Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Music Man had as one of its founding members a certain Mr Leo Fender, who had sold his previous eponymously named company to CBS in 1965. They started out in the early 1970s producing hybrid solid-state/tube amps, but by 1976 had started production of guitars and basses. This particular Music Man Sting Ray II guitar dates from 1977, their second year of guitar production. Its Fender pedigree is quite apparent in the design - you can see how this instrument could represent the next logical development following the Telecaster and the Stratocaster.
The original Music Man guitars were not as well known or as popular as their basses; some would say that this was because they weren't particularly good instruments, but I can't believe this to be true. I've personally seen one in the hands of Doggen Foster (sometime guitarist with Julian Cope and Spiritualized) and he certainly made it sound incredible. Of course this guitar dates from well before Ernie Ball got their mitts on the Music Man brand; their later guitars would become very popular, endorsed by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Albert Lee, Steve Lukather, and John Petrucci. Note how this pre-Ernie Ball Music Man features a headstock with six machine heads in a line a la Fender, as opposed to the later ridiculously small headstocks with a 4+2 tuner arrangement that Ernie Ball nicked from certain Gretsch and Teisco guitar design from the 1960s and then claimed was their own copyrighted trademark.
Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of $1,090.
G L Wilson
© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.
- 1978 Music Man Sabre 1
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guitarz.blogspot.com: I've pondered before as to what may have been the earliest production model of an acoustic bass guitar. This Guild Model B-50 NT probably comes close as being one of the first. This example was built in 1976 so it is certainly...
- Eko B4 N Fretless Acoustic Bass From 1982
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Guitar
Music Man Sting Ray II guitar from 1977 (back when they were cool)
guitarz.blogspot.com:
The original Music Man guitars were not as well known or as popular as their basses; some would say that this was because they weren't particularly good instruments, but I can't believe this to be true. I've personally seen one in the hands of Doggen Foster (sometime guitarist with Julian Cope and Spiritualized) and he certainly made it sound incredible. Of course this guitar dates from well before Ernie Ball got their mitts on the Music Man brand; their later guitars would become very popular, endorsed by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Albert Lee, Steve Lukather, and John Petrucci. Note how this pre-Ernie Ball Music Man features a headstock with six machine heads in a line a la Fender, as opposed to the later ridiculously small headstocks with a 4+2 tuner arrangement that Ernie Ball nicked from certain Gretsch and Teisco guitar design from the 1960s and then claimed was their own copyrighted trademark.
Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of $1,090.
G L Wilson
© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.
- 1978 Music Man Sabre 1
guitarz.blogspot.com Usually I don't care for strat-shaped guitars but the Music Man Sabre has an interesting story and it's not a mere copy, since it was conceived by Leo Fender himself during his short time in the company. By the time...
- 1960s Ibanez "handcrafted By Goldentone" Model 5902 Bison Bass
guitarz.blogspot.com: It seems funny to think that Ibanez - now a high prestige guitar manufacturer - were once just yet another Japanese brand churning out "copy" guitars. Here we see Ibanez copy a British manufacturer with this 1960s-era Ibanez Model...
- 1976 Guild Model B-50 Nt Acoustic Bass Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com: I've pondered before as to what may have been the earliest production model of an acoustic bass guitar. This Guild Model B-50 NT probably comes close as being one of the first. This example was built in 1976 so it is certainly...
- Eko B4 N Fretless Acoustic Bass From 1982
guitarz.blogspot.com: Although it wasn't the first acoustic bass guitar, and not even the first production model acoustic bass guitar (it was pre-dated by the Ernie Ball Earthwood and, I believe, by a Guild acoustic bass), the Italian-made Eko B4...
- Kramer Kl8 Bass - Aluminium Neck And Eight Strings
guitarz.blogspot.com: It always kind of annoyed me that no-one seriously took notice of Kramer guitars until Eddie Van Halen started using them, mainly because by this time - in my eyes - they had stopped being cool by abandoning the aluminium necks that...