OLP MM2 StingRay

Made in China, 2006-7? 4 string with one large, passive, humbucking pickup which has a volume for each coil so that it can also get single coil tones. So, two volume and one tone control. All the other features are pretty much as with a Music Man Stingray, but lower quality no doubt. Oh yeah, the body is Basswood and I think the neck is Maple with Rosewood fretboard.

I play mainly blues/folk acid rock, kind of 60's style. This suits my style OK. Actually I'm more of a hack guitarist than a bassist and so far I've only used this for home recording, direct, digital. I haven't a bass amp at all. I think the bass is pretty versatile, though perhaps some sounds are easier to get with active pickups. I think the pickup sounds good though not great. It certainly sounds much better than one Squier I checked out recently.

I really can't find any flaws in this category. It is well constructed. Mine has a nice glossy black finish, but I'm not all that fond of the perloid pick guard.The set up has the action a little high, which I don't mind, but I should probably get around to lowering it and seeing if it buzzes or not. The neck seems too straight,if that makes sense, so maybe I should adjust the truss rod. It is easily accessible at the base of the neck on the face side. If I can get the action a little lower without it buzzing, I'd actually give it a 10 here, especially considering the price. Maybe I got lucky?

I haven't played it all that much in the year or so I've had it. I think it would hold up pretty well. My only concerns are that maybe the neck/truss rod might need frequent adjustment because I think the action has changed since I bought it(Loosen string when not playing?)and the tuning pegs seem to be at least partly plastic, though maybe if they are nylon that is not a problem. Not sure?

I think the bass was good value. I like the classic style. I really hate instrument designed to look like medieval weaponry. Grow up! I like the black finish, but like I said, the pearloid pick guard, not so much.

I chose this bass because I am a hobbiest and can't see forking out the money for a real Stingray or Gibson, Fender, etc., but this seemed like a decent instrument for the price. My guitars are an Ibanez Les Paul copy, a Shadow (Strat style HSS), and a Yamaha 12 string acoustic. My amp is a Fender Deluxe 85 which I use as power amp for my Zoom G7-1ut and I have a Zoom MRS-802 for direct recording.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years, but only played in a real performing band for about 2-years. Always played original music because it is easier to write my own and play friend's songs than copy others.

I am reviewing my 2006 OLP MM2 Bass gutar. It is essentially an inexspensive copy of a 4 string Music Man Stingray. Passive electronics with one Music Man style pickup (humbucker, I guess) and two volume and one tone control. I'm assuming it is a basswood body. Mine has a flame maple top and maple neck and fingerboard. Made in China.

I use this bass in a punk/classic rock band. I run it through a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI into a Behringer BX3000T head and Gallien/Kreuger GLX 1X15 cabinet. I use Rotosound Swing Bass 66 strings. I almost never slap. I'm about 90/10 fingerstyle to pickstyle.

My main bass is a G&L L-2000 (reviewed elswhere on this site) but I have been using my MM2 lately for gigs. We play quite a bit and I have owned and played my G&L since 1986 so I have a pretty good feel for how this bass compares to higher end instruments.

The MM2 is not as sonically flexible as the G&L but it does give me a reasonable Stingray zing. With some tone tweaking on my amp, I can dial in a pretty nice P-bass thump as well.

What do I like about this bass? Good looks, reasonable Stingray sound, durable, cheap ...and it keeps my G&L safe.

The bass came out of the (cardboard) box set up pretty nice. Low medium action. I put a set of Rotosounds and straplocks on it right away. Nice looking flame maple top and maple fingerboard. Workmanship overall acceptable to good, particularly considering the price. Two complaints: The volume and tone pots are cheap and noisy. A blast of contact cleaner helps. And the strap button holes constantly have to be tended to. That may be due to the softer wood and the fact that I throw the thing around quite a bit.

This bass has been very durable for me and I'm pretty hard on it. I wrench on the neck, bang on the body and literaly throw it around. It has held up well. As I said earlier, I have to keep up on the strap buttons and blast the pots every once in awhile. I wouldn't gig without a backup bass regardless of what I'm using.

I've never had to deal with the company. My guess is that at this price, they wouldn't be much help.

I've been playing bass since 1979. Besides the MM@ and the G&L, I also have a Squier Precision that I use as my backup. I've had a few other basses in the past, both higher and lower quality. I play almost every weekend.

I bought this bass because I wanted the Stingray look and sound. It gives me a reasonable fascimile of that at a great price. When I can afford a real Stingray, I will purchase one.

Two thinks to note: My ratings are relative to this price range, not to my G&L or other higher end equipment. And second, my son owns an MM2 that isn't quite as nice as mine. I would assume that the quality of these basses will very greatly.

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 find quality instruments that are very easy to afford. Look at it this way -- in two weeks I picked up a jazz bass sound and a Stingray bass sound for a little over $400. Not a bad deal. People call these brands "beginner basses," but they are only beginner basses in terms of new players not wanting to shell out a lot for an instrument they have not yet learned to play. All players can be easily pleased with these OLP basses. I know I am.

Bought in 2004. Features as described in other reviews here. Opted for the Black body/black headstock version w/maple neck.

In a word - brilliant. Echo what's been largely said here. Overall it sounds like a bass twice or three times its price with a low growl and tight bite on the top strings. It's the first bass I've ever owned with a "sweet spot". The first three frets on the G & D have a really satisfying feel and sound to them. Have no gripe with the pickup. But through a SansAmp DI box it sounds even punchier. Earthed really well - whereas my Squier Standard Jazz Bass picks any buzz going!

Fit is really good. Feels weighty and well made. Bar the neck fixing plate, chrome fittings look solid. Played well out of the box, but I dropped the action down a touch. No fret buzz. The intonation - after being set - is bang on, and hasn't slipped. This bass also holds in tune really well. The only thing really lets this black version down is the white pickguard. It looks cheap. Swapped for black, the guitar looks perfect. Not sure on the look of the newer models - I guess you either like the sparkly pickguard or you hate it.

Not gigged it yet and only owned it for about 2 months - so unfair to say.

No dealings as yet

This isn't about the MM2, but the MM2 pickup used on another bass I built.

OK, my friend has this MM2 and decides to upgrade to an active pickup and preamp. He wanted a really light StingRay without a heavy price tag as well. So he makes the swap and gives me the old pickup and electrical parts. Trouble is, I didn't have a bass I could put it in. I had gone skiing and bent my metal Volant SuperKarve I alpine snow skis in a hard crash landing and taken the camber out of the bottom sides of the skis. I was wondering what I could use it for. If I had a half dozen more ruined sets of skis I could make a neat lawn chair or something. As I was looking at the flat hard plastic bottom of the ski, I was reminded how it looked like a big fat fretless bass fretboard. Then I thought about the unused MM2 pickup, and wondered what a "stick bass" made out of an old ski would be like. What the hell, give it a try. I took off the ski binding and decided that the bridge would be at the front end of the ski. I fashioned a one piece bridge out of a brass plate I got from a local machine shop, and bolted through the ski to secure it in place. The holes in the ski were 1" slots to allow intonation to be made. I needed to offset the ski fretboard a bit higher, si I cut the ski and bolted the ski back together where the neck on a bass would be. I measured a 34" scale and bolted a brass nut there that I had made from the same brass plate as the bridge. The neck was really wide at 65mm, so I pretended it was a 6 string nut and kept the strings offset to the G string side for easier playing. The pickup was mounted to the ski about 3" from the bridge after I routed the base of the ski a bit to hold the pickup. I had a set of old 2x2 bass tuners, so I drilled the tail end of the ski and mounted them in place by drilling through the ski. After stringing up the ski bass with flatwounds, I noticed that more bending of the ski was in order to get a playably low action. I also had to make a neck shim to get some setback in the neck. The good thing is that a stainless teel ski is not affected by the weather. There is some of that mwah sound that a fretless bass has, but the tone is not at all woody, naturally. I screwed two strap lugs to the bottom of the ski to where it balanced well. The tone controls were mounted to holes drilled through the ski below the bridge, and covered with a metal box cover bolted to the ski. The strings go through holes drilled in the ski near the bridge. It's the best sounding ski bass I ever heard, because it's the only one I ever heard. It's a great gag bass. Doesn't really sound like an MM2 or any other wood bass I ever heard, but that was expected. Unique tone.

The action kind of sucks, but it's playable on simple stuff. The ski bass is very light with a slim body. I'm really not a fretless bass player, so I don't know how to compare it to other fretless basses. It's hard to rate this category, as not too many ski basses exist, I would suppose. My workmanship isn't up to skilled luthier standards, of course.

It would be hard to imagine anything more durable. Stainless steel and P-tex tend to last forever it seems.

