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OLP owners!


zenfascist

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I had a thread here a few days back about my trying out a couple OLP's and actually A/Bing them with a MM Stingray five string. My results were thus:

 

Bass 1) OLP MM3, black with rosewood fretboard, slim neck

 

Bass 2) OLP MM3, natural finish with flamed maple top, maple fretboard, chunkier neck

 

Bass 3) MM Stingray Five string, maple fretboard

 

 

The neck on the flamed maple OLP felt more like the real MM.

 

The flamed maple OLP sounded very, VERY similar to the real MM. I won't go so far as to say identical. The MM had a tighter sounding low B, and more brilliance and articulation. But the essential character of the sound was there in spades with the MM3, particularly the flamed maple one.

 

By comparison, the black MM3 with the rosewood board sounded a bit more scooped and hollow, but still pretty damn decent.

 

Apparently the flamed maple OLP has an elm body under the maple, whereas the solid color OLP's are basswood. This coupled with the maple board and slightly thicker neck are perhaps what causes the difference in sound. But the difference was there, and quite noticable.

 

Another thing of note is that the OLP has passive electronics, just a volume for each coil of the pickup and one tone. Reduce the volume on either coil, and there's alot of sixty cycle hum. Also, the tone control doesn't really sound good on anything but full, so the OLP basically has one usable tone, whereas the real MM has many. But the one tone it does have is balls to the wall Stingray.

 

 

Sound aside, while the neck on the maple OLP was pretty similar in profile to the MM, obviously the MM had totally superior fretwork and hardware and setup. It played easier and had a much nicer peice of maple for the fretboard. The tuners on the OLP are cheap and feel like it, but the bridge looks and feels solid as a rock and adjusts perfectly. I was very impressed by this aspect. All this is to be expected.

 

Bottom line, if you get a good one, the OLP really does sound a lot like a Stingray, and plays decent and seems solidly built. It's not the real deal, but for a guy with little money, it gives you the essential Stingray tone.

 

 

 

I bought the flame maple one for $270.

 

 

 

 

 

Things I noticed once I got it home, and over the last week or so in which I've played it a LOT:

 

1) The sound never gets old. It just sounds great, spunky, punchy and aggressive.

 

2) After tweaking with it a lot, it still only has that one usable sound. But that's okay, what a sound!

 

3) The tuners do suck. They hold tune fairly well, but don't seem to have a very high gear ratio, and delicate tuning is a pain. They also feel cheap.

 

4) The nut is terrible. It's a badly cut, cheap plastic nut with burrs all over it. The slots aren't cut deep enough, so the first four fretted notes are slightly sharp on all the strings. Not a terribly expensive fix though.

 

5) The fret work isn't all that great. There are fret ends poking out on both sides of the board (not very far, but enough to feel them), the fret ends aren't rounded, and they need to be leveled. I have the action pretty high to keep the buzz down.

 

6) The pots feel cheap and the shafts on which the knobs sit aren't all straight, so one of the knobs is skewed when you turn it. They also are a tad scratchy when turned. Again, no big fix, pots are cheap.

 

7) The maple fretboard seems a little soft in spots. I haven't owned a maple board guitar or bass before, so I don't know how soft they are supposed to be. This one seems to have a couple of soft spots only in certain places. There was a little line indented in between the seventh and eighth fret when I got it, and when I poked at it with my fingernail I made another tiny line. It doesn't seem like it should be soft enough to make an indent with your fingernail. Everywhere else on the neck, it's much harder. There are no noticable dead spots on the neck.

 

8) There are a few dimples in the finish, nothing big or noticable unless you're looking for it.

 

 

 

 

 

If I was going to keep this bass, I would have upgraded it thus:

 

New tuners

New nut

Fret level and dress

New pots and output jack

Straplocks

 

I see no need to upgrade the pickup. I know there are a lot of nice MM pickup upgrades out there but I A/Bed it with a real Stingray and it was so close I couldn't believe it, for crying out loud! What would be the point?

