# NGD: Music Man OLP MM5 Baritone!



## mgcasella (Jun 26, 2010)

I got this thing on eBay for $242.50 including shipping!  I was stoked because last time I saw one of these on eBay I think it went for around $350.

I could tell the guy selling it was not familiar with shipping guitars; however, he knew a decent amount about guitars in general. Because of this, I had him take off the neck and ship it to me in a box - I didn't want to take any chances of this getting destroyed during shipping since it wouldn't be in a case.

Here are the specs (according to my research on HC):
- 30" scale neck (the main reason I bought it)
- Overall length of 40 inches (due to the compact headstock and placement of the bridge)
- 22 frets
- Rosewood fretboard
- "North American Maple" neck (it looks beautiful but, alas, the camera and I couldn't do it justice)
- Basswood body
- String-thru bridge
- OLP tuners
- OLP pups
- 3-way pickup selector
- Made in China

Anyway - on to the pics! 





Looks like I got a box in the mail 





Time to take care of business.





AHHHHHHH!!!! 





This guy went all out with the packaging 





It's hard to tell from this pic but the previous owner did a great job of cleaning this beast. And, yes, those knobs glow in the dark. And, yes, for some reason I kept them post-removal.





As you can see, the string saddle on the far bass side has grooves on the base plate for the height-adjustment screws. I'm not quite sure why this is (although I can guess) but I thought it was really cool that Music Man included it. 
Also, in case you didn't notice, there are no height-adjustment screws for the pups. According to the seller's inspection, the pups are direct-mounted and the rings are just there for looks. Upon inspection, it turns out that he was right - this does not make sense to me  I'm not even going to see what they sound like - all the reviews say they sound horrible and I just can't wait to get my Blackouts in there  I'd love to put some Q-tuners in there and I will eventually. I just need a little bit of cash and someone to sell his/hers used for a good price.





This cavity is so small it's ridiculous! I guess I'll have to tuck the battery in there in some sort of bag so it doesn't short anything. Anyone have any ideas or tips?





As I said before, this neck looks amazing considering it's a cheap Chinese version of the Silhouette. There are some nice grain patterns that I just couldn't get to show up, unfortunately.





The bottom of the neck and where I can adjust the tension of the truss rod. It's not a big deal - I just decided to take a picture of it.





The stock tuners look pretty nice but, as soon as I get some more cash, I'm planning on replacing them with some Grovers. Anyone know where I can get Grovers for a 4x2 headstock?





I just realized that the nut looks horrible messed up in this picture. Don't worry - the nut is fine - I think it looks that way because of the lighting.


All in all, I'm pretty excited about this guitar! I just have have to clean the frets and fretboard, install my Blackouts (after removing them from my other guitar), put the neck back on, and string it up 

As a side note, I was thinking of eventually stripping the paint off the body and putting on a nice, dark stain. Hopefully, this will enhance the resonance and overall tone of the guitar.

I will include more pics as I progress


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## M3CHK1LLA (Jun 26, 2010)

cool - id like to try one out.

i love getting stuff for cheap off ebay.


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## Sebastian (Jun 26, 2010)

Looks cool indeed


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## MF_Kitten (Jun 26, 2010)

nice conincidental NGD dude, i got one just a couple days ago myself! 

it´s the exact same one too, with the black and rosewood!

my mod ideas are to make the finish matte with a scotch-brite pad and a sander, then get a hipshot bridge and locking tuners, and maybe a tusq nut. then new pickups of course. also, i´m getting a string retainer for it. 

tip: after putting foam behind the nut, i discovered that it was still ringing. after looking around, i found out that the strings were perfectly suspended between the ferrules on the back and the bridge baseplate, and were free to ring out. some correctly applied tape to the string between the ball end and the baseplate (the part in the middle of the body) will fix this. only helpful if you care about this sort of thing, of course.

what are you tuning yours to? i´ve gotten a .52-.10 set of strings on mine, and tuned it drop Ab at the moment. deadly!


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## mgcasella (Jun 26, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> nice conincidental NGD dude, i got one just a couple days ago myself!
> 
> it´s the exact same one too, with the black and rosewood!
> 
> ...




That's awesome and thanks for the tip! 

Eventually, I too will be replacing the nut. 

I forgot to mention that I have some Graphtech saddles lying around and have decided to put those on the guitar, too. Also, I will dye the fretboard black 

FYI - I noticed when I was unsoldering the leads from the 3-way switch that one of the tabs was loose. Due to this, I will not be taking any chances and will be installing an LP style switch. You might want to not take any chances and just replace yours, as well 

I will most likely be tuning to F# or G# and I'll be putting .74 - .18w strings on mine


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## mgcasella (Jul 11, 2010)

Here is the link to the thread where I am doing an overhaul of this beast: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu.../124346-olp-mm5-baritone-guitar-overhaul.html


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## the8tank (Dec 18, 2011)

I just saw this forum, so I wanted to share my experience with this beast.

My friend found this at a shop in Portland, OR (right next to Voodoo Doughnuts) for $200. It was strung with Fender BassVI strings (84-24) and tuned E-E. He bought it, let me borrow it because he didn't play it, then I ended up buying it from him for face value. I started writing riffs on it and decided it needed a new pickup, so I installed an emg-hz passive, which immediately cleaned up the sound. I keep using the BassVI strings and E-E tuning, although I'm considering using a smaller gauge because this thing is a beast to play. 






