OLP MM2 StingRay

Just like the Fender Jazz you have a volume control for each single coil pickup. I have several of these just because I like the sound. Made in China. Hey they make a lot of what we use and we don't even know it. They do good work. That doesn't mean there won't be mistakes.

This is the best part. I own a real Stingray which sounds great, but the OLP Stingray sounds better to me. Here's why: Stringrays are made of ash or alder. Ash is brighter and alder middle of the road. The sub is poplar...middle of the road. Now this is not a bad thing because most of my basses are alder or ash and some with a laminated top. But OLP is made of the same wood used on Ernie Balls Bongo bass, basswood. It has a warmer sound with all the growl you want. Just don't bump into anything. It dings easily. For the price it sounds as good as some of my $3000 and up basses. Leave the volumes full up so you won't get that 60 cycle hum/buzz and use the volume on your volume pedal or preamp. The tone control can give you what you want. Check the wood for youself at Warmoth.com.

Some of my OLP's are better than others as far as fretwire that I file down or care that I have to take because of the Basswood...some are Elm and some have a Maple top. But once you get a good setup you'll be in your own musical comfort zone.

The finish is great on most of my OLPs. It's just the body wood is soft and vulnerable. But, I take very good care of my equipment and haven't had any probems that I couldn't fix. I do use Strap Loks. They work just fine so far.

They have an email address and phone number. I'm sure they would help if I needed it.

I've played bass professionally since 1964 and I own a lot of expensive stuff. I noticed complaints from some of the younger players. Why? And it's not their fault. I'm sure they play very well- but they are not seasoned players. This answers questions to most of the problems that, right now, I won't discuss. Lack of experience prohibits understanding. Listen to the old players. Look at what they write or say. If they are truly pros they play everything and every style...even the most contemporary music. There was a time when no one could tell me anything and it costed me a lot of time, money and missed opportunities. BTW the OLP is a professionals' bass no matter what the price.

Body Material: Elm (Natural)

Neck/Fingerboard: Maple/Rosewood (Solid Colors,)

Frets: 21 Jumbo

Scale: 34 in.

Inlay Design: Black dots

Hardware: Chrome (Black on Black Finish models only)

Machine Heads: Open Gear

Pickups: 1 Music Man Style - 4 String

Electronics: 2 volume, 1 Tone

Bridge: Heavy Duty 4 String

Not bad for an axe worth $299...

Strait from the box some minor bridge adjusting and there she goes, nice, low action, no fret buzz, quite good for a cheap bass guitar....

Do not know yet, but it seems to be quite solid built. This is my wander buy, I have 3 other guitars for gigs, this one will be tested tonight, and we'll see....

No opinion....

Well, what to say? What can you buy these days for $299? I've been playing bass guitar for 25 years, and my other basses are worth 10-15 times than I payed for this one. Between you and me, value for money this guitar beats them all! It seems to be build quite solidly, electronics must be cheap for this price range, there are EMG stingray pickups available for about $85 and that would bring this guitar sound wise three levels up, other than that, I quite like it, quite like it.....

I bought my MM2 off a mate's dad who wholesales them. Mine's passive, vintage sunburst, single humbucker, rosewood fretboard. Only accessories that came with it were a set of slinky's but I'm fairly sure that they're standard with the OLP's.

First of all, the electronics on my bass were disgraceful, turning either of the 2 volume or 1 tone knobs that little bit too far would snap the input jack wiring. A mate of mine bought the same bass from the same guy, and has had no problems, so I'm guessing mine was a bit of a dud!

The neck is fast, sometimes a little slippery with the laminate finish. It's a lot thicker than it's big brother the Sterling.

Pretty hopeless bottom end sound for such a renowned bass, but again I'm pretty sure this one was a dud. Even with everything cranked pick-up wise theres more mid than anything else which pisses me off. Best bet with the OLP is to have a quality rig that supports a lot of its own bottom end. I reccomend a GK with a lot of tonal possibilities.

Horrible action to start with, but with a little help from my teacher we've made it playable. I also found that the pickup was waaay to high so i lowered it slightly. Nice finish on these bases, but I'd rather a good playing bass than a good looking one.

As said, horrible electronic configurations, really disappointing. Hardware seems reasonably sturdy. Strap buttons have been my worse nightmare. DO NOT USE STRAPLOKS ON AN OLP. The wood is too soft to support the basses weight from the angle that straploks use. Truss needs constant adjusting. In terms of using at a gig without a backup, i have an Ibanez GIO2 which was considerably cheaper, but yet is faster, has more bottom end and doesn't look like a slug.

Well i took it back to the guy whole sold it to me when the electronics stuffed up the first time, he "apparently" fixed it. 2 weeks later i took it to my teacher and we raped it with a soldering iron. You just have to be gentle with it i guess.

Been playing for 10 years. Nice looking bass, yet crap sounding and unreliable. To get the most out of this one, get yourself a bottom heavy amp with contour. If this was stolen, i would be very happy, because i'd then have an excuse to NEVER GET ONE AGAIN.

Made in China. Four string. Twenty-one frets. 2 vol/1 tone knob. Passive Stingray-style humbucker. Flamed maple top in Honey Burst. Simple enough for the beginner bassist. Fender-style tuners. Neck a bit thick for my small inept hands, but I learned to deal. Bought for $165 plus shipping and handling off of eBay.

