❌SOLD❌ Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee SSS Hardtail Cherry Red, 2005

The Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee line has become a favourite of the staff here. Introduced in 1993, the Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee SSS was available only in hard tail 1996, when the Vintage Trem was an optional extra. Now, there are several versions of the model, with a pair of humbuckers, three narrow single coils, or three P-90s and the Music Man Silent Circuit, an active system that delivers noise cancellation to single coil pickups.   On the back,  there’s a small door for a standard 9v battery, and this powers the Silent Circuit. 

Drawing from the same well as countless other builders, the Albert Lee models use the proven combination of an Ash body and Maple neck. That’s the extent of the woods used! The body has a distinctive angular shape with well-executed contours. Lightly figured with Birds-eye, the Maple neck uses a separate fingerboard. It’s easy to tell this from a distance because there is no ‘Skunk Stripe’ insert on the back of the neck, so the truss rod must be mounted from the front, and that’s done before a fingerboard goes on. A fairly large fretwire is used, providing plenty of grip and traction, and as a bonus the extra metal takes longer to wear through!

For hardware, the Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee SSS uses Music Man’s locking tuners, a string-through chrome plated hard tail bridge with individually adjustable saddles, and a trio of Music Man single coil pickups (now custom made by Seymour Duncan) fed through a 5-way switch and master Volume and tone controls – and the patented silent circuit. The pickguard is a four-layer Faux Tortoise that goes well with the red top. This is a pretty straightforward guitar, suitable for many genres.

This example dates to April 29, 2005 and is in overall good shape. The largest wear is pick marking to the top finish, pickup covers, pickguard and a bit of the fingerboard tag. This guitar has been used as intended – and it’s a very nice guitar to play.

The original Music Man hard shell case is included.

Here is Ernie Ball on the Music Man Albert Lee SSS Hardtail:

“With its unique retro-modern design and a stunning array of vintage single coils options, the Albert Lee is one versatile instrument. Lightweight, comfortable and perfectly balanced players will appreciate its fit, form, and function.

Sporting a southern swamp ash body, figured maple neck and a trio of custom-wound Seymour Duncan pickups, this guitar is the perfect choice for guitarists who want brilliant hi-pitched twang or smooth throaty tone wrapped up in a hum-free electronic package.

Whether you are looking for twang or shine, grit or grease, the Albert Lee will deliver, covering a wide-ranging sonic palette all at the flick of the switch.”