OLP MM3 5-String

this is a passive 5 string bass, has three controls one bass volume and treble and one humbucker. the electronics are not that great i wish it was active but that's nothing a dremmal and a little more money wont fix. the body is base wood and is nice and solid it has a flame maple top and looks nice not as nice as the real deal but i cant complain, and the tuners are cheap don't stay in tun well but I'm buying replacements soon

i play in a rock inde/alternative band i'm running it through my svt-4pro ampeg head and hlf-svt 4x10 cab and it sounds muddy know matter what i do to the eq. I bought this bass know i would be working on it anyway i bought a smb-5a bassline hb so i can get a nice crisp low end and highs for tapping. i give it a 3 just stock but i give it a 10 now with the new pick up

and the neck I was impressed with no dead frets and its not giving me a problem i haven't had to make an adjustment on it yet. the action was a little low and intonation was off on the d and g string but that's like that any time you get something new

the bass is a solid bass and will stand up to giging. bi always change the strap buttons to strap locks and as i was doing it i noticed the original buttons were cheap and the screws were small and wouldn't last more then a month. i would depend on this bass after all the adjustments i made this is my primary bass i use.

no need

all in all its a decent bass i just needed to make it my own. I've been Playing for 10 years i also own Yamaha rbx-375, warwick rock bass. on my rig ampeg svt-4pro, BBE sonic maximizer, fender rack tuner.

Just bought this last week, gigged with it over the weekend. I love it it was made earlier this year in China with a thinner neck then I expected, my original base is a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass Signature. it has this very beautiful flame maple top, but as according to some reviews I've read, its a laminate fake top. It has individual controls for each of the single coil pickups which look like a musicman humbucker. Over all it is a very solidly constructed guitar, and for the price it is worth it just for that, 230 is what i paid for it at the local privately run guitar shop here in town. With the price the electronics are more than worth replacing. It is a music man budget brand and with that being down the grape vine designed by leo fender and with that said, the tuners suck. Over all i love this bass, we play alot of blues songs and country so it's always nice to go lower on the neck be it through a scale or just doing 4-4 hopping.

The sound is great, truthfully i can't tell the difference between this bass and an active 5 string. I use the Behringer 450 ultrabass head mixed with a 2x10 Avatar ultralightway cab with horn. This mix lets me hit damn near every sound i want, especially once i hook up my digitech 200 bp, yes it's digitat but truthfully in a bar who is going to notice? With this bass i can get everything from a rattle your heart off beat full tone to a slap twangy tone just form messin with the tonal nob.

From the factory it is playable, but you really need to lower the strings to get away from having it sky high. But other than the bridge needing tweaked, out of the box it is a pretty solid bass.

Durability, o yea, I'm a klutz on stage and off and with this bass's price i wasnt too afraid of nockin it around and of course i did and it stays structurally sound even after having me play it live. I never gig without a backup, but this one really tempts me to not have to carry another bass.

never dealt with O.L.P's customer support

Not entirely sure when this one was made, but bought it in 2006. Made in China. The 22fret neck seems a little wider than my last 5-string, although that may be because my last one had a freakishly thin neck. Mine is natural, with a flame maple top, although it may be a photo of some flame maple stuck on according to some reviews i have read. Think the body is elm, the bass has a nice weight to it, not too light. Passive music man style pickup, looks like a humbucker, but its actually 2 single coils, the plastic over the pickup feels a bit cheap.

I play mine through an Ashdown EB180 15' combo and i'm very impressed with the range of sounds i can get, from a deep growl to some lovely slap and pop sounds, especially considering the price of both the bass and amp. I play punk, dub, ska and drum n bass and this bass suits me fine. The only complaint i have about the sound is a slight crackle on the tone pot, other than that i havnt had any other noise or buzz, which i'm impressed with as my last cheap 5-string (bass collection) was louder when i didnt play it than when i did.

This is where everything starts to go horribly wrong. Out of the box this bass was absolutely unplayable. The neck looked like someone wasn't quite sure whether they were making a bass guitar or a bow and arrow, somebody had forgotten to screw the pickup down altogether and you could probably have driven a car between the strings and the fret board. Also the intonation was way out. Fortunately i've set up guitars and basses before and these problems were easy enough to sort out. However I will go as far as to say, if your looking for your first bass/don't know how to set one up (or cant be bothered to go on t'internet and find out) stay away from these basses, or at least buy one from a shop where you can try it before you buy, as i've also heard that some come out of the factory in a playable condition. As far as positives go the finish and maple fret board look very nice

I've used this bass both live and for recording and it has withstood everything i have thrown at it, i regularly gig with it without a backup (mainly because i cant afford one) and it hasn't failed me yet (had it 1 year). I replaced the strap buttons with some wilkinson strap locks the day i had it so cant say much about them. The finish is ok, although i can see it wareing through in a few years, but the way i see it basses are there to be played, not to look shiny.