None.

With free pickups and electrics and being able to salvage a ruined set of skis for something marginally useful, I think it is outstanding value. My friend's MM2 sounds good with his active electrics, and he like to mess around with weird sounds the ski bass can produce. It's worth the effort to build just for the unique tone it makes. If I ever get a 6-string pickup, I plan on converting the other bent ski to a 6-string ski bass.

Sting Ray copy with passive pickups and tone control, lightweight basswood body, and Fender Jazz type V-V-T tone controls. Fairly simple bass.

OK, there is basically one way to use this bass: keep both volumes full up to reduce noise. Front and back halves are wired in common humbucking arrangement, so their output voltages need to be even to cancel out noise. Backing off on either half for a single coil Jazz bass sound will result in noise pickup. Get your tone at your preamp and keep the bass tone control at a regular position. I keep mine full up to get all the treble without needing to add treble at the preamp and causing noise. I then back off on the tone control when needing deeper bass. This is a humbucker rock bass. It is very quiet as long as the front and back halves of the pickups are kept balanced in volume for humbucking action to do its job. The neck has the punch of a solid maple neck and the body adds some basswood warmth. Sustain is medium. The neck is 4-bolt and inset about the same length as standard Fender basses. The more expensive passive Mexican Fender basses are not better in any way that I can tell. You MUST add an active preamp if you want the tonal range of a Sting Ray, which was limited to begin with due to the single humbucker pickup. I would have preferred a copy of a G&L L-2000, but the Sting Ray is the more common bass and these things are sold to Sting Ray wannabe owners that don't want to cough up the coin for the real thing. In my eyes, the Sting Ray isn't worth the coin anyway, so I am going for the looks and general feel and am satisfied with the tone which is punchy and good in its own way. I suggest running this through a SansAmp RBI, Bass Driver DI, or an Aguilar OBP-1 or DB924 preamp. That will get you back some of the Sting Ray tonal range at the frequency extremmes although not the exact sound. If you buy any of those good and cheap preamps I mentioned, you can buy all of these cheap Asian basses you want and blow away standard passive Mexican Fender basses all day long unless they are also using active boost. Your sound might go up to a 9 for what you are looking for in tone. People who give these OLP's a 9 or 10 rating just don't know what active electronics can do for Rock Bass. Seymour Duncan makes an active Sting Ray kit for about $200 that will get you very close to a Sting Ray sound, but an Aguilar DB924 can be used with every bass you own to get an active boost. The Aguilar OBP-3 preamp would be my choice for the ultimate tone shaping at a reasonable cost, but it is installed onboard and can't be used with other basses. I bought a SansAmp RBI and use it with all my basses and guitars.

Every cheap Asian guitar I ever saw needed a good setup when it arrived. This was NOT anywhere near ready to play. It was ASSEMBLED and nowhere near SETUP. Very typical low rent Asian situation. Usually several setups are needed as the wood is seasoned out and acclimated. This one was too low and rattled. Now that everything has settled down, the action is nice and low without excess buzzing anywhere. Workmanship is good for a high production Chineses bass. OLP is one of the Elite Brands organization which is a division of Hanser Holdings which owns Kustom amps. You can get practically the same bass from Jay Turser except the D tuning key is turned downward for a 2x2 tuning key arrangement which looks retarded. This is the same shape and somewhat the feel of a Sting Ray, except it is lighter and will not get the sound of an active bass. If you do not need custom action, fit, and finish, this is a good bass and no use spending more in my opinion. It makes a VERY GOOD beater gig bass for a semi-pro because of the light weight and fast, comfortable neck with low action capability.....if a Sting Ray feel is your thrill. Just don't get hung up on the fact you want an exact copy of a Sting Ray, because it ain't. There are LOTS of decent instruments coming out of Asia at a low price these days. This is just one of them. A used Asian Spector Legend or Warwick Rock Bass blows right past this bass for a few bucks more. One thing this does have is the easiest truss rod adjustment ever on a bass. That's important if you are a low action junkie.

The soft basswood body will dent up and I had to put glue down the screw holes to harden them and keep screws from stripping. Basswood is very soft and notorious for not holding screws. Just do the glue thing when you get it and use a toothpick to get the glue down into every part of the screw hole. It will be OK after you do the little things that a high speed production line isn't going to address.

If you can't fix these cheap Asian instruments yourself, you should be buying something else that's worth the time and trouble of dinking with by a luthier. Except for a total replacement of something, I wouldn't bother calling the company.

There has been a recent price increase by OLP as I figured there would be as the dollar weakens and OLP gets a reputation. My father got a nice Oscar Schmidt Delta King guitar that is a copy of a Gibson ES-335 for $150 and except for junky strings, it's a really good sounding guitar that took more labor to build than this bass and uses more expensive wood in the body. The people who give it a 9 or 10 aren't looking at what you get from other Asian manufacturers. Be aware that this is a commodity bass coming out of a big Chinese factory that makes basically the same thing for Jay Turser. OLP is just a marketing brand with absolutely no production facilities in the USA. I think it's a better deal than a Mexican Fender because of the higher labor costs in Mexico. HOWEVER, I have bought used basses on eBay for a little extra that are head and shoulders above this bass. My latest was a Spector ReBop in mint condition for a little under $400 when you discount the deluxe gig bag that was thrown in to sweeten the deal. By the time you add a gig bag and active preamp to try to match the Spector, you have a bass at the same price that is inferior all the way around. I would suggest getting one of these basses used and paying AT LEAST $100 less than the Musician's Friend price which is now $252. I can get all the used Asian Spectors that I want for $300 or less on eBay and have the active electronics, double pickups, 3-piece neck, and playability of a Spector. I can get their Czech Republic basses staring at $400 like I did my ReBop. The OLP MM2 in no way compares to a Euro Spector bass, or even their Korean bass with a 3-piece neck, maple top, and active electronics. As the prices of these Chinese basses rise, and used basses go down due to the souring economy, you are a nut to pay as much as I did. I could have waited a bit and got a used MM2 for $150 or less. Forget about an American standard production Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Ernie Ball, G&L, etc. G&L kicks their own butt with their Tribute line of high quality import instruments. You can get them used for what I gave for my Spector bass. They are better than this OLP. Readjust your thinking about low cost instruments. There is almost nothing made in the USA with a street price under $1000 that isn't kicked in the head until dead by an import instrument that costs considerably less. There is not a single ski company making skis in large numbers in America anymore, although there are American owned brands with production facilities overseas, and the guitar industry is heading down the same path. I would just as soon play this OLP MM2 as an American standard P-bass or J-bass, but there are lots of import instruments for less than an American P or J-bass like a G&L Tribute or Euro Spector or Asian built Warwick that just stomps all over them for quality for what you pay. Go pick up an Oscar Schmidt Delta King at $150 before you decide this MM2 rates a 10 at $252. Its a good buy at $150 which is what you get the Delta King for. If you pay a couple of hundred bucks more in the used market, you get VERY pro quality instruments from the higher quality manufacturers like Spector, Warwick, G&L, MTD, etc., that copies their custom USA and German instruments rather closely. Much more closely than OLP does on any of their instruments. OLP markets the look on a generic sound platform. So pay a generic price and not a penny more. Rickenbacker is the only prominent American manufacturer of high production that has no cheap import copies available, but that is a vintage instrument design with a limited market anyway. Their best and most versatile sounding guitar is the 650D which can be had for $700 street price new anyway (hardly worth importing against at that price), and their basses aren't worth the relatively high used prices unless you MUST get that vintage Rick tone and look to fit into a cover band or something ($1750 MSRP for a flatsawn necked production line bass is r

I got this thing used so I have no idea what year it was made but it's black with a blue shell pick gaurd. One passive humbucker. 2 volume controls and one tone and a maple finger board. really nothing special.

Right now I'm playing in a peace punk band (think antischism meets contravene) and I use this as a back up to my active deluxe fender jazz. I use it with a 1976 Fender Bassman 10 and the only effect i use is my digitech distortion. For a passive bass it gets a very good sound but for some reason i can't get it to sound good with distortion. I mean it doesn't sound bad but i like the crunchy sound and all i get with this thing is clean sound with a lot of fuzz around it no matter how much i fiddle with the pedal. I will give it this though it is a VERY quite bass which i like it's the main reason I bought it, but you have to understand that a bass with only one tone control and one pickup will not be very versatile. On my fender I can get a wide variety of great sounds but on this one you only get one good sound but it is a really really good sound!

