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Left Handed OLP MM2 Bass Guitar
Left Handed OLP MM2 Bass Guitar - OLP guitars and basses are officially licensed from Ernie Ball Musicman and you can be confident that every detail has been approved for accuracy and quality. OLP products deliver the essence of popular high-end equipment at a fraction of the cost.
You get the highest quality construction, tone and appearance - all at a very affordable price.
Scroll down to read the Review from Bass Player.......
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Left Handed OLP MM2 Bass Guitar Body - Basswood Buy It Now for $259.00 Free Shipping!* You Can Add a Hardshell Case for $65.00
or a Padded GigBag for $30.00
PayPal Customers Can Email for PayPal Invoice
Need a Starter Package? OLP Left Handed Bass with a padded Gigbag, Starter Amplifier, Bass Electronic Tuner, Strap and Picks Buy It Now for $359.00
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OLP MM-2 & MM-3 by Brian Fox from Bass Player
Conceived nearly five years ago by Gary Hanser and Sterling Ball, OLP (Officially Licensed Products) teams with Ernie Ball/Music Man and Spector, companies that want to address the demand for low-cost copies of their American-made instruments but that don’t want to enter the low-end market themselves. Basing their MM-2 and MM-3 on Ernie Ball/Music Man’s StingRay and StingRay5 models, OLP obtained design approval from Ernie Ball/Music Man before beginning production. The company intends the MM-2 and MM-3 to be no-nonsense, workingman’s basses for players on a budget.
The MM-2 shares several traits with the StingRay; the MM-2’s 3+1 headstock design, oval pickguard, large pickup, and massive bridge are nearly identical to classic StingRay’s characteristic features. The meaty neck and rounded body also feel very similar to the original. Similarly, the MM-3 shares the StingRay5’s larger pickguard, though it has a slightly thinner neck and tighter string spacing. Unlike the StingRay, which was the first mass-produced active bass, both the MM-2 and MM-3 have passive electronics. The OLPs’ controls include two volume knobs (one for each pickup coil) and one tone knob.
For the price, the OLPs felt well constructed, sporting excellent fretwork and solid four-bolt neck joints. A few problems arose with the electronics, however. On both the MM-2 and MM-3, there was an unnatural volume gradation as I turned the pots, suggesting that the controls were assembled using linear-taper (rather than audio-taper) pots. This didn’t have a negative impact on the OLPs’ sound—it just meant that I had to reach for my amp to make subtle volume adjustments.
Plugged in, the MM-3 made a crackling sound when I ran my fingers across its pickguard. When I inspected the wiring, I found dust and debris in the control cavity, and the tone knob had a faulty wire that seemed to cause the problem. The static didn’t pose a problem when I played fingerstyle, but it was a distraction when I went to pop strings. The MM-2’s control cavity was no tidier, though that bass functioned perfectly throughout testing.
Licensed To Thrill
Through a 1x15 combo amp on two gigs with a Balkan dance band, the MM-3’s rich lows and highs cut through the jingle-jangle of acoustic guitar and bouzouki. Its narrow string spacing made uptempo melodic runs easier to nail, and the bass balanced well. I restrung the MM-2 with a set of La Bella Quarter Rounds and took it to a rehearsal with a funky pop trio. The restrung MM-2 had a woolly Old School thump, especially with its tone knob rolled back a bit. The bass felt great when I really dug in; I loved its wide, rounded neck and super-comfy body.
In our Soundroom, I AB’d the OLPs with an Ernie Ball/Music Man StingRay through a Demeter/Crest/Aguilar GS410 4x10 rig. I couldn’t duplicate the active StingRay’s wide range of tones with the passive OLPs, but the bargain-priced OLPs shared a naturally mid-scooped character with their progenitor that was great for slapping, especially with the pickup’s front coil soloed and the tone knob wide open. With its Quarter Round strings, the MM-3 sounded more like a reference ’79 Fender Precision Bass than the brighter StingRay.
Despite their dodgy control cavities, the MM-2 and MM-3 stand out as excellent no-frills basses capable of producing great vintage-y tone, if not super high-end zing. It’s a great beginner bass, and it offers some superb tones for pros seeking the look and feel of a Music Man.
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