My buddy, Nik, bought a used Ernie Ball Music Man Sub1 recently at Guitar Center at a blow-out price of $200. It was in rough shape (mostly dirty) and was in dire need of a new nut and a good setup. I agreed to help him clean, repair and set it up, so he bought it. These guitars have been discontinued by Music Man because they were having trouble making a profit at the low prices they were selling them for (around $600 -$700 street price new).
After cleaning the guitar thoroughly and getting some fresh strings on it, I realized just how good these guitars are. The Sub1 line was made in the USA and they sport some pretty fantastic necks, very reminiscent of the Silhouette Music Man models. The stock pickups sound great... this particular model is the dual humbucker version with Music Man "vintage" style tremolo. The tremolo works unbelievably well, and with a new nut it will be even better. The trem versions of the Sub1 even come with locking tuners!
I had to order a new trem bar because the previous owner lost it, no doubt. Other than that there is nothing else to buy or replace on this guitar except the nut. This will be my first foray into nut making, but I am ready. I have some nut files on order (they should arrive today, in fact), and I have also purchased various Stew-Mac rulers and other goodies to facilitate the procedure. I'll get the whole process up on the blog as soon as I can. Learning the art of nut making will be a big step for me in becoming my own completely independent guitar tech and repairman.
I have decided to buy this guitar from Nik, since I feel that it will be a great "beater" guitar to take places where I'd be concerned about having some of my nicer gear with me. It plays and sounds every bit as good as my higher-end guitars. My only complaint is that the pickguard feels a bit rough to the touch. I may replace it with a Silo pickguard at some point, if it will fit. Otherwise, I am very pleasantly surprised with this guitar (especially for $200!).
My buddy, Nik, bought a used Ernie Ball Music Man Sub1 recently at Guitar Center at a blow-out price of $200. It was in rough shape (mostly dirty) and was in dire need of a new nut and a good setup. I agreed to help him clean, repair and set it up, so he bought it. These guitars have been discontinued by Music Man because they were having trouble making a profit at the low prices they were selling them for (around $600 -$700 street price new).
After cleaning the guitar thoroughly and getting some fresh strings on it, I realized just how good these guitars are. The Sub1 line was made in the USA and they sport some pretty fantastic necks, very reminiscent of the Silhouette Music Man models. The stock pickups sound great... this particular model is the dual humbucker version with Music Man "vintage" style tremolo. The tremolo works unbelievably well, and with a new nut it will be even better. The trem versions of the Sub1 even come with locking tuners!
I had to order a new trem bar because the previous owner lost it, no doubt. Other than that there is nothing else to buy or replace on this guitar except the nut. This will be my first foray into nut making, but I am ready. I have some nut files on order (they should arrive today, in fact), and I have also purchased various Stew-Mac rulers and other goodies to facilitate the procedure. I'll get the whole process up on the blog as soon as I can. Learning the art of nut making will be a big step for me in becoming my own completely independent guitar tech and repairman.
I have decided to buy this guitar from Nik, since I feel that it will be a great "beater" guitar to take places where I'd be concerned about having some of my nicer gear with me. It plays and sounds every bit as good as my higher-end guitars. My only complaint is that the pickguard feels a bit rough to the touch. I may replace it with a Silo pickguard at some point, if it will fit. Otherwise, I am very pleasantly surprised with this guitar (especially for $200!).
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