Havn't dealt with them, probably never will

I've been playing bass for about 6 years, this is only the second five string i've owned, however it beats my old bass collection one hands down and is quite a bit cheaper, its not quite as good as my warwick dolphin 4-string, but then again i didn't have to sell my car to buy it so i guess that balances things out. Obviously the fact that you could end up with make your own bass kit will put a lot of people off, but if you have a basic knowledge of how to set up a bass (or google) you should be fine. I hate the fact it came with crappy ernie ball strings and the tortoise shell pickguard looks a bit classy for my liking. I love pretty much everything else about this bass, although that is no guarentee that anyone else will. If this bass was lost or stolen, i'd try the insurance for a proper musicman, but if that failed i'd buy another one without a second thought as setting it up was half the fun

I'd say GC got this one in 2004-5 and was lucky they decided to close out their inventory.

Details: China built Music-Man clone (back of neck has a stamp that says the headstock design is licensed by Ernie Ball), 21 frets, 5-string, J-bass passive controls (2 volumes and a master tone), single MusicMan-style passive pickup (looks like a HB but actually 2 single coils that hum-cancel when both knobs are at 10), clear natural wood (elm?), maple neck, clear hi-gloss finish.

I have a lot of styles and play a lot of basses. Had sat down one day and checked one out (street price $249) and was impressed by the slap sound this delivered and the ease of playing. (string spacing at the pickup was perfect for either slap or finger-style playing but pick-players might prefer a closer spacing) It is as close to the EB-MM sound as $249 will get you but it is bright, punchy and loud enough to keep you happy. This also has that nice blend of hi-end ringiness and low-end crunch that works with all-out rock/metal playing. Actually got to play chords on this bass with a pick for a Billy Idol song, and the results were powerful!

Only drawback is that, like other J-bass configured basses, turning down one of the pickups results in henious hum. Turning both volumes on full makes this bass quiet and very responsive. Got a little use out of the tone control to dial down the harshness of the strings, but I prefer doing my tone from an FX pedal or the amp. Definitely a live bass as the hum would get you kicked out of any studio.

Action, construction and finish were all flawless; not all of these basses are built the same and I shopped for months to find the right one, which this one is. Even with the stock strings (which I'm changing after I write this) the bass delivers a great sound. Only adjustments I made to it was to raise the pickup about 1/8-1/4 inch and put extra foam under the pickup to stabilize it. Controls didn't need spraying but I sprayed some contact cleaner as I was certain the bass hadn't been maintained since it was delivered to GC.

Except for the aforementioned hum, everything else on the bass was store-new and well-constructed.

I've played a open mike night with it for about an hour and also lent it to a buddy for another hour who left his Lakland 5-string at home. One strap adjustment and he was right at home with this bass. He's considering getting one as a backup to his Lakland (one of those $1500 models) so I consider that a good reference.

Everything looks great and built to last on it, but I'd have to play this for the next 4 years and get back to you on durability. Consequently I intend to pack this as an alternate instrument for rock and funk-style playing.

Isn't worth shipping to China when local repair centers are available.

I'd give this a 12 if it wasn't for the pickup hum, but since I play with both volumes on 10 (I make adjustments on my amp or FX pedal) it isn't an issue to me.

I've been playing for nearly 36 years and own over 30 instruments at present. The OLP will be put to a lot of use this year as my primary slap-5-string and I'm already contemplating purchasing the Tony Levin OLP based on my experiences with this bass. Definitely would pick up another one at the price I got this one, and you should too.

I wish there were a series/parallel switch on it as I think this wouldn't sound bad in series mode. Only solution I see for the grounding issue would be a replacement pickup or a dummy coil, but for $130 I can live with the current electronics.

2005 China made,22 frets,5 strings,passive,two volumes 1 tone,1 music man look humbucker,flame maple top,body wood unknown,maple neck and fretboard,music mann look bridge,open tuners with no brand,fat neck with narrow string spacing.

well,it sounds pretty loud and bright,with a snappy midrange presence.Very well defined on every string,great B string,lots of punch.
I have tried it on several amps but on my Mark Bass little mark,which is well known to be an amp that,if set in flat position, doesn't color the original sound of your bass,the bass sound better if no tweaking is done on the amp controls,and I think that this says it all ;-)
The bass has two volume controls,one for each part of the humbucker.the sound doesn't difference too much between the two options,and when singled the bass makes an annoying hum noise.I tried to shield the bass control cavity but with no hope.By the way the best sound is with the two volume knobs both open,and then the hum is cancelled and there is no noise at all.

