Sterl i ng nails the Maroon 5 guitarist’s sem i-sol id signature axe
When we heard about Sterling’s new chambered models we had to get our mitts on the white ash-bodied Bigsby model.
Although a non-Bigsby version is available, this is surely the cooler option. The design traits it shares with other Music Man family guitars include four-over-two locking tuners, a ve-bolt neck plate with dressed-back heel, body-end truss rod adjustment, and matt- nished neck. Aquickrelease battery compartment is tidily located on the guitar’s rear.
With knurled chrome master volume and tone knobs, athreeway lever switch, black pickguard, and an f-hole tidily cut from the ash front it’s a functional but funky looking guitar, and we can’t fault the Indonesian factory’s attention to detail.
While the guitar’s slender nut may not appeal to all players, Van Halen was a fan so you know it’s not the big inhibitor to technique that some maintain. The C-pro le neck is a comfy palmful and the 22 frets, although quite narrow, are tall enough that string bends and vibrato are a breeze.
The Bigsby means dive-bombs are o the agenda, but a gentle wobble of the arm adds a pleasant shimmer to chords, or lends expression at the top of string bends, àla David Gilmour. There’s a helluva lot to commend the guitar, but some may mourn the absence of a Strat-style forearm contour and belly cut.
Plugging into a 20w Laney Lionheart combo we hear a bright-toned instrument whose neck-humbucker chords and licks leap out with the kind of clarity you’d probably associate with a Strat. Switch over to the bridge single coil and things become spanky but not at all harsh.
Mixing neck and bridge tones produces the bright chime you might expect from a Rickenbacker. Rhythm parts, clean ri s, or jangly solos are all well served, but pile on some drive and the guitar retains all its innate musicality. Clean or dirty, pushing in the volume knob engages the active boost to add creaminess and just the right amount of kick for solos.
When confronting the ‘diet’ version of a guitar that one has enjoyed in full-fat form, it’s often met with a dose of trepidation. But with Sterling By Music Man’s
