OLP VS STERLING by MusicMan

D

drumandbass

New member
Hi guys planning to start a "Custom" bass.


Planning to either get a OLP which is going for $450 over at davis, or wait and try the Sterling.

Gonna upgrade it with a pre and install 2 new pickups. Probably have to route in the second one.


Got any suggestions on which one i should get? And should i change the neck to a MusicMan neck too? Hahaha

Thanks.
 
I havent tried the new sterling by musicman. But i tried the olp. Feels great, sounds great, looks great. definitely worth the money.
 
i can say davis jack up the olp to $500+, though the olp is gd actually. Dont waste $$$ on installing pickups and get the neck etc... Just wait for the sterling if possible. If not, u've got to ship in from overseas or the nearest guitar shop u can go is in malaysia which actually they have an authorized dealer.
 
I know of the authorised dealer in Malaysia as shown on the Sterling website, however not going into Malaysia anytime soon.

Hmm but whats the diff between the Sterling and the olp?
 
hi bro,

i was trying to custom an OLP bass myself awhile back. haha

tried many way to create a 'budget' Music Man Stingray.

but wells............ I gave up and bought the real thing. :D
 
according to my understanding olp seeks permission from companies like musicman and traben to produce copy guitars, hence the name olp (official licensed product).

for sterling by musicman, it is musicman's budget line of guitars, like squier by fender, epiphone by gibson.
 
Sterling by MusicMan is the real thing.... coz it's still by MusicMan, the only difference is that now their production cost is lower since it's made outside the USA so they are able to chage a cheaper price for it.

USA labor cost is sky high, therefore USA made stuff is more expensive.
Outside USA labor cost is lower, therefore these can have lower price.

Quality on both are just as good, that's what they claim. And they are both still from MusicMan.

To me it's only a good thing, because now we have more choices to choose that can fit us. How much do you have to spend? You willing to spend more, you can get the more expensive one, if you can't, you can get the less expensive one.

And it's not stopping anybody from buying what they want, in fact it opens up more choices so that people who previously can't buy a musicman, now they can.

It is also good for the company, because now their customer base is wider.
 
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edyeo123 said:
according to my understanding olp seeks permission from companies like musicman and traben to produce copy guitars, hence the name olp (official licensed product).

for sterling by musicman, it is musicman's budget line of guitars, like squier by fender, epiphone by gibson.
Click to expand...

I think they're probably going to price it like their EX series. Kinda like Skylines vs US-made Laklands.
 
sorry, to dig this old thread.

i've been looking at both OLP and sterling for their stingray copy.

is OLP able to compete w/ the sterling by musicman model?

the price is at half the price, so OLP is really attractive here but i dnt wanna spend money and in the end wish tht i got the sterling
 
I used to own an OLP for a very short time... and i hated it.(really tried my best to like it.. ).. totally shoddy workmanship, and a very un-natural tone...

I've tried ALL the Sterling by musicman basses at brendon's place, and was surprised at the difference in quality between SBMM and OLP... Night and day. The B string on the Ray 35 felt even better than the Marcus Miller 5 string at sweelee.

Go with the Sterling, it a bass that actually makes you want to play it, the feel is not much different from the actual stingray, and the electronics are really decent. The bass really resonates when u play it.. the OLP in contrast, you have to fight it to get it to play ...

If i din already own 6 basses, i would probably have a ray 34 sitting in my room right now.. haha..

Best way .. both are available in singapore now... go try it yourself.. =)
 
i kind of share similar sentiments. i used to own an OLP albeit for a pretty short time. i just found it hard to really fall in love with any aspect of the bass, which to me bore few differences from a bottom of the line ibanez (i think ibanez is not bad, i'm no snob). to me, i didn't see how it had ANYTHING in common with a stingray, apart from the looks. i guess its good for what it is but drawing parallels with a stingray? too much of a stretch.

OLP does not have any affiliation to ernie ball/musicman apart from having a licence to make stingray 'copies' legally. 'OLP' stands for Officially Licensed Products i think.

sterling, on the other hand, is a subsidary of ernie ball itself if i'm not mistaken. i have not tried one but it is easy to imagine the difference in quality. in simple words, it's not hard to imagine how ernie ball stopped OLP from making shit guitars.
 
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I used to own the OLP Stingray5. It was like it's created to look like the real thing. It did helped me learn the bass when i was a beginner. But soon enough, i felt its limitations.

Recently, i bought a Sterling by MM Stingray5. Now, this one is created to look like, feel like, and sound like the real thing.

Don't waste time and money on the OLP. Go for the SBMM, and just play it stock, which is good enough.

http://www.bgwguitars.com/sterling.htm
 
Just to add.... the SBMM remind me of the lakland skylines... think its prob the same factory in indonesia.. hahah ..
 
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