I really like the sound this thing produces. It's almost perfect for my style of playing. I play it through an old Yamaha Thirty 115B bass/keyboard combo amp, and it's almost perfect. I got this bass off of eBay from some guy who had the bass refurbished by some "great company", meaning that it probably stunk before, but it got fixed. Whoever fixed it up must have eaten his Wheaties that day. That's all the good I'll say about this thing. Now for the negatives. The G stands out more than the other strings for whatever reason. Unless the tone knob is turned all the way up, the bottom half of the humbucker turned up all the way, and the top half turned 9/10 up, the E sounds muddy and gross, but with the tone all the way up, there's a slight buzz from the amp, especially if the computer's on in my room.

I got it already set up by a person instead of a factory machine or whatever, so I have NO complaints here.

This thing feels rock solid. Everything seems like it's on pretty tight. The finish is beautiful and I think it should last a while. I've never needed to adjust the truss rod.

I've been playing since February 2006, and this was the most affordable thing I came across during last summer. It was well set up and I have no big complaints about it. Buy it.

Last fall, I got myself one of these OLP MM2. It's just a simple 4 string black bass with passive electronics. Its black with this weird, ugly silver pickguard. One thing I was already disapointed with is that it doesn't have enough tone knobs to play with - it only has 3, when the standard Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray has 4. It has a pretty body, but the color combo is hideous.

It has a pretty good slap and pop sound, but it does not cut through enough. The trebley tone is the only good tone that it has. It is not versitle in this sense at all. The tone doesn't have enough bass, for me anyway with my amp. The pickups are very noisy.

My favorite part of this bass is the action. It's nice and low, and I feel that when I'm slapping and popping, or anything, that I have a lot of control over it.

This bass is not durable at all. I have only had it for a year, and after about 3 months, the strap part on the top cutaway broke off in the middle of a show, and I had to finish the show sitting down. Damn! And also, the tuner for the G string just fell off one day after about 6 months of use.

Man, I wish i spent more time looking for a better bass. This thing is only good for slapping, and it is so ugly. If You're looking for a good bass, DO NOT buy this one. Pretty soon, I'm hoping to upgrade to a Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Bass. In conclusion, this bass is an insult to the original Music Man Stingray.

Update.
This is my 3rd update in 4 years.
This has been my primary gigging/jamming bass for 4 years and it just gets better.
I have been plying in excess of 30 years and owned many basses.
This bass has been a real workhorse.
It holds up well and keeps looking and sounding good.
I made a few minor mods through the years.
One was to install springs on the pickup adjusting screws.
From the factory the pickup was nonadjustable.
Another was to replace the pots (vol and tone controls).
I got rid of the skinny strings and now use heavy roundwounds.
I have played this bass through several amps.
Ampeg SVT tube amp sounded good and loud but not much punch.
SWR was too twangy.
Peavey (don't recall the model) combo with 2X15's sounded real good with good punch.
GK was another twangy sounding amp.
One of the best sounding amps I used was a Behringer 450 watt head and a 4X10 and 1X15 (8 ohms each).
Some people say not to buy one of these basses online.
Personally I see no problem with buying sight unseen if you buy it new.
You will always have to make some adjustments to set up any bass the way you like it.
I was considering adding active circuitry (preamp) but I got a Mesa 2 tube external preamp instead.
Now i can get almost any sound I want.
But the passive sound is very good with good punch through the right amp.
I liked the Behringer amp that I used so much that I bought one.
BX4500H.
Who'd ever think that I would be playing a Chinese made bass through a Chinese made amp?
I play professionally and this is without a doubt professional gear.
I don't plan on ever buying another bass to gig with.
I like this bass too much to give it up.
Neck is like a maple P bass.
A little fatter than a J bass.
Weight is like a USA Fender.
Not light but not too heavy either.
Many people comment on how nice my bass looks and sounds.
I won't tell them that it is a cheapie.
I just say that it is a Stingray and it is.
There is nothing that I don't like about this bass except for the fact that it was made in China.
But nobody knows that but me....and you.

06 OLP mm2 made by the good ole folks from The Peoples Republic of China.natural w/ flamed maple top.

having once owned a'90 EB MM Stng RY4, the sound of the OLP, though obviously not as neatly growly and punchy as the REAL, it satisfies my jones for that coveted sound that only those oversized alnicos can create. I'm using a Hartke 15w practice/beg amp and frankly though there is a lot to be desired (b/c of the eating of sweeter fruit) it is very hard to complain about the bargain I know I got!! I've heard about the quality control issues and I would recommend that if U are considering this bassd not order online unless u are familiar w the vendor in case delivery yeilds a poor example. I was extremely lucky (I believe) in obtaining a decent example. I know I'm supposed to bitch about something but its extremly difficult when you're laying down growling ass licks for less than that happy ending at Mi Lings when nothing else even comes close for the money
However, that freakin neck must be made by the night shift!! A couple of more nicks on my fingers and I may file a claim!(just kidding OLP!)

My bass was setup by either St.Peter or Mother Theresa, tight and super straight. Took me about 3 - 4 hrs to work some magic adj saddle str radii, truss string hght.

good so far.

don't know yet.

I've been playing nearly 2 decades. I own a '83 CBS Jazz and '57 re P bass.

MM2. Flame top is a nice touch with a sculpted body.
Set up was horrid. Truss was maxed out with a tremendous back bow.
The neck was shimmed with 2 sheets of thick sandpaper.
The maple board has no finish at all on it only on neck back and head.
Small size pots with no problems. Jack looks a little suspect.
Cavaties had no dust. Frets are Small but with no issues.
Pickups dead quite. Finish is nice. Flame top thin. Body doesn't look basswood at all, think its elm. Earnie Ball strings.

