OLP MM1

OLP MM1 made in China. Mine has a sparkling red body , short neck with 22 frets. Bought it second hand.
Body is Basswood (Linde).
Only one volumecontrol ,with a very small pot inside the body.
3 way switch.
2 zebra pick ups with a lot of output.
Maple? neck with glued maple fretboard.
Tremolo.

Indeed it has a sound on its own. Great sustain thanks to the wood and the pickups. Rich full tone and loud. I use a Fender de Luxe 85 amp.
No noisy at all.

Fretwork well done.

To anyone who has tuningproblems with this guitar, or any other guitar, do this.................
Just screw the nut on each tuner on the headstock a bit tighter with a 10 mm spanner, that's it. Your tuningproblems are gone...........
Most forgotten thing by adjusting your guitar!!!! Wood is shrinking a bit in years so this must be done some time.

I can lower the strings without any problem, no fretbuzz.

This guitar will last many years to come as the hardware will do.
Finish is nice and well done.

Don't know.
OLP's are no longer made from january 2009.

I play for 40+ years now.
Sometimes there are guitars around that won't cost that much and are a great deal for the money. This is one of them.
I would buy it again because they are rather cheap and well built. Prices will definately rise in the near future because it's such a great deal for the money and are no longer made.

I have 3 of these sunburst/black quilt and ginger quilt...after changing the nut for a Tusq/Re-fretting to improve on the chinese 30% champher/replacing volume pot with 500K CTS with .001 capacitor re:Telecaster and setting up properly...all of them are probably the best 'budget' guitars available...the most noticable thing is the sustain from the pickups!...with none of the usual rasp! you usually get with some others...It really should be renamed Musicman!...I cant see any difference except for maybe real quilt maple instead of foto-film...I find it incredible to believe that they have ceased production?...perhaps because they are scared of losing sales of Musicman top priced models eh?...

its very adaptable to all styles...ME70 plus 2 Fender combos in stereo...it isnt noisy in use....hasnt got the classic bite of a fender,but has a sound of its own and is versatile...dont really like the circular back end?...but it grows on you...fantastic value for money?...thats why I've snapped up 3 on Ebay 1st.one was ??85! 2nd.??120! and 3rd.??150!...have you seen the latest rubbish from Fender and its multi-national copies?...I have...I reckon my ??355 for 3 super quality guitars was spent well...

superb...neck is a little bit raw but i have a can of clear laquer and do it myself...pickups were adjusted ok from stock...no problems with the woodwork...except small adjustments used in the factory to clean up the neck slot(could have been resealed and not left raw)...hmmm...the fretting is a bit over champherred...but i refretted all of them to my own liking(I think the fretting champher angle is the only problem) but then any chinese guitar will be the same,someone should tell them about it?

yep!...hardwear is similiar to most guitars cheap or expensive...good finish it will last...strap buttons are better than my fender skinny ones!...My brother uses one of them in his 'full time'Status quo tribute band with no problems!...wot would you use for a back up?...probably another one the same,silly question...

I do my own set-ups and repairs!...these dont need much...OLP are no longer...but no worries

Ive been playing for 45 years!...my other gear is 8 various guitars incl.Gitane Gypsy jazz/5 string bass/7 string guitar/Stringbender albert lee guitar/and the usual strat and tele/88 note electric piano/several different effects me50/me70/Alesis midi-verb/Lexicon delay/Trace elliot bass combo/2 fender 65w combos/behringer 210 (2x60w stereo)digital modelling combo...and a small car!!!

I recently did a setup in one of these and was impressed enough to write a review.
This example is a OLP (Music Man) MM1 guitar.
Basswood body, maple neck with no finish - just oiled, small headstock with 4+2 tuning machines, 2 x zebra buckers, 3 way toggle, single vol control. Vintage style trem.
Clearly this guitar is based upon the ernie ball guitar used by Van halen in the 80s/90s; the body shape and features are very similar save for the Floyd Rose which is replaced by a vintage-style trem.
I believe Floyd models were available at some point; the OLP brand was retired as of 2009.
This one was finished in a candy apple red finish.
Overall the guitar appears solid. It has a good wieght (although it does not balance on your knee!).
Particularly impressed with the feel of the oiled neck - very fast.

I'm reviewing this based upon the post set-up sound.
The sound of this guitar is definately original. Not strat, LP, Tele sounding... I have heard other MM guitars and the OLP MM1 captures that sound very nicely. It has the fullness and compression of a Les Paul, but a little less bassy and more chimey. Very balanced sound.
The humbuckers deliver - I have measured them but they are high output. As stock pickups I can't imagine they are the best in the world but they do a good job.
As I mentioned, clean they are chimey and muscial. They dont turn to mush when pushed through the gain channel of my Laney.
The balance between the pickups is fine.
The single vol control wont suit everyone. Doesnt allow for great tonal variety, but the tones that are produced a solid.

Ok - here's where the main of my critisisms are.
The owner of this guitar asked me to look it over as he was experiencing tuing issues. He bought it second hand, and to his knowledge it still had the factory setup.

By the way I am not a pro tech - but I have learned how to setup my guitars through years of semi-pro playing - I think its good to know how to get the best from your instrument and know how to adjust it to suit your playing.:

The nut on this guitar was terribly cut. The string slots were too deep within the nut, but slots were still too HIGH in relation to the frets!! This combination of excessive nut material and high nut action was causing pinching and intonation problems.

In addition the strings were not ringing from the front of the nut - the guitar would not tune properly.

So the nut was severely screwing up the potential of this instrument. Before adjustment this guitar could not be tuned well enough to be gigged with. After adjustment the guitar sang like an angel. Its very unfair to let guitars out of a factory in this condition. Guitars like this cause countless hours of frustration to players - particuarly beginners who will be buying guitars in this price range.

Prior to the setup this guitar was a nightmare.
However, to its credit, with a setup this guitar is solid and dependable and I would gig without a backup.
I've no idea how old the guitar is - I would estimate between 3 and 4 years. All electonics/mechanics still working fine.
Review marking is based upon post-setup realiability.

n/a. OLP has been retired.

A good solid guitar that I would recommend to beginners and semi-pros without question. Has good looks and great sound even with stock hardware.
Setup recommended though to make this guitarreally shine.
In terms of value for money. At ??149 this guitar is a bargain. Compared to others in its price bracket (e.g. Squier Tele at ??150), the MM1 smokes the competition.
The owner of this guitar managed to acquire it for ??80!! He's pretty chuffed nows its been setup.

This is a follow up review. I've had this guitar for quite a few months now and absolutely LOVE IT! I have kept this guitar "stock" for the most part but did replace the pickup out for a Dimarzio "tone zone" and replaced the volume knob with a steel one. Basic setup; one volume, two pickups, toggle. perfect for my needs.

Sounds amazing with the new Tone Zone pickup. The old one was pretty good but had a slight "twangyness" to it like a Tele or a single coil strat that was annoying after a few days of owning it. I'm running this guitar into a pedal board with a Boss SD-1, MXR Flanger, MXR Phase 90, Digitech Digidelay set for a slight slapback repeat. Amps are a Peavey 5150II and EVH 5150III heads into two cabinets. Also use a Hughes & Kettner Matrix on occasion. Big sounding guitar that remains quiet through my rig. Love it!

After a few months of lowering/raising the action I've got it set to a nice height. Medium seems to work best with this guitar for me as opposed to ultra-low like I'm used to. The frets make it really easy to play so it's not necessary to have the action low IMO. I love how the stock bridge sounds. Lots of bottom end that you don't get with a floyd rose. I will never change this bridge unless it breaks or stops functioning correctly.

I recently road tested this guitar and took it to Parker, AZ for 6 outdoor shows in 90 degree heat near the river.. This was a perfect opportunity for me to see how well it worked under "not so good" conditions. The last time I played Parker my Washburn Idol kept going out of tune.. so I figured why not give the OLP MM1 a shot. At first I had a few tuning issues after the first song but after I re-tuned the MM1 outside (which I should've done to begin with) it stayed perfectly in tune throughout the entire weekend's six shows. I didn't bring a backup guitar so that it would force myself into giving a true test and this baby passed with flying colors... It's hard to get a nice full souond outdoors to begin with but I had no problem dialing in a great sound.. Although, having great amps helped. I never usually do a gig without a backup guitar but it would'nt bother me if I forgot to bring a spare. The MM1 kills! and I'm glad I own one.

Haven't needed them yet, probably won't.

Been playing for 30 some odd years. I also own a Peavey Wolfgang, Washburn Idol, Peal acoustic. I'm looking to buy another MM1 in the future. Great guitar! Check out my music at;

http://myspace.com/nicolari

Don't know when it was made, sorry! Basswood body with Maple veneer top, unfinished maple neck, single volume control, two humbucker/three position selector. Vintage trem that I will never use, so I blocked it! I actually have two, one red and one trans-orange.

I use these through a Peavey Valveking 112 with probably too much processing gear. The stock pickups were far better than I anticipated. I bought a set of DiMarzio Breed for one of them, but I may put them on E-Bay. Neck is quite powerful with decent sustain and harmonics. Neck is kinda like a PAF Pro, but not quite as good sounding.

Guitars were both bought off Ebay and were setup and taken care of by two guys who knew their stuff. Great low action with no buzz at all. I like how the pickups are mounted directly to the body. The neck on this guitar rivals that of a much more expensive guitar.

I don't gig, so these guitars are just great for me. I think you could use them regularly with some regular upkeep and care.

Never needed, and they don't make these anymore.

I've been playing for about 10 years, the last three very seriously. These are not the EBMM Axis guitars by any means, but they are outstanding for the money. Mine seem well built and sound pretty darn good stock. If lost or stolen I would be angry, because they don't make'em anymore as stated above. They will not replace my more expensive Ibanez's and Fender, but are none the less allot of fun to play. Definetly worth grabbing if you get the chance.

Transparent gold film top, single cut away, vintage strat bridge, standard tuners, 22 medium jumbo frets, neck relief tools and cable included, 2007, 3 way selector switch, and one volume knob, 2 humbuckers OEM, basswood body

Solid rock sound, has a fat tone to it, good for most genre's of music. Use a Vox XL modeling amp, and Fender Bullet 150 for practice. Very quiet guitar, Rich sound, could be a little brighter. This guitar is very agile and can pull off any sound a hardtail can. The bridge tremolo feature will throw the guitar out of tune. This can be fixed by installing a floyd rose system or a wilkinson bridge. The guitar's neck to body fit is outstanding, great alignment, and the fret work is good. Drawbacks are the pickups elevations cannot be adjusted as they are directly mounted to the body. You would have to shim under the pickups to raise, or route the body cavity deeper to adjust pickup elevation. This affects your adjustments for string action above the fret board. Minimum string action cannot be obtained as the strings will engage the pickups. Still adjusted action to a happy medium, could be lower though if this were fixed.

The guitar set up was ok, it was set high. The pickup selector switch seems bent and of poor quality. It works but I will change this out with a better switch.

With the exception of the selector switch and bridge, the guitar is a sound investment. The tuners will last and the bridge will be ok as long as I don't use the tremolo arm. I have had this guitar a month now and it stays in tune very well. The finish is well done, nice looking guitar. Strap buttons are standard and solid. I have practiced with this guitar twice, so it seems like it will do. I wouldn't use this guitar without a backup. But then again I wouldn't gig without a backup regardless of the make of guitar.

Haven't used company support yet.

I have been playing for 25 years, and own a Strat and a Les Paul. Each have thier own unique sound. I did alot of research on this particular model and knew what I was getting. This is a solid guitar you can upgraded and feel comfortable with. Great neck and pickups. The rest can be fitted with higher quality components. I would buy this guitar if lost or stolen again. I have compared this guitar to Epi LP-100's and Fender Squieres. It has a better quality in regards to neck and body fit. Stays in tune alot better. For a low budget you cannot do much better. I wish this guitar was made with a tunamatic bridge. I wanted a brown sound to play with and this guitar does that. It has a sound in between a Strat and Les paul. I bought this guitar over the web, so I feel real lucky I didn't get a lemon.

This is a follow up to my previous review.. I have since added a Dimarzio "Tone Zone" pickup in the bridge position to my OLP MM1 guitar. It now sounds just as good, if not better than my Peavey Wolfgang guitar. I a/b'd both guitars after the installation of the Tone Zone PU.. The Peavey is tighter and less distorted, the OLP is richer, fuller and fatter with the exact same amount of mids as the Wolfie pickup.. I am very happy with the OLP. A great guitar for the money and only a few extras made this as good as a $1,800 guitar.