I bought this bass used so the action, set up and pickups were all great. It seems like a very well put together bass. the strap buttons seem very secure. the only problem with the bass is when I got it home I noticed that whoever owned this bass before me drilled two small holes in the finish. why i don't know. when i saw this I almost took it back, but then i played it for awhile and loved the sound and decided to keep it but if you buy this thing brand new you obviously won't have this problem.

this seems like a very well put together bass. i wouldn't use it as my main bass but it is a solid backup. I've only had to play it live once and it held up very well. the strap buttons seem very secure but i still would recommend taking them out and putting some wood glue in there so they will NEVER come out. I do this with every bass i buy.

never delt with the OLP people.

I'm 23 now and I've been playing for about 7 or 8 years now. like i said i own an active deluxe fender jazz and i use it as my main bass. i used to own a squier standard jazz as my back up but it got stolen so i got this one. I almost bought another squier jazz but the salesperson kept going on and on about this one so i tried it and liked the sound and it was MUCH quiter than the squier. it was also about $100 cheaper. it would be nice if it had another tone control but what do you expect from a bass that retails around $300. I would recommend this bass to someone who's just starting out or for someone who's just looking for a reliable back up. for the price it's one of the better basses you'll get, but like i said earlier in the review this is not a versatile bass. It gets a good rock sound but that's about it.

2003 MODEL, BLUE, SINGLE HUMBUCKER PICK UP, BOG STANDARD STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. PASSIVE, BASIC FEATURES

FANTASTIC SOUND. REALLY QUITE SUPRISED THAT A PASSIVE BASS CAN MAKE A NOISE LIKE THIS. PRODUCES A FANTASTIC DEEP GROWL WITH PLENTY OF ATTACK.

ACTION VERY GOOD. PLAYED WITH FLUIDITY. PICKUP ADJUSTMENT SPOT ON. EVERYTHING AS IT SHOULD BE. FINISH VERY GOOD.

NOT TOO IMPRESSED WITH THIS ASPECT OF THE BASS. HAD IT A YEAR AND WITHIN THAT TIMESCALE, THE NECK HAD BECOME HEAVILY TARNISHED (IT HAD GONE GREEN THROUGH A COMBINATION OF SWEAT AND STRINGS), THE NUT HAD FALLEN OFF AND CRACKS HAD STARTED TO APPEAR ON THE BODY AROUND THE NECK. WAS ALWAYS VERY CAREFUL WITH IT SO QUITE SURPRISED TO SEE THESE FAILINGS. INTONATION HAD TO BE ADUSTED FREQUENTLY AS WAS CONSTANTLY GOING OUT OF TUNE UP THE NECK. REALLY FRUSTRATING.

BEEN PLAYING FOR 17 YEARS. OWN A 5 STRING VERSION OF THIS BASS WHICH I THINK IS SUPERB AND A MILLION MILES BETTER BUILD QUALITY THAN THIS BASS. IT MIGHT JUST BE THE INSTRUMENT I HAD AS IN ALL OTHER ASPECTS THIS BASS WAS SUPERB, BUT A SHAME TO BE LET DOWN BY SUCH SHODDY RELIABILITY. WOULD I BUY ONE AGAIN? NO, I'D SAVE UP FOR THE REAL THING. A GREAT BASS FOR THE STARTER, BUT LIKELY TO FALL APART IN THE FACE OF ANY SERIOUS USE.

2004 Natural finish
Elm Body
Bird's Eye Maple neck
Maple fingerboard w. black dot inlays
Shell pickguard
single passive MM humbucker with dual volume control (each controlling the output of one of the two coils) and tone (high end roll off)
Classic 1976 Stingray look and feel.

MM offer passive basses in this exact same style for those of us who prefer the open sound of the old style electronics. In which I was luck enough to play and it's tone is very very close to its American borther. It has a very nice glassy hi/hi-mid when slapped and all the burpyness and growl of it active counterparts. It resonds very well to right hand dynamics which make this bass as tonally versatile as a single PU bass can be.

Nathan, my bass salesman, already set the bass up for me upon arrival (now a personal standard service for my rather large purchases in past and future)... so I'm unable to say. All the hardware etc was very well installed. some very very minor finish flaws (just less lacquer around the headstock edgs in one spot and in the neck joint). the cutout of the pickguard around the levenson trussrod adjuster is slightly off, which may possibly hinder any trussrond adjustments (it arrived set up just right for me, very very slightly concaved). The Elm body is very hard and hasn't dented when my sax player had a try at being bass player and dropped it. it is a 2 piece body, but sounds great...i've never seen Elm for basses. Frets are perfectly fitted, with above average finishing.
also, my neck has the gorgeoue bird's eye in it- a feature not specified by OLP... luck i guess!

very good solid chrome hardware. this bass was meant to be a back-up to my fender jazz, but it's looking like it'll be used a lot more. it's a great playing and feeling bass.

I love the look, feel and tone... a great bass for the price.

This a review for an OLP MM2 four string bass made in China. This particular model features a natural stain with a tortoise shell style pickup. The body of the bass is elm, and the neck and fret board are maple. The bass features a passive version of the standard Ernie Ball Music Man style pickup, with two volume and one tone controls. Each of the volume controls adjusts the level of one of the coils inside the pickup, so you can achieve a single coil sound or combine both for a wide range of sounds (along with the tone control). The body style is based on the Ernie Ball Music Man bass, featuring a heavy duty four string bridge (not a string through body style). The tuners are open gear style units similar to the Music Man and P-Bass. This is a long scale bass with a fairly wide neck, especially as it approaches the body. The frets are full size. The bass came with a cheap gig bag (from the dealer) and the necessary tools for neck and bridge adjustments.

I play an eclectic range of music, focusing on jazz/funk-infused modern post-punk rock. The MM2 suits my style very well, with a wide range of sounds to dial up. I am playing the bass through the Behringer BX1200 120 watt with 12" speaker bass wedge amp. Once again, the range of sounds is pretty amazing thanks to the two volume and one tone controls. The bass is well-suited for both stage and studio, being incredibly quiet, unless you split the pickup into a single coil...of course, you get the average single coil type of buzz, but nothing obnoxious. I really have no complaints about the sound. I have a friend that owns a Music Man with the active pickup, and I must admit that I do not notice a huge difference in sound or versatility between the two.

When the bass arrived, the action was fairly nice, although there were a number of uneven spots in the fret work, causing buzzes and muted notes. The pickup was adjusted considerably lower than it could or should be. The finish was flawless, and all of the hardware was perfectly set and solid. Really, the only major flaw were the uneven (poorly dressed) frets around the 13th and 15th frets...on the 3rd string only...that resulted in dead notes. Otherwise, it was a well produced instrument.

The design and quality of the bass should allow it to stand the test of time with persistent studio and live action. All of the hardware (tuners, bridge, strap buttons, etc.) seems to be solid, and the finish is immaculate and tough. I would certainly use it for a gig without a backup. The MM2 shows no sign of needing constant neck or intonation adjustments.

Due to the uneven, buzzing, and muted frets, I contacted the company (via e-mail) to see what they could do to remedy the problem. I had already taken the bass to my favorite instrument repair shop for an analysis and quote. The technician was really impressed by the quality of the MM2, and he said that a few of the frets needed adjusted to even things out. The tech stated that many companies do not spend a lot of time dressing the frets, usually performing the setup with a machine, figuring that most folks will take the instrument to be adjusted to their playing style anyway. The tech admitted that this was no excuse for the few buzzing and muted notes. The tech recommended a basic fret dress and setup to correct the problems and make the bass play the way I wanted it to. The local shop quoted the fret dress and setup (including pickup adjustment) at $85.00!
Anyway, back to contacting the company! A representative contacted me no later than a day after I sent the e-mail. The rep was incredibly helpful and flexible. The rep offered for me to either send it in to them for repair or replacement, or, for the local shop to repair the bass. OLP unfortunately does not have an authorized repair shop in the Portland, Oregon area. And the local favorite shop I took the bass to was not interested in becoming an authorized repair facility for OLP (the shop is just too busy to take on such a task). So, the rep told me that OLP would only pay $50.00 toward the repair to an unauthorized repair facility. By the way, the warranty on the bass is for one year! I decided that since the bass was in perfect condition otherwise, I'd have the local shop do the fret dress and setup (since I kow they do a great job), and just pay the extra $35, instead of having to ship the bass back to OLP...and who knows if the quality of repair (or replacement) would be up to snuff...plus, wierd things can happen in shipping instruments. To me, this was a deal. Anyway, the shop dressed the frets and setup the bass perfectly...it plays like a dream, with no buzzing or anything. I mailed the receipt to the OLP rep, and I expect the $50.00 to arrive any day now.
Ultimately, the customer support was excellent!