After releaving truss rod ALOT !!!!
Removed shims, reset saddle levels, intonating.
Finished raw maple fretboard. Raised pickup alot.

I like it.

Came bad but is great after all was done.

solid

For the money a great buy. After all is redone on it.
I think its a good passive bass, great for the beans.
It does get that basic SR tone albeit darker with no preamp

I guess this is a 2003 model, I bougth it third hand. It's a four string. Black bass. Well they all look alike and they are all passive etc. A basic bass, that's why you want one. Maple fretboard (for looks I would have liked a rosewood fretboard, I am not sure if it would influence the sound)

It's a good bass. I like the position of the pickup. There is not a big difference in sound if you turn the knobs. But it sound the way I want a bass to sound.

I guess I am a rock player. But it sounds pretty funky as well. No noises, just sound. I haven't used this one on stage, I bought to practise during a two year stay abroad. The sustain surprised me, I can make it sing pretty good.

I tried a few in stores and quality differs between basses. In one store I got the feeling that they selected a really bad OLP to have people buy a SUB. My OLP sounds a lot like the SUB I liked in the shop, since SUBs differ in sound as well.

It lacks a bit of balance between the high and the low notes. You don't notice it if you are a beginner and you can play around it if you are more experienced. The phase in between those two will probably make you buy a different bass. (Don't sell your OLP, you'll be sorry)

This one was pretty well taken care of if you look at set-up. It was pretty dirty when I bought it. I could get it cleaned pretty easy with some handsoap (if it's good for your skin, it's good for your bass). The " chips" in the body turned out to be dirt (I really don't want to know what it was).

As I said earlier I tried some other OLPs and set ups differed/ was terrible on some. Some shops don;t setup cheap guitars, so might want to buy your bass at a place that does, or spend some money on having it set up: don't screw up your first bass, you'll never buy another one again. An OLP is a copy of a very good design so it's easy to adjust it if you know what you are doing.

My OLP is black and white, I like the natural finish and the other new (2006) colors much better.

Seems pretty solid, the previous owner used it to gig, but he bought a " real" one in the end. I hope he picked a good one and didn't order one online: he might be surprised.

It's a straightforward, solid bass. I think he will endure. It's good to have around as a back up, in case you to decide to upgrade to a Sub or MM Stingray, or some other nice bass.

Strap buttons are solid but I added some Grolsh pop-up rubbers. I think you can easily take the change to use it at a gig without a back up: not a lot you can break on this bass.

Since I will probably not need it I will have to give them a 10, incredibly kind and helpfull of them to make such a solid bass :-)

I have been playing for 20 (has it been that long) years. My first bass was a Aria Pro2 TSB series, a friend of mine still uses it for home recording (although I would like to buy it back some day). I owned a Warwick Fortress One passive, but it got stolen. I think the OLP might "cut the mix" better then this pretty high end bass, although the Warwick was fast and beautifull, it lacked a bit of body. But I am still looking for one. Bought a Gibson EB-3 (1969) because she was the best bass I could buy from the insurance money. I really liked it for quite some years (10?). Leaving for Canada I sold it to a blues guy and I can tell you he is really happy with it. I had a Hohner Steinberg copy, pretty good humbuckers but lacked a bit of definition, I can understand that it's great for reggae. I still have a nice Eko BA4 FL bass stored, the best acoutic bass I ever played and a nice addition being fretless. It has a small element and sounds like a double bass. I do miss my Ampeg Dan Armstrong (reiissue) which is in storage. Just bit more versatile and defined, which makes it a great bass (not just good looking).

The OLP is a great bass, as a beginner it helps you on your way pretty good. Other basses you might want to try is the Cort bass, or the Ibanez starters bass (which is active!). I didn't like the cheap Squier basses that are availabel new (old Japanese/ Mexican Squiers are something else), the Richwood Jazz bass and the London City Precision bass are much better. But you might get lucky, the sound differs in some basses in this pricerange.

If you already have played for a number of years: this bass is a great back up or nice to have at f.i. a friends place.

Standard 4-string, flame maple top, natural finish, red tortoise pickguard. Made in China, probably in mid-2005.

Having owned Fender, B.C. Rich, Rickenbacker, G & L, and other assorted basses (but not a Music Man), I would have to say that the sound is not too different from a Fender P or J. It doesn't have a wide range of tonal possibilities, but I can see this working for most styles of music. It's a punchy, middle-of-the road sound. Use your amp to adjust--that's what it's there for. (I play through a Fender Rumble 100.)

Okay, here's where the going gets rough. I would NOT buy one of these sight unseen. While the woods and finish on my bass are pretty good, there were a number of things that I had to correct to make this a decent instrument.

First, I filed the fret ends. I don't know if they are all like this, but the frets on my bass would be taking nicks out of my flesh if I hadn't filed them down. Don't be put off by this, it's easy. Just grab a medium fine file and carefully slide it up and down the edge of the neck, gradually bringing the angle down until you get a nice rounded edge. Takes about half an hour.

Next, I adjusted the truss rod and lowered the bridge saddles to my preferred action. The truss rod is nothing to fear, but you want to go easy, like half a turn for starters, and then wait a couple days to see how the neck reacts. Also, take humidity into account. I notice that the neck will bow slightly depending on the weather.

