One of the biggest electric guitar stories to come out of NAMM 2023 was the news that Rabea Massaad had signed on the dotted line as an Ernie Ball Music Man artist, and that plans were underway to develop a new signature guitar.
The guitar was to be based on the superlative Sabre, but with a few key differences. From the pics, we could see that there had been a little more contouring work down on the lower horn of the solidbody double-cut. Pictured in the Anaheim Convention Center, Massaad, who had hitherto been a Chapman artist, looked as happy as a clam – and little wonder, this prototype he had was a doozy. And it was unexpected. Massaad had only sent EBMM a rough spec wishlist and was under the impression he would be sitting down with Drew Montell and CEO Brian Ball to draft something. They had planned ahead.