This is quilt film top colored in a beautiful trans red MM1 which comes with a vintage trem. The body is basically a musicman Axis exact copy. The body is light thanks to its basswood material.

It comes with die cast sealed chrome tuners (changed to sperzel locking tuners, more details ahead...).

The Neck is maple with maple fingerboard and it's a 25.5 scale neck.
The frets look like a medium jumbo to me. The neck radius is flat comparing to musicman's neck profile... I've tried these...
The fretboard has 22 frets which was part of the reason for the purchase. I don't like 24 fret guitars...

The guitar came with tools like a rod which can be used to adjust the neck and it came with a instrument cable and a trem arm.

I have no idea when it was made, I can probably inquire the company and find out... don't mind really, it's made in China like most products that you buy these days...

The controls are really basic: just your typical volume knob and a 3 way toggle switch. 2 direct mount humbuckers which to my opinion are extremely surprising pickups, I actually put them back on the guitar after many pickup replacments I've tried, later on that...

These are passive pickups with extremely high resistance around the 18K, I've measured it. Also it uses ceramic magents.

To be honest, as I write this review I have doubts about keeping this guitar and I'll try to explain later why...

This guitar has a really full sound thanks to its really good pickups, and it's very well balanced, it gives a really sweet round and clean distorted tones, which is a part of why on the other hand I have second thoughts about it, I miss this dirt in the sound you have on Les Pauls and strats... but it's much more comfortable guitar to play than those I've just mentioned to my opinion.

To my surprise the pickups are extremely quiet! It's so great!
I did make modifications like rewiring the components using high degree materials and it changed the sound actually, made it quieter and much more detailed.

This guitar can pretty much nail obviously the Van Halen era, not much the 80's metal genre though, and it can definitely play as fun as a Les Paul without the weight hassle...

So you don't get bells and whistles here, but you get an extremely good guitar which is worth every dime I paid for it.

I wish it had a middle single coil pickup for versatility and a tone knob for more jazzy tones... this is a straight rock guitar.

It will definitely nail those Petrucci tones, which is also a part of the reason why I think to part ways with it, I'm tired of that tone...

The guitar now sounds bright, round, punchy, detailed, too clean to my opinion and not enough character for bluesier tones and styles.

I made so many pickup changes: Dimarzios, even active EMG's and got back to the original pickups, that's how good they are to my opinion.
No other pickup actually changed the character of the guitar to my disappointment and I begin to feel a need for another guitar.

The tremolo which I'll talk about later really changed the sound of the guitar, the stock trem was really bad actually, impossible to maintain tunning and it made the guitar sound cheap.

The amp that I use is a Peavey delta blues 210... I didn't feel need to mention the gear and all because I don't find it relevant, I will tell you that I use a pedal board that goes to a clean channel on the amp, my sound is basically a lot of 80's metal and saturated distortion sounds for lead, think Satch and alike...

The setup was non existing, I naturally set it up to my liking so I don't give score here.

The pickups cannot be adjusted actually as they're direct mount, the only way would be to put some washers and screw it back in to gain more height but that's about it.

The bridge, well, it's a story.. the stock one is really bad. Not properly installed and low quality materials... it made the guitar sound dark, and cheap. I installed a wilkinson VS100G instead and it made things much more different. a stock MM1 would get a 5, modified gets an 8

Other than that, all was well from the start, the components, The assembly and great fret job!

The stock tuners were replaced for sperzel locking tuners, as I really wanted to make things easier and better for me, it works...

It will withstand live playing, it already did :) I replaced the strap buttons to strap locks, I never play without them.

The finish is good enough and it will definitely last, it does have scratches on it but it still looks awesome!

Can I depend on it? yes, do I want to depend on it? good question...

I never use just one guitar live, I always use backup so this question is irrelevant.

As I said there were modifications made to make it better.

1. the stock trem which was terrible got replaced with a wilkinson vs100g, the gotoh version... It's fantastic!

2. Sperzel locking tuners... great tuners!

As for the company they always replied my mails so I credit them for that...

I've been playing for the past 5 years, but I'm a musician for my entire lifetime, I have many skills that I use, I'm a sound engineer, a musical arranger and producer, I have another electric guitar, acoustic and a piano, and a home studio...

I have a pedalboard with too many pedals, and a Peavey Delta Blues 210 combo tube amplifier...

To be honest I wasn't even supposed to buy this guitar, it wasn't part of the plan but it just happened... so I cherished the moments with it... I really think it's time to let it go...

I didn't compare it with other guitars, I don't use this method unless we're talking about a life time decision which it definitely wasn't and financially it was dumb purchase, I'm not in a great financial condition at all... but I have this disease of buying guitars all the time...

I don't think there's anything to change about it, this guitar is exactly what it should be, a well worth the money and incredible quality for the price, and it can definitely be used with more professional applications, totally...

The thing I liked about it most is the neck profile, it's comfortable, my taste as far as sound goes changed obviously, I'd never imagine of letting it go if that wasn't the cause.

If it was stolen, I wouldn't buy it again because I don't believe this is the guitar of my dreams, I don't think I have one actually...

I just got my transparent blk MM1 today. Standard trem, hard mounted custom pickups, one volume knob, 3-way toggle switch, 22 frets. Package came with allen wrench for saddle adjustments, trem bar, instrument cable, truss rod wrench. I didn't give it a ten because the features are simplified... A ten for my needs but someone else might like a tone control.

I own a Peavey Wolfgang guitar after setting the OLP MM1 up to my needs I A/B'd it through my new EVH (Fender-made) 5150 III amp head and cab. First I played my trusty Wolfgang through the 5150 III head for several minutes, then I plugged the OLP into the head. To my amazement it sounded nearly identical. What a surprise! The OLP had a tad bit more high end and was a bit brighter. The low end was there as well and the "tight" chunck was the same as my Wolfy. Very quiet guitar and well worth every penny I paid for it. I'm thinking of getting a few more in different colors. What a great sounding guitar! Better than any other guitar I've heard in it's price range. Infact it's close to my $1,800 Wolfgang.

Out of the box the action was a bit high.. Nothing a few minutes of tweaking didn't fix. After my adjusting it plays beautifully.. I set the action very low and had to lower the pickups a hair so the strings wouldn't connect with them. The photo finish looks great. I wouldn't have known it was a photo had I not read about it. My only complaint is that the trans black looks a tad greenish.. Still looks nice but I expected a darker black. No biggie, I like it and I already have many black guitars. Ha!
I had to loosen the plastic toggle cover so that the switch would function properly and not jog into the middle position on it's own. No biggie. I have several expensive guitars; Ed Roman Rockingbird, B.C. Rich Mockingbirds, Ironbirds, Washburn Idol, Peavey Wolfgang and the OLP holds it's own. Plays as well as my others and sounds great. Much better than my stock B.C. Riches sounded before I modded them. The MM1 is a killer stock guitar and with a few tweaks is amazing. I changed out the white volume knob and installed a steel black knob only because I like the way they feel.

The neck is solid, great construction. My guess would be you could beat the living crap out of it and it would still play nice and stay in tune. I changed the strap buttons to strap locks because I plan on playing it live onstage. I usually bring a backup guitar but if this thing passes my "string break" test I wouldn't have a problem bringing to a gig without another guitar as backup.
String Test; every new guitar I get I change the strings to Ernie Ball 9-42 gauge and don't change them until one pops. This gives me an idea how long it takes.

Haven't dealt with them and probably won't need to.

I've been playing 35 years and have played in many touring acts beginning in 1988. I love how the MM1 plays and sounds. At a price like this you can afford to collect different colors and styles. I compared this guitar with my higher priced guitars. Stellar construction and sound. I'm gonna get a few more! Hats off to OLP! Johnny Roxx
http://myspace.com/nicolari

It has a pretty paint job and that is about ALL! I bought this because of the reviews. I was wondering did all of these reviews come from retails store because the guitar isn't anything like the reviews.

The pickup are as thin as a piece of paper- they got heart. I suspect the rosewood neck didn't help anything either.

I play thru a crate amp with lots of effects and nothing sounds that good with this guitar. The guitar is very bright.

let me say for the money a Squier 51 IS A MUCH BETTER GUITAR. I told myself I'd never every buy a squier again but this one is part of their master series and it has some heart and soul along with some guts too.

Guitar seems to be made well apart from inferior materials (basswood body)

the finish is pretty and the neck is OK as far as being comfortable.

no comment

been playing bass and guitar for 4 yrs. If stolen I'd only be sad about the money I spent on it as far as missing the guitar not at all.

This guitar is a amazing guitar. Only paid 80$ for it [Was on sale at guitar center] Features a very smooth neck, perfect for shreading, and of course a whammy bar.

THIS GUITAR IS THE S%$#! You can play any kind of music on it. I'm a blues rock, and heavy metal player, this guitar is perfect for any kind, don't let the Eddie Van Halen body fool you.

There's only one tiny flaw in my OLP, and thats the tremolo. In is very creaky. But it dosen't matter that much. Thinking about changing the pickups to eastwood airline pickups, or maybe T.V jones.

This guitar is buil like a rock, I've dropped it a few times and it held up fine. I can honestly depend on it. I am trying to start my own band, and if we ever get famous this will be my signature.

I have been playing for a few years, honestly best guitar i have ever played. I would buy this again if smething happend to it. I love the body style, kinda reminds me of a telecaster. The day i bought this was at a one day only sale at guitar center. I played several other guitars including a epiphone sg and a solidbody grestch. I wish this guitar had better pickups though but thats okay

The features are the standard as already covered. I think the finish is an outstanding feature as well as the pickups. Every other guitar I tried out in this price range (Squire, Epiphone, Dean, B.C. Rich, Yamaha) was less impressive or of inferior quality. None even came close on the quality of the pickups or of the overall finish on the OLP.

I'm a weekend player and have been using my Dillion Tele religiously for the last two years. I must admit I didn't expect I'd like the sound of the OLP. I was very surprised. The pickups in this guitar are excelent, especially for the bridge position and this guitar will scream. It has a full bright sound with a slight warm taper on the high end. I have been playing with it the last two weeks and it's become like an addiction. I love the sound of this guitar. I'm playing through an 80's Peavey 4x10 tube amp with a blues distortion, and a few other effects. It's got no hum, buzz, or other annoying habits. It's quiet when you need it to be and as big and bad as you wanna be when you need it. I am impressed...

I bought this guitar from a friend who has 40 some guitars and assured me I'd love it. He is hard handed and had heavy strings on it and the action was terrible for my style. I just simply lowered the saddles and changed to a lighter string (E.B. Hybrid Slinky .09's)... ---Perfection--- It's easily as good a player as my $500 Dillion. No, it does not look like a $500 guitar should look. However, the quality is excelent. The saddles are better quality than any crap-O-Matic, Frets are very good, finish is durable, mine's used so it's got a little wear from use but will obviously hold up well long term. No noise from the vol pot, switch, or jack. All solid.
Obviously if you're a big whammy user get the Floyd Rose. This OLP stays in tune perfectly but I use it like a hard tail. I do not foresee having to upgrade anything but you could easily Frankenstein this guitar into just about anything you can imagine and it would outlive you. The only reason I didn't give a 10 for this category is that I think this model should be a hardtail since the Floyd Rose is available on the MM1"F".

I'm almost 40 and there is no doubt in my mind that I will be playing this guitar 20 years from now. I know that sounds ridiculous for a $200 guitar but I just can't see getting rid of it now. I put straplocks on it so I don't drop it when I get drunk and rowdy, I bought a new case for it since I can't seem to leave it at home, and I will be upgrading my crappy chrome guitar stand(that I was using back before high school) so it won't fall over. You'd think I was in love with this guitar...
Anyway, if I have to complain(and I always do...) I have one nit-pick. The stock strap buttons were solid but small. My strap is worn and the holes are slutty. I suggest putting straplocks on it. Although I suggest putting straplocks on just about everything(including the dog's leash) so you decide.

I dunno. I do know that my local guitar shop likes dealing with OLP better than several other of the manufacturers. His only comment was that "they're good with their products."

