Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse

Guitar style linked to players such as Steve Morse.

The Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature is a hard-working solidbody electric guitar designed for high-caliber fretwork and broad-gauged sonic pliability. A poplar body forms the center of this custom-spec’d axe, which sports a contoured double-cutaway shape for maximum playing comfort. As for playability, the Steve Morse Signature is certainly spectacular; its "C"-shaped, roasted figured maple neck, sculpted neck joint, and 12-inch-radius rosewood provide an effective firing table for an exhaustive breadth of fret-hand finger acrobatics. Meanwhile, a hyper-flexible HSSH configuration of custom DiMarzio pickups is bolstered by an intuitive switching layout, enabling the Steve Morse Signature to adapt to any musical situation with chameleon-like savvy. Moreover, this guitar brandishes a chrome Tune-o-matic bridge with a solid brass tail block, unfailing Schaller locking tuners, and a compensated melamine nut. Steve is reputed to be one of the hardest-working guitarists in the world, and the Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature reflects this ethos brilliantly — it can tackle any gig or session with supreme assurance.

Whether churning out red-hot fusion with the Dixie Dregs, tearing through neoclassical licks with Deep Purple, or unleashing sophisticated riffage with Flying Colors, Steve Morse reigns as one of the world’s elite guitarists. The Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature was explicitly built for musicians of Steve’s caliber, boasting an easy-playing “C”-shaped roasted figured maple neck with a finish comprising gunstock oil and hand-rubbed blended wax. This solidbody electric guitar’s rosewood fingerboard features a 12-inch radius and 22 stainless steel frets, making it the perfect springboard for technical playing techniques. Moreover, the Steve Morse Signature’s neck joins its double-cutaway poplar body at an ergonomic, 5-bolt sculpted joint.

Patterned after Steve’s iconic “Frankentele,” the Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature houses four custom DiMarzio pickups laid out in an HSSH configuration. This setup is meticulously balanced across the guitar’s entire fretboard; it yields a similar output whether you’re playing lower notes in the bridge position or scraping the stratosphere in the neck position, enabling you to effectively switch between pickups mid-solo. While the Steve Morse Signature’s switching presents an initial learning curve, it’s actually quite intuitive once you get the hang of it, and the sonic rewards are truly golden. The 2-way toggle switches the bridge humbucker on and off; the 3-way lever pickup selector switches between the straight single-coil, the neck humbucker, and the bridge humbucker. Finally, the 3-way toggle pickup selector switches between the slanted single-coil, the slanted single-coil plus the 2-way toggle and 3-way lever settings, and the 2-way toggle and the 3-way lever settings minus the slanted single-coil.

The Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Signature’s hardware is top shelf all the way. Its Tune-o-matic bridge includes thumbwheel height adjustment, individual saddles, and a chrome-plated, solid brass tail block - a tried-and-true recipe for laser-precise action adjustment and intonation, along with near-endless sustain. Schaller M6-IND locking tuners ensure ultra-reliable tuning stability and rapid-fire string changes. The Steve Morse Signature also includes knurled aluminum dome-top knobs and a 3-ply pickguard.

General:
Number of Strings: 6
Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed

Body:
Body Type: Solidbody
Body Shape: Steve Morse Signature
Body Material: Solid Poplar
Body Finish: High Gloss Polyester
Color: Morse Blue Burst

Neck:
Neck Material: Roasted Figured Maple
Neck Shape: C
Neck Joint: 5-way Bolt-on
Radius: 12"
Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlay: Dots
Number of Frets: 22, .104" x .047", Stainless Steel
Scale Length: 25.5"
Nut Width: 1.625"
Nut Material: Compensated Melamine

Hardware:
Bridge/Tailpiece: Tune-O-Matic
Tuners: Schaller Locking

Electronics:
Neck Pickup: DiMarzio DP-200 Morse Signature Humbucker
Middle Pickup: 2 x DiMarzio DP-108 Vintage Single-coil
Bridge Pickup: DiMarzio DP-205 Morse Signature Humbucker
Controls: 1 x volume, 1 x tone
Switching: 2-way switch, 3-way toggle pickup switch, 3-way blade pickup switch