The action was perfect - no buzz no fret noise and very low.A joy to play,you can't get this action even on very expensive instruments,a 10+ for this to OLP.The bad thing was the finish: several mistakes (like black small dots in the see through finish!)a coulpe of breaks in the paint and absolutely no paint whatsoever on the fingerboard,made it look like a real piece of unfinished wood!I never saw anything like this before - I had to put some linen oil on the fingerboard to protect it from heavy use and sweat.
Chinese standard?

looks build like a tank,i think it will last long.

never get in touch with those guys

I play professionally since more than 25 years,and i have owned almost any bass model worth of this name.Several jazz basses,from vintage 60's models to contemporary ones,a few precisions,recently a Music Man SUB and many more,even some expensive Alembics,Ken Smith and Warwicks.
I was very sceptic about buying an OLP bass,expecially for the fact that looks like a cheap chinese Musicman wannabee,so I was expecting a real piece of crap when i picked it from ther store.But after i plugged it in a Glockenclang amp and started palying around with it,I was conquered!This damn cheap bass is incredibly good - I have it now since a month and i keep playing on it,in every situation sounds good,from studio to live!Amazing if you think about the price I paid for it.
One thing is important to understand:this bass may look like a Musicman copy,but it's not.Is an instrument of its own - so do not expect to get the Musicman sound out of it - you will get a great passive humbucker sound,and a damn good one!

This was a 2003 model. It has a stunning natural finish on an elm body which has an interesting grain pattern. The body is very hard and resonant. The sustain is long and the notes are crisp.

The sound is terrific. Upon looking at basses I picked this up at the GUitar Center and the moment I plucked the first note I was amazed. The output on this thing is really high due to that massive musicman humbucker. It had a wonderful assortment of high and low frequencies that could be heard through my SWR workingman 15. The tone knob can dial in either nice and crisp and trebbly or bassy with the highs cut so either way it is versatile.

The action is supprisingly smooth and fluid. I can move across the fretboard nicely. Sometimes there was a bit of fretboard buzz but I was able to fix that. Also the sadles sometimes rattled a bit but I stuck small pieces of rubber between them and that is now no longer an issue.

This thing though heavy is very strong and solidly built. The solid elm body doesn't even have a belt buckle indentation in it from years of use.

All I can say is that this is an incredible bass for the pricerange. It may not be quite as fun as the Warwick and Ibanez basses that go for a little over a grand but there is no way you could find a better bass in this price range. I have this and a Squier P-bass special 5 in my arsenal and this one blows the Squier away. I paid about the same for both.

Bought new in 2004 as an inexpensive change in tone from my 2 other 5 string basses. It had the natural finish with black pickguard. Looked good. Hardware seemed cheap and flimsey though.

while playing with the volume of one of the pickups lower than the other the bass tends to hum quite a bit. Both volumes must be set at the same level to prevent the buzz. The tone control went from tinny to mud.

The setup from the store was nice with low action.
There was one section on the lower horn where you could see a polyurathene run in the finish which showed as a lump.

I thought the neck was nice and comfortable but found after playing it for a bit the strings were actually too close together for my liking. Compared to my other 5 stringers it felt too cramped for easy fingering. My right arm would also get sore from resting on the sharp edge of the body while playing for 1/2 hour or so. The body edges are not rounded enough to be comfortable for long periods of playing. The string action went out of adjustment just sitting in the house unplayed for a month.Then the truss rod snapped off inside the neck after 3/4 of a turn !! Luckily it was only 11 months old.

The store I bought it from said no problem they would order a new neck from OLP and all would be covered under warranty. I called my salesman every 2-3 weeks but I waited 13 weeks for the replacement neck to come in ! The store then told me it was NOT covered under warrenty but I could get it for cost plus shipping ! What choice did I have ? I layed out $120 for the new neck!
I installed the neck myself and promptly sold the bass. I wanted no more of that piece of junk !

I've been playing bass for 30 years.
I thought a cheap Chinese knock-off of a Musicman bass would be fun and affordable. WRONG !! Almost always in this world you GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR ! Made in China junk !
Sure they make nice affordable clothes ,garden furniture and other things but don't expect a descent long lasting bass !

