# Mike Mushok MMM1 String Gauges?



## elrrek (Feb 14, 2008)

Hey folks.

I need to know what the factory fitted strings were on the Ibanez MMM1 Mike Mushok guitar. When I got it off ebay I stuck it into my favourite guitar shop and had it cleaned and set up and they said they put 14s on it, I can't actually find anyone who sels 14s? I have attempt to find out via googling it and I have zero faith that email Ibanez's UK distributor is going to get me anywhere so I thought I'd drop you folks a line.

Anyone who has one of these that wants to share knowledge with me I'd appreciate it.


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## Apophis (Feb 14, 2008)

D'Addario 14-68 baritone set is available

but with MMM1 is something like 0.13 set I think


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## Lankles (Feb 14, 2008)

Speaking of which ... these are gone from the Ibanez website.


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## TemjinStrife (Feb 14, 2008)

That's cause Mushok now has a PRS baritone.


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## elrrek (Feb 14, 2008)

Yup, they are gone from the Ibanez site. Considering that Staind have done zip recently I was somewhat surprised to see he had a signature model with PRS.

Not that I'm a fan of Staind, nice guitar though.

Seeing as the low B has a larger/heavier tuning peg, I reckon a Baritone set will be okay.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 14, 2008)

it´s a low Ab actually 

and i, too, am surprised staind even had an ibanez signature model for so long, they´re not doing shit, are they?


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## sakeido (Feb 14, 2008)

Luckily though, it is one of the best guitars Ibanez makes.. on the stock strings I took it down to F# and it still had a great feel.


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## AVH (Feb 14, 2008)

I had one of these too for a while, excellent bang for the buck.


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## elrrek (Feb 14, 2008)

It is a very nice guitar and completely different to any other Ibanez I have played.

I have a thing for mahogany guitars and play in B a lot so this is a very good fit for me. I actually prefer the sound I get out of this guitar compared to my Schecter C7 Blackjack. If only there was a 7 string version of the pickups in the MMM1.


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## penguin_316 (Feb 14, 2008)

Speaking of the MMM1....I have one for sale now that I got my 8 string.
Its a great guitar and I have Dimarzios in it(Drop Sonic for Bridge and Super II for the neck). I have pics if you are interested PM me. It's is in good condition.....no bad frets or anything....some dings here and there but nothing major. $500

Edit: And stock it came with a .74 to .14 i believe.....I use D'Addario Baritone sets on it now .63.-.13 and it works out well...it u want to drop thew lowest string further i use a .70. You can only get that baritone set from a place like musiciansfriend.


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## Ishan (Feb 14, 2008)

Mmmm cheap, too bad you're in the US, you'd have had a buyer


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## Jeff (Feb 14, 2008)

elrrek said:


> Yup, they are gone from the Ibanez site. Considering that Staind have done zip recently I was somewhat surprised to see he had a signature model with PRS.



Maybe it has something to do with pretty much all Staind albums going platinum? They're working on a new album right now, due out this year. Last one was 2005. That's not really all that unusual. 

Generally companies are pretty happy to give signature models to those players that put that guitar (and brand) in front of a lot of people, which they do.


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## Apophis (Feb 14, 2008)

Of course, for big companies like Ibanez it's all about money - nothing more, nothing less


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## Ishan (Feb 14, 2008)

It's weird they didn't do a revamped model as a non-sig as this guitar as no equivalent is their range.


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## Apophis (Feb 14, 2008)

Maybe they will


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## penguin_316 (Feb 14, 2008)

Yeah, France is a little further than i wanted to ship it.


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## Variant (Feb 14, 2008)

penguin_316 said:


> Speaking of the MMM1....I have one for sale now that I got my 8 string.
> Its a great guitar and I have Dimarzios in it(Drop Sonic for Bridge and Super II for the neck). I have pics if you are interested PM me. It's is in good condition.....no bad frets or anything....some dings here and there but nothing major. $500



 Boy, that would be tempting if I didn't just get my Synapse beri.


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## antiochband (Nov 20, 2008)

sorry to revive an old thread.