I've been playing as a hobby for 20 years and in bands off and on for 12 years. I own 6 guitars and regularly play a Custom Dillion Tele, a Dean "Boca", and a Takamine Flame top. I play through a Peavey 4x10 tube amp from the 80's or a Ibanez MIMX150H head on a Marshall MG412 Cabinet. I use an odd ball assortment of pedals, mostly Voodoo Lab and Danelectro stuff. This guitar sounds great through my setup. I love the pickups! Did I say I love the pickups? I can get huge crunch or warm and sticky licks out of my OLP. I love the pickups.(I promise I won't say it again)
I'm going to look for a second one for my son. He plays on a Squire Fat Strat that usually has more pieces on the floor than on the guitar. In fact I am looking at his volume knob on top of the PC monitor...strange. Anyway, go buy one!

What a crazy cool cheap guitar this is! I have two of these a red one with normal tremelo and a golden wood colour with floyd rose. Both are basically identical and botn play awesome!! Both my OLP's have maple fretboards and the stock pickups. These are two of my cheapest guitars and I play them all the time.

the sound is awesome! The pickups impress me to no end considering their price. They are ballsy, silky and get that high gain metal rawness. I use this with a Peavey JSX combo and various effects. It gives a beautiful range of tones flicking between neck, bridge and in between. You can go from almost a strat to almost a les paul which is what eddie van halen wanted in this design. The sound can be a bit tinny due to the cheap construction... it not a bad thing... but the pickups pick up any clanks and bangs the tremelo produces. Harmonics in this guitar are easy. Its a light small guitar too...it feel comfy and easy to play with and the longer Ive had them the better their style is in terms of looks. They have really grown on me. The sound is both rich, full and bright...maybe not as deep as Id like but thats also maple fretboard guitars for you. its seriously an awesome pice of equipment for the price!

I love the action and feel of these guitars. Very precise and easy to play, the standard temelo one I own hardly goes out of tune. Both of mine sounded superb straight off the shelf and I only had to adjust the action height a little to suit me. Honestly I can't flaw these guitars - I wish they were around when I was learning!

They are built pretty well although some of the hardware is cheap, particularly the input jacks. Those sort of things are easily replaced or upgraded but Id use a spare guitar if playing live. The actual guitar materials are well built though and will last. The natural fretboard finish gets dirty quick and is a little bit more effort to clean.

Never dealth with them...these are so cheap I wouldn't bother - just buy a new one!

Absolutely awesome guitars. I often take this to rehearsal because of the range of sounds I get. If I need a strat tone it does the job, if I need to play a neck HB les paul tone, it does it, and if I need to play shred van halen stuff it comes to the party wearing leather. When I rest it back in its stand it patiently awaits to be played again with a quiet elegance. Ive been playing 20 years and the two MM1's I own are played often and I use thenm frequently for recording. Great great great playing and outstanding value!

Simple guitar, 2 Humbuckers, One Volume know and all that. Its what i wanted! Lets face it, the electric guitar is one of the few items that was perfected in about the first 2 years of its existance, it borrow a little from the les paul but just does it cheaper.

Amazing. I have two of these guitars. One is a orange flame top with the stock pickups, this works great for blues, classic rock style stuff. The second is the odd, but awesome, mint green finish. This one i replaced the pickups with an EMG 81/85. Great metal guitar now. I've seen shecters, ibanez, epiphones, fenders that cost 4 times as much and are terrible. This thing is awesome

Both the setups were perfect on mine when i got them. However, be sure to play it in the store. One guy on here said he bought it without playing it in the store and he got a lemmon, i've also played some in stores and noticed the neck wasn't as nice as mine. I think if abused (like any guitar) the neck will warp really bad, so be sure you're getting a good one.

had one for 3 years and one for 3 days. Both have had no problems at all.

No idea...probably enver need it...for 90 bucks what do you want?

Excellent, this is a fantastic guitar and i would reccommend to anyone. A few snobs will criticize and say their PRS is better, but screw them...this guitar can be had for 100 bucks! Don't be a brand name snob and pick one of these up.

beautifully finished guitar with gorgeous curly maple. One volume, no tone control but a great short guitar. Other have allready listed all the speckd but I am astounded by this little guitar that cost 139.00 new!!!!(musicians friend had a sale on them)

Very impressive guitar for the money it's unbelievable. The pickups are plenty powerfull and have a nice tight sound. Very nice sound. You'll try guitars in a music store that easily will tripple this price and they sound like crap. I was very surprised and impressed

Mine was flawless. Binding, top, neck is a little chuncky but doesn't fell uncomfortable at all. Factory setup was pretty good. I lowered the action slightly but that's a personal preference. Guitar was ready right out of the box. A very pleasent surprise when buying such an inexpensive guitar.

seems to be built well but time will tell. Feels very sturdy and compact.

This was the most pleasent surprise of any guitar (outside my Parker nightflyM) right out of the box I've ever had. I bought based on all the posotive things I've read about it here and elsewhere. I own too many guitar to run down the list here but this is a GREAT little beater. I would never perform at any venue with it, too mant other much more gig worthy guitars available. But for what it is you could pay 4 times what this cost and get less guitar. One of (if not the best) guitars out there for the money, bar none. Please note this doesn't replace any REALLY good guitar but you can hand it over for someboby to jam with and never have to worry about it looking or sounding cheap. For the money the MM1 is a 10.

mm-1
purchased in late 2006
photo finish
I rate this catagory an 8 because of its stupid low price of $129.00

It suits me fine for blues and rock. At first I wasn't sure about the pickups but I was using a couple crapy cords. After replacing them with all George L's it sounds fantastic. I run the MM-1 into a Vox clyde mccoy wah - Boss CS-1 (T-von mod) compressor - Boss DS-1 (T-von mod) distortion (These Boss pedals now rule!)- Rockman chorus - Rockman echo - stereo into Crate VC-20 (jj tubes 12" Alnico speaker) Crate V58 The sound is simply amazing. If these pickups are shit then I guess I like shit pickups. I have been playing on and off for 40 years and these are great for the sound i'm getting and that sound is huge. As for clean sounds it is equally fantastic. I love the pickups! No dislikes here. I have some great guitars, 71 gibson SG, 85 contemporary Telecaster, Stratocaster, and several others that are sweet players. I have owned many high end new and vintage guitars over my 40 years of playing but now I can't stop playing this inexpensive OLP its unreal!

This guitar came set up well. I couldn't believe it as I usually take off the strings right away and have to do many adjustments on almost all guitars I have purchased in the past. Even the strings are ok for a couple days. People who complain about strings amuse me as all strings must be changed often. This guitar has no flaws unless you consider the photo finish. It looks ok I guess but I don't really care for it but its the playability i'm interested in. I use it in my studio as a player and that's exactally what its intended for. Its a smaller guitar and may look toy like but I don't give a rats ass when I hear it sing. This thing actually inspires me to play and it helps my playing alot. what the hell more can you ask for? When I play I smile big!

So far it seems like it can take abuse very well. Some of the parts are cheap but it cost $129.00 HELLO!!! I can aford to upgrade it when needed.

N/A

I may have to purchase a couple more of these. Not sure if I would be as lucky to get great ones like this one but sure couldn't hurt to have backups. Its just a joy to play and if it were lost I would look for another. A great tool for free. Yes its a gift. I think some people who rated this guitar may be inexperienced or perhaps they did get bad ones but mine is killer and plays like a dream.

Not may bells and whistles here, but that's what I wanted. A plain and simple guitar at a great price.

I play through one of the new Digitech RP 250's, and sometimes an amp, and it sounds great either way! I think the pickups are very good for a "less than 200 buck" guitar. I definitely won't need to change them out. Good clean sound and great with distortion.

Not to good of a set-up from the factory. Strings way to high, frets unfinished and a touch of overhang on the edge of the fretboard and some buzzing. Once I gave it my own set-up it was great. Also, a rough job on the routing around the pickups. That would be my biggest complaint. I still can't complain for what I paid.

I think it is very well built. I don't gig, but if I did, I wouldn't doubt it. Very solid guitar

Never needed

I've owned this guitar about a month and love it. If it got gone, I would buy another one today. No doubt

Basswood body, Ernie Ball MM body, maple neck, medium jumbo frets, sealed die-cast tuners, chrome hardware, two humbucker pickups, 3-way pickup switch, 1 volume knob, vintage tremolo bridge, and no tone control knob. I give it a 10, because I love all aspects of this $200 guitar.

I really like the sound of this $200 guitar. The stock pickups provide
good clean and distortion tonality. The guitar sound is vibrant. It rings acoustically. I do plan on replacing the pickups with either seymour duncan or Genesis Mr. Brownie EVH pickups, but the stock pickups are very good. I just have money to spare after only spending $200 on this guitar. I installed Power Slinky strings (48-11) and the tonality
is great and the instrument stays in tune song after song.

The playability of this guitar, at least for me, is incredible. I've owned a Les Paul, a Music Man Steve Morse, and a stratocaster american deluxe guitar and the OLP MM1 plays the easiest. Not only is the neck perfect for my left hand, the action runs low without buzzing, and the string tension for my picking right hand is sweet. I bought a second OLP MM1 to use as my performing guitar, while I keep my three year old MM1 as my practice guitar, which I will continue to beat to death.

I have had my first OLP MM1 for three years with no problems whatsoever. I play the heck out of it and it still doesn't need a fret job. The stock tuners are good, but i upgraded them with locking tuners for ease of string replacement.

Never dealt with them and I doubt that I will need to.

I love this guitar! For me it is the ultimate guitar for playability. The stock hardware is very good. The stock pickups are great! I would strongly recommend this guitar to players of all skill sets. I would particularly recommend this axe to the guitarist that wants a guitar that is effortless to play.

You know all the features by now, i give it an 8 because i think everything is great, dont need a tone or seperate volume controls just the photo finish, although it looks great, its still a photo finish and lets the guitar specs down a bit

I really like the sound of this guitar, it isnt great for heavy downtuned riffs but just for dropped D and rock n roll riffs and soloing is sounds absolutely great. I also have an epiphone flying V which has a price tag of double this guitar and i had to replace the pickups in that with a seymour duncan and a schaller because i hated the sound! but iam not touching these pickups! they are awesome!

Action, awesome although i put heavier stings on it, 10 - 46, as soon as i got the guitar and the inotation was as spot on as it could ever be, the neck on this thing is incredible, sit down and play one for a while and you will forget you are playing a guitar that has such a small pricetag. The finish is a bit weird in some areas of the binding but for the cost it is definantely not a worry and hardley noticable

it feels solid, wont fall apart although the finish might chip easily

never dealt with them, doubt i will need to

i have been playing 8 years, if this guitar was stolen i would buy another one, if it got badly damaged i would buy another one..you cant beat it for the price especially in australia, i chose it over an epiphone les paul because epiphone pickups are horrible and it would of cost me about a grand to get the guitar i want with an epiphone, or $395 for an olp :)

This is my second MM1. I gave a very good review of the first one I had. I got the first one off of eBay and it was excellent. This one? Not so good.

I got this new one because I really missed my first MM1. I expected this one be as good.. no way.

Features.. you can see it all in the other reviews.

Fantastic, as I expected. I love the pickups in the MM1's. I asked if you could just buy the pickups but they said they were designed for the MM1's only. Almost worth it to buy the guitar and gut the pickups out of it and trash the rest.

I never leave anything stock as far as setup. I don't even tune the thing with the factory strings. I pull the strings and go to work on every guitar I buy, so I can't comment on factory setup.

With that said, here are my findings...

After putting a set of 10's on it, I found that either the tuners are shorter than the old MM1 I had, or the headstock is set at a deeper angle. This causes the bass strings to have an excessive break angle over the nut. This is actually good if you don't plan to use the Tremolo. If you do, this angle makes it just about impossible for the strings to return to pitch.

I'm not talking about a cent, but like half of a note. If you use the Trem.. it's over. You have to re-tune. You can't fake it and keep playing, its just out way too much.

I of course tried all the tricks, lubrication, nut slots, etc.. So I just put five springs in it and flattened it down on the body and took the arm off.

Next part, the nut. The B and high E slots were way too wide. When you bend strings, they would actually slide back and forth in the nut. I fixed this with the old baking soda and super glue routine, but I hate to have to do that with a brand new guitar.

Now lets talk about the neck. I set strings 1-4 at 4/64", and 5-6 at 5/64". Normal height as they say. I got excessive string buzz on the D string at the 9th fret and the G, B, and high E strings buzzed excessively on the 12th to the 14th fret. And when I say excessive, I mean excessive.

So I had to do a very aggressive fret level on it, in fact, I did it four times to finally take enough off so it would not buzz. It actually plays and sound really good, as far as the fretboard now. But your average person is not going to have the recourses to do this themselves, and if you take it to a shop to do, it will cost you $125.00.