Because of a slight bridge/neck misalignment, I then loosened the neck screws a bit and shifted the neck to one side. Problem solved. (Be sure to loosen strings first.)

Still remaining to be done is the replacement of the pots, but I may never get around to it. Most of the time there's no need to be turning up and down a lot, but ideally I would have more linear, high-quality controls. I would also prefer a pan pot instead of two volumes.

After that, the only remaining flaws are a slightly warped pickguard and a not-quite-smooth back of the neck. Neither of these things bother me much. The important thing is that the neck and fretboard are nice and straight, with very little buzzing. (It's next to impossible to find a bass with low action and absolutely no buzz. It's usually the D-string.) The bass also has excellent balance and is very comfortable to play. No one has come up with a better body design than Leo Fender.

I may sound like this was a lot of work, but not really. It only took me a couple hours total and as a result, for about $200, I have a bass that plays and sounds as good as one costing $1000.

As solid as any other I've owned, but you don't really know until you've gigged with something for months, which I haven't done. I can't see what would go wrong except maybe something with the jack. Again, I would probably want to upgrade the electronics. The pickup, however, is just fine.

No idea, though I did send an e-mail inquiry which never was answered.

I've played bass for fun and profit for over 30 years, though I took a hiatus from 1997 until late 2005. I bought the OLP Stingray as a cheap way to get back into playing and have now owned it for five months. If you're willing to put in a little work, this is a hard deal to beat. It's only possible because of the cheap foreign labor, of course. But unless you are willing to spend the bucks for an American-made bass, I'd give this one some consideration. Save your money for a really good amp, which will count a lot more on stage.

I bought a black MM2 last summer, it has a maple neck and the black shell scratch plate, 3 controls, two volume and a tone with passive electronics. Its a chinese copy of a music man stingray bass. It comes with no accessories or bag, so i bought a thomann hard case for 50 euros which i was pleased with.

I play a range of styles in my home spun indie-ish music. i use it with a 60watt Behringer bass combo that i connect direct into a Boss BR1600CD hard disc recorder. I found the best sound to be controls full up where it has a full solid bass sound, much better than I expected. the sustain is great and holds its tone very well. Although the sound on the bass is not that versatile i found it the bass tone holds up well with the effects patches in the Boss and through the Behringer. I would have prefered not to have Ernie Ball bass strings as I find them a bit light but other reviews have warned against using heavy strings as the truss rod is not suited to them. However I have made do ok with them for now. I like the sound best using a pick for a driving rock sound, but it is lovely and warm from the fingers.

It came set up fine for a beginner. So I did need to make some adjustments, the truss rod - the neck was slightly too flat and I reset the intonation with a tuner(although it did sound ok to my ear). I dont expect to buy equipment this cheap on the internet and arrive ready to play for an experienced musician. Thats what music shops are for. Apart from that everything else was satisfactory.

I bought a hard case for it but a gig bag would suffice for normal use as it is of a very hardy construction. i dont expect any problems.

I bought it through Thomann Musikhaus in Germany. I have not ever experienced any problems with any equipment from them.

I've been playing over 25 years and only record at home now (except for Irish trad fiddle down the pub)so I wanted a bass of good quality and sound without burning a hole in my pocket as I play other instruments. Therefore, I cant speak highly enough of it especially for its price and highlights value for money in the more expensive brands.

If you are familiar with the musicman line of electric basses particulalry the SUB models then you have an idea of the feature set on the OLP MM2.

Be forwarned this is not a bass I would ever buy online. Fit and finish is erratic some OLP MM2's at my local GC store and Sam Ash were unplayable: buzzing electronics/pots, severely bowed neck,etc.

I finally found an OLP MM2 that wasn't defective at guitar center, It happened to be a 5 string as the three 4 strings on display were shot.

The sound lacked overall body and roundness. The tone while brighter than some bass models had more splat than snap. I tried ajusting the tone pots but all I could dial in was more mud which may give the impression of weight untill you try to fit it in a mix

All and all the tone was unsatisfying.

Like I said the 3 OLP MM2's at GC were unusable, one seemed to have the neck jammed into the body as it was not fitted properly. This leads me to believe that OLP's CHinese factory has serious quality control issues. Even on the usable OLP, the frets were done poorly snagging my fingers as they move up and down the neck/fretboard.

the pots and switches were flimsey, I can only imagine the problems that would develop over prolonged use

I am a guitar player first. And I do love a bargain, In addition to several Fenders I have a PRS Custom and McCarty. I also have a PRS designed SE Santana and SE Custom. The koreans are making some great guitars and if I didn't have the scratch, I'd be happy with either SE models. IMO they offer much of the preformance of the pricier PRS guitars at 1/6 the price. The same cannot be said of the OLP MM2.

Next to an Ernie BAll Stingray or even a SUBBASS the difference in quality, action, and tone are like night and day. The Ernie Ball Basses sound taught deep with sufficient snap -you can dial in tone from Chilli Peppers (pre 92) to Chevelle and the action is perfect.

The OLP MM2's on the other hand look nice but feel like crap and sound little better. IMO anyone that says that the OLP MM2 compares to the Ernie Ball Music Man basses is either lying or has severe sensory deprevation.

If you can't afford a genuine Ernie Ball musicman check out one of the Ibanez line of basses While never my personal favorite, Ibanez consistantly puts out decent quality basses that have a large tonal pallete for very little money. If you must have an OLP MM2 at the very least audition it at your local music store before buying it.

