Holy crap, what cave have I been hiding in? Am I the last guy on the planet to find out that OLP Guitars was deceased as of 2009? I've been entertaining the notion of trading mine with der_trommler for his lefty Dano DC bass--- but when I went to look for an OLP yesterday just to see what they were going for these days, it finally dawned on me what he meant about not being able to replace his.... The OLP website is shut down, and remember how you could find these all day long from anyone who sold left handed guitars? Incredible, but all those lefty OLP basses seemed to have vanished- I couldn't find one ANYWHERE. Not really a whole ton of the right handed ones left out there either for that matter...
Below is a pic of the OLP MM2 I 've had for a couple years, and a nice one she is, too.... yes it's black, but unusual in that it has the "brushed nickel" control plate, knobs, bridge, tuner bushings and string tree, all of which really compliments the black pearloid pickguard. It's no MusicMan Stingray but plays and sounds great for a passive bass in every regard and I've always thought it was a hell of a bass for the price, that could easily be upgraded electronically. With OLP now extinct it might be a good idea to buy a NOS if you can still find one...?
In tribute to the departed, below is a review of the MM2 and MM3 (5 String) from Bass Player Magazine, January 2005, which I found to be pretty accurate (although I never had any of the wiring issues they mention):
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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