When I did the fret level, I found that at the factory, someone for some reason tried to spray an extra thick coat of Poly on the neck as a last measure. The problem is, some of it stared to crack off. When I pulled the masking tape off from the fret level, huge chucks of the stuff pulled off with the tape.

I then had to chip off as much as I could, because most of it was not sticking to the finish below. This left a huge level difference. I had to sand the thick finish down quite a bit so there was little perceivable difference in height between the lower and upper finish, then polished it so it was smooth. This was a big and irritating job.

Now, the Fretboard finish. It appears that on this neck, there is no finish on the fretboard. I feels like raw wood. I found it really hard to play this way. OLP said to use Butcher Block oil on it. I could not find that so I used Watco rejuvenating oil on it. It did an excellent job.

But the body and is in GREAT shape!

Since I've done a huge amount of work on this thing, and know it backwards and forwards, I'd say it's really well built, and it will hold up to whatever you throw it's way.

They are very quick to respond.

If you don't use the Trem, and you hand pick one out, you can find a great one. I made this one into to a decent player.

I still like them for a straight ahead rock guitar, or even blues, or whatever.

The photo film top is excellent. They do a really good job on the tops.

The problem is, for $79.00 more you can the MM1F with the Floyd Rose. The quality is much better, the Floyd stays in tune, and you can actually use the Trem. and it has a REAL flame maple top, not a photo film top. The top alone is worth the extra $79.00, and add the Floyd to it, it's that much better of a value.

That's why I have to sell my MM1. I bought the MM1F and have to offset the cost of the new one. I'd like to keep the MM1 because it plays really good now, but I still can't use the Trem.

2005 made in china

I want to clear something up that has been mentioned here several times that the stock OLP pu's are the same as the custom wound DMZ's
the stock pu's on the OLP MM1 are very good without a doubt for the money this guitar goes for but simply CANNOT be compared to the custom wound dimarzio's in the EBMM evh or axis guitars
first off the OLP's pu's use a large ceramic magnet and the DMZ's use a alnico 5(a world of difference!)
the bridge OLP pu' is wound to 14K and the dimarzio is at 17.5K
the neck OLP pu' is at 9.5K and the dimarzio neck is at 15K
and is a airbucker.
the OLP pu's are very good for a stock item but if you really want the MM 1 to shine on the tone department get the tone zone and air norton set for it
which is the closest production set to the custom wound dimarzios in the EVH or axis
I also know the tweak to do to the tone zone to make it EXACT to the custom wound dimarzio, this is what i did to mine to make it sound like my EVH and axis guitars
if you are interested in the tweaked tone zone Email me and i can tweak a tone zone for you if you want that exact tone the bridge pu gets in the axis or evh guitar
the air norton stock is so close tthat any tweak's are not necessary

please read my review on the OLP MM1 floyd rose model
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/OLP/MM1FR-1.html

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/OLP/MM1FR-1.html

they are great for getting answers about thier product

like i said in my review for the OLP MM1FR
these are a great bang for the buck even stock they are worth the money if you cant afford a real deal ernie ball/music man

I think everyone already knows what these things have...purchased few years ago,maybe 4 or 5

I must say the humbuckers aren't very hot...not good for any kind of metal. The thing is also pretty noisey in high gain settings,good luck trying to shred on this mammoth

the guitar from factory came like dung,action was a mile high...hell even after adjusting the action myself it's still very high. intonation is a pain (I use D'Addario .11) I have not once got it to intonate perfectly,I suspect a fret or two has been filed wrong,playing past the twelth fret produces half dud notes (of course this is solved by raising the action,but then it's so high you can't play anything at all) The guitar surpisingly had shielding!! I'll give it a point for that,but that's as high as it's gonna go for this guitar

well...this baby has never failed me,I gig with it regularly as it's currently my only guitar

I've been playing for quite a long time,I've owned all kinds of gear,big and small name. Always searching for that perfect gem that just keeps eluding me...I would not buy this guitar again if it got lost/stolen/broken. The previous guitar I had before this one was a million times better than this one and it only cost about $100 more,which is an extra week at work. So save yourself the trouble and work that extra week and get a better guitar. Don't get me wrong,I advocate cheap gear,but this guitar just can't cut it compaired to other low cost equipment...OLP needs to get back into the shop and work out the kinks with the action and elecotronics,I'll give them 2 brownie points for working hard though

I believe it's an 04 model... it is a certain mega-store's exclusive being that is red in color. I like the fact that it is a different color. I was told that it was a quilt top veneer (like on the Wolfgang) but suspect it's a photo film top - which is fine as neither really adds anything tonally. We all know the specs by now, Basswood body, maple/maple neck, H/H, 1 Volume, etc. The one thing that really blows my mind is the quality of the fingerboard wood... it appears to be a slight (2A - 3A) quilted maple they used for the fingerboard - I guess I lucked out as I have yet to see any others with quite as nice of a fingerboard. The website says it has a satin finish on the neck but mine came without any finish - you can tell by how quickly the neck picks up dirt. I have since finished it with gun-stock oil and it plays like butter now. It's got all the features I could want - being an EVH freak I don't see a need for bells and whistles (coil tapping, tone knob, etc). Also, being an EVH freak I have a need for a locking trem so I did replace the vintage style trem with a Floyd Rose (licensed) trem. The whole job took less than an hour and cost me around $50 or so. The tuners appear to be decent although if I hadn't added the locking trem I may have replaced them. Tuners are a moot point once a locking trem is on the guitar. All the other hardware (Volume pot, output jack, p'ups, etc) all seem top notch. It didn't come with a gig bag but talked the saleman into throwing one in for free.

The sound is amazing, especially when you factor in the price. The pickups are built to the same specs as the EBMM EVH model. They are surprisingly hot - but not too hot. IMO - they are just right. I'm playing it through a 5150 half stack with a pinch of chorus and reverb as well as a Rocktron Hush. It definately has a full rich sound to it. I did raise the p'up's a hair to get them a but hotter sounding, but were fine in the stock location.

I didn't find a single flaw in this guitar. The action was set up pretty well from the factory but as with any guitar, it can usually be a bit better. I did lower the action a bit but I just needed to lower the saddle about 1 full turn of the allen screws each - not bad.

I wouldn't hesitate to gig this guitar. My only concern is to be able to remove the OLP logo from the headstock. I mean, yeah, it's a cheap guitar and I am proud of the deal I got and how well it plays, but I don't need other guitarists thinking I'm a newbie for playing such a cheap guitar. Honestly though, I would put this up against alot of more expensive guitars on the market.

It comes with a 1 year warranty although I'm sure I voided it within the first week I had it by ripping off the vintage trem and adding the Floyd locking trem haha

I've been playing for nearly 20 years and have 14 or so guitars ...maybe 15, I have to re-count. This is my 3rd favorite behind my Peavey Wolfgang and Kramer 1984 re-issue. It is my cheapest guitar though which definately makes it the best value. Even after adding the Floyd (licensed) trem I still have under $300 into this guitar. Not bad for such an unbelievable player. I would rate this guitar a 9 overall ... but when you factor in the price I believe it deserves a bit more so I give it a 10!

basswood body, maple neck (it must be maple, because the one i'm looking at over to GC has BIRDSEYES), 2 hums, 1 vol, vintage style trem, photo phlame top. looks dead on like a EBMM axis. decent showroom setup. cheap materials, but what do you expect from a $200 guitar that can be had for $150? the REAL kicker, to me, is that it has the same neck profile as my real EBMM axis super sport....verrrry comfy.....

no finish on the neck, and that DOES make the neck look cheap.....go ahead and lemon oil it(NO SILICONE!)...( i do all of mine....for years...)....it won't hurt it....will prolly make it look better......and, as far as resale value.......i wouldn't EVEN give THAT ISSUE a second thought........THIS GUITAR IS NOT AN INVESTMENT PIECE.....NOR WILL IT EVER BE! just play it....

trem: forget about vintage trems.....they NEVER stay in tune....this one is no exception..... "lock it down" and pretend it's a hardtail w/ a built in reverb tank (that's what eric clapton does.....;^). )

it sounds quite ADEQUATE.

let me make something clear......i don't own one.....i am currently shopping for a killer deal on one, and trying lots of them out in the process.....i OWN a real EBMM axis super sport, and want an MM1 for backup....and for FEEL, more than for tone!

for my purposes, it sounds just fine. i played it thru several different amps and effects.....for what it is....no complaints. i play ALL styles on it!

again....for what it is....great! when you get yours, take it out and play it hard.....concentrate on your music and NOT on what makes this axe inexpensive.....it'll do the job.....don't nitpick it to death! (although, i do agree with the other fella that a new set of 10's will make a world of difference.)

when you become EDDIE......THEN...you can nitpick!

not to blow my own horn.....HONK!......but, i've been at this awhile.......and i can just TOUCH a guitar and tell if it's good......i feel very comfortable buying one of these (for $150 and no more). i would like to have a backup....but that's a good idea in any situation. it'll last long enough for you to get your money's worth out of it.

i wouldn't expect too much, but then, i've been surprized before!

it feels and looks like my expensive ernie ball axis.......and soooo much cheaper.......i am looking forward to having one as my backup. whatever it doesn't have, i'll put in....like a tone pot, better tuners......i think it will be worthwhile. and i believe it will be reliable!

the only "hate issue", is that the neck really does LOOK cheap.

solid body, cheap trem, 22 frets, non-locking tuners, dual humbuckers, volume pot, pickup toggle, short-slim neck. I have owned this guitar a year, well past the honeymoon stage. At first I loved it, then I hated it, now I love it again. I learned a few things about how to make this baby into a sweet instrument. see below. I wish it had a tone pot...
cheap looking photo-top meant to look like the music man axis. But the newest release of this guitar looks amazing (the MM1 with Floyd Rose trem).

The stock bridge pickup is pretty weak. It doesn't pickup the higher harmonics in the strings, so the guitar doesn't scream out of the box. That is unfortunate because its built for face-melting rock n roll. If you replace the bridge pup with any decent pickup, it improves this guitar immensely. I put a Dimarzio super distortion DP-100 in there. You don't have to go as hot though, any good pickup will improve this guitar %100. I know of another guitarist who put a Dimarzio PAF in the bridge, and it sings.
Plus, using skinny, soft strings will make this guitars intonation unfixable. See below.
The neck pickups aren't so good. I wouldn't use the neck pickups for anything. They are all bass, zero bite. Actually I'm lying. I used the neck pickups one time for a chord comping part when I wanted to meld in the background.

This guitar is designed for EVH speed, and high gain. In that respect, it rocks. I had serious troubles with the intonation until I made a head-slapper: (figured something out)
Originally I had been using Ernie Ball super-slinky strings (9-42). The guitars intonation was horrendous. When tuning, you could watch the pitch indicator in the tuner dance around. Hence, the guitar held a tune like a bad American Idol auditioner (William Hung?).
Here is what I just figured out. Since this guitar is shorter than most, the tension on the strings to reach a specific pitch is much less. Thus the guitar couldn't hold a pitch very stably, and there were transients in the vibrations. I was using 9-42 guage ErnieBall super slinkys. I just switched the strings to Ernie Ball 10-46 guage regular slinkys. Simple physics (look up the wave equation): heavier strings = higher mass = higher tension. Now this guitar really holds a pitch solidly, no more tuner dance. The heavier strings improved the intonation too.

For a $200 guitar, this baby seems to be rock solid. I have gigged with it a bit (blush), and it has never failed me. I'm a little leary of the bridge, my low E string still has sharp intonation despite my having cranked it as far as it goes. If you use lots of string bends, this baby tends to flatten out, and you need to frequently retune. That was with 9-42 strings though, I bet the 10-46's hold up better.

no idea

In then end, after applying a little common sense (slim strings = bad intonation, stock pups = crap), I really like this piece. I bring it to gigs, and use it for high gain songs (thats why I put the super distortion humbucker in the bridge).
It's a sweet, cheap guitar. It's a nice change of pace, because of the short, sleek neck. I like to use a bit nicer guitar as my main axe, but this is a great buy. If you're looking to buy your first guitar, you should try playing an OLP at your music shop.

Probably made 2004 in china, basswood body with photo quilt top, maple neck and fingerboard.
Only has volume control and toggle switch,3 positions to control 2 humbuckers. Vintage tremelo, no string trees.