 

So depending on how much the fret level and nut cost, I could probably do all the upgrades for about $180, if I was lucky maybe less. That would bring the total cost of the bass up to $450. Not bad for a great sounding, solid playing Stingray knockoff.

 

 

Basically, I would compare this bass to an SX, as in its a solid Chinese made bass with some crap components that you could upgrade into a solid performer. But where the SX basses allow you to get a Fender knock off that is honestly probably superior to MIM Fender for a low price, this allows you to get a Stingray knock off on a budget. It's not going to top the real 'Ray, even with the upgrades, but it will look and sound like one and play well.

 

 

 

All that being said, I'm not keeping mine despite it being such a peach. I'm at a rare spot in my life where I have a tad more cash than usual, and I've been trying everything I can get my hands on to find a five string that's right for me. I don't have enough to get something really nice, like a real Stingray, but I have a few hundred to work with. So despite this thing being really cool, for my main bass I'm going to try to get something a tad nicer. If I was more strapped for cash, I could definitely get by with this thing. But all it's virtues aside, it still does feel a bit like a cheap bass. It could certainly be made to work, no problem, but I've been playing for twelve years now and I can feel the difference, so now that I have an opportunity I'm going to get something nice.

 

 

So, I'm going to take this thing back tomorrow actually, to the GC where I got it from. All I've done is adjust the intonation and action, and put new strings on it. (They should pay me for them, the punks.) Whoever ends up getting it after I take it back will be in for a real treat. :thu: So if you're after one of these, just remember to play a few and see which one jumps out at you. But my personal theory is that the flamed maple ones with the elm body and thicker neck sound better than the regular ones. I think it's worth the $30 difference or whatever, because it's really a difference in sound and not just looks.

 

On the way for me? A new G&L Premium Tribute L-2500 with ash body and blueburst finish. Look for threads when it arrives. :cool:

 

EDIT: I forgot pics. Here's the one I'm talking about, that's going back tomorrow to make room for the G&L.

OLP1.jpg

 

OLPBody.jpg

 

OLPHead.jpg

 

OLPLong.jpg

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Originally posted by sunburstbasser

Feels basically like a Ray to me.


have you looked at the SUB?

 

 

Yeah.....I don't like them enough to spend that much money on one. I would rather have a Sterling or 'Ray knockoff and do some mods to it.

 

Mind Riot: thanks for the info. Looks like it needs the same mods that an SX would need. Did you happen to try any 4-stringers? If so, would you relate the neck more to a Sterling or a 'Ray?

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Originally posted by zenfascist


Mind Riot: thanks for the info. Looks like it needs the same mods that an SX would need. Did you happen to try any 4-stringers? If so, would you relate the neck more to a Sterling or a 'Ray?

 

Nope, they only had two fivers. Sorry. :(

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I played a few of them a couple years ago, when they first started

getting them in at Sam Ash. They played and sounded really nice.

I wish I had bought the Blue one. It was on sale for $229.00 and I was low on funds. When they first came out, I did not know what OLP stood for. I thought it was Old

Leftover

Parts:D

 

I still may get one someday, sine I never had a Ray.:cool:

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Are you guys saying the high G is too close to the edge of the fretboard, or too far from it? :confused:

 

Either way, it looks fine to me and it played fine. (I took it back today.)

 

But if you look at the bridge in the photo, the lens was almost directly over the G string saddle, not right in the middle of the bridge. I suppose that might be causing some of the confusion, but I don't see anything as being out of alignment. :confused:

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Originally posted by Jerome Howard

My 30 days runs out at GC monday. I'm keeping mine.

 

:eek: Holy crap, we had the exact same one. Our pics even look kind of similar.

 

That thing did sound nice for sure. But I had to pay off my G&L that's on the way. Hope you keep liking yours!

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Originally posted by bpocall

It over at our singers house now, but if you want, I'll bring it home and record a clip or two. Let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

that'd be pretty sweet! thanks. i desperately want a ray, but it's not likely i'll have the scrilla for one (new or used) in quite a while... i'm still lookin' at the 5 string tony levin model, but i'm just checking out other options. thanks.

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