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A tour of Ernie Ball Music Man Guitars at NAMM 2016, including the 40th Anniversary Stingray bass, Cutlass bass, James Valentine Signature, St Vincent Signature, JP16 John Petrucci Signature with Floyd Rose tremolo, Cutlass guitar, and the Stingray guitar. 

TEXT OF VIDEO:

Hi, I'm AJ along with Long and McQuaid at the Ernie Ball Music Man booth. I'd like to show you the 40th Anniversary Stingray. It's based off of this, which is a prototype of a Stingray number 27 actually, given to Sterling Ball by Leo Fender. Sterling was beta tester for Music Man during the development of the Stingray originally. For that, Leo gave him this bass. It's a little different than most Stingrays you've seen. Right away, you'll notice there's 5 pull pieces on the pickup. That's because Sterling wanted something a little bit less aggressive, less high-end treble-E frequencies than what the Stingray normally would offer. To accommodate that, Leo made this pickup and you see the strings go between the pull pieces. 

We wanted to emulate that bass for the 40th Anniversary. You'll notice this has that same pickup, 5 pull pieces as the strings go in-between. You'll notice there's no Music Man on the bridge, that's because what we're emulating here is a prototype. It's a two-band EQ, we actually redesigned the preamp to emulate the preamp that's in that 40 year old bass. Over the course of 40 years, components and capacitors can decay and degrade and they gives the preamp a unique sound. We wanted to keep with that. You'll also notice up at the head stock, there's a spot where a truss rod adjustment would be. Originally it was adjusted there. You'll also notice the old school Music Man logo. The neck profile is a little thinner than most Stingrays. It's very unique to this bass. You'll notice the skunk stripe also. The 40th Anniversary Stingray, this will be on sale towards the end of spring.

Here we've got the Cutlass bass, part of our Modern Classic Collection. It's one of the first completely passive basses we've done here at Music Man. You'll notice the smaller bridge, it doesn't have the bolts on the side. Say completely hum-cancelling, split coil pickup. We produce that in-house, Alnico 5 magnets. Plain enamel wire. The neck isn't oil and wax like our Stingrays. It is a very thin coat of satin poly, with an aged yellow tint. The frets are stainless steel. You've got a compensated nut. We've actually elongated the head stock a little bit. This is the Music Man Cutlass bass. 

Here we've got it's partner in crime, the Caprice. The split coil and the single coil. You've got a volume for each. The same smaller bridge. A master tone knob. Alnico 5 magnets in the pickups. Plain enamel wire wrapping there also. The thin, satin poly finish with the aged yellow tint. Elongated head stock, and stainless steel frets on the Caprice also. These will be available this summer, 2016.

Here we'd like to introduce the Valentine. This is James Valentine from Maroon 5's signature guitar. Actually just won Best In Show, we found out today. You've got a slab ash body, but what you might not notice, is that it's a wedge shape. Thicker on the bottom, thinner on the top. That gives it a more ergonomic feel than a true slab body. It's our Modern Classic Hardtail bridge, 20 DB gain boost. You’ve  got the ability to split this neck humbucker. You’ve got a custom single coil on the bridge. Roasted Mapled neck, stainless steel frets. 

GUITARS

Here we've got the St. Vincent Signature Annie Clark. You'll notice right away the unique body shape. It's actually very ergonomic and very comfortable, very well-balanced guitar on a strap. Custom knobs, unique to this guitar. We've got our Modern Classic trim low. Three DiMarzio mini humbuckers. The pick guard is actually three-dimensional. It's the first time we've had a pick guard like this. You'll notice the completely Rosewood neck, and the custom inlays. This is the St. Vincent guitar.

Here we've got the newest addition to the John Petrucci line, the JP 16. Right away you'll notice it's a Floyd-Rose bridge, the first one we've done on a John Petrucci model. It's a Pro-1000 low-profile. You'll also notice the forearm scoop is back. We've got the gain boost, 20 DB. Also got the ability to split the coils in the middle position. Available in one finish, this is the Black Lava color on a Basswood body. Roasted Maple neck. Smoky Ebony fret board.

Here we've got another addition to our Modern Classic line, this is the Cutlass guitar. Three single coil pickups. Sixties inspired, we design them in-house, we produce them in-house in San Luis Obispo, California. Got a simple volume and tone, our Modern Classic trim low. You'll notice there's a battery, this battery powers a silent circuit which eliminates any 60-cycle hum for the single coils, completely transparent. Also powers a buffered output. We've got an elongated head stock. The thin satin poly finish with the aged yellow tint, and stainless steel frets. 

One more. Here we've got the Stingray guitar. You've got two Music Man designed humbuckers. Simple volume and tone control. It's an African mahogany body. Maple or Rosewood fret board with stainless steel frets. Got the elongated head stock, and the very thin satin poly finish with the aged yellow tint. The Stingray guitar. Available in February 2016. 

That's what we've got here this year at NAMM at the Ernie Ball Music Man booth. I'd like to thank Long and McQuaid for hanging out and letting us share with you what we've been producing all year long. It's going to be an exciting year in 2016. Thank you guys and we look forward to putting instruments in your hands.