This guitar was my first experience with humbuckers and probably my
last. Maybe the wrong pickups for country bass note runs and blues.
The bottom E string if played open or when playing open chords resonated, from E to A on both of my guitar tuners So I changed the original Ernie Balls to D'Addario but the problem persisted. Annoying. If a guitar doesn't sound good it must sound terrible. Turn up the gain and rectifier put in some ear plugs and it will

Because of the above problem, I set the intonation, lowered the action just before the fretts buzzed and the action was still way higher than my strat copy. The neck was the big disappointment, as soon as I picked it up. The neck looked like raw pine. After 2-3 hours playing around with it, the fretboard looked dirty. There were also gaps between the side of the neck where it bolts to the body.
Someone mentioned putting tung oil on the neck, I bought some, but did not apply it as it might effect the resale value, which was now a priority.

Didn't have it long enough to put it to the test.

Ive been playing acoustic guitar for 12 years, mainly Neil Young, Cat Stevens, and took up electric 3 years ago, to play blues and country. I have an SX strat copy, the build quality, slab of rosewood for the fingerboard, and sound are far superior the MM1, but I had opportunity play and compare the SX with other guitars. Maybe I got a lemon MM1, but after reading reviews on this website I was convinced that for the price this guitar was the bees knees. After I bought this, I saw an MM1 in the local music shop, when I enquired about it, the owner,a guitar teacher said he was not impressed with the quality and sound either. I suppose I was niave buying a guitar without playing it.

2003 MM1 with bronze quilted film top and cream binding. Bought second hand off eBay and came with hard case and Planet Waves locking strap which is an fanastic piece of equipment. You will already know the rest of the spec, 2 humbuckers, 1 volume control and 3 way switch. I personally like the lack of tone control 'cos I can set it just how I like on my amp.

I play mainly industrial metal and this guitar is made for the job. I play a lot of Static-x in CGCFAD or Soulfly with it tuned down to B,F#,B,E,G#,C# and even through my Peavey Blazer 15B practise amp it sounds awesome. I found best results are from the bridge pu and setting amp gain to 6, low 7, mid 4, high 4 and a touch of reverb. I also play through a Behringer V-amp2 and using this I can get some amazing sounds.

I bought this guitar second hand and the previous owner had set the action really low which suited me fine. Everything seems very well put together and there is virtually no noise from the pick-ups or volume control. The neck is really fast and is starting to pick up a little dirt in the grain which adds to the 'dirty' look which I like.

I would use this live but I would alway have a back up no matter what guitar I was using and I would always use straplocks, although as I've already said, this came with a Planet Wave strap which is just as good

Not had to deal with them.

AS well as my OLP, Peavey Blazer and Behringer V-amp2, I also own a Dean V, and a BC Rich custom Warlock with floyd rose trem but this sounds as good as or probably better than both and I just love the neck. I am not a big fan of floyd rose as I like playing around with different tunings and my OLP lets me do this with ease. I would definitely buy another if anything happened to this one.

03/04 model gold photo flame top. 2 humbuckers etc see other reviews. Mine came with a Dimarzio tone zone in the bridge as a gift from my music store (Regular customer been buying cymbals and drum heads from them for about 10 years). Everything is a copy but the copyies are quality, not junk that you'd find in other bargain basement models.

I always loved classic rock sound, Van halen, the Doors, Poison, Aerosmith. This is great for that. It's good for a bit of thrash as well with old school punk like the Ramones. I've only played it on solid state amps but it gives an awesome fat distorted sound as a pretty good clean. Very surprised at the quallity of sound for the price.

Toggle switch and volume knob are a look and feel cheap,but easily and cheaply replaced, finish was flawless. Love the feel of the unfinished neck. Action was low and the Ernie Ball slinky's are top notch.

GET Straplocks. The hardware on this might not be musicman quality but close enough copies. The stuff on thiss is a lot better than the other guitars I looked at (epi lp "special" II, Squier Bullet and affinity series, the Ibanez AX series as well as the Washburn WI24.)I don't gig very often and if I do it's almost always on the drums. This is solid, but no guitar is going to take a full swing and come away scratch free.

1 year warranty from my local shop. Know em well and trust them.

I like because it's light, but resonant. A real flame top would've been nice but they're still a while off here. THe Price is good too because this is my secondary instrument. I've playing guitar for about 5 years and althouugh I've got mainly low end model guitars that sound pretty good but offer good bang for buck. I Own a Peavey Raptor and a Samick acoustic. This is so much better than the Raptor in terms of hardware, build quality and general playability. My lead guitarist and the guy at the shop pushed me towards this and I really love it.The competition in this price range is tough, and there's a few quality brands out ther but this is way better than anything I tried.

2004 model - mint green color, copy of MusicMan Axis
22 frets, basswood body, maple neck/fingerboard, two humbuckers, one volume pot, one 3-way pickup selector, vintage style vibrato bridge

Surprising amount of output from the pickups. I also own an OLP MM4 guitar, and the MM1 has much stronger pickups. Approaches the VH "brown sound" pretty closely. The pickups offer a fair amount of different tones, especially in conjunction with manipulation of the volume knob. I'm running this guitar into a Korg AX100G pedal, and a Line 6 Spider 2x12 amp. I have yet to gig with this guitar, but I'm certain that I will.

Lots of little black spots on the back of the guitar, otherwise the finish is pretty well done. Tuning machines seem pretty solid, and keep tune well. As far as the action: It did seem to be set up pretty well with the factory strings (.009s I think), but I play strings 14-56, so I had to do a fairly radical change to the factory action. I expected this, so no big deal. Nice polish on the frets. The body/neck join seems pretty solid, although I had to shim the neck due to my string gauges.

I plan on gigging with this guitar. There is nothing about it that would make me think that it couldn't hold up in a live situation. Granted, I'm not too hard on my guitars. I'll probably replace the strap buttons with locking buttons before I gig with it. I'll gig with a backup (probably my OLP MM4).

I haven't had to deal with OLP's customer support.

I've been playing for nearly 20 years. I own quite a few guitars (electric, acoustic, 7-string, etc.), but I tend to play cheaper guitars at live gigs. I play for the crowds, not the other guitarists in the audience, so I'm not very anal about my live sound. And if my guitar is going to be trashed by a drunken club-goer, I'd rather it be one of my cheap ones. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably buy another MM1. It's a decent guitar for the money.

It's a copy of axis, so you can guess how cool it looks.
22 frets (I wish it was 24), basswood body, maple neck / fingerboard.
The hardware looks quite OK. I'm giving it an 8 instead of 10 because nothing is perfect. But this guitar is one of a kind...

The sound is what I like most. I plug this axe to my Korg guitar Processoe and straight to Laney combo amp. Play 80' & 90's hard rock and some standard jazzy tunes. This axe can cover 'em up nicely. The stock pick up works stunningly well. No noise. The bridge PU has good harmonics with rich middle and high frequency. As everybody says, you can get EVH sound easily. Very nice. I can also get a twangy bluesy sound from the neck PU.

Mine is a red translucent one, with cream binding on the front edge. Looks pretty cool, from a distance it resembles an over 500 dollar guitar. Good set up right from the box, and it stays in tune much longer than I thought.
Only a couple of small problems I have : The tremolo is a bit hard to dive down, I am still wondering if I can replace the back spring with a softer one.. (I usually play Ibanez RG with lo pro edge, so I've never dealt with this problem before). The second problem is : the maple neck and fingerboard may need a kinda wax paint finish, to minimize the friction as you shred. Other than that, it's just GREAT!!

If you are a professional performer, you'd be a jerk to gig without a back up, whatever axe you got. I only play inside my home studio and occasionally play outside. And yes, I think this guitar will do the job as it should..

It's one year warranty. But I guess I should never depend on it.

Been playing on and off for 10 years, and do cover band most of the time. I am never interested in buying expensive guitar since I don't make money from music. Sound, and playability, and reasonable price is what matters most for me. Previously I owned a Samick, Japanese Fender Strat, Epiphone Les Paul, Ibanez RG670.
I still keep the Ibanez for collection because it has higher spec (24 frets, super thin neck, thicker sound of dimarzio pick ups, and rare natural color body). But for sure, I'd be playing more with my OLP from now on. If it's stolen, I'll buy another one, no, two of it! As said, nothing is perfect. But this axe is more than perfect for the price.

Everyone knows the features of this guitar, but mine is the new one with the FLOYD ROSE, glad I waited... Mine is black finish, really looks a lot like Eddie's. Maple neck no finish that feels well... i'll tell u

good sound, neck pickup is beaaaaaautiful, and for 90% of players, the bridge is hot enough, good harmonics, almost as much as the 2 dimarzios i tried, very clear sound from both, even with distortion, good clarity, you can tell they were trying to emulate the real eb mm's, and they do a pretty convincing job, but I wanted a little hotter so i dropped a Tone Zone in from my other guitar.

Mine came set-up nicely, low action, butter to play, dude, BUTTER, the neck feels like your running your hand through a girl's hair from a tresemme commercial. your fingers just FLOAT on the the strings, it's very welcome in my home. finish was nice, binding is cool looking, and mines black, so you cant really pick out the somewhat overbearing trem route... great guitar for the money man, no doubt

who knows

who knows

I love it man, it turns my old guitar, my baby, my first, into a commemorative piece. it just feels soooo good in your hands man. just try it, you can always find someone to sell it to. the neck shape is just untouchable, more comfortable than the real axis's or the wolfgang. sound is good too, basswood is a good choice for rock guitar. very complete sound out of this guitar, and now that my tone zone is in, i can input more dynamics into this puppy, but stock pickups are still very good, put it this way, i only took one out and the i kept the other one in case i wanted to switch back...

Bought it 26/12/04 trans-blue, 22 frets, jumbo , 1 vol control, two humbuckers, maple neck and basswood body.
A cheap cable is included.

Probably, i'll change both pickups but i think im already getting sad that the bridge one will have to leave so I can use my JB...
I really liked the bridge pickup, very EVH sounding...
the neck one has a fat sound, but i don~t use it very much cause i think it needs more treble... Anyway ill give a solid 8

the guitar needed some adjustments as the D string was having some trouble with fret buzz (open string till fourth..). The action was low enough to me, and the neck is probably the best thing in this guitar, even with the lack of tung oil ( the neck eventually will startto get darker and darker and therefore uglier with a dirty aspect) ill give it a 10...
the hardware stands up nicely and ocassionally it gets out of tune, but i bend very hard, so without a floyd rose there~s no way a guitar can stay in tune all the time with me ....
the finish is good, no flaws and overall it deserves an 8
id give a 10 for the neck and an 8 for hardware and finish.. average of 8!

I think it'll withstand live playing, but im using it as a backup
in my opinion this guitar will last at least 8years in good condition, with luthier inspecting every 6 months..

never had to deal with them

i've been playing for 9 years
good guitar indeed, worth every penny and i think i'll buy another olp, a mm4!!

Just got this one for christmas and a few others on here I got the mint-green color. I think its looks cool...like a 57 chevy color on crack. I like the setup for pickups and the single volume knob.

I play whatever style of music is on my mind on that particular day. I use this guitar for playing modern rock requiring good trebly distortion. It works good for the van halen sound (of course). The guitar is not for blues but that's why this is a good second guitar...get yourself this for modern rock and a strat or something like that for blues/classic stuff.

Perfect action! I have a 71 strat setup with really big strings for the blues side of things but this one is setup with small strings very close to the neck. No problems at all with the construction. Gotta love the mint green finish...the other available finishes look pretty good too.

Haven't had it out in the "gig" (anyone else tired of that word?) world yet. Based on the way its built i'd say it can take it with no problem.

doe not know...hopefully i'll never need them

Great guitar for the money...even if you shell out the usual 180 sale price most stores list it at. Easy to play...small so it fits in those tiny studio rooms too.

I have the mint green color because it was cheap. It's a love/ hate color, but I like it. It stands out. The tuners work fine now, but I am curious to see if they hold up, most generic ones do not. The headstock could really use string trees to improve sustain and string performance. The neck is awesome, and is worth the price alone. The fretboard is unfinished, and can get dirty, but lighter fluid (naptha) will clean it right off. The bridge is a solid, and strat gotoh copy. Considering the price of this guitar, the pickups are nice. False harmonics are a breeze. Bridge pickup has a decent output and is great for hard rock or the EVH brown sound. The neck pickup is decent also. I was able to get some blues and country tones out of it. No tone control available, but I never use them any way. My eq is done on my pedals and amp. The volume knob, which is usually never commented on, is something else I really dig about this guitar. The volume change is gradual, not instant like on cheaper (and expensive) guitars. It is very easy the sweeping volume pedal effect. With a distortion pedal, it acts like a smooth gain.

