Why do people hate Marlins?

John_A

Years ago I sold my 77 strat to buy a Honer headless guitar (it was the 80’s) while I was waiting for the Honer to be delivered the shop lent me a Marlin Sidewinder to use, it sounded better than my Strat, and played pretty well too

ICBM

HarrySeven said:

Incidentally, hideous fish inlay aside, one thing I did like about some Marlin models was the neck - the profile was great (for me, anyway).

I remember the famous Making Music review said something like “not long ago, you wouldn’t find a neck this good on a Fender” - meaning a typical late-70s CBS Strat - and they were right...

HarrySeven said:

This model is identical to the new example I acquired in 1985, in a trade against my (stunningly-well playing) Jedson Les Paul

F*ck knows what I was thinking, but it remains an act of folly of unprecedentedly enormous proportions. Comparatively, the Marlin was shite in every aspect.

It was 1985. A Les Paul was an old man’s guitar, and a shiny Ibanez Roadstar-shaped thing with a locking trem was the future!

Even if the bridge did prove to be made from Play-Doh...

ICBM

Here's the Musima Marlin!




... and here are three distinctive features which help identify it as East German:



(And I don't mean the hilariously over-tall bridge saddle height screws .)

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

... and here are three distinctive features which help identify it as East German:



(And I don't mean the hilariously over-tall bridge saddle height screws .)

I can see two, what's the third?  The rounded nut on the jack?

Vibetronic

they were awful guitars, but it's all context If it was your first electric it was probably awesome - I remember my first electric was an 'Axe' bought from an ad in Metal Hammer for £89, and I thought it was amazing. It was obviously a bit shit looking back, but at the time, awesome. A mate got a Marlin Sidewinder shortly after and it was absolutely terrible though.

NelsonP

ICBM said:

NelsonP said:

My first guitar was a marlin sidewinder. About 1985 . My memory of it was that it was pretty much like a standard strat in term of configuration 3 single coils with the bridge pickup sloping the 'right' way, non locking trem, but i could be wrong.

If it didn’t have the fish inlay, that’s correct - those are the East German ones.

I think all the Korean fish ones had a humbucker at the bridge.

NelsonP said:

I used to play it straight into a sound city 30w tranny amp.

Interestingly, those were also made in East Germany!

Ha ha. Your knowledge never fails to amaze. Who knew that East Germany was the home of (cheap) rock n roll!

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

I can see two, what's the third?  The rounded nut on the jack?

Yes - the half-dome nut (always factory-set flush with the end of the thread), the small D-shaft pot with a large nut, and the slotted intonation screws. The exact shape of the jackplate is quite distinctive too, but I think there are some old Japanese ones that are very similar.

NelsonP said:

Who knew that East Germany was the home of (cheap) rock n roll!

Remarkable isn't it?! I didn't know either, until I saw the same pot type on both of them and realised it was an identifier - those exact pots have never been used anywhere else as far as I know.

HarrySeven

In a bizarre case of synergy, this turned up today at work...

http://i.imgur.com/Y4deD57.jpg

Bridgehouse

HarrySeven said:

In a bizarre case of synergy, this turned up today at work...

http://i.imgur.com/Y4deD57.jpg

The necks on the wrong way round mate

Octafish

ICBM said:

Here's the Musima Marlin!

... and here are three distinctive features which help identify it as East German:

That jack socket reminds me a bit of the PRS Silver Sky one...

ICBM

Octafish said:

That jack socket reminds me a bit of the PRS Silver Sky one...

ICBM said: (on the original Silver Sky thread in March)

it's a Strat with a really ugly out-of-place headstock, an ugly graceless body shape, an ugly out-of-place cutaway bevel, ugly out-of-place fingerboard inlays, an ugly squared-off fingerboard end, and an ugly jack plate that looks like it came off an East German Strat copy.

Octafish

ICBM said:

Octafish said:

That jack socket reminds me a bit of the PRS Silver Sky one...

ICBM said: (on the original Silver Sky thread in March)

it's a Strat with a really ugly out-of-place headstock, an ugly graceless body shape, an ugly out-of-place cutaway bevel, ugly out-of-place fingerboard inlays, an ugly squared-off fingerboard end, and an ugly jack plate that looks like it came off an East German Strat copy.

Ha, ha you were there first... and then there's the fish/bird inlays .

horse

My older brother had one, then upgraded to a tokai strat. Playing the tokai was a real revelation for me in terms of tone and playability after thinking the sidewinder was just what electric guitars were like.

mbe

Y'all might scoff at the mere mention of 'plywood' but they actually used luthier grade laminated tonewood. 

I had a Sunn Mustang strat knockoff made in India. That had a body made of 'chunks' and shavings in the style of Sterling board. 

ICBM

I've fixed up the Musima Marlin today - I didn't actually have to do a huge amount to it, really just give it a bit of a clean and set it up. I shimmed the neck and replaced the E saddle height screws with shorter ones so they're no longer likely to rip your hand to pieces, cut the nut grooves properly, cleaned the electrics and replaced the missing knob (with a Laney shaft adaptor as expected) and trem arm, and it's good to go.

It's probably not quite as good as a Squier Standard, but not that far off. It's a little on the heavy side - 8lb 5oz with the trem arm in - although for some reason it feels as if it should be slightly more than that, but not too bad. It stays in tune even with trem use, plays quite well despite the frets not being very smoothly polished, and sounds good. What more can you really get for under £100? You could gig with it if you wanted...

robgilmo

ICBM, Ever fancied moving to Suffolk?

ICBM

robgilmo said:

ICBM, Ever fancied moving to Suffolk?

Well, I did once nearly apply for a job at Celestion... but actually that was the major factor against it.

Philly_Q

mbe said:

Y'all might scoff at the mere mention of 'plywood' but they actually used luthier grade laminated tonewood. 

I had a Sunn Mustang strat knockoff made in India. That had a body made of 'chunks' and shavings in the style of Sterling board. 

Natural finish...?

bigjon

Vibetronic said:

they were awful guitars, but it's all context If it was your first electric it was probably awesome - I remember my first electric was an 'Axe' bought from an ad in Metal Hammer for £89, and I thought it was amazing. It was obviously a bit shit looking back, but at the time, awesome.

Hey @Vibetronic my first electric was an 'Axe' as well! I bought it off a friend in 1990 for £35. It wasn't bad! I covered up the Axe logo on the front with lightning-bolt-shaped sticky-back plastic, as you can see in the photo for the YouTube clip of a solo I recorded on it in 1993!

horse

bigjon said: hi

Vibetronic said:

they were awful guitars, but it's all context If it was your first electric it was probably awesome - I remember my first electric was an 'Axe' bought from an ad in Metal Hammer for £89, and I thought it was amazing. It was obviously a bit shit looking back, but at the time, awesome.

Hey @Vibetronic my first electric was an 'Axe' as well! I bought it off a friend in 1990 for £35. It wasn't bad! I covered up the Axe logo on the front with lightning-bolt-shaped sticky-back plastic, as you can see in the photo for the YouTube clip of a solo I recorded on it in 1993!

 Not blowing smoke up your arse here Jon, but I wonder if that could be the best solo ever recorded on a £35 guitar - would never have guessed you were playing an Axe