Super Sub

Re-string Monday, folks. The EBMM SUB1 got some playing time today. I keep this guitar in a hard case & the strings just rusted like I dipped them into sea water or something. Its a serious case of metal against hard case fur. The old strings felt sticky & it could only mean that there's some reaction between the strings & the adhesive that seeped through the fur lining. I wiped those strings before keeping it so the rust could not have been caused by organic hand fluid. 

Whatever the case, GHS to the rescue. I would have preferred D'Addarios but Davis GMC ran out of 9s in the mean time. 

My DiMarzio Super 3 humbucker rests here in the mean time. I features black pole pieces so these blend in nicely with the overall black demeanour of the instrument as seen in the first pic. I did not intend for this one to be an all black, stealth mode type but it happened. I still feel sore that EBMM had chosen to discontinue the SUB series of instruments as they are definitely vale-for-money instruments. The SUB label is now a Sterling affair & if that was an attempt to cascade the vibe into the Sterling range, it sorely missed the point.

The Super 3 is a high output, midrange heavy pickup. Its brand of chugging features some gristle that metal dudes will embrace. The pickup was set lower into the body to prevent wolf tones from manifesting as I always put my distortion on overdose. If there's an equivalent to this in the Seymour Duncan camp then it has to be the Full Shred. 

EQ pic: DiMarzio

Sub-winter

The lone pickup in my MM SUB1 guitar is a Seymour Duncan Black Winter. Why was this pickup chosen? I would first address the guitar concerns. The SUB1 is a rather hefty instrument & naturally manifests a bass-inclined tone. With the default pickups, the overall tone wasn't strong in any particular frequency. It's as if the pickups were there to neutralize any particular accentuation of  certain frequencies. The Black Winter is by default partial to midrange, something like what you'd hear coming from a JB but without the slicing treble response. It was conceived to serve the twisted metal dimension in the first place, so menacing distortion is its thing, my kind of pickup in such an application. What it did to the SUB1 is important to me. It brought out the lower midrange accentuation typical of the fusion between such a pickup & an instrument of this weight threshold. Marvellous!

Subtracting SUB1

This is my Music Man SUB1 guitar, bought from Davis GMC in 2005. The SUB1 range were the only models they had in store & at that point in time, I was hoping the EBMM instruments would be distributed by Davis GMC thereafter but apparently, things didn't follow up well. It wasn't a boutique MM model that's for sure. Back then, Fender did a Highway 1 & the concept of just finishing the instrument in satin instead of a gloss overcoat to reduce cost, caught on- Gibson did their Faded series at about the same time. Music Man did their SUB1 which was discontinued in 2006.

Just last week, I brought it out of hibernation & the electronics were cranky which no contact cleaner could cure. The main culprit was the corroded input jack. That was when I decided to give it a make over to serve my needs. I sent the original pickguard as a template reference to TYMC & they did a bridge humbucker only version which you see here. Controls were reduced to a solitary volume knob & everything electronics-related was handled by the master himself, Mr. Beez. 

So here it is, my revised MM SUB1 guitar which I think should not have been discontinued. EBMM couldn't keep up with the production costs to maintain the wonderful price so that spelt the end of this series. The Sterling range currently offer a SUB series of instruments which are much confused with this model. I would tell you that the SUB1 is a solid player & worth every cent.

Wish it was back: Music Man SUB1

I waited for this guitar to arrive here in Singapore but it didnt'. Partly because Davis's deal with EBMM didn't pull through. However, I managed to grab 2 of the SUB1 models before they disappeared in due time; a SUB1 bass & a twin humbucking guitar very much like the one you see above. I was hoping to get the single humbucking model in white. These were simple guitars which highlighted playablity & tone more than cosmetics.

How I spent Xmas

Well, how did I spend this holiday? With my Ernie Ball SUB1 guitar, of course...

• removed the strings
• re-conditioned the fretboard, it looked very pale but no dry spots detected
• re-string with a set of .009 GHS Boomers
• checked intonation
  
• played for hours

I managed to have the action done to a very low setting for this guitar since I bought it, which was possible because the nut was factory-slotted to be deep. Wish EBMM didn't discontinue this one...