Really, this is a great bass for the price. Sound, fit, features, everything! It's hard to compare it anything (except the Music Man), because the bass really defines its own style and sound. Versatility in sound is the key to this bass. I highly recommend the MM2. Consider that natural stain, since the body is made of elm. The solid color models use basswood for the body.

Volume-volume-tone setup, with a split humbucker. You go to single coil by turning off one of the split coils.

Sounds good, but not as much tonal range as the SB4. I tried both and decided on the SB4.

It's OK, but doesn't look as good as the SB4 with quilted maple cap and transparent colored finish. The neck is just as good as the SB4, but the SB4 is better balanced and a bit lighter.

Careful with the basswood body as it will show dents a lot more than the maple cap on the SB4 as it gets banged around on stage.

Never used them.

This is what you get if you want the StingRay look and feel. The sound is different from a StingRay as it is not active. I prefer the Spector look and sound, so I got the SB4 instead, but I would buy one of these if I liked the StingRay better. The SB4 is just more modern sounding and ergonomic feeling. The SB4 balances better when sitting and the neck pickup makes a good thumbrest. The MM2 is great for popping and slapping, but the SB4 does that also. You can dial in more treble on the SB4 to make a set of strings last longer. You could probably stuff an Aguilar preamp in the SB4 cavity without too much trouble. There's not enough room in the MM2, and that was a big factor against it, in my opinion. The MM2 outsells the SB4, but only because a lot of players are ignorant about Spectors but have seen a lot of StingRays. You can get the SB4 for about the same price if you look around on eBay. Nice bass, but the SB4 is definitely the most versatile since it has two separate humbuckers, and it stays quiet when one turn one pickup down. When you turn down one of the split coils on the MM2, hum starts to creep in since the coils no longer are equally bucking.

2003, China
21 frets, 4 string
2 volume, 1 tone
that wonderful massive humbucker
passive electronics (didn't feel like cutting a hole in this baby for active electronics, there just isn't enough room)
basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard
pearl blue finish with matching headstock
open gear tuners

This bass suits my style very well (Slap, Punk, Funk). Its a simple bass (what other kind of bass do you need?) so I can easily adjust to any style I need to. Its got a very bright sound, and with the EB slinky's that came with it, I couldn't ask for a better sounding bass at this price.

Flawless action
Flawless pickup setup
Flawless finish
Perfect factory setup

With all the crazy shit I do to this thing, there is no way it couldn't hold up on stage. Mine was built like a tank straight from the factory. Hardware is solid and looks to be long lasting.
Strap buttons are rock solid. I'd gig without a backup just because this bass is so trustworthy.

I didn't get any warranty info with this thing. Damn chinese

I've been playing for five years now. And this is definitely the best bass I've seen at this price. If this were stolen or lost I sure hope the next one I ordered would be set up and as nice as this one. Simple bass, great sound make this bass easily to fall in love with. Not to mention that the pearl blue finish and rosewood fretboard make this bass DAMN sexy!

This is an update on a prevous review.

The bass is a well made beautiful instrument that plays as well as any Fender bass.
Now that I have a few gigs/jams under my belt with it I would like to comment more on it.
I like everything about it except for the sound/tone.
The tone is very good for modern music.
It can get very bright and twangy.
I think that is the downfall.
It does not get boomy like most basses.
This could be because of the strings.
It came with light gauge Ernie Ball Slinky's.
Not really my type of string.
I plan on installing a set of tape wounds soon.
Through a Marshall tube amp it has a nice growl when pushed hard.
But most of the time (through a SS bass amp or power amp) it is just too twangy for me.
I have played it through a 400 watt power amp briged mono, through an SWR 350, Through a Marshall tube amp and I have done some direct recording.
As it is with the Slinky's it is pretty much a one trick pony as far as tone goes.
The tape wounds may change that.
If not I will either change the pickup or add an internal preamp or buy an external bass preamp.

Nice construction.

So far so good.

?

This is a nice bass in all ways but it will need a little tweaking to get a good bass sound.
It is definately a professional instrument and it should hold up for years of hard gigging/jamming.

Nothing fancy but does one really need a "fancy" bass guitar. I'm sure everyone's familiar with the overall appearance of this instrument (or at least know what E. Ball MM Stingray looks like). Sure, it doesn't have the precision tuners and detail of its big brother but who the heck is trying to compare the best value on the market with what is probably the best mass market bass available. I got a black one with a white pickguard and it looks just fine. Pickup is passive. Neck is very user friendly, especially for a transplanted guitarist with small hands. Also has exceptional balance, something that gets overlooked or ignored on too many well known basses. If you teach, you know how important even weight distribution and contour is.

Although I've been playing and teaching professionally (it's how I pay the mortgage) for about 7 years and logged in another 12 years before that, I can't say that I'm an expert on bass tone. I can pick a boutique class a amp out of a hat but I typically refer to bass tone (mostly during recording) as the fat farty 70s McCartney sound, the punchy 60s...McCartney sound, and, please don't laugh, the late 70s and early 80s biting and top heavy Geddy Lee sound (I was weened on Rush). Anyway, the OLP is very versatile and has not disappointed both direct and live (through a few different amps). Keeping in mind how much these things cost, nothing touches it.

A lot of people have voiced complaints and concerns about the factory set up. I got mine from an online music store and the thing totally kicked butt out of the box. I'm very picky about action and neck contour. It has the best action of any bass I've ever played.

The thing sits in my studio and treks back and forth to the city as my bassist's backup. This category isn't very applicable to a bass. I've played probably 600 to 700 gigs and I think I've had about 3 bad mics, a bad jack or two, and three fried PA speakers. None of my instruments have failed me. I do have to sneak in this cheap shot: DON'T BUY EXILIR STRINGS. I've never felt more strongly about a product. They absolutely suck. I've literally broken 20 acoustic strings (mostly 3, 4, and 5) over the past two months. That just about doubles my career total. And, no, it's not a bridge or nut snap. Middle breaks. Please do yourself a favor and stay away. Long lasting my a-s!

NOTHING COMES CLOSE IN THE PRICE RANGE. NOTHING COMES CLOSE IF YOU HAVE AN EXTRA THREE OR FOUR HUNDRED. IT'S JUST AWESOME. FOR LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED BUCKS, SELL THAT DUMB BASS DISTORTION THAT YOU BOUGHT IN 86, BREAK OPEN YOUR PENNY JAR, GET $50 OUT OF THE ATM AND GO GET ONE. YOU'LL BE VERY PLEASED WITH YOURSELF AND YOUR KICK ASS BASS.

Made 2003, in China. This one I have purchased is one of olp's new look models. It is black, basswood body, with a rosewood neck, black pearloid pickguard, and all black hardware, comes with a gigbag........very rich looking. I like it better than the old models with the maple necks. It is an exact copy of a Ernie Ball Stingray.

Sound on the OLP MM2 is fantastic. It is passive which I love. Just a rich and full sound. In my opinion these are the top three sounds you can get......PBass, Jazz Bass, and, Stingray. Electronics are nice and quiet.

I was really amazed here......I did not know what to expect, coming out of the box and being made in China. Who ever was the tech in China who put this olp together did an amazing job. Intonation and action, PERFECT!!! The black finish is Flawless!!!! I love the way the neck plays, nice p bass feel to it, and you can adjust to low action with no fret buzz.

This OLP bass is built rock solid. The hardware is great, Truss rod on mine has not needed any adjusting. Paint finish hard as a rock. It is an all around super durable bass. I would play it live with out a backup.

Have had no dealings with.

I would like to start off here by saying this. I have been playing bass guitar for some 30 years now so I feel I have some seasond experience I can share with you. I am the biggest pain in the neck when it comes to perfection. When my OLP bass arrived the first thing I did was give it the once over. After that I took it completely apart. I'm talking off with the neck, tuning keys off, pickup out, pickguard off, control cavity opened.............the whole 9 yards here people!!! I am amazed by the quality of these OLP basses. I honestly do not know how a bass sold for$229, can come out this great. I could not find a thing wrong with this bass. The neck pocket super tight, not one screw stripped, pickguard cut perfect, even the pickup cut out on the guard cut perfect, electrical work flawless, hardware strong and exact stingray copy, the wood on the neck nice and clean with no ugly grain lines running through it. You have probably seen that on some of these Asian basses {YUCK} Nice thick slab of rosewood on the neck, perfectly dressed frets, and the finish is super, man!! they even applied shielded paint in the pickup and control cavity. Yes I have compared this OLP bass to many others out there. Not only in its price range but to more expensive ones. The OLP MM2 blows away any in its price range. In the higher price range basses, puts them all to shame. When it comes to Fenders Mexican basses, they cannot compare to the OLP MM2 bass, it blows them out of the water........Sorry Leo, you should not have fallen asleep behind the wheel!!!! If you buy one of these you will not regret it, they are truly amazing. If mine were lost or stolen, I would get another one in a heartbeat!

