NAMM 2020: Ernie Ball Music Man unsheathes the Sabre

(Image credit: Ernie Ball Music Man)

NAMM 2020: Ernie Ball Music Man has unveiled the Sabre, a new super-premium electric guitar that goes heavy on the flame maple and premium spec.

The deluxe doublecut has a lightweight bound okoume body, with a bookmatched, 3/8" carved flame maple top, a roasted figured maple neck with 22 stainless steel frets, and is available in four finishes – Blue Moonstone, Boujee Burst, Cobra, and Honey Suckle. You can have a choice of rosewood, ebony or maple fingerboards.

A pair of custom Ernie Ball Music Man humbuckers are installed in the neck and bridge positions – each wound for clarity, sustain and dynamics – while a five-way selector switch, volume and tone controls are on hand to help you find your tone.

Ernie Ball Music Man says the Sabre is built for comfort and playability in mind, and to that end it has a slim, contoured body carve and has a relatively wide nut width of 1 11/16" – a little wider than a vintage Strat, nearer Les Paul territory.

The Sabre has a set of Schaller locking tuners and an Ernie Ball Music Man’s super smooth modern tremolo system.

Priced $3199, the Sabre should be available to order from March. See Ernie Ball Music Man for more details.

Check out our NAMM 2020 hub for more gear news from Anaheim.

Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.