For the money they sound great. For tone geeks, you could put some DiMarzios in it for an upgrade or tweaking. But played through a Mesa Boogie Studio 22, they sound fine. You can achieve about any rock tone (excluding nu metal) with the bridge pickup. Country blues and blues tones with the neck pickup.

Set-up from the factory needs come serious improvement, but this is typical of these imported guitars. The truss rod adjustment nut was so far out that is was pushing the neck pickup cover inward! A quick adjustment fixed that problem and added some relief in the neck. The neck pickup is a little flimsy and probably needs the screws replaced or a shim to keep it stable. I also had to adjust the pickup height. Pickup selector appears to be a little on the cheap side. We'll see how it holds up. This guitar was strung with Ernie Ball Slinkys from the factory, not some cheapys! Once this baby is set up, it plays like a dream.

Only time will tell, but based on my experience with owning expensive and budget guitars, this should hold just fine. The only thing that I see changing is the toggle and the tuners when they go. All a minor expense.

I have been playing for about 15 years as a semi-professional. I own 12 guitars and I am very selective on my guitar purchases. I gambled on this one because it was 99.00, and I needed a "hacker" guitar for leaving around the house. I must say that I can not put this thing down. I love how the neck feels on this guitar. If you have big hands or if you are a heavy handed player, you may want to try test drive this one first. Great for a beginner and a steal for the price. The experienced player may need to do some minor tweaking, but should seriously consider this guitar to add to the collection. Is this an Axis or Wolfgang copy? By all means no. The craftsmanship and parts are far superior on those. The closest thing the MM1 has in common with those is the neck and the appearance.

2004 Ernie Ball Official Licensed Product (OLP) MM1 model, solid "mint" green color with matching headstock color. Basswood body and maple neck and fretboard. Standard tremelo with H/H pickup configuration, single volume knob and selector switch. Just like the Music Man Axis model, but with no Floyd Rose Locking Tremelo, string tree on the headstock and tung-oiled neck. Otherwise, identical. No gig bag, but it did come with a cable, wrench and extra springs for the trem.

I own both the Music Man EVH and Axis Models. Granted there is a big difference in craftmanship between those and the OLP, but this little guitar has nice sweet TONE clean and for basic stock pickups, this guitar cranks out plenty of rock and roll. The sound is rich, full and you get good variation between pickups. It is not that far off from it's big brothers in the sound and tone department. Amazing for a guitar that is only $199 dollars. Yes, you get the Van Halen Brown Sound out of this guitar. Straight out of the box it sounded great!

Again, I'm amazed at the fit and finish on a guitar that I paid $99 for! It's clean, and everything is fit together very, very well. It looks good, the "mint" green is more of a gumby seafoam green when looked at in real life, but it's got a nice 50's vibe to it. Nice touch with the matching headstock. Straight out of the box the intonation was set very well and it comes with Ernie Ball strings on it already and they are staying in tune with no problems. Action was a bit low, but a little turn of the wrench and that was not a problem. The neck needs some tung-oil, but it's a nice fast neck and well balanced. The design of these neck, just like it's big brothers, is small in scale, great for small hands, but if you have Steve Vai-ish fingers, this may feel very small to you. However, this is sized just right for younger students. Fret work needs a bit of a clean up, edges are a bit rough, but very nice for the price

Ok, this guitar is not an Axis, nor the EVH model. However, this is a close second in the reliability/durability category. It feels solid and plays solid. Only complaint is the nut is a bit weak, as far as material and setting, and a string tree on the headstock would help more with sustain and string reliability. The trem is decent, but it's no Floyd Rose. So if you do some heavy dive-bombs, you may want to consider a locking/floyd set up like on the Axis. But for basic vibrato and heavy bends on the strings, the OLP has held up and stayed in tune. I use it to teach my students with, as an example of a solid guitar on a low budget, but it plays great, very smooth and easy and holds up to 4 hours of lessons without breakdown. I've not giged with it, but I would not hesitate to add it to my lineup of guitars. You are getting more than your monies worth out of this guitar, best entry level (and intermediate for that matter) guitar that I've seen in 24 years.

Never delt with the company, Ernie Ball makes good products and the Music Man line of guitars are exceptional. I do not anticipate a problem if I had to contact them. Thank you guys for making the OLP that I can share with my students and kids and not go broke in the process. It's a new guitar that I bought from Musician's Friend, has a basic Warranty on it, so they stand behind their products!

Bang for the buck, nothing else comes close. This guitar is just behind it's big brothers and costs a good $1000 dollars less. Compared to other guitars, like the Wolfgang, this guitar is easily in the $700 value range and on average goes for $199. How do they do that? Ok, it's not U.S. Made, but compared to other imports, this guitar is in its own category, it really stands out. I've played for 25 years, perform and teach guitar part-time. I highly recommend this guitar as a first electric and student guitar. It plays like a dream and is great for smaller hands. An ease to play and that is important for learning. However this is no chump! Clean it has that sweet crystal tone of basswood and really sings, drop down to the brige humbucker and you have that EVH cranked brown sound. You can tweek harmonics out of this guitar and the neck plays fantasic. Sqeels and screams come out of this guitar, just like the expensive big brother with the fancy pickups, now how did they do that for under $200???? I love this guitar, it looks great, plays great and I would use this guitar in any environment. If lost or stolen, yes I would replace immediately and probably grab a second of another color just to add to my collection and share with students. I recommend new and old players alike get this guitar. New players will never outgrow it and old players will enjoy its ability to get the Van Halen brown sound without spending $1300. Great studio tool and extra guitar!!!

Pretty much been said already--two zebra humbuckers.

One volume control, no tone control (which I like alot!). Three position PU selector (neck, bridge, both).

Decent tremolo bridge.

The non-locking tuners are okay for this price range. Nice finish, smooth action--but feel a little "loose".

Thin laminated maple neck/fretboard with medium frets. Neck is finished with a light satin finish. Fingerboard is finger stained after less than 8 hours of playing.

25-1/2 scale.

Included a cheap cord that had connection problems after a few hours.

The overall guitar length is very short. Perfect for tight studio work, or in my case, very tight computer home studio work.

I have played guitar off and on for 30+ years. I have owned and played dozens of guitars including my main axe, a 70's Strat I purchased new in 77-78. I purchased the OLP MM1 based on user reviews and a my own hands-on experience at Guitar Center.

The sound of the Guitar Center OLP MM1 through a clean Twin-Reverb amp was excellent. The bridge PU was clean and bright, the neck pickup was full and had a nice deep sound. I also tried an Epiphone Standard LP ($600) and Gibson Standard LP ($1,800) and frankly, I liked the tone of the GC OLP the best, especially with distortion.

However, the bridge PU of the OLP I purchased from Music123 sounds different than the GC OLP--it sounds like the Strat middle PU--kind of quacky. Also, it has much less output than the bridge PU. My OLP bridge PU sounds identical to the GC OLP which is to say, fantastic.

By the way, the absence of a tone control is not a problem. Like the experienced users say, just adjust the amp/preamp tone controls.

The reason I wanted this guitar was for the humbuckers (no 60hz hum). They are completely 100% hum and squeal free regardless of the amount of distortion or gain I apply to its signal.

The OLP is perhaps the easiest guitar to play I have ever played. Action is great, the neck is thin, it just wails. Great for new students and kids with small hands.

After playing the guitar for several hours I have found the neck is a bit too thin for my liking. I have large, strong hands--I can literally pull the thing out of tune if I use my normal ham-fisted technique. I have noticed lately that guitar necks have become quite thin, probably to save $$$$. The problem is they just don't put with player abuse--I mean who needs a tremolo???

The guitar arrived from M123 in good playing shape. However, it was not innotated properly (strings tuned at 12th fret, were out of tune when played open).

After two days of playing I started getting substantial string buzzing. I followed the included OLP instructions to resolve string buzz and made matters much worse. Why? The truss rod adjustment nut was shimmed against then neck with what I can best describe as ends of toothpicks. I thought they were just misc wood shavings--nope, shims. Hence, after removing them, I could not get the neck adjusted to save my soul. Hopefully, my local guitar shop (Modern Music) can fix my mess.

A couple of other complaints: Most pics of OLP guitars shows a string tree. Mine does not have one. If any guitar ever needed string trees it is the OLP MM1. Since the tuner head is not angled back (ala the original), you must have string trees to provide proper string tension, alleviate buzzing, etc.

The bridge pickup arrived sitting on an angle. I did not find a ways to level it out (front to back). My local store hopefully will figure it out.

Finally, the sunburst photo finish is actually quite attractive, but the body routing for the pickups, the extreme light weight, and a few other things here and there scream CHEAP GUITAR. Again, I am used to my strat whose body is one piece of ash, a one piece maple neck, etc. I guess you get what you pay for.

For those who indicate the fit/finish/quality of the OLP is better or much better than current Squires, just simply don't know what they're talking about. I have played both extensively. The quality of the Squires I have played (Tele, Fat Tele, Strat, Strat HH) are heads and shoulders above the OLP.

I cannot believe anyone would trust this guitar for frequent gigging. However, for home, students, etc., it should last just fine.

OLP has responded to every email (5+) within an hour or so. I would say they are very attentive.

In retrospect, I should have purchased another Squire. However, it is a good guitar for the $$$, it is extremely easy to play, and at least the GC OLP MM-1 sounded great.

Chinese-made Music Man Axis copy. Trans-red finish, quilted top. All the features are the same as all the other reviews. It is a nice copy of the Ernie Ball, with some cheaper hardware and no Floyd Rose. For $200, I'm very satisfied.

Nice sound, the pickups compared to the real thing aren't quite as loud and don't quite have the same crunch. I've played both through a Marshall JCM2000 and a few other amps at Guitar Center.

The action was great out of the box, nice low strings. No visible flaws. All in all it was nice. You have to be careful, though. Because the other models that were in the store were set up terribly and felt awful. Take your time and try out as many as possible.

The guitar seems very durable. The hardware is a bit cheaper than the EB MM, but can be replaced if you feel that's needed. The finish is very nice. It seems like a very dependable guitar.

It has a warranty, but I really don't know about the customer support. No opinion here.

I haven't been playing all that long. I own a Takamine acoustic as well. I've played friends' Ernie Ball MMs pretty frequently though, and really enjoyed those -- so I wanted an inexpensive replica that didn't look, feel or sound terrible. This OLP is a better guitar that I could have ever imagined.

Ernie Ball axis style guitar, 22 fret,syncrinized tremolo, maple neck, maple fretboard, basewood body,2 humbucker pickups,

the bridge pickup is bright, puncky and clear, lacks power that most of us are used to,

i plan to replace them with the Seymour Duncan "Dimebag" humbuckers
and coil taps

the setup was good, intonation was correct, the parts fit really well, and there are no gaps in the neck pocket,, the bridge was a bit stiff so i took out a spring, and might have to take out another
the hardware is good, no rust or ill fitting parts

i wold never try to use this guitar for a live gig unless i changed pickups and put a string tree on it, even tuned to pitch, the strongs feel loose and i bendstrings hard,

GET STRAPLOKS!!!! the buttons on it is crap, straploks are the only way to go

i have never dealt with OLP, it has a warrantee, but if anything goes on it, i'm sure i can find a better product to replace it with

this guitar is of fair quality, its not great, but again its a $200 guitar

i have Schecter, Carvin, and Warmoth, and this doesnt compete, if yer lusting after a real axis, get a real axis a olp and ernie ball are 2 totally diffrent animals

Features as decribed by others. Finish is trans purple.

I play rock, pop, blues, some country, some jazzy stuff. Guitar worked with all styles in gig and rehearsal action.

Gig amp used was Fender Deluxe 90 (small bar). Rehearsal amp was a Peavey 5150 head w/Marshall 4x12 cab. No effects. Guitar's volume control and pickup options were enough to vary sounds accordingly.

Guitar is very quite in middle position, a little hummy on either bridge or neck - once song starts, not noticable.

Pickups are very versatile and sound very good.

Guitar was good to go out of the store - after a change to .10s.

Slight pickup height adjustment made during gig but nothing major.

Finish is nice but insignificant. This is a gigging guitar that's going to get nicked and beat up. That's what it's for. It sounds and plays exceptionally.

I've only had it for a week. 2 gigs and a rehearsal. Broke a high E and the A string but I break strings on my Gatton Tele and 70s Strats all the time.