As noted in other reviews, this is a copy of the 5-string Music Man Stingray. The bass has one passive soapbar (actually, two single coils in one cover), two volume knobs, one tone knob, open tuners on a 4+1 headstock and KILLER looks. I had to shop around to find the black body-white pickguard-maple neck-black headstock configuration. Damn glad I did. I found it to be much more appealing than the natural "butterscotch" body. Did I mention KILLER looks?! Even the OLP logo on the head was attractive and low-key. Thumbs up to OLP for the matching body and head. Bookends the maple neck very nicely.

Out of the box, this thing had more (fret)buzz than a jar of bees! After making several adjustments to the trussrod and brigde, I was unable to alleviate all of the buzz. Made a trip to my local guitar doctor who had to re-level some of the frets. Once returned, the bass had a great setup. I replaced the Slinky's with a set of DR Hi-Beams. The Hi-Beams have both a terrific, fat bottom end and the classic stainless steel top end. The pickup is relatively hot for a passive, and the overall tone is very good (beyond what most would expect from a $250 bass). I've found the bass to be very quiet in studio work, but you MUST have both coils on "10" (similar to a Jazz bass). If either coil is turned down, the bass emits a ton of 60 cycle hum. That, by itself, limits the usable tone of this unit. This won't make as much difference in a live situation, but it will definitely be noticable! The tone pot regulates the higher frequencies th the same degree as other lower-level basses. Overall, if you want to keep the noise levels at zero, your are going to have limited tonal choices. However, with all pots wide open, the tone is fantastic! Definitely beats the pants off of any other sub-$400 bass I've owned. With the right amplification (I use an Ampeg), this thing has a very "pro" sound.

As noted above, the setup was pretty crappy when I pulled it off the music store wall. After a professional massage, the unit is playing very well. The fit and finish are first rate. The bass looks terrific! Although none of the hardware will pass as American-made, it is very good quality for its origin. The rating is a bit lower here due to the fret and setup issues from the factory. Once corrected, I would give it a 9.

All in all, the overall quality of the bass is very good based on the price paid. As noted above, no one would mistake it for an American-made instrument. It does, however, compare nicely to other Korean-made basses. Although I never gig without backup instruments and amplification, I have no reason to believe that this one would let me down in a pinch. Same for the finish and hardware. Unlike some other reviews, the strap buttons and knobs are tight, the tuners hold great and the paint is top-notch.

I use local repair shops for all of my basses and amps, so I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with OLP or their retailers.

Nice, nice, nice. When I was playing full-time, I used Fenders and, later, Warwicks. After hanging up my spurs, I culled my equipment load down to a couple of cheap basses and amps that I didn't mind putting in the closet for months at a time. When I needed to upgrade my basses recently, I researched the OLP and some of its competetitors. After reading several good reviews on the OLP, I decided to give it a try. This was DEFINITELY the right choice! This bass fits into that middle category (tonally) between starter bass (Rogues and Squires) and pro basses... but at a starter bass prices. For a gigging musician, this would be a great bass if you needed a backup or spare 5-string. For a beginner, this would be the bass that makes your friends envious. Quite honestly, if the tone produced by this bass is to your liking, there's no reason that this couldn't be a good primary bass for a gigging player! (Single-coil hum being your only sticking point)

I bought a Blue MM3 with white pick guard. As a cheap skate music student (Currently studying Diploma of Music) I bought this as a cheap bass so I could leave my main bass at home. I transit half an hour a day, and I bought this so if it got damaged it wouldn't bother me as much.

I started off playing bass on a cheap generic jazz bass rip off, then upgraded to another bass with active electronics. But the transition back to passive wasn't a problem with this bass.

The tuners seemed to hold well. The bridge seems solid enough.
Slim neck plays fast, however mine was unfinished.

Absolutly nails the Stingray 5 look, actually had a couple of friends ask me how I could have enough $ to buy a stingray.I had to explain it wasn't a real one.

Until this bass, I have always played basses with a J/J config. (just sheer luck, i guess) The simgle humbucker has a huge output for a passive bass, the tones with a good bass, warm midrange and ok highs (can alway dial greater highs out of Actives)

Gigs well and records quite nice straight into a DI.

I remember going to the music shop, picking it up, open the box, plug it in to the amp, and jamming for the next three hours. Never had an issue with the factory set up. Well put together, actually very surprising for a cheap bass.

Timber isn't AAA grade, but you can't have everything for low $

I've never gigged with it live, but lent it to a mate in my class (who eventually bought it from me). Seems solid, I would replace the strap buttons though. Would take a backup though, but thats just me.

