Music Man guitars?

[everythingtoexcess]

I never really gave them much thought for a long time. I knew Steve Morse had a signature model that I wanted desperately on an emotional level, but I played one and realized it wasn't for me. Wrong neck shape, wrong electronics layout (NONE of the switches did what I thought they did) and wrong sound for the rest of my rig.
Since then, I've played most of their different models of guitars and basses and found them all to be outstanding. The Luke, the Albert Lee, the Silhouette and the Axis are unique and outstanding in their own way. I played a John Petrucci for five minutes and knew it WAS the guitar for me. I have great respect for Petrucci and have enjoyed his playing a great deal over the years, but I wouldn't say I'm a rabid fan (I'm more a fan of the people that HE'S a fan of)...but damn can he design a guitar. I've now got two--a six-year old fairly plain-jane one and a six month old JPXI-6. I'd hate to ever have to get rid of any of the guitars I've amassed over the years, but if I had to pick one that could do EVERYTHING it would be the Petrucci in a heartbeat.
So my question is...why hasn't Music Man ever gotten the market share that Gibson and Fender have? If they did, would it ruin them? Are the guitars that good because the production is so small? Any other fans out there?

[Mikhael]

Not a fan here. They make nice guitars, but the necks are far too skinny for my purposes. I'm not sure how I feel about their compensated nut; I haven't played them enough. I've found Godin guitars give me better bang for the buck, so far. But my dream is to construct one with a 1-7/8" nut. I started a while back, but job losses and medical bills stopped that process...

I'm not too fond of their stopping others from using a compensated nut, like they invented it (which prior artwork clearly indicates they did not). Although Earvana clearly (to me) screwed up their compensation scheme (too much and completely wrong on the low strings), they should be given their shot at it.

[everythingtoexcess]

I found the neck on the Steve Morse and the Axis to be very skinny, but the others seem fairly comparable to a Strat.

[Mikhael]

Oddly enough, most Strat necks are too narrow for me (plus, I prefer a flatter radius). There are some guitars with wider necks; Taylor and Seagull make acoustics with wider necks, and a couple of cheap overseas guitars are comeing out with 1-7/8" wide necks: Big Lou and Zarley guitars. But for a really good instrument with the appointments I want, I'll have to go with Warmoth.

[Radiohost]

Tim Walters has a MM bass... a Bongo. One year (2009) at Different Skies, Brian Good wrote a piece and wanted me on bass so I had the opportunity to play Tim's bass. It sounds great but was very different from my Warwick, making the Bongo unpleasant to play for me. Perhaps it was the set up or the bass itself, I can't say.
Bongo.jpg

[Yodelgoat]

I have seen music man guitars from time to time in pawnshops, and I always thought they were low end instruments. They arent?

[Mikhael]

The Sterling series is the low-end line. MusicMan is supposed to be high-end, although they don't scratch my itch very well. I would guess the really expensive ones (like Petrucci's guitar) play well, but for that price, I'd build one that fits my requirements.

[everythingtoexcess]

Looks like I'm getting another one. I was in the store I used to work at yesterday and they have a used Stiletto hard tail with an ash body. It's in really good shape, but needs serious electronic help (which I'm all too happy to do). I'll call my ex boss today to see if he'll take an even-up trade for my '99 Ibanez Jem. I think he'll go for it, if only for old-times sake.