2005 OLP MM2 bass, just like the others below. The MM2 is the four-string version with 21 frets. 2 volume controls and one tone control. One humbucker in the bridge, and each volume pot corresponds to one coil on the humbucker. Passive electronics. Maple neck and fingerboard with an (apparently) flame maple top on a basswood body (if someone told me the flame maple was just painted on, I'd believe them). A trully awful tortoise shell pick guard that looks like it was printed from an inkjet printer (not one of those 3D shiny Fender celluloid pick guards, that's for sure). Neat looking and rather robust Musicman copy bridge. Open gear 3/1 tuners. 34" scale, came with nothing other than a few adjustment keys. Standard stuff here, folks.

I think this bass is more of a cosmetic copy of a Ernie Ball Stingray than an audible copy. This sounds like a Squier Jazz bass with both pickups located at the bridge. Turn off one coil, and it will sound exactly like a neck/bridge pickup of a jazz bass. No noise if both coils are on, hum when one is on... just like a Jazz bass. Stingrays are active whereas this bass is certainly passive. It has markedly higher output than a Jazz, but the bass-iness is somewhat less. This is by no means a rumbling, orgasm-inducing bass. The higher outputtedness (I made up a word!) results in much much better harmonics than on other basses. The harmonics just FLY off this thing, and the harmonics even sound BETTER with both coils on than just the bridge coil. Good stuff, but NOT Stingray caliber. I prefer this sound over a Squier Jazz bass since the trebles are more defined. One thing to note is that since the pickup is near the bridge, if you play with fingers (and rest your thumb on a pickup), you will have to play near the bridge, which dictates your sound a fair bit. If you are using this as a main axe, your amp is probably 20 watts, and that means you wouldn't get the added benifit of a bassier sound anyway.

The setup was appalling from the factory. First of all, the truss rod was completely tightened. The neck was dead straight; not any bow whatsoever. I put on heavy gauge strings (which I use) and the neck bowed eversoslightly (when pressing the first and last frets, there was less than a dime's thickness worth of clearance at the 7th-8th frets). It just so happens that I love straight necks, but instruments are not supposed to be shipped that way. The finish seemed solid, but there were cracks in it as soon as I bought it. The neck joint looked crudely cut. On the neck itself, there was this bizarre guck all over the place that resembled dried glue. This was in splotches on the back of the neck, making playability a bit difficult. Once it was removed, it plays fine. There is thicker guck on the fingerboard, and it looks like an vintage 50's maple neck strat. The aesthetic is nice, if that's your thing, but it should not come from the factory like this. There isn't enough sponge under the pickup, meaning you can press down on it and totally kill volume. The worst thing of them all is the fact that the nut was not centred on the bass. The nut (which is made of hard plastic) was literally 3-4mm shifted over to the bass side. When I knocked it centre (with a hammer... i doubt the nut was even glued down), I found out that the nut is slightly wider than the neck is. All these things are not a result from bad quality, but piss poor construction at the factory.

This bass is very light in weight, and I don't think in a swamp-ash kinda way. This is a low priced bass, and it's rock solid for the price. Nothing will break. The one major problem that this bass has is the neck. It's thin and jazz-bass like (in my opinion... other people say it's more of a P-Bass neck, but mine is nowhere as wide or as thick), and it's very flimsy. Remember, my truss rod is completely tight. With the strings on and using just a bit of pressure, I can bend the neck until there's at least an inch and a half of action. That's not good. I'm confident that, if I tried, I could just snap this neck. Another thing to note is the the action and tuning change significantly, depending on what position I play in! If I'm on the couch and am playing the bass on it's back (strings facing the ceiling), the weight of the headstock will flatten the neck out, and all my strings will go sharp and fret out every second. If I play "properly", it's fine. If anyone else has had these problems, let me know. But other than the neck, this is a solid bass. Would I gig without a backup? Well, this is a backup. In fact, it's my second backup.

I sent them an e-mail inquiring about string gauge, and got a response in hours. If I ever had a problem, I bet they would be willing to help.

My review may have seemed down on this bass, but in fact, I think it's great. Actually, it is THE best starter bass ever. This isn't my first bass, but for anyone starting out and wondering which cheapo bass to buy, this is it. I am a Fender die hard and have a 5 string and a fretless Jazz. I also have a Squier Affinity Jazz kicking around. I run these thru a Bassman 250 210 with various effects. I prefer this to the Jazz bass because of the higher treble response, and the necks have just about the same feel. The body of this bass is just better (and better looking) than the Squier Affinity Jazz. Go and buy one if you can find it at a good price. All my negative comments were in comparison to "real" basses. Giving extra marks just because it's cheap defeats the purpose.

2 pickup volumes (1 for each passive pickup - H/H) and 1 tone control.
I got the metallic/sparkly turquoise w/ matching headstock, white/black/white/ layered scratchplate (pickguard), all chromed hardware and maple neck and fretboard.

A basic but functional featured bass, that looks great.

Methodology:
OLP MM2 - Yamahe NE1 Nathan East Signature Parametirc EQ - BCB60 - Peterson Strobostomp - Jim Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah - Boss PH3 Phaser - Boss ODB3 Bass overdrive - Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor - Peavey 400W VI Head - Peavey 2x10 w.compression horn - Peavey 1x15 w/Black Widow driver.