I recently bought a HEAVILY customized MMM1 on ebay. It has a gloss white finish, a single EMG 81 (they did an awesome fill job on the neck p/u), schaller tuners, and a single volume pot.

I've been looking around to seeif anybody has taken the MMM1 down to F# standard. I'm thinking about going with Daddario EXL158 (.62-.13) because the scale is so long. Am I delusional? Should I mix and match strings for the best fit? 

My reasoning:
a 25.5" scale axe can accomodate A standard with .59-.10 (I know from experience)
a 26.5" scale axe can handle G standard with .59-.10 (again from experience)

I figure that a 28" scale should _easily_ handle F# with a .62, which is pretty damn thick.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## thedownside (Nov 20, 2008)

antiochband said:


> sorry to revive an old thread.
> 
> I recently bought a HEAVILY customized MMM1 on ebay. It has a gloss white finish, a single EMG 81 (they did an awesome fill job on the neck p/u), schaller tuners, and a single volume pot.
> 
> ...



should work. it wouldnt be tight enough for me, but i use a .70 in drop A on a 25.5

oh, and you better post some pics!!!


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## ohmanthisiscool (Nov 20, 2008)

NICE Score BTW. I saw that on E-bay and would have bought it if, well I wasn't poor


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## antiochband (Nov 20, 2008)

thedownside said:


> should work. it wouldnt be tight enough for me, but i use a .70 in drop A on a 25.5
> 
> oh, and you better post some pics!!!



Yeah, I used to like my strings really tight, and I used a .68 on my low G. But I was really frustrated with the piss-poor note separation and lack of "djent". 

So I got hooked on daddario .59-.10, and then got in a band that played in B standard, so I went down to daddario .54-.9 and that's what I'm using now. 

I just hope my fellow guitarist isn't pissed when he hears the insane riffage I pump out with this beast. 

I'm really tired of EMGs tho. They just have such a harsh midrange. I'll give the axe a fair try with the 81 but if it doesn't suit the low F#, I may have to try out the seymour duncan blackout.

The pics they gave were kinda crappy, but I will be sure to post a few of my own when it shows up.

Thanks!


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## MF_Kitten (Nov 20, 2008)

being 28" scale, you can reach a satisfying f# with that string for sure. tension is a matter of taste, but it will intonate properly, that&#180;s for sure.


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## antiochband (Nov 20, 2008)

MF_Kitten said:


> being 28" scale, you can reach a satisfying f# with that string for sure. tension is a matter of taste, but it will intonate properly, that´s for sure.



What do you tune your Agile Baritone to?


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## MF_Kitten (Nov 20, 2008)

B standard.

i use a .52 set for that, and i also go drop A and drop Ab at times. works fine 

it came with a .65 set of strings, and it did drop E pretty damn well.


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## antiochband (Nov 20, 2008)

MF_Kitten said:


> B standard.
> 
> i use a .52 set for that, and i also go drop A and drop Ab at times. works fine
> 
> it came with a .65 set of strings, and it did drop E pretty damn well.



cool, that gives me a good impression of what a 28" can do. I bought it on a whim... I am exploring low tunings and I couldn't let a such a unique piece of hardware get away.


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## MF_Kitten (Nov 20, 2008)

yeah, and i think the one thing that really impressed me, was the incredibly tight intonation. notes sound clearer far up on the neck than they do on shorter scales, and you can go incredibly low and still intonate without problems.

also, tone is clearer on long scales too, and of course strings are tighter


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## antiochband (Nov 21, 2008)

MF_Kitten said:


> yeah, and i think the one thing that really impressed me, was the incredibly tight intonation. notes sound clearer far up on the neck than they do on shorter scales, and you can go incredibly low and still intonate without problems.
> 
> also, tone is clearer on long scales too, and of course strings are tighter



Yeah I've always had a light touch and the lighter strings fit my playing style perfectly. But the desire to go looooow presented a dilemma. SO the baritone neck is a great compromise. I don't mind the loss of the high b and e strings - I'm really not a lead player, anyway.


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## Variant (Nov 21, 2008)

I, personally, use *.068w, .052w, .038w, .022p, .016p, .012p* on my 28 5/8" baritone. tuned to A-standard, with the lowest string dropped to G.


