Heavy crackled '78 Musicmaster Bass

[Chris P.]

Thanks guys!


The black one one my pic is crackled everywhere, but you can also see the body joints at the back. I think it's made of three pieces. There's also a little gap between two bodyparts.

[ilan]

Ilan... curiously, the cracking is parallel with the grain...?

Perpendicular to the grain.

At first I wanted to refinish it but my son liked it this way so I just did the FrankenStang mod.

[dadagoboi]

Definitely agree. Many times you see them with the pickup "upgraded" but I've never heard one with a replacement pickup that sounded as good as the original 6-pole pickup.

My friend's circa 78 is daphne blue, no paint cracking.  The pickup is a Strat with the outer poles removed.  Except for the pickguard and knobs it's original.

[ilan]

Some years ago I saw Meshell Ndegecello at the Great American Music Hall in SF.  I noticed that she was getting and making an incredibly delicious bass sound. Everyone knows she is good down to the bone. Upon moving ip closer I noticed she had another bassist behing her. He was playing a black Music Master bass just as Ilan pictured (with the paint job and crackeld look). What really got me though was his sound and the way he was mashing it up on that tiny bass I always thought perhaps was a toy. I also thought he must have some customized pickups or something in the bass. Coincidentally enough several days later I was in a local repair shop ( Gary Brawers) where some workmwas being done on an old Ampeg Scrolltop of mine. I saw on a table in the back a black messed up painted Music Master. I asked Gary about it and he told me it belonged to Meshell and she was having some pots or something being worked on. I asked if I could give it a try. Isat down and played it for a few minutes and ....I was a believer.  There is more to them than meets the eye. (Just like Silvertones!)

Great story, thanks for sharing.

In a band setting they sound even better.

I like the post-'77 ones with the Mustang headstock and tuners (mine actually has a Mustang neck code and Musicmaster decal). I had four over the years, this is the one I kept:

[ilan]

Here are 3 that I had, with a '66 stripped Mustang.