Methodology:
OLP MM2 - Yamahe NE1 Nathan East Signature Parametirc EQ - BCB60 - Peterson Strobostomp - Jim Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah - Boss PH3 Phaser - Boss ODB3 Bass overdrive - Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor - Peavey 400W VI Head - Peavey 2x10 w.compression horn - Peavey 1x15 w/Black Widow driver.

Funk, funk-rock and rock all sound great being played on this bass.

I don't get much noise from this bass but it helps that I basically keep both volumes rolled right up, as this is where the bass sounds at it's best. I also keep the tone rolled right on, so that I can take advantage of it's snappy, tight, zingy high and mids. This isn't the bass with the biggest bottom end but if i do need an extra low subtlty I just roll the tone off slightly and it gives more of an r'n'b bump. Playing with a pick sounds good if you want to venture into punk or pop rock.

The highs and mids are great for slapping and smooth, yet defined, high end work is fun and rewarding. Unfortunately in lacks in lower low-end but this maybe be due to a lack of preamp, but due to relatively powerful pickups for passive ones, the sustain is great which allows for great support in essntially a 3 piece with a cutting guitar.

The bass wasn't setup too well when I received it but, this is a lower priced bass and a great setup isn't to be expected when received but easy to adjust truss rod and saddles, that stay put make for quick basic setup with lasting results.

Electronically, this is a relatively basic bass, but even so the control cavity could have been cleared of a bit of wood dust. Having said this, the bass is low on noise and any copper shielding introduced into the easily ccessible cavity would be pointless.

The pickups are powerful for passive pickups and the controls (although i prefer a little more resistance) are spot on for what is needed and have caused me no noise or crackling whatsoever.

Fretwork was chunky but realtively well finished for a bass of this calibre.

I have used this bass as my main bass, for about 3 years now gigging regularly and rehearsing up to 3 times a week. I rarely take a backup bass to a gig and it's it's never let me down on stage.

The hardware is of decent quality, the finish seems durable and Strap buttons are immoveable.

I've encountered 3 small problems, 2 of which are connected.

Firstly due to acclimatisation, the neck has needed to be adjusted slightly, but little problem when it's easy to do as this.

Secondly, the jack socket became a little loose and turned in it's hole due to the washer nuts either side becming loose. My quick fixes tightening wiht ym fingers during rehearsals and gigs, meant that eventually at a rehearsal, the wire same away from the soulder and the signal dropped out. A quick soulder and a gripping washer and everything was sound. Would have been a bugger if it had happened at a gig!!!!

N/A

I've been playing around 5/6 years now and feel my knowledge and and proficiency of bass allows me to give an accurate and unbiased opinion on this bass.

Using this bass, I have a found "my tone" which as I feel i have a soncic identity now. If it were stolen or burned or used for matchsticks I wouldn't get another as I have more funds now and I crave soemthing active with a bit more oomph, but this doesnt mean it's not a good bass.

To compare it to a real Musicman is unfair as not only is this bass passive, it's also about #1000 cheaper. So you are not going to get the same thing. But as a stand alone bass this is a funky-looking, multipurpose, workhorse of a bass, that is a step above most other basses out there for the same price-range. If youre thinking of buying this for a beginner, do it. This will benefit bass player from beginner to semi-pro and will serve you a long time.

Oredered it last month from Ebay so I guess it is a 2005 model. Black paint with black hardware. It looks great. Came with a gigbag, a cheapy cable (now in the trash, not gig worthy in the least) and a tool to adjust the neck. For the price I couldn't have picked a cooler looking guitar. It doesn't have all the features of an EB MM Stingray, but side by side, they look almost identical. I would have liked the control switch though like on the real deal.

The OLP gig bags are not the best. I would suggest getting another one that has padding. I gave the bag to my bro to throw a beater bass in.

Here are the factory specs:
Basswood body
Maple Neck (bolt on)
Rosewood Fretboard (very well made)
34" Scale
22 Jumbo Frets
Black Hardware (generic fender style tuners)
MM Style Pickup (this pickup is huge)
2 Volume Controls
1 Tone Control

I play a lot of alt-rock, punk and classic rock. I didn't think this bass was up to the job, but after playing it I just had to have it.

It really is a one trick pony, it is basically a punk rock bass; but, if your like me, once you want something it just doesn't matter, you end up getting it anyway.

The sound is great. It sounds like a bass should. It is loud and low, and in general that is what I wanted.

The tone control is basically there for show. Nuff said on that.

I haven't used it live yet, but I will here shortly.

The factory set up left a lot to be desired. I had to adjust the neck due to fret buzz and then had to do an intonation set up with the saddles. I think if I had got it at a shop this would have already been done though.

The paint was great, the neck is solid and the fret board is really nice. The fret job was average. They were fitted poorly and do not appear to be have been polished at all. Luckily, there are no jagged frets, so someone actually took the time to at least file them smooth.

After a phone call and about 10 minutes worth of my time it was set up great and feels and plays as well as any expensive bass I have played.

I must say that I like the feel of the neck. It is fatter than a Fender style neck, more like a Jackson in my opinion.

I have only had this a short time. But, this thing feels like a tank. It is heavy and built solid. I haven't started gigging with it yet, but I will soon.

Everything was nice and tight coming out of the box(screws, knobs, etc). I have had trouble with lose screws and such on every guitar or bass I have ever owned. I carry a bottle of super glue in my effects case to fix issues like that.

I will be suprised if this doesn't last at least as long as a Squire or any other low end instrument.

