NAMM 2026: Sterling by Music Man has announced affordable versions of Jason Richardson’s Cutlass signature guitar, arriving in six- and seven-string formats, without overly sacrificing its top-line specs.
The former All That Remains guitarist launched his Music Man signature in August 2024, with the modern virtuoso-tailored axe benefiting from newly designed humbuckers that had “decades of guitar string research” poured into them, a custom-contoured lower horn, and a rather stunning Kokiri Forest. And yes, that’s a Zelda reference.
Being a Music Man, its $3,599 / $3,799 price tag – depending on the string count – was no surprise, but by no means accessible to all. That makes the Sterling variant’s arrival much anticipated.
And, as it has proven with Rabea Masdaad’s price-skimming Sterling models, it looks to have tweaked the Music Man recipe without too much compromise, resulting in a more broadly welcoming $949.99 outlay.
Like its more expensive older sibling, it sports an alder body, though its buckeye burl top is usurped by a poplar burl alternative, while retaining its double cutaway and cosy contours.
Elsewhere, its five-bolt figured roasted maple neck is now made from roasted maple instead. It is crafted with a shred-friendly 16” radius, and capped with a rosewood fingerboard as opposed to ebony, with 24 medium jumbo frets and white dot markers. However, there’s no mention of the frets being stainless steel, meaning they are likely nickel instead.
The pickups, of course, were always going to be reassessed with a view to scraping a cool few grand off the RRP. While the ones in this model are billed as simply being Sterling by Music Man-Designed JR humbuckers, Richardson was still hands-on in shaping their voicing, so they should still offer a similar bark and bite.
Push-push features – which can be far easier to engage on the fly than push-pull – for both split coiling and injecting a 12dB volume boost into the mix, also help bolster the guitar's versatility.
All that transpires into a very similar guitar, save for some slight scaling back on the more premium, price-bumping features, like its Custom Music Man floating tremolo, now just a Sterling Modern Tremolo, and its Schaller M6-IND locking tuners replaced by own-brand equivalents.
Aesthetic options are just as various, too. Choose from Pearl White, Dark Scarlet Burst Satin, and that aforementioned Kokiri Forest for your colorways, but note that it does not ship with a gig bag.
While an eight-string version of Richardson's Music Man has also arrived at NAMM 2026 – only the second of its kind after John Petrucci’s signature – the Sterling by Music Man Richardson brings his world of fast paying and tonal versatility to a larger audience.
It’s one, the firm says, that is “designed to meet the technical demands of Jason Richardson via a hyper-ergonomic approach to the Cutlass platform.”
Head to Sterling by Music Man for more.
