Moment of Weakness

[Luke Duke]

I couldn't withstand the draw of it's awesomeness....

So I bought the local Steve Morse Dark Lord!









For those of you that don't know the story the long short of it goes like this.

Joe Bonamassa really fell for Steve's Y2D model but thought there were a few changes that could be made that would do HIM better overall. The main thing being a larger neck, and then a reverse headstock and pickup covers. Sterling made a few and then decided to do a limited run. The first batch had the Ball Family Reserve Inlay on the 12th fret but the second run did not. I was told it was a BFR and the lacking badge was just to indicate what it was.

The pickups are VERY interesting, and the placement of the strat pup by the bridge pup makes picking easier and makes for some cool combined tones as well. Steve says he use the strat pup as a gain killer of sorts.

So for the time being I have a pair of Balls.....sorry couldn't resist!

Luke

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Holy balls!

Lotta EB love on here recently but THAT is the sexiest I've seen so far.

Dayum.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Moment of Weakness

That is a smokin' good lookin' ax. Interesting pickup arrangement, too.

Happy NGD.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Nothin' weak about that!!!

'Grats!!!

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Moment of Weakness

That's ****ing awesome. I just picked up my first EBMM a few months ago - a floyded purple Y2D for, get this, $500 - and it's the best guitar I've ever played (not counting other EBMM instruments, their consistency is almost unbelievable.

 

[Kac]

Re: Moment of Weakness

badass! Enjoy it!!

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Moment of Weakness

That does look somewhat mean and badass, congrats.

 

[Justin Read]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Now it's time to learn Cruise Control (old school)

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Moment of Weakness

I love the look of those clear pickguards.

 

[Justin Read]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Me too. It reminds me of the current Miley Cyrus thread photos on this forum. Even though there is a little coverage/protection, you can see every minute detail.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Moment of Weakness

I love that it lets you see the whole top without pickup rings but you get full control of pickup height.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Moment of Weakness

I love that it lets you see the whole top without pickup rings but you get full control of pickup height.

A really nice idea. That said, I haven't turned a screw one, and normally pup height is the first thing I adjust!

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Clearly having one Ball doesn't quite cut it after a while . Would be a bit cooler with an ebony board, imo, but still suave.

Never played an EBMM - an Axis and Silhouette are on my list of axes I ought to give a whirl.

 

[Justin Read]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Clearly having one Ball doesn't quite cut it after a while .

Tell me about it. I've got 3 and nearly bought an Axis the other day. Craigslist is a dangerous place.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Moment of Weakness

A really nice idea. That said, I haven't turned a screw one, and normally pup height is the first thing I adjust!

My Y2D still has the pickups at their stock heights. I really like how I can switch to the middle pickup for a great semi-dirty clean tone and switch to the bridge to kick it up a few notches.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Moment of Weakness

My Y2D still has the pickups at their stock heights. I really like how I can switch to the middle pickup for a great semi-dirty clean tone and switch to the bridge to kick it up a few notches.

Yeah Steve is no fool. I could never really wrap my mind around the regular model and the extra pups with such oddball placement. The Y2D is VERY well thought out and the switching works well.

BTW I guess I missed the thread where you got such a steal on yours...a story like that bears repeating I think!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Awesomeness!!! My fav Morse by far! The only critique I have about those guitars is the tailpiece. It looks like a hardware store item. But thats my nitpic. Killer axe! enjoy!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Moment of Weakness

WAIT A MINUTE...it's NOT a moment of weakness when you thought about it for several days!!!!

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Moment of Weakness

Yeah Steve is no fool. I could never really wrap my mind around the regular model and the extra pups with such oddball placement. The Y2D is VERY well thought out and the switching works well.

BTW I guess I missed the thread where you got such a steal on yours...a story like that bears repeating I think!

As much as I love the Y2D model, the original Morse isn't for me, and I don't normally have a problem with what others consider cumbersome switching. I saw a video with Steve explaining the wiring and he said that if he knew about dual-wafer superswitches back in the 80's, the original EBMM Morse would probably have one of those.

I was super lucky to get my guitar - here's the thread, BTW - on Craigslist of all places. I had just sold two pedals so I had about $250 to burn. I was looking at some other pedals but for some reason I go on Craigslist and start looking at guitars instead. I looked for the more traditional designs first before trying to find something else I'd never had a guitar with a floyd before but I'd always wanted one. I've seen old Ibanez Roadstars and such, usually in good condition, go for under $300 before, so I figured what the hell and started looking. There was nothing that really caught my eye that day, but for the hell of it I decided to look for a Music Man. I know they're way out of my price range but it's always nice to see what's for sale.

That's when I see a posting to the effect of "Ernie Ball Music Man Guitar - $500". The description was very sparse, stating that the guitar had only been played a few times and was in perfect condition, but I got the feeling that whoever posted the ad didn't know much about guitars, especially since the low E string was broken in the picture. Anybody that owns a guitar like this should know how to restring it. So I email him for the hell of it, asking if it's still available and a few other questions. He gets back to me asking when I wanted to see the guitar. I kind of freaked since I only had half the money. But fortunately, my band had a few hundred bucks saved, and I got the green light to borrow it. For some reason, the guy agreed to wait almost a week to sell it to me. (When I posted my NGD thread on the Music Man forum, one guy said to me something to the effect of "So you're the guy that was seeing it at 8PM." I was really lucky this guy agreed to hold it.)

When I got there, I found out it wasn't actually his. It was his friend's guitar, given to him as a gift by his son. His friend needed to sell it to pay bills so he gave it to the seller. The seller doesn't know anything about guitars but he looked online and said he saw them selling for $1300. Lol, he must have checked the used prices on ebay inadvertently because they do sell for about that much used. I snatched it from him and ran for the hills before he could figure it out. To this day (it's been a few months) I can still hardly believe it's mine. It's the most amazing guitar I've ever played, and easily the best looking instrument I've ever owned.