I will be using this for shows with out a backup. I play guitar in another band, so I will not be buying two basses.

I actually called the company (they are in Florida) to ask about the neck adjustmetns. They answered the first time I called, and were more than helpful. They guy I talked to was friendly, knowledgable and very willing to give me directions over the phone.

I am not sure about the warranty. I through all the paperwork away by mistake. They do have a way to register your bass on line, but I haven't done it. I probably wont. I like taking my stuff to a local shop and having the guy there fix it, or upgrade it.

I have been playing for about 12 years. I play guitar mostly, but started on bass and was asked recently to start sitting in with some guys as the bass player. I needed a cheapy bass and that was what I was shoppong for.

My only camparisons were with other very low end basses. I choose this one mostly for looks. I wish it had the added features of the EB MM Stingray, but I can live without them. And, this is not a $1000 guitar.

For those of you that gig on a regular basis and want to bring this baby up a notch, my local shop says you can upgrade all the electronics to the Music Man factory issue parts for about $200. That would make this thing like a $500 guitar and in my opinion it simply isn't worth that.

If your a serious bass player(or want to be), buy something with a few more features and more tonal control. I'll say this, I bought it for looks first, playability second and sound quality third.

This is really a beginer to intermediate players bass.

I bought this used (a week ago) and I think it is a 2004 model. This is black with black metal parts, basswood body, maple neck and rosewood frefboard. The rest is as in the previous reviews. Nothing to complain about so far.

This bass gives a nice sound for slapping. I always compare everything to my Ric and you can tell why Ric costs 7 times more than this bass. Acoustically, compared to the rich and full sound of Ric, this has a hallow toylike sound. When plugged in, the difference is the same. I am not saying that this bass has a bad sound, because the sounds is ok for many types of music. And it is quite loud bass actually. The hollowness in the sound is propably due to the wood material used in this bass. I'm using this instrument for slapping and i am happy eith it so far. For everything else I use my Ric.

Dont know about the factory set up. I had to readjust everything to suite me. The problem with this bass, is the neck. On my Ric the neck is bullet straight and I have never adjusted it. This ones neck needed to be straightened. It came up fairly good but is by no means bullet straight. The previous owner said that he has adjusted the neck a couple of times. I am not completely happy with it.
Fit & finish are ok. No complaints.

I've owned it for a week, so no opinion.

I've played for 20 years.
I would propably by another one if stolen or lost. 200 for this bass is a really good value for your money

natural finish with maple neck, 21 frets, passive p'ups , turtle scratch plate....the best looking OLP on the market besides the all natural with black body.....

the sound of this bass is briliant. I am a poor australian uni student, so i can't afford a real decent bass (let alone a genuine AU$3000 stingray)--but for the money, what more could i ask?
I have not sat down in a shop and directly compared sounds, but this bass sounds exactly like the stingrays on records (eg-louis johnson, reel big fish, and of course, FLEA-who made the bass famous).
I generally boost the 1-5khz range, to get that burpy vocal quality of the pickup, and it more than does the job-i use it on demos, live, other stuff...it really is fantastic-and I'm a tone fanatic!!!
I don't think i'll ever spend 3 grand on a real one, when i can get these for AU$200 from a shop (mate's-rates!)

ok- i got this from ebay, and the shop had it pretty badly set up (but that was fixed in ten minutes). the only proble m i have is the neck finish-none-so there is constant dirt marks on the finger-board (cause i'm an intense player....)BUT-this is also evident oin the real stingers, so i suggest apply some NITROCELLULOSE LACQUER-and it comes up beautifully!!!!...this is not a 3grand bass, so it can't be perfect!

man-stays in tune a lifetime, never used my backup, light as a feather, looks great, feels great....there is no better bass for this price. I have adjusted the truss and action but once- and it's still the same today, so GET ONE NOW!

never dealt with anyone- but i doubt they'll fuss about problems with a cheaper-range bass.

I use a marshall 400 watt head (oohh yeah), a celestion 4x10" plus tweeter, and an eminince 15". what can i say-this makes it loud, but the tone is in the bass.
all i wish this bass had was a pre-amp (if these make it sound better)- but there's a preamp on my head, and in my compressor, so i den't see why i'd need one otherwise. overall-i need more of these!!!

Brand new MM2. This one has a rosewood fretboard, unlike many with the all-maple setup. Simple bass: 1 humbucker with individual coil volume controls, so you can get the J-type sound.

I love the way this sounds. I'm playing it with a Behringer BX3000T head, Steelsound maple 1x15 with an Eminence Delta15LF and a Steelsound maple 2x10 with Madison Warriors. I also run it through an Ibanez PhatHed bass OD. It kills, very heartily and eagerly. Rich, thick, and full sounds. Roll off the volume on one of the coils, and you can get a nice twangy J sound. I experienced no noise from this, even with distortion on at stage volume levels. It sounds like no $220 bass should. Top-notch.

Well, I got it yesterday, shipped via FedEx from the factory. It was obviously a bit out of tune, and needed minor setting up. I dropped the action a tad, lowered and leveled the pickup, tuned up, and plugged in, and it sounded great. The paint is gorgeous (pearl blue). The only tiff about the paint is on the headstock you can see a bit of where they oversprayed the edges, and you can see the silver basecoat underneath the blue. Very minor. The frets are all smooth along the bottom of the neck. Playing it feels just like I remember playing my buddy's StingRay for a few hours last year. Same heft, same feel. Obviously not 100%, but still a reasonable, quality facsimile, and a very playable bass.