2003 Model.
21 frets.
34 inch scale.
Natural oil finished high gloss elm body.
2 volumes, 1 tone control, no switch.
Pickup is a Music Man (copy) passive humbucker that can be split in to single coils.
Body stylw is Music Man Stingray.
Bridge is Music Man Stingray (copy).
Tuners are standard Fender type open gear.
Neck is much like a Fender Precision bass neck (unfinished maple).
Accessories are gig bag, allen wrench and truss rod tool.
It has a stingray wheel type truss rod adjustment.

The sound can go from clean and bright to boomy.
By using either side of the humbucker it has a vast variety of tones.
I use a 400 watt power amp and different preamps.
In full humbucker mode it is dead silent, absolutely no hum.
A very slight hum in single coil modes.
Excellent for both recording and live performances.
It has the most sustain I have ever heard from a bass.

The intonation was right on.
I will not comment on the action because I set up my instruments to my liking.
Surprisingly it was flawless.

I have gigged with it a few times and have done many hours of recording.
It is built like a tank and should last a lifetime.
I don't know how well the oiled finish will hold up but with proper care I would expect it to hold up well.
Strap buttons are solid steel.
Absolutely dependable.
I did have to adjust the truss rod but only because I did my own set up.
I do gig with it without a back up.
I can see no reason to drag two basses to a gig.

I have not had any reason to deal with the company.
I don't even know who the company is except for Olp.
I think it has a warranty but it is not important to me.
The bass is built like a tank.

I have been playing guitar for 40 years and bass for over 30 years.
If it were stolen I would indeed replace it.

I have owned or played Rickenbacker 4001, 4002, 70's Fender Jazz Bass, MIM Precision bass, MIJ Fender Precision Lyte bass, Mosrite bass, Steinberger (American), Gibson Ripper, Hand made 5 string fretless and countless other American top of the line basses.
This is the finest quality bass I have ever owned.
Definately a professional instrument.
I bought this bass because I needed a 4 string fretted bass for gigs.
Because of financial reasons I have to buy an inexpensive bass.
After reading many positive reviews on the Olp I bought it off of ebay.
Now I am a Viet Vet and buying a Chinese made bass was about as low as I could get.
It doesn't bother me what country it is made in because most of the profits go to American companies.
But...what profit?
I can't understand how such a high quality instrument can be sold so cheaply.
I can only assume that Olp is trying to become big in the guitar market and if they keep making instruments of this quality at the price I paid they will indeed go a long way.
Watch out Fender!
I have yet to see an American Fender bass with equal quality.
Some people will say that this is a good beginner bass.
They are wrong.
This is a professional instrument that I would play anywhere.
If you want a beginner bass buy a MIM Fender.
There is nothing I would want to change on this bass.
Plus it is the hottest passive bass I ever played.
It looks like a Stingray bass but it is not a Stingray.
It is an Olp and from what I can see it is one of the best basses on the market at any price.

New, Made in China, 32 frett I think.
Main Volume and volume for either humbucker pickups.
Passive pickups but they are really good.
Natural finish with stain, soo good to play.
4 string

I had a vintage fender copy and I thought that it had a good sound, but this thing is in a class of it's own, just so sweet.
Not a bit of buss at any volume,class.

I got this second hand and the action was too high so I did a little work on it and man does she feel good. I have'nt touched the pickups but they are great sounding as it is.
No Flaws

Yet to gig it, but I have giged before and can not wait to get this
baby through a big amp. Everything is solid and feels very well built.

Not needed

I'm back playing after a break of 15 years and this is my second bass and it's class. I find the nearest bass to it thats nearly the same
prise is the fender mexico, same sound and feel of the neck. I love it. If lost/stolen no problems getting another class act.
I have played a lot of entry levels basses, fender squire/ibanez sound gear/washburn Xsomething and none of them are anywhere near as good as this, really I mean it big time, class.

I don't want to say that Anonymous from England doesn't know what he is talking about, as his bass has an unpainted headstock and may be wired differently than my late production M2 with painted headstock. My MM2 DEFINITELY has dual volume control, as lowering EITHER volume control converts it to a single coil pickup with the attendant hum always present in single coils. If only one knob is a volume control, then when you roll it off there will be no volume available from the other knob. LET IT BE KNOWN: the later versions with the painted headstock should have a volume control for each half of the humbucker coil. The rearmost knob is the tone control.

If you want a split humbucker with dual volume control, THEN TRY BEFORE YOU BUY, or order only a bass with the painted headstock like mine. I have told you how to check it out: If ONLY the front knob is a volume control, then no volume can be gotten from the two rear tone controls when the volume is rolled full off.

The tone changes when you roll the rear coil off because humbuckers sound different than single coils. DUH!

Features as listed below. The model i'm reviewing is sparkly blue, but dosen't have the matching headstock like the new ones, it's earlier. I don't know if that means any real changes in hardware or construction.

One thing i'd like to pick up is that this does not have 2 volume controls and a tone, it has 1 volume and 2 tones, you don't have control over the individual coils. It is advertised as having 2 volume controls, but in fact the middle know is a tone control which will go to a full volume cut, the pickup has no coil tap.

Sound is good and strong, but reasonably limited. Played with a pick it's very immediate, almost agressive with a strong attack, much better sounding than i expected. Played with fingers it is nice, very smooth, and the range of sound from the tone controls is good. Balance between strings is good, sustain is impressive, and very pure sounding, notes decay nicely. Harmonics ring well, with good definition. G string is possibly a little too cutting with the tone set at the optimum for the A and E strings. Have had no problems with hum, (electrical) buzz or hiss. Its mainly used for modernish rock and punk, and fits this style of music very well indeed. Slap sound is quite poor, clangy and dead. It dosen't have the sound for lead or countermelody style parts, it lacks a little definition. it is far better suited sitting in a band mix as more of a foundation. More of a P than a jazz perhaps... For the money, despite its limitations i think its a very good sounding bass, not a jack of all trades, but what it does, it does well.

The machineheads are good, chunky, firm, responsive, tuning stability is excellent, as good as a bass 4 times the cost. my only concern is that the screws mounting them to the headstock look a little cheap, if i ever had the tuners off i'd replace the screws at the same time.

The neck is well made, straight, smooth and well finished, nut is well set and cut, truss rod seems stable and reliable. The seating of the frets is good, however the dressing is not up to standard. for the most part it is reasonably good, but above the 13th or 14th fret things get unacceptably buzzy and irregular. I would also liked to have seen a better polish to the frets. The heel of the neck has issues, i can't get an acceptable action without excessive buzzing. The neck pocket was slightly conservatively cut, and i have shimmed this out to improve the action, but this has highlighed the poor fret dressing at the upper end. Badly cut neck pockets do seem to be common on these, of the 3 played in the shop the action was far too high from 10th fret onwards with the bridge saddles at their lowest possible setting.

Bridge, electrics and strap buttons seem solid and reliable, jack was of suprisingly good quality.

Finish is a little poor, it seems they paint the bodies before they paint shielding into the cavities, there are some specs of shielding paint on top of the colour coat but beneath the top coat. Also, i found a couple of scuffs on the edges beneath the top coat.

On the whole, everythig was either as expected for a bass of this price, or noticeably better. Deserving particular merit is the construction of the neck and the hardware. Factory setup and finishing however, does leave room for improvement. It was noticebly higher quality than any other bass i played it against, including a mexican fender p-bass, ibanez soundgear and an epiphone thunderbird.

it seems very solid. Finish is hard and well applied, the unfinished fingerboard will need maintenance but seems reasonable quality wood. Gigging without a backup, however, is foolish, regardless of the equipment.

Who knows? When i bought this they didn't have a website, now they bearly did, but the UK distributer seems reasonable. In all fairness, its too simple a bass to really need it, if it worked when you bought it, it'll work long enough.

i've played guitar for 5 years, and bass for 2 now. I would definatly replace this bass if i had to, it's a shame it would have to be an ugly one with a matching headstock. Although a try to resist giving 10's on harmony central if this had come with a better fret dress and neck pocket then i would have to give it a perfect 10. For the money it's simply unbeatable.

This is for the player that wants a fairly bare bones bass with really decent sound at a low price. One split coil humbucker with dual volume controls and a single volume control. It's mainly for a player that likes to vary the sound by picking style and technique. There is no neck pickup to get in your way when moving picking fingers up and down the strings. Really great for popping and slapping. Light weight, feels great.

