EBMM Steve Morse

[jesserides2005]

Just wanted to throw this out there. I recently purchased an original series Steve Morse Musicman guitar and have a real Love/Hate relationship with this particular instrument. I'd be curious to hear from other folks who own or have owned this guitar and your thoughts on it?

 

[Matterra]

It looks super rad to me. What, with all the crazy pickup combo's you can get..

Aaand, Steve Morse is one of my favorite guitar players, ever.


But, I don't dig signature guitars (with the exception for the RR/SV, and the Les Paul) so I don't really know how it plays/sounds.

What do you dig/don't dig about it?

 

[jesserides2005]

I really like the neck, body, weight, and unplugged it sounds excellent. The acoustic sustain is actually pretty incredible! I guess what I'm dissapointed in are the pickups. I've personally never cared much for DiMarzio's anyway. I used to have a Jackson PC-1 with that brand of pickups and my gripe was the same. If you use gobs of distortion they sound o.k., but for clean and medium gain applications they seem weak and lifeless. My main axes are Historic LP's with 57's in them. They're not that high of output either, but they have a ton of character, dynamics, and you can actually hear the "wood" of the guitar if that makes any sense? I guess maybe I'm just too used to those qualities to fall in Love with the EB. Oh well, it's small, light and will make a great "Couch" guitar while I'm watching T.V. As for replacing the pup's with something different? That is one wiring project that I have absolutely zero interest in attempting! :lol:

 

[mesanomad100]

haha

I was going to suggest replacing the pups in it but yeah thats some task!!!


they really are fantastic guitars but they are one of the models I have kept away from with EB and I dunno why

I dont mind sig. models or anything and I think it looks ok but I dunno what it is

perhaps I think the pickup combinations will be a bit too much for me

I think you should try the petrucci model,these reallt are the best guitars on the planet

all the humbucker action and when you split it into parallel they sound amazing with a clean tone

oh and it reallt will make an AWSOME 'couch' guitar,seems almost a waste for such a great instrument though

 

[Rocky]

I love the Morse guitars but those Morse model Dimarzios are have an absolutely terrible midrange honk to me. I'd own one if it werent for the pickups.

 

[francric]

Haven't you heard Steve's tone? He gets great cleans. His tone is incredible. The Morse that you buy off the shelf at any store is the exact instrument that was built for Steve in every way. That's the beauty of a Ernie Ball Music Man guitar or bass. They are not modified or changed for the consumer. We don't get a different version of the guitar. You get the same one they build for Steve!!!!!! If it's good enough for him, well you figure it out..............

 

[Rocky]

Most sig guitars from reputable companies are what the artist uses. It is just people making excuses when they say that artist guitars are ghost-built.

I actually think that Steve's tone is his only weakness. I find it brittle

 

[LPClassic]

Well, the Steve Morse EBMM is the guitar that make me turn my face to these outstanding guitars. This is one of my favorites, and to me is MM is the best production guitar in term of tone playability etc, etc... anyway, the comfort of the neck is incredible, just fit like a glove to my small hands and the tones I can get are great, except that I would like to have a little more humbuker force that mya be my only complaint.

I used to not to look into signature guitars but this model also made me change my mind.

So far I love these guitars and brand, to me fits perfect in tone, playability and comfort. At the moment I have 10 EBMM

 

[Rocky]

EBMM is a great company. I dont think I have ever played one that was a dog. Can't say that about any of the majors like Fender, Gibson, PRS or Ibanez.

 

[SixVeeSix]

Seems a shame to love the guitar and not love the pickups. I am not saying you are wrong at all. I just googled it and took a look at one on the MM website. 2 humbuckers, two single coils, one 3 way and two 2 way switches. Assuming the humbuckers have 4 conductors plus sheild and the single coils have 2 plus sheild that is only 16 wires total. All that is left is to translate DiMarzio's color code to the color code of your pickups of preference. Looks like you could take off the pickguard and still play the guitar on the couch Just go one pickup at a time, maybe one per evening or what ever and in a few days you would have the guitar you really want. Changing 16 wires one at a time is not that big of a project. Not dissing, trying to encourage! Write down everything you do and save the old pickups and you can put it back if you ever sell it. Good luck!!

 

[SixVeeSix]

Almost forgot, when you have that many pickups they can put a drag on your strings if set too close. Try lowering the pickups down a bit and turning the amp up before you do anything else. It will lower your output but it might free up your strings a bit so worth a try, easy, and costs nothing!!

 

[Rocky]

If I bought one I would only really have to replace oe pickup..the bridge humbucker. I tried getting that to sound good for what seemed like an eternity. Just couldnt do it. I would suggest something like a Breed in its place.....if Dimarzio is the direction one wants to take that is.

 

[gonzo]

well it just seems plain silly to me, to not simply change the pickups out.

that is about the simplest mod you can do to a guitar, that HUGELY changes the way it sounds....

especially if you're into certain higher gain tones, there are pickups made specifically for that purpose, to get the most tones through all the gain...


i would suggest a cheap but toneful option, that'd be a pair of Bill Lawrence 500 series, and a pair of 200's......

it'd be a completely different sounding guitar at that point.

the hardest part to me, is finding one that has that acoustic resonance, and has the neck just right, and the bridge just right.

that is the hard part....
the electronics are easy.