Here is a link to my metal band. 5 of the 8 songs posted use this guitar.Plan For The Mutiny | Rohnert Park, CA | Metal | Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos | ReverbNation

Happy drop tuning!
Nick


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## mgcasella (Dec 19, 2011)

Hey Nick!

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum! I'm amazed at how good that guitar sounds with those pups - you should try SD Blackouts with them and let us know how they sound. I was going to but then I got a sweet deal on some custom pups Wolfetone made for me so I'm using those.

BTW I got new tuners for my OLP MM5 and am updating the overhaul thread now


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## elrrek (Dec 19, 2011)

I've got one of these and it is SO comfortable.

I was considering off loading it but I think I'll keep a hold of it after all.

the8tank - can you tell us if you have the original tuners on it and how they take to those string gauges?


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## ThePhilosopher (Dec 19, 2011)

I've always wanted one of these (or the EB Silhouette Bass).


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## JamesM (Dec 19, 2011)

I can never find these!


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## Underworld (Dec 19, 2011)

I want one of these too but they are almost impossible to find!


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## the8tank (Dec 19, 2011)

elrrek - I kept the standard tuners (mainly because I don't now much about instrument mods outside of pickups). The only issue I have with intonation with the 84-24 strings is the low E. I have to tune it every 3 songs or so, but it's never anything drastic, just 10-15 cents lower than standard E.

Here are the strings that I use. They sound great! D'Addario Strings : XL Nickel Round Wound : XL156 Nickel Wound, Fender Bass VI, 24-84


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## mgcasella (Dec 19, 2011)

elrrek said:


> I've got one of these and it is SO comfortable.
> 
> I was considering off loading it but I think I'll keep a hold of it after all.
> 
> the8tank - can you tell us if you have the original tuners on it and how they take to those string gauges?





the8tank said:


> elrrek - I kept the standard tuners (mainly because I don't now much about instrument mods outside of pickups). The only issue I have with intonation with the 84-24 strings is the low E. I have to tune it every 3 songs or so, but it's never anything drastic, just 10-15 cents lower than standard E.
> 
> Here are the strings that I use. They sound great! D'Addario Strings : XL Nickel Round Wound : XL156 Nickel Wound, Fender Bass VI, 24-84




Hey guys I bet if you switched out the tuners those tuning issues would stop. It's a pain in the butt to find good tuners that will go on 4x2 headstock but I found that you can order any configuration you want if you get Hipshots. Also, they have a nice 18:1 ratio and feel like solid tuners. You can check them out in my overhaul thread which is linked a few posts up. 

the8tank: Another bonus is that the Hipshots drop right in  Usually, with cheap Chinese guitars, you need to drill out the hole, etc but I'm not going to have to with these. The only thing you'll need to do if you get Hipshots is drill a pilot hole for the screw but that's super easy - if I can do then you certainly can


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## mgcasella (Dec 19, 2011)

Underworld said:


> I want one of these too but they are almost impossible to find!



Just do what I did and save a search on eBay for one. After doing that, I was able to get one of these within a few months. You definitely won't get the deal the8tank got (ie already had the nut configured for heavy strings) but you should be able to find one in good condition.


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## Nemonic (Mar 27, 2013)

If everything goes right, I am going to own one of these.
It will be the silver one. Is that fretboard made of maple? Or is it so bright rosewood?
Also, I am looking for a set of six strings, to be able to order just one item, not that 6+1 terror for my seven-string. 
Is the D'Addario Fender VI suitable for it? 
My tuning will be like this:
Eb Ab Eb Ab Db Gb 
It is a hybrid tuning including elements of drop Eb and Ab. 
I like high tension strings. 
What about the tuners? Are they in need of replacement? I got a spare set of chinese tuners from eBay, they sent me 6 in a row instead of 3+3, so they are still unused. I might be able to use three of them for the lowest strings to help the tuning stability.
What about the pickups? Are they clear enough?


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## LORD S810 (Mar 27, 2013)

_This cavity is so small it's ridiculous! I guess I'll have to tuck the battery in there in some sort of bag so it doesn't short anything. Anyone have any ideas or tips?_



Wrap it with electrical tape.


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## mgcasella (Mar 27, 2013)

Nemonic said:


> If everything goes right, I am going to own one of these.
> It will be the silver one. Is that fretboard made of maple? Or is it so bright rosewood?
> Also, I am looking for a set of six strings, to be able to order just one item, not that 6+1 terror for my seven-string.
> Is the D'Addario Fender VI suitable for it?
> ...




The fretboard is most likely made of rosewood - all the ones I've seen are this way.

The tuning sounds like it will be pretty cool but, as far as what strings you should use, I am unsure. Unfortunately, I still haven't finished my overhaul of my MM5 as I've been way too busy 

Also, from what I've read about the tuners and pickups, they are supposed to be just awful. The first things I bought were tuners (Hipshots!) and pickups (WolfeTones!) when I got the MM5


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## Demiurge (Mar 27, 2013)

Sending telepathic signals to Sterling for their next model...


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## Nemonic (Mar 29, 2013)

https://www.google.com/search?hl=cs...2F%2Fwww.janhorak.com%2Fvybaveni.html;327;493

It really looks like maple, even other pictures of this model are so bright. 
I am going to replace tuners (hopefully without drilling, I do not have a drill at home) and pickups.


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