Ernie Ball OLP MM1

[Farrell Jackson]

We've discussed cheap but good guitars in the past and I usually mention my Ernie Ball OLP MM1 as one of my favorite guitars to play. It cost me $175 about 10 years ago. The OLP stands for Original Licensed Product. I know that because it says so in fine print on the backside of the head stock  . I really like this guitar shape, the ease of play, the sound, and simplicity. It has 2 humbucker pickups, one selector switch, a volume knob, and that's it.

Some of the reasons I like it are the small body shape fits my not so small body shape comfortably (lol), it has medium frets with good action, it always feels great, and sounds good no matter what amp I using. It just has a well balance sound on either pickup...not too bassey, not too trebley, but just right.

I was wondering why I had to work at getting a similar sound from my other guitars instead of the just plug and play as I do with the OLP.

So in my analysis I noticed due to the small body shape, it naturally forces my picking hand to be centered between the two pickups. On most of my other guitars my natural picking hand position falls closer to the bridge by about 1 or 1.5 inches. We all know that moving your picking position will change the tone and I'm sure most of you do this intentionally when playing for tone changes, which I do also but it's a conscious move. I've come to the conclusion the reason the OLP sounds good to me all the time is because of my centered, natural picking position when playing it. I've tried to change picking positions on other guitars but it felt forced and uncomfortable.

I'm rambling on but have any of you noticed something similar with any of your guitars?

Here's a picture of my OLP for reference so you can see the small body shape.

Farrell

[bruno]

Funny my MM is my go-to guitar. Paul keeps telling me they made a mistake with the headstock with the tuner positioning - and the headstock is too small, but I love it. Its wonderfully playable, super comfortable to play and so, so versatile. I keep thinking I should buy another MM, as they are my favourites :-) Your looks a beaut.
B

[Groundy]

Looks great Farrell, Nice colour,


Alex

[fenderbender]

Great looking guitar there Farrell.



Tommy

[Farrell Jackson]

Thanks Bruno, Alex, and Tommy! MM guitars are great bruno! Lately I've been hooked to my Jaguar but reading this post has reminded me that my OLP MM1 hasn't been getting much use and is probably getting lonely. So it's time to change the strings and plug her in.

Farrell

[Blooby]

Great guitar. Did that come before or after the company's flirtation with the Eddie Van Halen Model? I shelled out for a Steve Morse model guitar in 1991 I believe. I have held onto it, but I think I play it the least of all my guitars. I have toyed with swapping pickups, but the switching is so complicated om the guitar as it is, I'm a bit afraid.

One of my favorite guitars ever was a less than $150 Squier Tele. I upgraded to a "nicer" Tele, and it just doesn't have the same mojo. You never know.

Blooby

[Farrell Jackson]

Great guitar. Did that come before or after the company's flirtation with the Eddie Van Halen Model?

Blooby

Blooby, I'm not exactly sure which came first. OLP did make a Van Halen copy. It was the same body style but a different model number. Here's what Wiki said about it:

OLP Guitars was a guitar building company that marketed licensed replicas of famous models by other makers. The company's name stands for "Officially Licensed Product". OLP has worked with Music Man, among other companies. OLP was a subsidiary of Hanser Holdings International.

The instruments were manufactured in China, with alleged good quality control and higher quality electronics and hardware supposedly sourced from Korea. In doing so, they aimed at making desirable instruments available at an affordable price.

The licensed OLP versions of the Ernie Ball Music Man 4 and 5 string basses were quite popular. They are seen quite frequently on the used instrument market since the company's demise. The OLP MM1FR model is a version of the Music Man Eddie Van Halen model, with the later version OLP's being of better quality as far as fret finishing and materials. Versions of Los Angeles luthier Stephen McSwain's artistic guitars [the Tin Top/Machine and Anarchy models] were produced. Also offered were a John Petrucci OLP guitar and an Orange County Choppers model, as well as a Tony Levin Signature MM Stingray model.

The disappearance of Hanser Holdings International's OLP guitar line was due to the creation of Music Man's own "Sterling by Music Man" line, which began in 2009, right at the end of OLP's licensing.