Albert Lee in my house!

[dzeitlin]

Well, even if it is only his namesake, it's still cool. I picked up this Music Man Albert Lee over the weekend. I've been looking for a 3 P90 guitar for a while now, and they are pretty hard to find, so when I saw this used one, I jumped. I've been trying to retire my strat, and wanted to get something with a few modern specs. I wanted a flatter radius, and bigger frets.

Very grainy southern ash body, birds eye maple neck/fretboard, Schaller locking tuners, 25 1/2 scale, 10" radius, 1-5/8" at nut, 2-1/4" at last fret, medium high profile frets, 3 MM90 pickups, 5 way switch, and the silent circuit.

The fit and finish are really nice. Neck feels great, like all the MM necks I've played. Feels very broken in, and comfy. Bends are very easy, and no fretting out. There is a business card size gap between the neck and pocket on the top side, but it doesn't seem to effect tone or sustain. The body, while it looks funky, is actually very cumfy to hold (both strapped on and on my lap). The guitar weighs as much as my 62AV Strat (probably around 7 lbs). The trem is very smooth, and strings return to pitch even after dive bombs. The nut appears to be cut perfectly. All the hardware feels and looks great.

I only had about 15 minutes to play her, but played through my Budda Superdrive 30s clean channel. I A/B'd Albert with my 2000 62AV strat. The strat has 3 Rio Grande Muy Grande's in it. I like my strat tones to be pretty fat with higher than vintage output, and the Rio's fit that description, but I always wanted just a little more mids/fatness. Albert did not disappoint. The MM90s had a little more mids/fatness, but did not get muddy, even when heavily overdriven. The middle pickup is very useable, which I never found on my strat. The in betweens have all the quack. The bridge has bite, but also bark, and the neck sounds very flutey.

I have (and have had) a few P90 guitars, and always found that they leaned a lot more towards humbucker tone than single coil. Part of that gets chalked up to the fact that all the previous guitars I had/have, were 24 3/4 lenght with mahogony/Korina bodies with set necks. The combination of longer scale length, and ash body combine to add a little top end and shimmer to Albert. This guitar really sits in the middle between hums and single coils.



http://david-zeitlin.20m.com/images/img_0717.jpg

[CHyde]

Congrats on the Albert. I picked my first one up a few months ago after playing one for the first time at the Dallas show. I was looking for a strat/tele type guitar & fell in love when I picked up the Albert. It's the best of both worlds & is the most comfortable guitar I've ever played. Mine is the same color as yours, pickguard & all except I have the matching headstock, piezo, & single coils. Rock On!!!

[tthompso7]

Very nice David. I dig it!

[Larry Wallwart]

Nice! :dude

[DrJamie]

My P-90 Albert should ship tomarrow, and I'm very excited to get it. Got it here on TGP, gold with Lollars, hardtail. I have thought from the introduction, this is one the the coolest takes on the strat design ever. Alot of people think it's weird looking, but I've always loved it, even the original pink-burst that it came out in.

[Boomdoggy]

I used to have a single coil model.I didn't like the raw feel of the neck.I had to clean it constantly.Other than that,it was one of the best Strat style guitars I have ever played.

[dzeitlin]

Originally posted by Boomdoggy
I used to have a single coil model.I didn't like the raw feel of the neck. That's one of the things I love most. A well played dirty maple fretboard looks so cool to my eyes.

[Boomdoggy]

I know other people love them.It was the sticky dirt on the back of the neck that bothered me.On a humid day,forget about it.The birdseye neck was absolutely gorgeous.I should have gotten the neck finished and kept it.

[Dustin]

I played one of these yesterday at Guitar Center and was really impressed with the feel/ playability.

Any opinions on the active circuit?

[dzeitlin]

All the "active circuit" does is reduce the hum. If you take the battery out, there is no tone difference, just a little hum.

[Redbell]

Very nice I'd like to give one a text drive. I had a Luke Music Man but got rid of it because I hated the EMG Pickups.

[aquadog]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquadog/img_0717.jpg

Thats a really cool guitar dzeitlin. May I ask what you paid for it?

[Gary F.]

Welcome to the club, David. I've got 2 -- one hardtail and one with trem. Even though my suhr classic is my current number one, i can NEVER put these EBMMAL guys in the closet. There's just something about them that just MAKES you want to play them. Congrats on owning a woefully underappreciated guitar. One of the best maple necks in the biz.

Gary

p.s.-- If you find the neck gets too dirty or gets unstable, send it back to EB and get their superglue finish on the neck. Feels different than the gunstock finish but not in a bad way. It is very stable and eliminates the dirt build up. One of mine has this and i don't favor one finish over the other.

[sabbath90]

that's one sweet piece of ash dude!

[erksin]

That's awesome - I've always had a jones for one, but they don't come lefty...

