Music Man (company) - Recent Years

Recent Years

In 1996, Ernie Ball/Music Man began an annual 'Battle of the Bands' contest to spotlight unsigned talent.

Initially, Music Man concentrated solely on production of its high-end, US-built instruments, refusing to enter the budget instrument market. In the late 1990s, the demand for cheaper versions of Music Man instruments had increased and other companies had begun to exploit this market-gap by producing replica instruments, built from inexpensive woods and components in various East-Asian countries. Music Man responded by licensing its designs to HHI/Davitt & Hanser, launching OLP (Officially Licensed Products) to give Music Man market coverage in this price point.

As a replacement for the overseas line of OLP Music Man instruments the company developed the 'SUB' line of Guitars & Basses (listed both online & in print and other media as well as physically on the headstock first as the acronym "S.U.B." for "Sport Utility Bass" and then as the non-acronym "SUB" due to the fact that two versions of guitars were made under the "Sport Utility Bass" banner, and that a "S.U.B. Bass" repeated 'Bass' twice). This mid-range line (in which the typical cost was typically less than 1/2-to-1/3 the price of their "standard" instruments) was launched in 2003 to prove that a quality instrument without the bells and whistles could be made in the USA. A non-angled "slab" piece of wood to which a textured paint that didn't call for any polishing was applied, as well as necks with a matte painted back instead of the "Oil & Wax" finish applied to the higher-end models made up the bulk of the changes between the lower and higher model lines - quite simply, "Production Hours" were reduced as opposed to the quality of the wood, hardware, or electronics that allowed the 'SUB' line of guitars & basses to be made at their price-point without a loss of their trademark quality. The product was a success and helped Music Man when its main price point was in a slump. Sterling Ball has commented that, due to the quickly growing $1,000+ segment of the guitar industry, there have been fewer and fewer SUBs in production each year. This line was made at the same plant that makes the higher priced models, but was discontinued in September 2006. Used 'SUB' guitars & basses are in high demand and have held their prices even years later on the used instrument market such as eBay and private forums due to their quality and "Made In The USA" production status. In 1999 Les Paul was quoted as saying, "Music Man is a great guitar brand."

In 2000 Ernie Ball/Music Man was raided by the copyright lobby group the Business Software Alliance and accused of having unlicensed software installed at its premises. Following a court settlement, the BSA used Ernie Ball/Music Man as an example in advertisements and industry publications; Sterling Ball was so offended at this treatment that he had all Microsoft software removed from Ernie Ball/Music Man ("I don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses,") and imposed an open-source software policy across the company.

In 2001, Sterling Ball decided to institute a living wage at the plant. The entry level wage would be $10.10 per hour. One third of the then current workforce of 226 people got a raise. He cited the need to attract and retain high quality employees, and the moral responsibility to provide his employees with a decent income. Fewer than twenty percent of the residents in San Luis Obispo county can afford to buy a house. He had this to say in a New Times interview concerning the decision, "It's contrary to a lot of traditional business theories, I know, but I did it because it's the right thing to do, fundamentally."

2003 saw the introduction of the radical Music Man Bongo Bass, the result of a partnership with DesignworksUSA, a design firm better known for its work with BMW. This bass features a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard with custom "moon"-shaped inlays and a 4-band active EQ powered by an 18V supply. It also came with 4 and 5 strings, in fretted, fret-less and left-handed versions, with the choice of HS (humbucker/single-coil), HH (dual humbuckers), and H (single humbucker, the traditional Music Man setup) pickup configurations and a pickup blend pot for ultimate versatility. These pickup configurations were adopted on other Music Man models three years later, using a 5-way pickup selector switch with coil-tap capabilities.

In 2008, Music Man released the Bongo 6, its first six-string bass, played by Dream Theater's bassist John Myung - the company does not "endorse" any non-signature model musicians, but Sterling Ball was quoted as saying that "We won't be making any six-string basses unless a high-profile player asks for one", while Myung was using a variety of 4 & 5-strings to record several Dream Theater albums until he and the company got together and began working on a prototype, which was so successful that Myung took it directly on tour with him. In the words of Sterling Ball "We've never 'hit it out of the ballpark' with a new model so successfully until now!!" The company offers a five-string version of the Sterling Bass line since January 22.

Music Man has recently introduced the 'Big Al' bass, which is based on the Albert Lee signature guitar, boasting an 18V-powered 4-band EQ, active/passive switching, series/parallel pickup wiring and three single-coil pickups with neodymium magnets as well as a limited-edition run of 25th Anniversary guitars and basses finished in a Venetian Red-burst finish, featuring a bound book-matched figured maple top and mahogany tone block. The 25th Anniversary guitar sports a chambered basswood body and dual DiMarzio custom hum-bucking pickups with chrome covers, while the 25th Anniversary bass (available in 4, 5-string, fretted and fret-less versions) has an ash body and comes in H, HH (ceramic magnets) and HSS (ceramic+neodymium magnets) pickup configurations, active/passive circuitry and an active 4-band EQ with 18V power supply. Other features include a 22-fret select maple neck with rosewood, maple or pau ferro (lined/unlined fret-less) fingerboard and mother of pearl dot position markers. The 25th Anniversary models were replaced by the Reflex series, introduced on July 23, 2010.

As of 2010, the 'Big Al' bass came in a 5-string version with the choice of H and SSS pickup configurations. The Albert Lee signature model comes with two custom-wound DiMarzio hum-bucking pickups and an African mahogany body.

The JPX, new for 2010, is a sleeker variant of the John Petrucci signature model, released to commemorate 10 years of collaboration with Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci. The new body shape has a slightly thinner upper horn and a more symmetric bridge end profile. The body is also chambered for added acoustic resonance.

Music Man's latest addition was the Bass Player Live Deluxe Classic Collection, which combines the elements of the first Music Man basses - such as a 2-band EQ, a chrome truss rod wheel, vintage skinny fret-wire and nut, a chrome plated, hardened steel bridge plate with "Classic" stainless steel saddles and adjustable mute pads, as well as a 7.5" radius urethane finished figured maple neck - with modern features such as a 6-bolt neck fixing and graphite acrylic resin coated body cavity and aluminum control cover. Models include the StingRay, StingRay 5 and Sterling.

In 2009, as a replacement for their 'SUB' line of lower-priced "mid-range" instruments Music Man outsourced a new Far Eastern-constructed budget brand called Sterling by Music Man. Basses include the RAY34/RAY35 (Music Man StingRay 4 and 5 string models) and the SB14 (Sterling). Guitars include the AX20 (Axis Super Sport), AX40 (Axis), JP50 (John Petrucci) and the SILO30 (Silhouette). This practice has been performed by many guitar manufacturers. In 2012 Music Man expanded this line with the "Sterling By Music Man SUB Series" to compete with other -$300 USD "Beginner" lines of Instruments. They will continue to be produced in Indonesia and other Far East countries using "non-standard" woods (i.e. not typically thought of as "tone woods") to keep production costs low.