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1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 27th, 2019, 9:40 am
by pjmuck
Killer basses, one of the best slap tones you'll ever hear, IMO. Appears to be in great condition too. But that Hail Mary price?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Pre-Ernie ... 7052!US!-1
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 27th, 2019, 10:42 am
by Matt R.
That seller is trippin
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 27th, 2019, 1:47 pm
by AzWhoFan
Matt R. wrote:That seller is trippin
Indeed, they must have ingested too many 'shrooms over the weekend.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 27th, 2019, 3:30 pm
by slybass3000
That bass looks just like the one I sold few years ago. I sold it with the replacement neck from EB and the original neck that was warped... Sold it at 1/3 of the price here...
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 27th, 2019, 6:45 pm
by markcv
Anybody else think that the bridge is off center? Firstly, the strings aren’t centered on the pole pieces, and it looks like the strings are going at a left/right angle to go over the saddles. ...or is it just the angle of the pic?
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 28th, 2019, 9:35 pm
by pjmuck
markcv wrote:Anybody else think that the bridge is off center? Firstly, the strings aren’t centered on the pole pieces, and it looks like the strings are going at a left/right angle to go over the saddles. ...or is it just the angle of the pic?
The problem is inherent and consistent with all early MM pre-EB basses, lefty or righty. Here's a site with many pre-EB MM basses. Every one of them exhibits the issue - strings breaking to the right of the saddle:
https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collecti ... man-basses
Note that all bridge saddles are aligned in the same direction (saddles to the left of intonation screws), regardless of whether you're a righty or lefty, unlike a Precision/Jazz bridge, where the G and D saddles are set up in the opposite direction of the A and E:

- Unknown.jpeg (8 KiB) Viewed 12174 times
Then the problem is further compounded by the fact that the bridge is enclosed in a surrounding frame vs. an open bridge like a Fender. So you can't simply flip the saddles over and have them run to the right, 'cause they will no longer fit within the bridge frame. The problem could have been addressed with a relocation of the string routes and intonation screw routes in the back of the bridge, IMO.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 29th, 2019, 6:33 am
by LefThanDed
slybass3000 wrote:That bass looks just like the one I sold few years ago. I sold it with the replacement neck from EB and the original neck that was warped... Sold it at 1/3 of the price here...
I remember ~ 1984 there were several Sabres in "Left Hand Guitar Store" south of Washington DC (Springfield?). Apparently there was a run of maple necks that were still "green" when installed.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 29th, 2019, 12:27 pm
by slybass3000
LefThanDed wrote:slybass3000 wrote:That bass looks just like the one I sold few years ago. I sold it with the replacement neck from EB and the original neck that was warped... Sold it at 1/3 of the price here...
I remember ~ 1984 there were several Sabres in "Left Hand Guitar Store" south of Washington DC (Springfield?). Apparently there was a run of maple necks that were still "green" when installed.
Interesting..
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: October 30th, 2019, 1:23 pm
by iozz
slybass3000 wrote:That bass looks just like the one I sold few years ago. I sold it with the replacement neck from EB and the original neck that was warped... Sold it at 1/3 of the price here...
I don't think this one is the one you sold me.
The price is definitely too high.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: November 4th, 2019, 4:10 am
by Petethebassman
It's the same Sabre that was in this thread:
http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9960
Apparently whoever bought it for $1500 managed to remove the glitter gunk from body and headstock edges and raised the price sky high for his efforts.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: November 4th, 2019, 11:20 am
by crescenze
Petethebassman wrote:It's the same Sabre that was in this thread:
http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9960
Apparently whoever bought it for $1500 managed to remove the glitter gunk from body and headstock edges and raised the price sky high for his efforts.
Wow! Great eye. Good catch! Looking closely now you can see some discoloration on the edges were the glitter was removed.
Re: 1980 Musician Sabre bass
Posted: November 13th, 2019, 1:14 pm
by AHNC
Man I had 2 of these back in the late 70's. The necks were problematic, The frets love rise up out of neck when they got warm. I finally gave up on them after the Budwieser battle of the bands tour in 80.
fwiw I replaced them with a natural Gibson ripper and a pbass that I still own. I mourn the loss of the ripper...