, basshead56 said:

Sure did.

Didn't come home with a bass this time though 😆😆

I cannot believe what I am reading 

[Sean]

1 minute ago, Bagman said:

I think there is very few passive models. Rare Bird 

I guess an East SR preamp just drops in if anyone wanted to “convert” one?