It's heavy as hell, feels very solid. But time will tell. I'm an abusive bastard to my basses and guitars, I play hard and fast, and I fling myself about the stage. My band plays shows all the time, and I have heavy hands. I don't think I'll have many problems, but I have a shitty backup just in case.

Hm?

I've been playing bass since '96, and I've owned numerous basses and guitars in that time. This ranks among the highest-quality instruments I've owned. It has that StingRay mojo as well. A buddy of mine came into the dark garage where we jam and the first thing he said was "oh fuck, you got a StingRay!" I had to show him the headstock, but by then he was plucking away, and raving about how good it felt and sounded. I honestly don't have any complaints about this bass. For $225 brand new, it's a steal. Insane bargain. I'll give an update in a few months after it's seen significant gig and tour abuse. In the meantime, this bass makes me want to play more, and I like that.

www.CitiesBurnAway.com
-Sin City Metal-

Not bad for a bass in this price range. Ash body with clear finish. Musicman pickup config. This bass has all the markings of a Stingray. Cool bass. It's balance is excellent. real good starter bass.

Passive pickup have there limitations. Round bottom end and strong mid range but the top end lack definition. The easy fix is active Duncan musicman replacement pickups which I'm told is what everyone is doing to get close to a Musicman sound without dropping the bucks. Pretty simple controls not a lot of tweeking possibilities. Overall usable sound.

The fit was so so. Bass side of the neck joint had a gap. The finish had what can only be described as shadowing that could be seen when viewed at an angle. The worst thing about this bass was the action. The majority of the 21 frets were not seated properly. It was impossible to get the action at an acceptable level. The OLP rep's advise was to have the neck re-freted and leveled which is a $200.00 plus dollar investment where I live. Needless to say, the bass didn't stay around very long.

Can't really tell how reliable it would be. It seemed solid probably would have held up well.

As I said I contacted OLP via email and they responded promptly but overall I got the feeling that they weren't really all that concerned about their produces quality and my dissatisfaction. I guess you get what you get at that price range.

I've been playing for around 10 years and I'm by no means a killer bass player. I do have the ability the spend massive amounts of money on unnecessary basses, an excerise I indulged in regularly.So you ask, why the hell did you buy this? I figured if I could get a well playing bass at this price range I would up date the electronics and have a respectable bass. What I learned is that if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. I figured before I drop another $400 in a $200 bass I should just give it to some needy student. Would I take a chance on another one. No! Would I recommend an OLP if some 14 year old wanted to see if he or she could play an instrument. Yes! But if you're a player looking for a great sounding bass, put the $200 toward a Ken Smith.

This is my second update on this bass.
The last update was a year and a half ago.
This bass has gone thru hell.
Bounced around in vans, trunk of my car and in trailers for close to 2 years.
I leave it in my trunk at all times when I'm not playing it.
In Northern Illinois it gets from 30 below zero to 105 in the summer.
The abuse did knock it out of adjustment.
But I set it back up in less than an hour.
It has never failed me and I have had many positive comments on its looks and sound.
It still looks new with no noticable wear.
This has been my only gigging bass for close to 2 years.
Just a great bass and a real work horse.
Only problem has been that one of the volume controls got broken while in transit.
The reason for this is the gig bag.
It does not protect the bass like a hard case.
I just polished it up for a jazz gig I have to do tomorrow.
Looks lovely.

Been playing 30+ years.

New, 2004/5 MM2 Stingray Style Bass. All Black with pearl pickguard, black metal parts (knobs, control plate, bridge and open-geared tuners). One-piece maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets, basswood body, and nice Stingray style truss rod adjustment at the heel which allows adjustment without removal of the pickguard or neck. Two volume controls for each of the single humbucker's single coil pickups and a tone control.

At this price point -- $229 -- incredible. Some variety with the coil split, but not as much as with a real Music Man, but this is about a grand cheaper, so get a Seymour Duncan replacement and it'll be great (I'm keeping it stock for a while, though, as I found a sound I like -- both coils full on, with tone set in farthest treble position). Great set up for slap and pop technique. Some have said it will be noisy when you turn down or off one of the coils, but I have not found this to be the case. You do get a difference, but for some reason, I like it better with the top coil on and bottom off when I don't use both.

This looked good and was set up great right out of the box. Perfect action on this and another MM2 they had at the Guitar Center where I bought this. Either I lucked out, based on previous reviews, or they are doing these better, but Inspector Number 3 was sure doing his job right with this one. Great action for slap and pop technique -- no buzzing anywhere. It felt as good and as right as any Ernie Ball Stingray I have played, and that is why I bought it immediately. Finish seems great too, although I don't really like the totla blackout treatment, but I was buying for set up, not looks.

Seems to be built like a tank. Nice fat neck, like a P-neck, solid feeling controls. The output jack looks cheap, and a few screws were kind of scuffed, and the black finish looks like it will wear sometime, but it still seems like a quality piece. Not much taper to the controls, but there never is on these lower-priced gems.

Can't tell. They ahve an interesting web site.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I proved to myself that Squier makes a great jazz bass. Now I am convinced that OLP makes a great Stingray. Either I've gotten to the point where the instrument I play does not matter, or, as I suspect, these low-cost instruments are just as good -- sometimes even better -- than their pricey counterparts. I've been playing for more years than I care to think about and, having reached a point where I actually think I have a lot of my tone in my fingers, I am pleased to f