[dzeitlin]

Originally posted by aquadog
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquadog/img_0717.jpg

Thats a really cool guitar dzeitlin. May I ask what you paid for it? $850. I probably could have done a little better, but it is pretty hard to track these down, and for the quality of this guitar, it is worth it.

[CHyde]

$850 is a great price...I paid $1000 for mine & it was 2 weeks old.

[toasteroven]

I picked up a single coil version on Ebay about a year ago, and it's bonded with me more than any other guitar I've ever owned. That guitar, a cord, and my Zinky Blue Velvet combo is all I need.

I'll get an MM-90 version someday. Nice guitar, man.

[dzeitlin]

Originally posted by toasteroven
I'll get an MM-90 version someday. Nice guitar, man. Thanks

[jlf2960]

Thats a really nice Albert Lee. They have one of the most comfortable necks in the series. Reminds me a lot of the Axis neck.

I have yet to play an EBMM that I didn't like. I almost bought one at GC but my practical side got the better of me. I recently sold a Luke but I still own an EBMM Petrucci that I cannot part with.

[Redbell]

I been thinking about this guitar ever since I read about it yesterday, dammit!
One important question though:
Are the pickups noisy at all, I love p90's but have never owned one because of the ungody bacon frying noise you get.
If this one is noise free I just might have to check one out seroiusly! thanks & again great guitar.

[dzeitlin]

Originally posted by Redbell
I been thinking about this guitar ever since I read about it yesterday, dammit!
One important question though:
Are the pickups noisy at all, I love p90's but have never owned one because of the ungody bacon frying noise you get.
If this one is noise free I just might have to check one out seroiusly! thanks & again great guitar. These are very quiet, even without the battery powered noise canceller.

[Redbell]

Thanks for the tip, brother!

[Jimi D]

Congrats dzeitlin! That's a good one... Here's a pic of it with the AL I kept from when it was still in my stable:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/jimi_d/guitars/aleeX2.jpg

I don't regret letting it go - I'm more an Axis player myself - but it's a great guitar, and I hope you enjoy it for years to come...

[dzeitlin]

Thanks Jimi D. I finally got a chance to play it, for more than 5 minutes, last night. Clean, it is very strat like. The individual pickup sounds had a nice glassy top, a slight mid hump, and a not-too-tight bottom end (not a bad thing). The middle pickup by itself is killer. The in-betweens sound round and fat, but still have just enough shimmer.

Dirty, the pickups start to sound more bucker-like. The mid hump gets more pronounced, but again, there is still enough top end to cut through the mix. Rolling back the tone (very effective and usefull range) to 4 darkens the tone enough to sound VERY bucker-like. The neck alone with the tone at 4 totally nails the "woman tone".

[robelinda2]

Albert Lee guitars simply are fantastic. I have 4 with 2 on the way. Awesome birdseye necks and great great tone.

I know its an old thread but i love these guitars so much!

[Lucidology]

Whoa Rob.. so how are the two you have coming,
different from the 4 you already have...:-)

[toasteroven]

Why bump this thread?

[Eric Pykala]

I've got one of last year's Albert Lee Limited Editions (first time ever with a rosewood board) with the 3 MM90s and trem, and it is one of the most unique-sounding and utterly versatile guitars I've ever owned. I've had lots of P90 guitars before, but I think it's the combination of maple neck and swampash body that gives it its own voice. Roll the volume back to about 8 and it's a beautiful Strat. Roll it past 8 and hold on to your hat!
Some observations on MM90s: They are very quiet even without the Silent Circuit. The middle pickup alone is actually a great sound. The combination sounds, esp. neck+middle lack the quack of a Strat, but hey, it's not a Strat. These are NOT "classic-sounding" P90s either in output or tone, and should be judged as the unique pickups they are. This guitar adds another distinctive voice to my small but well-chosen arsenal (PRS Hollowbody II Artist Piezo with Dimarzio Eric Johnsons, PRS 513 Mahogany, Musicman Silhouette Special with Wagner SRs, and my scratchbuilt Tele with a Suhr Nashville setup). Now maybe just a PRS Singlecut 245 to cover the LP stuff...-Eric

[robelinda2]

yep i have a MM90 Albert also, its a killer axe, the pickups are sensational, very strat like. Nice to have a 5 way switch too, to give all the usual stratty tones. I think the AL neck is the best neck ive ever played, so smooth.

[Terry Hayes]

Nice to see the Albert Lee signature getting some attention. I have had the original pinkburst model with single coils that I got back in 1997. It is fantastic. Like someone else mentioned, I sent it back to Ernie Ball a couple of years ago for the superglue neck treatment.

Terry

[robelinda2]

Yep i have a Pinkburst AL too, great axe.

i just scored this one this week!!!!!

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/robelinda/000_0009-4.jpg