Being a single pickup bass, the tonal range isn't the widest. The sound is midrange oriented, sort of like a P-bass, but quieter because fo the humbucker. The strange thing is that when you completely roll off the front or back coil to turn it into a single coil sound, it maintains the humbucker volume level, but it's just not as thick sounding. You will pick up a bit of hum when you do so, but it has never been distracting to me. You lose that great big heavy bottom sound like you get on basses with a neck humbucker. It counters with good high end for popping and slapping. If you play through vintage tube bass amps that never had a lot of deep tight bottom, then this is a great bass for that. You just THINK this bass has a lot of bottom until you play something like a 4004 Rickenbacker with dual high output humbuckers through a modern solid state amp with speakers that go below 40 Hz. Output is OK, but not as high as a Ricky 4004, and certainly not as high as active pickups. That said, it has sufficient output to overdrive my Marshall amp with no problem. Just roll off the back volume knob, and you have a sound very similar to a P-bass. This would be a nice bass for somebody that likes to play fast lead bass, sort of like John Entwistle of The Who. The sound is the best I ever heard at this low of a price. If you need that big bottom end that only a neck humbucker can give, look at the new OLP SB4 bass with active EMG humbuckers patterned after the Spector bass. The street price is only $70 more, and I may end up getting one as well. The Ernie Ball Slinky roundwound bass strings also contribute to the "lead bass" character of this guitar. Flatwound strings would lend a deeper tone.

It ain't no Buzzard bass like Entwistle played, with graphite neck and impossibly low action, but it doesn't cost $6K either. Everything is straight and true. I set my action to where it is nickel height at the 12th fret on the G string. The E string action height is set to about the width of the E string. It gives a clear tone with minimal buzzing. The neck is the best thing about this bass, even better than the tone. The neck has minimal finish on the back and is very smooth. The maple seems to be of very high quality. The slimness gives a very fast and comfortable action, although this neck is obviously not made for heavy strings. It is for a player that uses light to medium gauge strings and prefers a fairly low action for faster playing style. It makes you want to play My Generation or other fast lead bass tune. The unfinished maple fretboard and lightly finished back really helps you move around fast without the draggy feel that coated necks have. The metallic blue finish looks nice in a retro way. The bad part is that humidity causes rather swift changes to the neck relief and action height. Every couple of weeks you will want to check the action if humidity changes a lot from summer to winter, like it does here. Not to worry, OLP gives you the truss rod tool and it couldn't be easier to set. I think the lightly finished neck helps the sound and sustain a lot. It doesn't sustain like a neck thru body Rickenbacker, but it is no slouch in that department. I have owned a much more expensive Fender bass that I liked a lot less than this bass. The pickup was adjusted like I like it, not too close to the strings, and the strings had even response from string to string and up and down the neck. The tuners stay in tune, and seem to really be nice for the price. The bridge seems very sturdy and everything adjusted out very smoothly and quickly. It had to be set a bit after I got it. The neck relief was too much (took 1/3 turn of the truss rod nut to set it right) and the saddles were a bit too low. Then I adjusted the intonation and nothing has to be touched except the truss rod as the neck responds to seasonal moisture changes. If frequent adjustments of a truss rod due to humidity changes is not your bag, then this or any other unfinished/lightly finished wood neck is not for people that live in places with wide humidity swings. Get a bass with graphite reinforcement. Of course, you lose the character that wood necks possess. I also have to mention how nice the frets were. Not a sharp fret end anywhere, no buzzing frets, and no really dead spots. Of course, like all wood necks I ever played, it has sweet spots and not so sweet spots. Not all that noticeable unless you are looking for them, and you are playing long notes. I think the next step up from this bass would be the Peavey Grind 4 NTB, but it costs well over $100 more street price and probably weighs more since it does not have a basswood body. The new MusicMan Bongo bass has a basswood body, and it's a really good wood for bass guitar bodies. The worst part that I see is the plastic nut, and that could be changed out rather cheaply.

This is not only good enough for live playing, but you can afford 3 or 4 of them for the price of a single USA built bass. I would have liked a nut that was made from harder material. Truss rod adjustments happen often for me, but never have I seen a bass that had easier adjustment. Just stay away from heavy strings, as I think the thin neck and truss rod would be a bit overwhelmed. This will make a great backup bass after you save up for your dream bass, and plenty good enough to learn on.

Doubt that I will ever need customer support. It seems to be built right.

The SKB Freedom bass case for P-bass style guitars works very well with this bass. The two together qualify for free shipping from MF. I have lived to see the day that a really good bass with case could be had for $300 delivered. I bought mine with the SKB case because it is really a bass worth taking care of. Don't let the low price and the fact it is made in China throw you a curve. The cheapest bass made in the USA that is similar is the MusicMan S.U.B for about $599-$699 without case. I have seen MM2 basses go on eBay for $180 with gig bag and free shipping in mint used condition. The Warwick RockBass Corvette Basic is about $500, and also Asian made. I'll take the OLP MM2 over a much more expensive MIM Fender P-bass or J-bass, and others who have owned both will tell you the same thing. The MusicMan Stingray this bass is modeled after is a Leo Fender design as well, you know, and he had learned a thing or two after he designed the P-bass and J-bass. For about $200 you can convert this bass to active pickup with preamp, and then it will sound very close to a $1200 MusicMan Stingray. And that is just what I might do at a later date. For now, it sounds just fine and is a lot of fun. It makes a lot more sense to spend most of your bucks on a decent amp. The $150 to $500 you save by buying this bass gets you a much better amp than you could have otherwise afforded, and that is what will get you the most improvement in sound for your money. I'm 48 years old, and good bass guitars cost this much back in the 60's when I was a kid and wages were 1/4 of what they are now. Times have changed.

I rated this last category according to price, since this is now regarded as the best bass you can get for $230 new. The other above categories are according to how it rates compared to its much more expensive domestic competition. It just feels, plays, and sounds like a much more expensive instrument. Fender, Gibson, and others like them had better get their act together, because they just don't deliver the goods like OLP and a few others do now. I can now afford a half dozen different models of good quality basses without breaking the bank, for the price of only one prestige bass.

Standard features, as described in other reviews.

Good sound. I'm a beginner who's been dabbling with a lot of music styles, in classes and a few gigs.

I did put flatwound strings on my bass and am very happy with the sound I get for the reggae, blues and pop stuff that I've done.

While I was shopping for a bass, I tried Ibanez and other similarly priced basses, and I like the sustain, and the deep, full sound I get from the OLP.

My action was high, and it's still a bit high after doctoring on the bass a bit. No real complaints though. I've played 3-hour gigs and jam sessions and never felt like I was working too hard.

I've got no complaints about how this bass holds up. It stays in tune quite well.

One problem is the truss rod which a luthier described as "wimpy." I'd put some heavy gauge strings on the bass and the action went sky high. No amount of saddle or trussrod adjustment would have made those strings come down. OLP admitted to me that the bass cannot & will not accommodate heavy strings. This isn't any big loss here.

It's hard to find a phone # or anything for OLP. I eventually did contact OLP directly via email. They responded to my email but they seemed to be salesmen that I was dealing with--as opposed to people who really cared about me getting the best out of my bass.

The bass comes with absolutely ZERO paperwork. No warranty, no nothing; not even a phone # or address for OLP. And as a truly beginning bass player, I didn't know what the 3 knobs were for. Recently, I purchased a carvin fretless, and it came with extensive info about the bridge, the tuners, the knobs, and advice on caring for the finish.

Fortunately the OLP bass, itself, is pretty good and I don't need much customer service.

I've had this bass about 18 months and play it through a 30W gorrilla practice amp, and a 100W Carvin amp. I also own a Carvin fretless.

I have no regrets about buying this bass. If this were stolen, sure, I'd buy another OLP unless I found myself able to afford a real Musicman Stingray. I've tried Ibanez, Squire and other basses in the OLP price range, and I don't like their sound.

OLP MM2 four string bass. Made in China, blah, blah, blah. I think you all know the features, so I won't bore you all to tears with that. I play guitar, and was looking for something better than a Squire to record demos at home with.

I play the punk rock. It seems that this bass is just the ticket for my home recording studio. I liked it better than the MIM Jazz Bass I almost bought. I could be comparing apples to oranges here I guess. Play with the knobs, and the possibilities are all there. I'm playing this thru either a countryman di, or a J-Station on the SVT setting. It sounds huge either way.

Actually, the setup was quite nice. I was surprised to see it this together.

Time will tell on this one. I don't think there's much to go wrong on it.

I dunno. I did notice there was no warranty card with the bass. Also, there is no serial number anywhere I could see. Strange...

