Sabre bass replica

Hi peepz,

So I’ve got this crazy idea, since now I’ve “buddied” few of local luthiers.
Since Music Man Sabre basses are hard to find and once found very pricey, so much that I dont think I could justify buying them, I’d like to try to see if I’d be able to create custom replica.

I’ve already found some wiring schemes, and pre amps that could possibly fit.
However pickups are issue. All of the ones out there are meant for Stingrays, and even tho Sabre ones look the same, they are actually different (8 pole ones).

So if you guys have any additional info on body, neck dimensions and info on electronics or hardware I’d appreciate if you would share it with me.

I’d try to go with EB style Sabre at first, if it becomes and issue 2x 8 pole will work good too.

Bonus points if prices arent insane.

Kisses :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Didn’t @Al1885 have a sabre? He might be able to give some information.

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I guess it depends on how much you want to replicate. Original Sabre selector is quite different to the modern one. Original Sabre is quite unique. It’s gonna cost you some for electronics. The pickups are smaller so custom Pickguard is a must, they are about $60-75.

As for body shape and neck. The body is the same as stingray, neck is stingray profile so sterling sub is too small, you have to get ray34 HH. Just little sanding at the neck pocket.

Cheaper alternative is to get the olp bass they are wider and most times you can get it for $300 or less. You still need to route the body and get your electronics install.

I weighted the pros and cons before I built my replica, in my case I scored an first edition Sabre neck and built around it. I’ll work on the Pickguard later I guess. Lol.

Let me know if you have specific questions.

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Are you positive about body being same shape as stingray? I tried overlapping stingray and sabre in photoshop, it didnt seem quite same.

As for electronics, Id like if someone has info on which pups are sabre like?
I couldnt find aftermarket ones that are trying to emulate sabre.

Also issue is bridge with mutes, where to find it that is not 2nd hand oem part with insane price.

As for the woods neck and body, Id get them custom made.

As for pickguard I found some cheap.

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May be a body carved here and there but pretty much the same. I own Bongo, Cutlass, Caprice, and sterling ebmm they are different body.

Don’t forget the original Sabre is simply an HH stingray. As for pickups. It’s gonna be difficult because nobody makes a 10% smaller MM pickup for a Sabre replacement it’s hard enough to sell the MM aftermarket upgrades, lol.

Mute bridge is surprisingly the easy part. The aftermarket sterling sub bridge has the older style bridge you just have to drill the holes and install the mute kit that you can get from musicman.

Again if you are ok with toilet seat Pickguard then there are some to find not as cheap as you think because it’s HH. If you want one with the horn that would also fits your setup then it will cost you.

This is all depends on what you are looking for. In my case I already have a Sabre and I got a neck, so I went the route getting modern sound in the Sabre neck setup. With the same look, it’s a genuine neck. I’m not looking to tone match the Sabre. Honestly, one of the Sabre tone in my stable is more than enough.

If you are looking to match the tone then just have to find a dirty sounding MM and some old style warm MM with 4 wires then Go to work on the wiring. It doesn’t have to look the part just sound the part. If you want the look then the right shaped Pickguard is required. The sure thing is from WD you just have to finish the sizing yourself, unless you have the precise measurements.

You can make it so that the new Pickguard design to fits the regular MM control plate or I plan to go down to stainless steel machine shop and get a few made, when I do I’ll let you know the price if you want one I can ask them for one extra. You just pay me for it.

Seriously, I have the CYC machine and Pickguard materials if someone can provide the cad file for me I’ll Cnc that but except for tdub no one knows cad/cam.


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If all you care about is the classic warm tone then it would be the cheapest thing to make happens. You don’t need to modify the look to match original.

Everyone will have a different matrix and threshold, here’s mine.

I was luck to find an original neck I will eventually get the pickguard and control plate proportionally adjusted to the current HH body, modding the mute bridge and may be switch out the pickups. Don’t care too much about sound. When it’s complete it will look like the original just sound like a modern mm. Well I also spent about $150 on the MM light weight tuners.

I went with the sterling HH because it was on sale for $300 plus the $25 mute kit figure $30-50 one off control plate and time invested in the making of the pickguard. That would pretty much it.

The cheapest way to get the look is to get the sterling hh then get the water slide decal that said Sterling Sabre make some pickguard mod and control plate it will look and feel about 80% of the Sabre. More look than feel, lol.

Next better step is OLP (correct neck width) and add the cavity and repeat step 3 and 4, lol.

The most expensive route to go without getting the used Sabre is the Ray34 HH and repeat 3,and 4. I was so close to pull the trigger but it doesn’t add up. By the time I’m done I could have spent the equivalent of the used reissued.

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