But the guiutar held up to a 4 hour bar gig, a 45 minute showcase and a 2 hour practice and didn't fall apart.

I took the bar off and lost it but I nver use one anyway. That was the one thing that seemed kinda useless on the guitar anyway.

I wouldn't gig without a backup, but I would use this $200 guitar as a main or backup. It's good.

Bought aat CG. A friend is mgr. so any issues would be handled.

Been playing 20-something years. I have several 70s Strats, a CS Strats, Gatton Teles, LP, SG, etc. Hopefully the OLP will be able to handle lots of work without falling apart. But even if it conks out after a year or so, it will be worth it. I don't see that happening but you never know.

I would definitely get another one if it is lost or stolen and may get another aanyway.

I did try 5 or 6 Music Man and Peavey EVH guitars and NONE was as good as the OLP in feel or sound.

Brand new MM1 (as of 7/04). Guitar was made in China. It has 22 medium jumbo frets (despite what OLP's site says about them being jumbos). Photo quilt top (trans gold) over a black painted basswood body, plastic creme binding on body. Maple neck, maple fretboard with a plastic nut. Neck is 25.5 scale length with about a 10"-12" radius Trans gold veneer headstock overlay. 4+2 schaller copy tuners (pretty good actually). Bridge is a 6 screw vintage (sort of) type, chromed. Two zebra coiled humbuckers with a three way switch and one volume control, no tone controls. Guitar came with the trem bar, a guitar cord (haven't tried it yet), a small allen wrench for the trem, a "bar" for adjusting the truss rod, and some generic setup directions. Styled after the Ernie Ball/Musicman Axis guitar (formerly the Van Halen signature model). I'm going to leave a "no opinion for this catagory, as I don't see a point to rating it's features. Either you like the guitar or you don't; one knob or ten, you know what I mean?

This guitar is moldeled after a famous rock guitar, so you know what it's intended to do! That said, the guitar sounds good. With your amp on distortion the bridge humbucker sounds very good. It sounds better than the dimarzio super 2 or 3 (don't remember) in my fender HM strat, but not as good as the schaller pickup in my '83 Kramer Pacer. The bridge pickup seems to have "loose distortion" if that makes any sense, kind of a flabby, non tight dist. sound; but it is still quite good sounding, just a little different than I'm used to. Clean bridge, sounds "spanky" or "honky", almost like a country sound. I think it would be great for chicken pickin'. Neck pickup: With distortion the neck p.u. sucks, very muddy. Clean, the neck pickup shines! Sounds good. Middle Position (both pickups): Sounds pretty good distorted and clean; don't know how to describe it, just sounds nice.

NOTE: I rate things harsher than many folks, so view my ratings with this in mind.

When I tried this guitar out at Guitar Center, all it needed was to be tuned up (straight out of the box I opened). The action seemed to be OK at the store, but I knew that I had to get it home to really inspect it (intonation, truss rod, ect.). I tried the guitar out through a CRATE solid state amp of some sort; and now I know why everybody hates crate amps.
At home, I started to set up the MM1 properly; but decided to save time for myself and not set it up, as I plan to tung oil the neck soon. I did however adjust the truss rod a little. The intonation is off a little, but I will go through a detailed setup after the neck is oiled (OLP says the neck is finished, but let me tell you- I got the neck dirty just from playing on it for about an hour, so tung oil is going on this neck soon!) I did't find much fret buzz at all, and I am anal about that. What very little fret buzz there is will go away when I raise the action and adjust the truss rod to my liking. The frets themselves are VERY nicely done, no errant "hangovers", unlike a certain big name company's frets always seem to have. The only nit I have to pick is that the neck pickup cavity has some kind of white stuff on it's walls. I'm not anal enough to remove the pickup and clean it, so it will remain. The pot and switch are fine. I know on most cheap guitars these things tend to go out, but I don't hear nary a crackle from them as of now. Note: Some of the OLP MM1's at the store had some sort of tool marks in the wood, on the fretboard between the nut and the first fret; just so you know to look out for this. Remember, I rate things harshly, so my 7 is akin to other's 9's.

One thing I have always noticed about cheap guitars is that the finish is pretty soft. The OLP's at the store had scratches on the their backs, so I assume mine will probably follow suit. This is not a musicman, so I don't presume to think that the parts are all top shelf. Everything seems fine now, though time will tell I suppose.

Never delt with Olp. I purchased the two year extended warranty from G.C., so I'm good for at least two years. I believe the salesguy told me OLP's warranty is six months.

I have been playing on and off for about ten years. I wanted something un-strat like in my arsenal. I am now a believer in inexpensive guitars.
Note to kids: Please don't go out and spend a fortune on an instrument and an amp. Sink your money into lessons and instructional materials. You will be FAR better off in the end. Your same crappy playing will be just as crappy on a American std. strat as on a squier. Don't let friends/peer pressure get you tied up on the headstock name. TRUTH.
Good guitar overall.

Bye!

Made in China, can't find any serial number on it so I have not idea when it was made.

As far as features, you can read the other reviews for more details..

2 humbuckers, no tone, volume control, tremolo. Basic stuff.

It really does sound pretty good. The neck pickup is pretty dark sounding. Sound a bit muted but when you get used to it, it really grows on you. The Bridge is actually quit bright. Almost like a Fender. Very surprised that it sound like this.

As with all humbuckers, it sound better when you crank up the gain.
Lots of sustain and a good hard rock sound.

I bought it used off of eBay so it needed a bit of work when I got it. Had to clean it up and do a full setup with a new set of strings.

It has a photo maple designed top that actually looks decent, and nice binding on it.

Everything fits fine and it's very playable. It does have a fret buzz at the 12 fret. May need a good level, but since I intend to play this overdriven all the time, it's not that noticeable.

There is a bit of slop in the tuners, but the guitar surprisingly stays in tune even with radical string bending.

There are a few finish rough spots on the back of the neck that you feel a times.

Seems decent. Does not appear to be fragile in any way.
I'll know after I own it longer.

NA

I've been playing a long time. I also stated recording a couple of years ago. I own mostly Fenders, but I wanted a humbucker based guitar for really heavy sounding rock rhythm.

It fills the bill. I like it. I think it's really decent compared to other guitars in the $200.00 new price range.

It has no tone control, but honestly, I never use them anyway.

I got the amber finish version, It has two humbucker pickups, a basswood body, dot inlay frets, and a standard brigde. I based the quality on the price I paid therefore im giving it a 9

Its supperior to all other 200 dollar guitars, I'll give it that, the tone has a lot of bite giving it a raunchy feel, however, it lacks sustain and warmth which is an essential quality to have a great sound. The pitch on the bridge pickup seems to bright but it still sounds good regardless. The chords ring to high when putting it through a lot of distortion however, it manages to maintain a reasonable shape. Being that this guitar costed only $179 dollars, this is the best that can expected of it so im giving it a 9

Ive been playing for 5 years on and off and overall I find this guitar to be a good value. it would be ideal for blues,country ,rockabilly, some 80's metal, and some rock music. Dont count on it to provide a grinding powerfull rock or metal tone since its wood neck and pickups lack the necessary attributes to provide warmth and sustain however, if your looking for a punchy sound, this is the guitar to get. For a $200 guitar it sounds great and as good as many 450-500 dollar guitars. Not as good as an 800 - 1000 dollar guita, I don't want you to think your getting that good of a value. I'm going to sell this guitar because ever since I got my Gibson, I can't accept any sound that isnt as fluid, rich and warm. Everything else sounds like a toy.

2004 model, trans. purple with photo-quilt top on a basswood body. Bolt on neck, H/H pickup config, Ernie Ball Axis style body, non-locking bridge. OLP Gig bag included with purchase.

Perfect for classic rock or metal. Pickups enhance the mids and highs, but they sound like the Dimarzio's on the EBMM Axis. 1 volume control. In short, it sounds great.

Trans. Purple finish looks great! I had to set the guitar up, and intonate the guitar, but once I did that, it plays excellent. The strings are almost on top of the frets, and there is no buzzing. Stays in tune really well. Can't see any flaws. Guitar plays great.

It's a very light guitar. I would never gig without a backup, but it's going to be my main stage guitar. It feels very gig worthy.

Haven't dealt with OLP.

This is a great guitar for $199.00. This thing plays great, and sounds great too. It looks fabulous, and is perfect for the beginner and the seasoned pro. Neck is fast and slim like the EBMM Axis.

Please see all the reviews below. This guitar isn't about features.

This is my second OLP MM1. It is only slightly brighter than the first one, but that may be attributed to a bad day for the pickup winder or the wood used. There's not a lot of difference in sound between the two I have. This thing absolutely rips! It sounds very much like it looks: a cross between a Tele and a Les Paul. I love these cheap little guitars.

The action on this one (2004) is a little lower than the first one. To be honest, I like medium action and this one is a little too low for me. I'll raise the saddles a tad to get it to my liking.

The finish on this one is the new sunburst finish. Very '60s Strat, with the brown/red/yellow pattern. The gloss is very high on the body. I had to rub some of the shielding paint off the finish around the pickup routes, but that was easily done with some water, a soft cloth and some elbow grease. There is a small ding in the wood near the cutaway and there looks like there was a little screwdriver mishap near the lower strap button, but nothing serious. It'll look a lot worse after I gig with it a few times.

I think the neck may be just a little thinner than my older one, but that may be due to the lower action on this one. It's still a great neck shape.

These things hold up well. I've had the first one for close to a year. It's playing better now than when it was new. These guitars break in well. I used some 0000 steel wool on the back of the neck and the fingerboard and it is even better now than before. I highly recommend doing this, if you like the neck to be smooth and slick. While you're at it, polish the frets with the steel wool for silky bends. The leveling they do at the factory is pretty good, but the polishing is non-existant. Hell yes, I'll use it on a gig. I have it's older sister as a backup, though.

I never use the vibrato. I'm sure it's very similar to a Strat bridge. If you know how to make those work, you'll be able to figure this one out.

Huh? I don't care if there is customer support. Never dealt with them and honestly, if you can't take care of this simple guitar, maybe you shouldn't be playing. Any competent setup guy can make this thing work.

I've been playing for a few years. I think it's around 20. I own and have owned a lot of great equipment and some crap. I know good from bad.

I love this guitar. Great sound, the best neck I've played and it's stone simple. I hope nobody else catches on to how cool these things are.

2004 OLP MM1 (lefty).
Fake maple top
You know all the other features from the other reviews.

It sounds like a guitar costing a great deal more than $225. When given a goodly amount of gain it provides lots of sustain and nice crunch with a very minimal amount of noise. I play mainly blues & classic rock through a hopped up Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Pandora PX4 for effects.

Off the rack this one had good action and pup adjustment. Tuners nice & tight and a decent nut. Just a couple of very minor flaws in the finish around the pup holes. Took it home and set the intonation and she's good to go!

I don't gig live much but I think it would hold up.
Immediately replaced strap buttons with strap locks.
Never gig without a backup 'cause ya never know....

N/A

I've been playing for over 30 years and have accumulated a fair amount of gear including a 76 Les Paul Custom LH and a 2001 Fender American Deluxe Strat LH. Being a lefty severly limits choices available for guitars - mostly the usual suspects when cruising the music stores (Mexican Strats & Teles or an occasional Epi SG). I saw the MM1 hanging there and gave it a whirl. I was not expecting much because of the price tag but when I started playing it I didn't want to put it down. It felt comfy in my hands and was very easy to play. Then I plugged it into an amp and was surprised by the sweet sounds I was able to get. Needless to say, I purchased it on the spot! Took it home, tweaked it a bit and now it's the guitar I play the most. If it were lost or stolen I would definately replace it - actually if I see another lefty MM1 I will probably buy it for a backup.

same as others plus a locking trem

same with a locking trem

same with locking trem

same with better tuning stability!

great!

I wanted to let others know that OLP is going to be releasing a locking trem version of the MM 1 very soon,here is the Email i got,


thank you for your Email inquiring about a OLP MM 1 with a locking tremelo.
It has been discussed and you see it very soon. Retail and colors have not been determined yet so it will probably be at least around September or November before it is available. Thanks for your suggestion though, we already have it in process but at least it lets me know I am moving in the right direction.