Been playing for 22 years (guitar). I own a few good old pieces of guitar gear. I just setup a little blackface ADAT studio in the house. This bass is perfect for that. I would buy it again if it was lost/stolen. A great deal. The only thing I don't care for is the headstock painted to match the body. I'm already over it.

I bought MM2 bass new last year ('02), it is the 4 string version and has 21 frets. It has 2 volume controls and 1 tone control. The controls offer a fairly wide range of sounds. The bass has a single passive EBMM-type humbucker. I have the sparkly blue and I'm happy with it. The bridge is very similar to a 'normal' stingray bridge.
The bass is more or less a 'hot rod', so it doesn't have a slew of features, but some of us don't need/use them anyway...

My musical style is whatever pays the bills! I do freelance bass work with local groups and goofy gigs(ie playing in 'pit orchestras' for the local high school drama departments). I use a crate practice amp or borrow a friends hartke 3000/4x10 rig for big stuff. The only noise I've noticed is if the ground is lifted on the amp, but that is to be expected. Personally, I like a bright, punchy bass sound. The MM2 can produce that and many other sounds. For example, raunchy rock sound for Jesus Christ Superstar; clean, dark clean sound for Grease(almost like an string bass); and (my favorite) a mid-heavy jazz tone for West Side Story. I haven't really used this bass in a studio setting, but I like it for live applications.

Also, the friend with the Hartke rig owns an Ernie Ball Sterling bass which is just fantastic. In my opinion, this bass is very close in feeling and tone...(that is taking active vs. passive p.ups into consideration too). the neck on the MM2 is noticeably wider than the Sterling, but I'm not positive how it is in relation to an 'actual' Stingray.

On a 'Tone per dollar' scale, I give it a 9.
On a 'non biased' scale, I give it an 8 or so.

The action came fairly low when I bought it(there was some buzz), but I like higher action so I made the adjustments and I'm very satisfied. I haven't taken this bass apart or gazed at the guts, but I would feel safe saying that there are no flaws that I've noticed. I think the finish is beautiful (its been dropped twice and there are minor dings, but that is also expected from a less than expensive paint job)

This bass is solid. I can't imagine it not being able to withstand live playing(assuming you don't get wasted and act like an ass live). The hardware may need replacing, it may not. For me, its too early to tell. I don't think the finish will rub off easily or soon. The strap buttons are decent, one just came loose on mine(that was after about a years worth of playing though). In the year that I've had this bass, I've only adjusted the truss rod once. I would gig without a backup, even if I had another bass of equal quality.

I haven't dealth with Customer Support. I'm not sure about the warranty. I need to check into that.

My main instrument is the guitar, and I've been playing for 8 years or so. I've been playing bass (upright and electric) for 5 years. Playing electric bass 'professionally' for 2 years. I would buy this bass again, assuming I could find it at the same low price... I love how it plays and sounds. I did compare to other basses(mentioned above). I would recommend this bass as a backup for a serious bass player, maybe a starter bass for the newcomer or anyone who just likes to mess around.

Body Material:
Basswood
Neck/Fingerboard: North American Maple/Maple
Frets
21 Jumbo ( Why they just take it down to the full two octave? )24
Scale: 34"
Inlay Design: Black dots
Hardware: Chrome Machine Heads: Open Gear ( standard, holds the strings just fine )
Pickups: 1 Music Man Style - 4 String ( bridge humbucker )
Electronics: 2 volume, 1 Tone ( seems more like 1 volume, 2 tone )
Bridge: Heavy Duty 4 String ( simple, basic, and does it's job fine )

I give this bass a 7 because it really doesn't have any nice features, but that's okay because when your just starting out you need something basic.

This is a great beginner bass ( certainly better than the squire p-bass ) but thats about it. It can handle a wide, wide, wide, variety of musical tones from punk to funk to jazz. It never gets as dirty as a punk tone as I would like it to though, or as sharp and full as a slap-pop tone for funk. I run this bass through a Hartke half stack. The model 5000 head through a 2-10 (with 5 inch tweeter) cab. I try not to use effects but when I have I notice that this bass handles them very nicely. The separate volume controls for each side of the humbucker pickup allows you to choose more treble for such effects like distortion or wah, and more bas for your reverbs or delays. I recommend this bass more to rock players than anyone else. It can handle all types of music, but none noticably well. Regaurdless of that though I would ( and have ) use it without a backup and it is a preety reliable bass. Still the tone can be weak!

This bass looks and feels solid. I am not crazy about the finish ( I chose the black without matching headstock ). The blue in my opinion is much nicer. The paint seems to chip easily and normal scratches (such as from a pick) can strach the hell out of it. The bridge and tunners are both really simple and easy to use. They are secure and don't move around on you. The tunners ocassionally do need to be screwed back in though and the bass sadels don't seem to retain their string hieght adjustments that well. Like I said it's a good basic, simple design that would sute a begginer great.

The strap locks fell out on me after a few shows. This could be due to my running around like an idot on stage, but still I had to replace them. The pickup itself isn't bad at all, but I plan on swaping it for a better one later. The neck on mine has a bad bow and I used to keep playing with the truss rod but finally just gave up. Sitll for the 250 I paid this is a great bass.

Never dealt with the company.

I bought this bass as a first bass and it served me well. I've been playing for about two and a half years and I have beat the hell out of this bass. It worked hard and was a great bass. It was simple and basic, witch is what helped me find my sound and playing style. If it was stolen I wouldn't buy another one, but I would bitch. I wish that the pickgaurd wasn't like the ones on the original musicmans because I could swop it for a cool color. I also wish I would have bought a case for the thing. I would not buy this bass it your wan't to go into to plaing jazz or the blues, but it's not bad for punk. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to know more. If your looking for a great beginner bass check out hartke, ibanez, or this bass. THIS DOES NOT LIVE UP TO THE MUSICMAN VERSION, IT'S A COPY!!!

2003 China 4 string 21 frets standard vol vol tone with mm humbucker def passive which i perfer. ITs a basswood maple model. Not super feature loaded but after playing esp for so long I like the fact its simple.

My music styles are of the primus variety lots of tool and various other bands. I run it through my hartke 500 watt bass head a mesa boogie 2 15 cab and a boss gt6b. With effects this bas sounds great equals my esp's with out it sounds more natural because it doesnt give off that active strained sound preamped and active basses give off. It has tons of variety the slap on my jazz bass is slightly better with its dimarzio ultra jazzes jut this bass stock easily beats out any fender mexi. I like the fact that it sounds so full its a substanial body with a good solid neck even though its bass wood it sounds good.

Set up was crap luckly I do all my own work. I set it to medium low action and raised the p up a bit the finish and tuners were A+ very nice i have yet to detect any flaws and the tuners are good if you give em a good tighten.

It with stands me so it is relaible it was bought as a back up but has become number 1 sometimes number 2 to my esp viper. I never would gig without a backup because im not bass poor.

Guitar center was great I talked them down on the price n just about everything I own.

Ive been playing long enough I own a esp viper 304 a heavily modifyed Essex jazz bass a fender mexi which is also modified and this one. Id kill if it was stolen I love it. The only real beef I have with it is the fact its made of bass wood hell id perfer athagis or alder to bass wood.

Basically an affordable stingray copy with a passive humbucker, 2 volumes (for each half of the humbucker) and 1 tone control. Mine is in the pearl blue finish with a maple neck and it's pretty cool (if not a little too glitzy). It also comes in black, and the models out right now have matching headstocks which a lot of people like (I personally think it looks a little cheesy). For the price paid, this bass has plenty of features and like others have said you can get a great variety of tones from the two volume controls. I took one point off its score because for some reason they didn't just use a standard stingray pickguard with screw holes in the same places as a real stingray's (which makes it more expensive and complicated to find a better-looking replacement).

I actually bought this bass to replace my MIM fender p-bass which is a very good bass but not quite right for the sound I'm going for (pixies/breeders influenced). This bass sounds like it costs much more than it does, the pickup is great. It has that bright percussive sound that I was looking for in a stingray.

The fretwork was pretty bad, they were sticking out pretty far from the neck. But that's not too hard to fix, I just sanded them down. Also, the open A string buzzes.

Looks pretty reliable, I haven't gigged with it yet but I'm confident it'll hold up fine (I'll still bring a backup anyway though).

N/A

Like I mentioned, this bass replaced my old P-bass and I don't regret the trade at all. It's not for all styles, but if you play punk or indie rock you should check it out.

2002 presumably, made in China unfortunately. 21 frets. Basswood body with maple neck and fretboard. One volume, two tone knobs. Open gear tuners. Pearl blue body and headstock. 1 passive humbucker? or 2 single coils right next to each other I'm not sure. Chrome hardware.

