For Sale: Musicman Sabre "Special" fretless

[Chris2112]

Hello all,

As some of you may have seen, I have recently taken steps to reach my boyhood dream of owning an Alembic. As a result of this, I will need to make space in my bedroom and also put a couple of pounds back in my pocket. The wife wasn't too happy about the idea of her being moved out, so it'll have to be a bass that goes! Since I only have two basses at the moment, a fretted Thumb and a fretless Musicman, I'll have to sell my fretless since I've got a new fretless bass coming!


[b]The bass[/b]: The bass is what I like to call a Musicman Sabre "Special". It is a 1980 Musicman Sabre neck attached to a body made by Greg Whittle, aka Basschat member "Shaggy", whose obvious talent for luthiery shines through.

[b]It has[/b]:

*a 1980 Sabre neck
* fitted with an African blackwood fretboard
*a body made from Bubinga with a Thuja burl top
* a 3 band Seymour Duncan EQ with turned ebony control knobs
*a Seymour Duncan MM pickup
* fitted with gold Schaller tuners
*a brass bridge, brass backplate and brass neck tilt adjuster, as well as an "easy access" battery compartment.
* It also has a "textured" finish. The wood was too porous to finish with a traditional seal, and has been french polished for protection. It looks lovely!

[b]The sound[/b]: As rich and full as you'll find, due to the body woods. Burpy, thick and articulate. I have come to reason that the MM pickup placement is perhaps the best for fretless bass. You get the cut and growl of the bridge area and the mid-range fatness provided by the upper coils. It is an incredible sounding bass. I've played a bit of everything with it, from 1980's Palladino/Paul Simon pop through to Weather Report fusion. Great sounding bass, and records well too.


[b]Now, possible downsides[/b]:

1) It's heavy. Granted, its a tone monster because of the dense woods and brass hardware - it's 12.5lb according to my bathroom scales. I've had no troubles doing full standing rehearsals with it, but I've mainly used it for seated shows and recording sessions, where the weight is less of an issue.

2) One of the screws is missing from the pickup cover. However, this wasn't an issue when it came to me adjusting the height of the pickup.



Pictures (taken by Greg, as I've lost my camera memory card):























As I have previously mentioned, I have been playing mainly fretless bass these past few months and I have enjoyed this bass immensely. I'm sure someone else will have a fantastic time with it too. I'd be happy to sell it for what I got it for, as I think Greg gave me a great price. £500 will get the bass, the hardcase it came with and the papers for the pickup and the preamp. I'd be happier with collection from Newcastle, however I will post at the buyers expense if they can arrange a courier.

If you have any further questions or wish to have a chat about the bass, please PM me. Alternatively, if you wish to speak over the telephone, PM me your number and I'll give you a ring.

Cheers!

Chris

[roonjuice]

ooooooooh
loverly bit o' wood!
does she have side fret markings or dots?

[Chris2112]

Dots on the side of the fretboard.

[Shaggy]

Chris - sorry to see you moving this on, but can't blame you for GAS-ing for an Alembic - on my "hit list" for many years too!

Very fair of Chris to be asking same as his purchase price, as he's shelled out fpr a pro setup which it certainly needed then. Worth [b]way[/b] over asking price just in parts - last year "that" German site on ebay listed a pre-EB Sabre neck at £650 - just the neck.
Appreciate the kind words re luthiery - this was my first stab at making a bass (after making a violin and most of a lute!) and given that it had to be MM-themed - based around a spare pre-EB neck I had with my old Sabre - I tried to make as close as poss to my "dream" fretless, money no object. It i[b]s[/b] heavy, due to the sheer density of the tonewoods (African Blackwood is harder than ebony), but not unreasonably so. And I can guarantee it's unique!

Should add that Chris is a real gent to do business with too - definitely one of the good guys on BC.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Shaggy

[Guest BassKS]

[quote name='Shaggy' post='821147' date='Apr 27 2010, 08:51 PM']Chris - sorry to see you moving this on, but can't blame you for GAS-ing for an Alembic - on my "hit list" for many years too!

Very fair of Chris to be asking same as his purchase price, as he's shelled out fpr a pro setup which it certainly needed then. Worth [b]way[/b] over asking price just in parts - last year "that" German site on ebay listed a pre-EB Sabre neck at £650 - just the neck.
Appreciate the kind words re luthiery - this was my first stab at making a bass (after making a violin and most of a lute!) and given that it had to be MM-themed - based around a spare pre-EB neck I had with my old Sabre - I tried to make as close as poss to my "dream" fretless, money no object. It i[b]s[/b] heavy, due to the sheer density of the tonewoods (African Blackwood is harder than ebony), but not unreasonably so. And I can guarantee it's unique!

Should add that Chris is a real gent to do business with too - definitely one of the good guys on BC. [/quote]

What a Beaut. Is it the MM replacement pre or just a 3 band eq.

[Shaggy]

[quote name='BassKS' post='845779' date='May 23 2010, 02:37 PM']What a Beaut. Is it the MM replacement pre or just a 3 band eq.[/quote]

It's the SD Basslines "Toneworks" MM-specific replacement, California-made, with the "slap EQ bias" pull control on the volume pot. Centre idents on the 3 EQ controls, switched with the jack; advantage over my old pre-EB MM is that you still get a passive output with a dead battery.

[Chris2112]

Shaggy, you really do know this bass inside out! It has been relaxing as a comfortable back up to my Alembic for a few weeks now, and luckily I'm playing bass more than ever too!