NGD Yellow Greg Bennett Malibu MB-1 !

[Jim Baritone]

Some of you may recall that a couple of weeks back I managed to pick up a Greg Bennett Malibu MB-1 in Sliver, a new color for 2012 as I understand.

http://www.squier-talk.com/forum/ot...ey-greg-bennett-malibu-mb-1-a.html#post188543

After that, I planned _not_ to buy more guitars for a while, finances being tight. However, last week the classifieds had an ad "Yellow Electric Guitar & Amp For Sale". There was a tiny, blurry photo; the headstock looked familiar.

I met the seller, and sure enough, it was a 2004 Greg Bennett Malibu MB-1. There was also a Univox Mega 20 watt amp, a good gig bag, cable with gold-plated connectors, electronic tuner, and an unopened set of D'Addario 10's. The guitar had been bought, used for 3 weeks, then left in a closet.

I didn't want the other items, except the case. The owner wouldn't budge on price and wouldn't break it up - all or nothing.

Looking it over, it was literally brand new, not even a fingerprint on it. The pickups are Duncan-designed, Korean made, the tuners are Grover, and the body is (I think) ash or something similar, from the weight.

So I bought it. My overdraft took another hit, but it was a rare opportunity.

This MB-1 is a most unusual yellow - I've never seen it before, As with the red Malibu MB-2/2R and the silver MB-1, th fit and finish was perfect.

Got it home, gave the fretboard some lemon oil, then strung it up with Ernie Ball nines. The body resonance amazing. It rings and sings.

A few pics are below - more to come later.

Jim B

 

[BiggBaddWolf]

Jim, is there a website to decipher the serial number to know what year they were made? I am curious as to what year mine was made.

 

[byronius]

ooh that looks nice!!

 

[Jim Baritone]

Jim, is there a website to decipher the serial number to know what year they were made? I am curious as to what year mine was made.

I have been trying to find one, and also wrote a follow-up to Greg Bennett Designs asking the same question. I have 3 Malibus and I know for certain the purchase years of two, and a good probable on the third. So, if we get enough numbers, and associated dates of original purchase/manufacture, it might be possible to decypher the code that way.

One of my projects for this week is to get all the s/n's recorded, along with other info ad pics, for my iinsurance company. I don't know what to do about the black Squier SE I have here. It was apparently part of a starter kit and the s/n was on a _sticker_ on the neck base. Talk about cutting corners. I may just have to stamp one in there with letter/number punches - the number would be made up, but at least an identifier in case of theft.

 

[mrlinguini]

Jim, that is a real beauty. Love that yellow. How do you compare them to say a Squier Classic Vibe?

 

[Jim Baritone]

Jim, that is a real beauty. Love that yellow. How do you compare them to say a Squier Classic Vibe?

That yellow is a real attention-getter, isn't it? When I saw the ad photo, I thought it would be pretty yuck. But it's a really nice shade, vibrant,and it's grown on me very quickly.

As to the Classic Vibe....Oops. You've got me there - I've never laid hands on a Squier Classic Vibe, being a peasant and not able too aspire to the lofty price those go for around here. I'll say hands down that the MB-2 (the red one) can wipe the floor with a MIM Strat. The MB-1 isn't _quite_ that nice, but I'd have no hesitation in gigging with any of the three guitars. I would want hard cases for them, because the headstock is angled back from the neck, like the old Gibsons.

To play, they're just marvellous. The yellow one needs a bit of adjusting; the Silver MB-1 and the Red MB-2 have about the nicest action of any guitar I've ever tried. FWIW (and I'm still a relative newbie as a guitar player, although an old musician), I would say they're superb in tone, resonance, action, size, feel on the neck, staying in tune, fully shielded everything. The body is a bit smaller than a strat, and it feels really nice. The necks are all outstanding. I can't get a fret buzz even if I try, and the shape fits my hands (which are small) very very well. There are no sharp corners or out-of-true spots on any fret.

I think the thing that impresses me in addition to all that is the astonishing amount of attention to detail. Somebody took a lot of care to get everything just so.

 

[kevinpaul]

I had to put my sun glasses on. Nice, I never saw one before. Live and learn thanks for showing it!

 

[Jim Baritone]

I had to put my sun glasses on. Nice, I never saw one before. Live and learn thanks for showing it!

Yeah, isn't that the truth. I think I'm going to do a "family photo" of the three Malibus - red, yellow, and silver, and maybe one with the Squiers, which are mid-blue (the Tom DeLonge one), the black SE, and the white one that Wizzer was kind enough to sell me. I should probably include the sunburst Peavey in there somewhere. All the other guitars, and the practice amps that go with them, are on the block in the classifieds right now.

My biggest problem with the practice amps is choosing which one(s) to keep. I have way too many of practice amps. The ones I might keep include an old Vox Pathfinder 10, which has a lovely mellow tone, a Peavey Transtube Backstage which has a handy extra input for a feed from a computer, MP3 player, or whatever. There's also a Robson GA-15, which has a good equalization setup, good tone, plenty of volume, and a very precise built-in tuner.