This Bass has never had a problem with the neck, though the pots have been damaged through a cheap crappy guitar stand (Not my doing on either account)

Never had to deal with customer support regarding this bass. I have no idea even if it has a warranty

I've been playing for just over a year (I'm also a drummer, but for my music education i'm required to play chords, scales, modes, all the good stuff on a noted instrument, so I picked the bass).

I loved the fact it was cheap, but I actually traded it with some $$$ for a mates Ibanez EDC700. He is actually in my class, so I see the MM3 almost daily any way. It's still in near mint condition.

I play through a variety of amps, have used the bass in a Peavey something, 200W (Class Bass Amp), A No-Name 15 W Practice amp, and A Behringer Bx3000t with 1x15 and 2x10 combos.

I'm actually looking at another MM3 or even OLP SB5 for the same reason as I bought this one. Nice, cheap, solid, versatile

Basics features that other reviewers have already detailed. Mine is the natural finish with tortoise shell pick guard. Body wood on the natural model is elm... who ever thought of using elm on a musical instrument? Isn't elm normally used for furniture? Anyway, very attractive, all my band mates, my wife, myself and others love the look of it.

When I played this bass in the store I thought it had a nice warm and deep tone. After I bought it and used it at a couple gigs, I found the tone to be a liitle too mellow with not much definition. The strings also felt very rubbery to me. So I replaced the stock strings (EB Super Slinky) with heavier gage Rotosound Swing Bass strings. This made a HUGE difference! The sound is still warm, but now it is also bright and punchy with plenty of definition. What a difference a simple set of strings can make! Anyway, combine the new strings with a little eq and compressor tweaking and this bass sounds awesome. Very hard to believe for a bass this cheap! So far I've only played live gigs with it, I'm looking forward to trying it out in the studio.

You can get SOME variety of sound by playing with the two volume and one tone controls, but not a whole lot. This bass seems to be very sensitive to input inpedences, with some amps the tone control makes a very pronounce change, while in others it seems to have no effect at all. Not really a big deal for me, I just turn everything up full and use my processor/eq to make changes.

The bass was set up okay from the store, but I have since replaced the strings and did a full set up which included, neck truss rod, intonation pick up height and action. Now it plays, sounds and feels much better than it did when I bought it from my local GC. The biggest problem with this bass is a couple high frets. The 6th fret is not seated properly and the 13th fret was not properly crowned, resulting in a slight buzz when playing at the 5th and 12 frets. Fortunately I have a friend who is a guitar builder/tech who said he could easily fix the problem for me. Also a couple of the screws that hold the pick guard on were a little too tight, causing the pick guard to warp a little. But this is a very minor problem.

The good side is than this bass seems to be very solid. There is no flaw in the finish and the wood seems to be of good quality. The hardware seems to be okay, though very basic. The bridge saddles have no side-to-side movement even though there is nothing to stablize them latterally. There is far less sympathetic string vibration from this bridge than my much more expensive active bass that had grooves to secure the saddles.

I've only had this bass for a little over two months now. Have played several gigs with it and it seems very solid. I did a full set up on this bass shortly after I bought it and I haven't had to adjust anything since. I feel confident that it will last, but only time will tell.

Never dealt with OLP. It does have a one year warranty, although the terms are not posted on thier web site or anywhere else. It also has no serial number, so there is no way for them to track this bass or know when it was built.

I bought this bass as a temporary solution. I had an active bass where the pre-amp was going bad and couldn't afford to replace it. So I bought the OLP MM3 and sold the other bass. The OLP was cheaper than replacing that pre-amp! I figured I'd either upgrade the OLP or save money to buy a better bass down the road. So far I'm a lot happier than I thought I would be with this bass. I think any mods I do to it will be minor, and when I do buy another bass I intend to keep this as a back up. i've been wanting to get away from the modern active tone and get something more traditional sounding anyway, since I mostly play rock style christian and worship music.

I've been playing bass for 10+ years, mostly live but some studio. Over all I think this bass is absolutely fantastic for the price. Great sound and playability, will suit either a beginner or semi-pro with a day job (like me). If you are a beginner, take an experienced bass player to the store with you to try the OLP out before you buy it, mostly to avoid the fret problems that I've encountered.

Also, I compared it against a real MM Stingray 5 at the store. The feel of the neck seemed very much the same to me. Close your eyes and you can't tell a difference. The real MM Body was more contoured and much more comfortable though. The OLP had a very simular sound... it sounds very Stingray LIKE, however, the real MM was much bigger, fatter, and punchier sounding with higher highs and lower lows. Pretty much what you would expect.

Bottom line: Great sound (with a little tweaking) and playability, but be prepared to deal with maybe a few minor flaws.