Rock Clouser, Assistant Product Manager - Fretted Instruments
B.C. Rich guitars and OLP guitars
Email: RClouser@BCRich.com <mailto:RClouser@BCRich.com> or RClouser@OLPguitars.com <mailto:RClouser@OLPguitars.com>
Phone: 800-999-5558 Ext. 524 Fax: 888-442-6737

2004 made in china 22 medium frets
solid body guitar with a film top wich looks good in sunlight, has 2 dirtyfinger style humbuckers that sould ok with lots of distortion "what do ya expect, dirtyfinger design-complete with tilted coils"
body is basswood,very light,but solid and sunstantial, the way it should be, the bridge is modled after a vintade fender syncronized trem "booooo" the neck is solid maple with a real maple fretboard, not frets pressed into the neck like some guitars i have worked on *fender cough cough* i'll give a rating of 7 on this cuz the body is decent

i play heavy metal with lots of palm mutes and harmonics and this guitar can put the rubber to the road,especially with a randall warhead amp, my neighbors hate me hehehehehehe
very surprising for a $200 guitar
i would like to install carvin scorchers into it, really make it gruff and thick

to be honest i expected it to look like it was build as a project by jerrys kids, but its actually good, the neck pocket is so tight aboutall ya can shove in betweenbody andneck is a sheet of paper, like a prom date, the tighter, the better!!!
the height on the pups are fine from the factory, very balanced, but lacking power but it did cum with stock strap buttons, i call tham ejectors!!! anyone not usin straploks is just beggin on bended knee for trouble and that bridge, dont even get me started!!!

this guitar "like any other guitar" will withstand a show, but i would have a backup
the hardware is good, the tuners seem tight and strong, i ust with it had a wilkensen dbl knife style or a kahler trem, one nice thing about this guitar, ya can customize it and make it yours, i dont see why ya cant add whatever components ya want pups,electronics, etc
very upgradable

i got it at GC, typical 1 yr warrantee, blah blah bah
if eyr smart, ya will already have it custom tailored to ya by that time

with the right components and good pups, ya can have a resy nice little axe

i have been playing for longer than most ppl will believe
i am not a very good player, i am a tech and luthier and can be quite critical i case ya didnt notice

i do wish it had good hot pickups and coil taps,

the only thig that really bothers me to no end is it has a fender style headstock, ya know, the "SPOON!!!!!" there ya have no down pressure and a nut the size if a matchstick, i'd rather see a $200 guitar with a tilt head than a $1,500 spoon head, c'mon, no pressure on the strings, ya lose tone,volume, sustain and good string springiness, its like puttin new wipers on the busted windshield of yer 1988 Yugo

i bought this guitar out of couriousity, and over all i am impressed with it, its a good started guitar, or a guitar to beat the hell out of, and if you are a beginer, its a guitar that you can hop op as you get better, there is no reason why ya cant make this guitar every bit as good as a real EBMM for less than half the price,
very worth the $200 tag,

2004, made in china
22 medium frets(not jumbo's)
blue photo film top
one volume 500K pot,gibson LP type 3 way toggle
two ceramic humbuckers that are voiced to sound like VH(bridge is 14.3K and neck is 9.4K)
multi piece basswood body and a maple neck/board
tele meets les paul shape(real cool look like a 57 chevy)
fender tradtional non locking tremelo bridge
schaller copy tuners
rounded neck with a 1/58' nut size(similar to wolfgang EVH guitar)
due to the lack of a locking tremelo and the cheaper tuners i give this catagory a 6

Stock this MM1 is very impressive,so i figured things could only get better.
so i put in a set of dimarzio EVH music man pu's i had from a Ebay score
needless to say the OLP MM1 now sounds EXACT to a real EBMM axis or EVH guitar. dont believe me? put in a set of these custom wound EVH dimarzio's and hear for yourself.
what a $200 OLP that now sounds the same as a $1700 EBMM? yeah i give it a solid 10!

set up from factory is what i expected,which was not very good.
but on the other aspects like neck joint,frets,bridge alignment,pickup routes,it is very good, way above average for a guitar in the $200 range so i give it a 8

I would gig with it no problem, very dependable!

had no problems getting answers to my questions.

been playing for 20 years own a few other guitars( EBMM axis,PRS,fender)Well even if i did not already own the EVH dimarzio's to put in the OLP i still would give it a great overall rating,the stock pu's are not bad at all and would cover many styles.
for me i put in a set of dimarzio custom wounds i got from Ebay for $150
so the guitar wound up costing me $300 total and it sounds just like it's much more expensive brother(the EBMM axis)
overall even stock it can be beat for this price!
made the other $200 guitars sound like true "i was made in another country and no one cared how i turned out" guitars

Earlier 2001-2202 black sparkle China.
You can read the 80 other reviews for this crap..

I play 80's shred mostly..
I have a Crate gx-212.. A REAL Guitar player only needs 4 things to play.. A guitar, a chord, an amp and desire.. No effectshere folks..
I own a 2000 Axis and these two guitars do not sound alike. NOTHING sounds like the custom Dimarzios in the AXIS guitars. THese pups sound fine for the money, they are just NOT AXIS pups. I find em a little thin sounding and lacking in sustain.

The factory set-up was HORRID! I've seen lower telephone wires!
I'm a guitar tech so it only took 10 minutes of adjusting to get her down to exceelent action and perfect intonation.
The paint looks cheasy on all these OLP's.. It's a foto finish for God's sake-It's supposed to look like ASS!
I could rip any guitar to shreds in a review because I am a tech and very particualr. With that said, to the average guitar consumer this guitar is relatively ready to play right out of the box with the exception of the factoy set-up.
THis is one of the best low-dollar guitars I've seen in awhile..

I'm too old for that live playing stuff plus I suck as a player anyway..
The guitar and it's componets are as sturdy as just about anything out their. The guitar will withstand normal playing with the best of them.

Never dealt with them..

I've been playing for 10 years
I might bye one in each color and experiment with different pickup configurations..
I love the cost and solid built.
I hate the the cheesy neck. It is too strat-like instead of Ernie Ball like.
I only compare it to my Ernie Ball Axis as that is what the guitar is supposed to be mimicking. Not bad for the money-It's no AXIS but cool guitar none-the-less.
I think solid colors or real figured tops would be nice too. I'd shell out another $75 for a real quilt top..
I also wish this guitar had more tremolo options. A strat trem on a guitar built in the spirit of Eddie with a strat bridge? WTF?
I would like to seee this guitar in a stop bar version as well as a Floyded version.

It has been argued that guitars manufactured offshore (ie. Korea) as popular knock-offs, have come a long way in terms of fit,finish, quality and oem accuracy. I agree and attest as I myself have several. I also have a beat USA made '88 Fender standard strat. As beat as it is, it still sounds silky and warm. It is my opinion that the strat is best characterized by Eric Johnson. Of course, there is a long list of venerable players that have personified the strat with their own legacy of musicianship. This cannot be denied or overlooked. Before I go off on a tangent, I wanted to note that I also use my strat as an approximate standard to compare it's manufactured quality against that of an import and in order to validate the former argument. Tonal personality is obviously different from design to design.
All of my instruments are left handed, as am I. As so, this significantly reduces the number and variety of stock instruments available to my displeasure. Try getting a lefty Peavey Wolfgang. There has been much protest, but I believe Peavey still stands by its regard of the lefthanded community as unmarketable due to volume constraints. Thus, we have the next best thing, OLP's knockoff of the Music Man by Ernie Ball made famous by Eddie Van Halen. OLP (Officially Licensed Product(s)) is manufactured in China under License and approved USA design. On with the review!

Features of the MM1: Current year production 2004

Solid Basswood body (not glued multipiece body like Yamaha Pacifica or Raven West's PRS McCarty knockoff)

Body Color: Black laquer (non-translucent)

Faux quilted maple top (laminated picture on basswood body)
single ply cream binding for show only
Faux top color: very nice gold

22 fret Maple neck with truss rod NOTE: the neck is 2 piece maple with the second piece being a little thicker than a normal rosewood board glued to the solid neck over the rod. A little disappointed with that. I kinda expected a SOLID maple neck like my Fender Strat has.
This neck is polished, but not finished with laquer so I wonder how long before the dirt builds up from finger acids and the like. The neck also has small black dot inlays probably about a third of the size of the inlays in the strat. The headstock has the OLP logo and is the same color as the faux quilted top (gold). The back of the headstock displays the Ernie Ball trademark to olp.

I cannot remember the type of tuners, but they seem solid enough and not cast like some cheap shite I've seen on other more expensive instruments. The upper nut is plastic, but seems decent enough. The frets could be a little smoother, but break in playing will take care of that. I cannot remember the scale however, it seems smaller than that of the Strat.

Controls:
3 way switch
1 volume control only, no tone control (I like it!)

Pups:
2 direct body mounted Humbucking (not able to get specs)

Bridge:
chrome Vintage style vibrato for diving etc. Standard chrome plated saddles. Better quality bridge than other more expensive instruments

Accessories:
Shipped double boxed with soft shell gigbag, 6ft cable, trem bar, extra vibrato tension spring and allen wrench complete with .009 Ernie Ball Slinkys and not crap strings like every other import.

I haven't played it a whole lot yet, but so far, so good. The setup wasn't bad. I will have to adjust the action down a bit. No biggie! Pups seemed alright height-wise for now. It is pretty quiet sitting on the stand. The MM1 delivers nice full sound and I can tell that it will work well with my other equipment. I might consider changing the pups eventually, but for now they sound sharp and I am not disappointed with any of the settings. The sound is somewhere in the middle of pup variety. I also like the fact that there is no tone control. Take the bias right out of the instrument and let the outboard gear shape the tone. Beautiful!
I don't play out, so I cannot comment on its attributes with respect to the stage. My application is purely studio. I use a variety of effects with my main effects board being the Boss GT6 and my backup being the Line6 Pod 2.0. I also have some nice high quality analog pedals to try out with the MM1. These will better reveal the true dynamics of the instrument, as opposed to the highly digitized processing utilized by the other two I own. It seems to me that every guitar I've tried with the Pod sounds the same. The Gt6 offers more in the way of sound sculpting and I still have a lot of exploration to do with that processor.
I feed a pair of Marshall 15watt solid state practice amps L and R channels from whatever processor I'm utilizing. Good for the studio, but lack of power and driver size barely make the delivery.
I use the computer heavily for recording and also have a heavy duty 4 track recorder by Audio Technica (they don't make 'em like this anymore).
I concentrate on a style similar to new age. I may need to qualify the category with an explanation considering the evolution of this particular category. When I first interested myself in new age, it was mostly a category reserved for keyboard music and a style born of classical roots, yet not as polished or organized, an improvisation of classical if you will and a bit strange at that. Through the years, new age has become a crossroads for several genres of music that didn't quite fit into any one particular category. Then after the keyboard explosion it became mood music, and now an ever-shrinking genre, practically the flamenco category. So, I fit in the part of new age that represents a progressive and technical melding of blues,jazz and rock. That cleared it up right? NOT!
Oh! One more thing. My kingdom for a tremelo instead of the vintage vibrato. Oh well! Leftys can't be choosers.

Okay, here's where I won't be as complimentary as I've previously been. Most of my complaint is credited to cosmetic problems.
The laminated quilted top is cheesy, but I'm sure that it was a cost saving measure on the part of the manufacturer. There are visible body colored paint spots in the laminate around the pup cavities where the body paint meets the laminate.
The rearside of the guitar body had all kinds of small scratches in the laquer. Not a glaring defect, but hey it's the only import I've received new with any sort of scratch in the body laquer. I mentioned some of the other flaws earlier.
The biggest complaint I have is the maple neck. It looks like it was sanded by a five year old around the headstock and there is a tiny knot in the neck by the 4th fret near where you would rest your thumb. Not the greatest specimen of maple used for the neck, but I have a tendency to be critical.

As I stated earlier, I do not play out. However, it is my opinion that the guitar would be suited to live playing. The hardware of the instrument seems a little higher quality than other more expensive instruments I have owned. We'll have to see about the finish and the test of time. The instrument seems reliable enough to depend on regularly. Personally, if I did gig, I would never play out without a backup, period.

There is a website, but other than initial research, have not had to contact customer support. http://www.olpguitars.com/usa/mm1_trans.htm
The above link will take you to the exact page for this guitar.
Not sure about the warranty, maybe 1 yr.

Overall, this is great guitar at a modest price even though I got ripped for being a lefty. The color looks great even for a picture.
I expect to play and own this instrument for years to come.
It's too bad that the MM1 only has two pups, there is certainly enough space in the center for a third pup. If this guitar was stolen or damaged, I would most likely replace it with another one.