I don't really need the Robson, as I've got many electronic tuners. My other practice amps include a Rocker RG-100, a Univox MEGA GL-15, a Squier SP-10, and its Fender equivalent. I think five can go, and I'll still have a couple of good small amps.

If I had one that was battery powered, I might be tempted to keep that. However, it probably would not be too big a deal to tuck a 12 volt rechargeable battery into one of them, since all the solid state amps actually run on low voltage power supplies, even if they plug into the wall. If I can get $40-$50 apiece for the "surplus" amps, it would offset buying some other stuff, like pickups, or a maple Strat neck.

If it were possible, I'd trade all of the small amps except one for something like a Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube Amp, or some other good useful 100-150 watt combo amp. Big enough to be useful, and small enough to avoid a hernia, LOL.

Jim B

 

[Luthier-Atlanta]

How much did you give for it? I am looking at one now.

 

[gearobsessed]

I had a blue Greg Bennets 335 copy, and a fat strat and they were excelent. Both had grovers and duncan designed pups, really the only upgrade they needed were the nut and the pots. I'd put the two i had on par with the VM squiers. The fit and finish was of a lower quality, but the machining and hardware were equal/better.
The frets came rough new on the 335, and the binding had paint seep in. Everything else was excellent.

 

[Jim Baritone]

FWiW, I've noticed tnat tne aaking price on the Greg Bennett Maliblu MB-1' s has gone up significantly. However, as these ads are staying up for weeks, even months, I'm getting the impression that the sellers are not able to get the prices they're asking.

Almot all the Greg Bennets I see up here are Malibu MB-1's. There was one Torino, which I missed (literally) by ten minutes some time back. I have yet to see any of his other model eectrics for sale used, except for the two Formala models (tele clones) that came and went very quickly.

I think the 2012 model year MB-1 in metallic silver was the GB I paid the most for - with a good quality gig bag and amp, I believe I paid a bit over $200 - more than my normal working price. For the Corvette Yellow packge, which had again a very high-end gig bag, amp, electronic tuner, and all the extras, I think I paid about $150 - but it had been bought new in 2006, and had sat in a closet ever since.

The MB2/MR2 (Which they've now renamed to MB-50) in metallic red I got for an astonishing price - I think it was $65 or $75. The owner said "it doesn't play right" - which was true. He had the strings on with low to high reversed.

This particular guitar had a Graph-tech nut and saddles, and because of the botched stringing, the nut was a bit damaged. The good folk at Graph-Tec were kind enough to send me a replacment at no charge when I sent them the original as a sample, since the dimensions didn't match anything on their list.

The red Malibu is the SSH model - the other two are SSS - and it's hard to put into words just how good a guitar this is. A lot of people hereabouts scoff ad turn up their noses when "Greg Bennett" is mentioned - invariably, they've never tried one. The MB2/MR-2 is a very early model in Greg Bennett's line (and was later renumbered), and I would put it up against any normal US made production Strat. The necks on all three are superb - this one is a dream to play, an everything is absolutely top quality, with minute attention to detail.

I would not be suprised to see one going used for $500+ - if you can find someone who will sell one of these early models. Pickups were Duncans, not "Duncan Designed", but I now have a custom wound set from Alan Entwistle which I'm afraid would make even most diehard SD fans a bit jealous.

The body, although a strat outline, is smaller than a strat, and mine is one-piece. I'm not positive which wood it is - it's a heavy guitar for its size - but the tone - no pickups, just strings - is awesome. It just sings.

I picked that one up early on, and I'll be buried with it. I don't know if I'll buy any more MB-1's at the inflated prices now being asked on the used market, especially as I already have two. If I could find another of the early MB2's / MB-50's, I would pay quite a bit, fi I could raise the money.

I'd have no hesitation about going on the road with that guitar.

I think one of the reasons that there are so few used Bennetts for sale is that once people have them, they're not inclined to sell.

Just my HO.

Jim Baritone.

 

[mikm]

Jim, pictures of the family would be awesome! I've seen individual pics of some of your stuff in the past. Would love to see the "group"! PS: That yellow rocks!!

 

[phoz182]

ooh that looks nice!!

Yes +1, I never seen such a guitar before!

 

[djmarcelca]

It seems that samick/greg bennett are no longer producing electrics.
At least the website says that all electric models are discontinued.

 

[Big tuna]

nice guitar! the GB"s I have played were well made.

 

[techowiz]

Looking at a GB MB-1 ... See no mention of Duncan Designed P/U's on their website description.
http://gregbennettguitars.com/guitars/electric/malibu-series/mb1/

 

[Hotrodleroy]

There was a few months this past fall where GC wouldn't even place the samick name on any used guitars for what ever reason I don't know, but I do know and have owned some of the best samicks out of there artist series and there custom pro shop after they and Gibson bought out valley arts guitars in cali. These were all prior to the Greg Bennett series.