Music Man Big Al Bass Guitar Review | The Coolest Discontinued Bass on the Planet
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024
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You can't deny how cool the Music Man Big Al Bass is. Unfortunately, they did not sell all that well so they are discontinued. But if you find one, buy it! Its unique switching system allows for an array of tones and it looks amazing!
This has to be the best looking bass I have ever seen!! Really wish it wasnt discontinued.
Agreed! If you can find one I would definitely pick it up.
Eeeh mine was very problematic, be careful
I've owned Sting Ray and Sabre basses in the pre-EB days, and wanted to get a MM bass again. I called someone I know at Ernie Ball and asked them which was the favorite around the factory. He said either the traditional one-pickup Sting Ray or the Big Al. I ordered the Big Al 5 (SSS) and LOVE it. Very easy to dial in despite the seemingly absurd control layout. The outside pickups in series (all pickup switched up) is a favorite setting. Really my only two complaints about the old Sting Ray was the very heavy ash body and he fact that the one pickup was too far south for me. I suppose that's the Sting Ray sound, though. Anyway, the Big Al is mahogany (sustain is still great), and with the SSS version, you obviously have bassier pickup options. Comfortable to play sitting down or standing up.
Groovy! Thanks for the review!
If musicman would put those pups and electronics into a stingray or sterling body, they'd have a total champion of a bass on their hands. The body shape is what killed it.
You are not lying! They tried with the reflex, but once again not a standard body shape so another one bit the dust.
I've never understood why they haven't. Seems like a superior config imo.
An interesting point but this bass from it's inception was aimed to be entirely a departure away from the Sting Ray/Sterling/Saber era bases, from the looks/body all the way through the electronics package(Bongo pre-amp section) etc. About the only thing familiar previous is the Sterling inspired neck and that is about where much of those similarities end...It's true, it isn't a look for everyone, nor would the EBMM bass playing community have elected the Albert Lee body(guitar) shape on a bass as their next new,exciting, bass of the time '09..?I think...But I mean would you really want just another version of the Sting Ray in a new bass? Cause all you are getting is a Sting Ray that sounds like a P or J. Unfortunately, the Big Al, didn't catch on as avidly but it's no less versatile of an instrument. Also it's an instrument that not everyone and their dog has in their collection, like Fender P's, J's and Sting Ray type inspired instruments, all of which are widely available at all kinds of entry levels. I'm glad I got a first year production Alder body Big Al, when they first came out and not the later released, mahogany version, it will most certainly not be leaving my collection anytime....Hunting the perfect 5 string version of it!
No, the fact that the the pickups and preamp (while sounding great) were crap was what killed it.
Now I want one haha
Totally worth it if you can find one! Let me know if you pick one up.
They don't happen to have any 5 string models, do they?
Love the look and sound of the Big Al 😎
Sadly I ended up selling it. Missing it all the time 😕
possibly the most quiet bass in existence!
Yeah the recording setup wasn’t the best back then ;)
I had one way back when, amazing bass. Mine still had the Schaller tuners on it too. The tonal pallet of this bass IMO is unmatched, I could get P bass, Ric, Jazz and an amazing Jaco tone out of this bad boy. I very rarely used the active EQ cuz it did the job well in passive. Now onto the reason why I don't have it anymore. It spent more time in the shop then it did in my hands! 🤬🤬😡😡. The pickups, especially the neck, had a tendency to buzz and eventually short out. It went back to music Man 2 times and 3 times to the local repair shop. All Ernie ball did was replace the electronics. Personally the whole preamp/pickup system, while sounding killer, probably had some engineering flaws that were missed in the development stage. I don't think it was limited to the big Al either, I had a really big college chum of mine who has a 25th Anniversary HSS 5 string and he had similar problems....similar electronics setup. He sold his before he started having real problems. Luckily for me, I bought the bass from guitar center and the manager took note and was familiar with my situation....he was so cool and took the bass back and gave me a full refund...1 year after the fact too and for that reason, I'll never talk shit about GC EVER!! ended up getting a Bongo 6 HH and what a Bass! Now to be fair, Ernie ball and the crew offered to make it right but by that time, I was pretty much done with it and was ready to move on.
Love it!
It is a lot of bass to love ;)
The E-String doesn't run over the polepiece of the neck pickup. How does that influence the sound when soloing the neck PU?
Мечтаю купить big al 5 sss есть ли в Америке они,если есть напишите где? Спасибо.
Well, it's copying a guitar. Strike one. (Dumb name too). The design looks like it's trying too hard to look cool. Strike two. And it claims to have a bunch of different sounds but it's really just several EQ's of the same sound. And it's way too complicated to get each sound. Strike three and out.
wooow
Super!~}
😍😍😍😍😍