Ernie Ball Music Man Sabre, 2021, OHSC, Gorgeous flamed maple specimen

I have a 2023 Ernie Ball Music Man Sabre here, with its factory hard shell case. This one features a gorgeous highly figured top that has vertical curly maple figuration, and very busy triangular flame maple patterns crisscrossing each other.

Conditionally, this guitar looks great.

The body top shows about a handful of small round surface indentations that do not break the finish. These are near the control knobs, and they're pretty small, about half a millimeter in size on average. Little dot sized shallow marks. Beyond that I did not find any other notable signs of use. Any superficial swirling will be absolutely minimal.

The body sides/edges show no chips or dings or bumps. There are no neck pocket cracks. There will be just superficial signs of use around the perimeter with no notable or describable play wear.

The body back shows about a handful of those micro surface indentation bumps that I mentioned were on the top. I see about seven or eight of those. They are smaller than a millimeter in size, some as small as a dull pencil tip. Beyond that I did not find any concentration of any play wear. There's no buckle rash or worming. Nor is there any accumulation or sheen of all over surface swirling. Any surface swirling will be absolutely minimal.

The neck shaft contour looks and feels great, with nothing to report there. The headstock likewise looks very clean, showing just faint traces of use around the perimeter walls, but no chips or bumps or dings. The stainless steel frets look gorgeous and play like butter. There is no fret wear. The original electronics are working as they should.

This one rates an 8.9/10 and grades as Very Good. Consider it on the higher side of Very Good, right at the juncture of what I grade as Excellent. I found small surface indentations as the play wear on this guitar. Little dot sized little bumps that don't break the finish that you have to look very closely to see. So some may consider this one Excellent because it's a newer era guitar that has that popping, crisp, like new look to it. You don't really see the play wear unless you scrutinize it closely. So it is very much a gorgeous guitar. It is structurally and sonically sound, and plays fantastic like a newer era guitar should.

The Sabre model mostly differentiates itself from other EBMM guitars by it's different body shape. It is fairly chunky and substantial and has a nice presence of bass and low mids giving it a full, chunky sound. I have noticed that though it is a versatile guitar many high gain and metal players gravitate towards it.

It has the typical high end EBMM appointments such as their proprietary tremolo system, SS fretwork and roasted maple neck. Unique to this model is a Okoume body.

Tonally it is similar to mahogany but it is fair to say it is more aggressive than mahogany and more punchy sounding. It still has the strong, warm mids presence than mahogany has. But it resonates with more "pop".

So overall this is an absolute masterpiece of a bolt on guitar. State of the art in function and with the fine tone specimens, especially the maple.

Note that this listing may come down at anytime as I am a multi-platform seller and do sell locally as well in an effort to keep sales fluid. State sales tax will be charged on Reverb sales when applicable, so factor that in to your purchase.

I will immaculately pack it as well. I use quality shipping boxes, ample tape on all sides. And sufficient bubble wrap filler and bracing inside the box. And always Marked/denoted as fragile. I generally detune guitars 1/2 half step prior to shipment as well if needed.

Thank you for reading and considering!