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## antiochband (Nov 21, 2008)

Variant said:


> I, personally, use *.068w, .052w, .038w, .022p, .016p, .012p* on my 28 5/8" baritone. tuned to A-standard, with the lowest string dropped to G.



Those strings must be pretty tight.

I was tooling around and found Stephen Carpenter's B-8 sig model. Here's what ESP strings it with from the factory:

Model: STEF B-8 
scale: 27"
Tuned: F#/B/E/A/D/G/B/E
Gauges: 68/56/46/36/26/17/13/10



who makes a .22p, BTW?


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## Variant (Nov 22, 2008)

antiochband said:


> Those strings must be pretty tight.



They're a little tighter than I'd like, but I've gotten used to it. It's basically the standard "baritone" LaBella set, with the .026w swapped out for a .022p. It helps that I keep my action retardedly low as well. 



> who makes a .22p, BTW?



D'Addario... they make just about everything.


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## antiochband (Nov 22, 2008)

Variant said:


> They're a little tighter than I'd like, but I've gotten used to it. It's basically the standard "baritone" LaBella set, with the .026w swapped out for a .022p. It helps that I keep my action retardedly low as well.
> 
> D'Addario... they make just about everything.





I'm gonna go with D'addario EXL115 (.49w,.38w,.28w,.18p,.14p)
and get some .62w singles from juststrings. 

The .49 should cover me for the low B, although it won't be as chunky as the .54 I'm used to. 

Thanks for the help!


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## heavy7-665 (Nov 22, 2008)

mike uses 14-74


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## antiochband (Nov 23, 2008)

heavy7-665 said:


> mike uses 14-74



mike who? Mike mushok?


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## MF_Kitten (Nov 23, 2008)

antiochband said:


> I'm gonna go with D'addario EXL115 (.49w,.38w,.28w,.18p,.14p)
> and get some .62w singles from juststrings.
> 
> The .49 should cover me for the low B, although it won't be as chunky as the .54 I'm used to.
> ...



it&#180;ll balance ok.

i&#180;d go .70 with a .52 set myself, as i&#180;ve found that to be really well balanced tension-wise.

edit: 

here&#180;s a recording of my baritone with the stock pickups and strings (the pickups sounded like mudy poo, but i managed to clear it up with lots of treble boosting in the pod )
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6491995

the strings are a .65 baritone set from D&#180;addario. the tuning is B standard, but with the low B dropped all the way down to E, so the two lowest strings are an octave apart. intonation was perfect at that tuning, and tension was ok.

if you look away from the not-so-good recording, and listen to the tightness of the guitar itself, you can get an idea of what it sounds like 

here&#180;s another recording, with the same strings and guitar, etc, but tuned to drop E
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6473616


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## antiochband (Nov 23, 2008)

MF_Kitten said:


> it´ll balance ok.
> 
> i´d go .70 with a .52 set myself, as i´ve found that to be really well balanced tension-wise.



ah, I didn't account for tension.


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## drmosh (Nov 23, 2008)

Great guitar, but the stock pickups are awful.
I use that d'addario 14-68 set mentioned above, tuned to B


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## antiochband (Nov 23, 2008)

drmosh said:


> Great guitar, but the stock pickups are awful.
> I use that d'addario 14-68 set mentioned above, tuned to B



.68 for B on a 28"? I know string tension is a matter of personal preference, but that has got to kill your tone. I bought it because of it's 28" neck so I *wouldn't* need enormous strings. 

I've settled on A Flat standard with .56, .46, .36, .26, .16p, .09p

That way I get a pretty damn low bass note that I can still triple-pick on and distorted powerchords that don't become flaming piles of mud.

Come to think of it, a lot of Mushok's work is in A Flat standard.


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## sol niger 333 (May 17, 2009)

antiochband said:


> .68 for B on a 28"? I know string tension is a matter of personal preference, but that has got to kill your tone. I bought it because of it's 28" neck so I *wouldn't* need enormous strings.
> 
> I've settled on A Flat standard with .56, .46, .36, .26, .16p, .09p
> 
> ...



That will be perfect. I dont know why people put fencing wire on their baritones. The tension is perfect with a 56 set.


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