I'm really a guitarist/drummer and picked up the bass to lay down my own tracks. I'm playing through a little Behringer BX108 practice amp but it sounds pretty good and with the two tone knobs I'm surprised at the variety of sounds you can get out of it, from a rich deep bass to a very dark sound to jazzy subdued tones. Pretty cool.

The paint work is awesome. The body is almost flawless and the matching paint on the headstock is a nice touch. The neck is hefty and the action is maybe a tad too low. I had to adjust the intonation but I expected that.

Bad points:
There was a little paint overspray on the fretboard around the 1st fret. They used a 3 ply white-black-white pickguard but whatever they used to cut it out with was almost a 90 degree cut so you can't really tell unless you get close to it. The chrome tuners all have a tiny dull spot in the same place like they rubbed against something. But my main gripe was in the fret work. They were set and crowned decently but they weren't dressed at all. When I pulled it out of the box it scraped the hell out of my hand, not enough to draw blood but still! So out came the fret dressing file (I build guitars too)and now she's pretty good.

Seems solid.

No idea

I got it "not factory sealed" from Music 123 for an extra $30 off so all in all I can't complain too much about the frets not being dressed. If you like the look of the StingRay but don't have $2000, buy this bass. For $200 it beats the hell out of a Squier.

Made in 2002 in China. This is a great bass for anyone that wants a great bass and is madly in love with the Ernie ball Stingray (like i was). A nice 4 string fretted bass with a nice all maple neck and fretboard. just your standard 22 (i think) fret neck, but great. it's a nice lightweight plastic body, like on a Squier. it has 2 volume knobs and one tone. The knbs make it possible for most all tones: jazz, funk, punk, metal, rock, you name it. It has one kick ass humbucker (passive). The tuners are like Fenders, and they don't hold tune too well, but still.

This is the perfect bass. On my piece of crap Crate amp this is soooo loud on just 2. it'll work anywhere for anything.

The bass is set up well: EB slinkys (hella nice), fattty bridge (helps tension), and great pickup. The one thing about the body is that it wasn't very clean around where the neck comes in, but who cares!

This bass is soooooooooo nice and will work for anything imaginable. This can be used without a backup and everything on it is solidly in place.

I haven't needed any support with it.

BUY THIS AMAZINGLY GREAT BASS! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

I dont kwow what year this cheap thing is.
It's a passive bass just like all th other OLP's.

I just bought this one as a just in case backup for my Stingray's
fot the "unsafe-gigs"
I play top 40 stuff and some rock aswell.
It' a bla-bla bass wich doesn't come close to the real thing.
This bass is for players who want to have a Ernie Ball Stingray
but just can't afford one.
My advise: buy a good secondhand stingray because this bass will
disapear after you got the real thing at last!
It just doesn't work.

The frets are just sharp and the wood is not good!
The screws were not in line (pickguard).
The nut is very bad and the machineheads just wont stay in tune.
Every time i open this case i have to tune again.
The schallers on the Stingray are OK.

It's a tank!
I just can't wait somebody comes in to pick it up for a few bucks.

I'm planning to send it back to were it came from.

I play for about 24 years mainly Fender P-bass of Jazz.
My favourite bass is the Stingray5.
I own 2 Five's and a four (MM50+MM30)
If it were stolen I would not buy a piece of......like this.
Be carefull to buy this one, save your muney for the real thing.

I just got this bass about 3 mounths ago i play thrash and metal so i needed something to rumble and shred all so it took me awhile but i finally got a good bass mm2 rules it does all i ever wanted a bass to do so to me this bass is god over all other bassies.

great sound has a little tint of disortion but not so much that it sounds crapy just enough and the lows it can hit or just awsome

smooth and very easy to play all over the neck and it's action the best way better than any rickenbocker

i have droped this thing 1 time and was a hard fall about 5 feet right to a hard stone floor and it still is fine and great no digs or anything even after that and the sound has never cut out never

very asked many Q felt like talking to a good friend

i hope this bass stays as cheap as it is caues it is a steal this bass would usealy be over 600$$$ but it's not but hey thats a good thing for people that don't want to spend it or can't so this bass rules all most as much as SLAYER

OLP MM2 4-string bass (licensed by Ernie Ball). Mine is black with a basswood body, maple neck and board. One passive Sting Ray-style PU. Two volume, one tone control. Made in China.

I am running it through a Trace Elliot SM250 head and a custom made 2X10" cabinet, no effects. I love the sound...nice warm and round. I play in a couple of bands. One of which is a wedding band, so I play many styles of music: blues, swing, jazz, polka (really!), rock, reggae. The OLP handles all this just fine. (See Overall Rating at bottom)

I spent considerable time in the store just looking the bass over before playing it, from the bottom strap button to the top of the headstock and frankly, I am amazed at the workmanship. When comparing it to my buddy's MIM Fender Jazz it isn't even close. Neck joint is a tight, typical 4-bolt arrangement that had no gaps. Fretwork is top-notch (the MIM jazz had rough fret ends when you run your hand up the sides of the neck. Tuners worked smoothly. The neck was straight. Finish overall is nice except for a few marks on the clear top coat (you have to look really close to see these) that can be buffed out. The action was perfect, no fret buzz anywhere. The intonation was off, so I adjusted this when I got the bass home.

I think it is built to last. I have used it on gigs w/no backup.

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I have been playing for 20 years and own a fretless Fender Jazz. I have had many basses, Steinberger, Yamaha, Fender, Ibanez. I had previously been using a 1996 USA made (fretted) Fender Jazz that was on loan from a friend. He needed the bass back, so I started looking around. I always wanted a Sting Ray, but just can't afford it. I bought the OLP on a Tuesday and played out with it on Friday and Saturday and all of my bandmates commented on how great it sounded. Better than the Jazz. Even some non-musician friends in the crowd on Saturday noticed and said the bass sounded awesome, "really cutting through". I am TOTALLY satisfied! In fact, I think I will go out and pick up the 5-string version before OLP realizes what a great deal it is, and raise the price!

It was made in China, has 21 frets, solid top, 2 volume and 1 tone knob, a passive musicman style pickup, and open gear tuners

I think the sound is great. I play in a punk band and i think it sounds great for that style of music. I've heard the actual music man stingray and i think it has a very similar, for a cheaper bass. I have an 80w Laney and it sounds great on their. No noise at all.

My bass was set-up just fine. It has no flaws, as far as i can tell.

I haven't had the chance to play it at a gig yet, but i think it'll do fine. I don't exactly know how moisture would get in the tuners, so i'm not really worried about rust. My strap seems to do fine on it.

I haven't dealt with them yet, so i wouldn't know.

I've been playing for about a year and a half now, and I have an Ibanez and a Washburn. I think the Ibanez is good, but i think the OLP is a lot better for my style of music. I like that it has a sound so similar to the actual Music Man Stingray.

I got this for christmas yesterday, it was made in China, 21 frets, solid top, 2 volume and 1 tone knob, a single musicman style humbucker, passive though, open gear tuners, and a a cable.

It suits my style pretty good, which is like a punk/ new rock style, but it also works really well for slap and funk. I don't use any effects and it is very quiet, almost no noise at all when I'm not playing even with the amp up a good bit. It has a real heavy deep sound I guess u could say.

The action was pretty high up, but playable, and the pickup was set up good for that. The nut looked like it was cut by a blind goat with one arm, it was terrible. The open A string had a real bad rattle to it, and when i went to guitar center to get it exchanged, the guy tried the other model in the bass room, but it had the EXACT same problem.... so the warranty covered it and they are going to get a new nut and set it for me. The open gear tuners work good but are a bad idea, any moisture will get in there and cause rust, so I'm going to have those replaced with some locking ones after a while.

It will withstand live playing definately, on the first day i knocked it into some walls and stuff, but it didnt scratch or anything, the hardware seems pretty good but the tuners would rust after a year or two if they aren't replaced. I would gig without a backup because the only thing that could go wrong with it is a broken string, but how the hell can u break a bass string with normal playing or even jumping around?

I haven't talked directly with them, they are in China, but when the nut was messed up, Guitar Center fixed it under warranty, so it's pretty good.

I've been playing guitar for a year, but playing another bass at practice for a while now. We have an Ampeg BA-115 and i have some other guitars and amps. It is nicer than the Squier Jazz and P-Basses. I like the powerful pickup and the neck, but the action is high, get it set up by a pro a little lower i think its only like $15. It's probably the best value for a cheap bass and with new closed in locking tuners, a Musicman pickup, and a pro setup, it is as good as the Musicman bass, all that would cost approx. 150$.