We loved the all-American version of the Maroon 5 guitarist’s signature model on first meeting it back in 2016. The more affordable Indonesian-built Sterling By Music Man JV60 followed two years later and was pretty much a Southeast Asian take on that guitar but with a tweak or two here and there. Then for 2023 we heard about Sterling’s brand-new Chambered models – with and without Bigsby – and it’s the former version we finally got our hands on.
That original Music Man Valentine featured a solid ash, double-cutaway body with roasted maple, 648mm (25.5-inch) scale neck with a 305mm (12-inch) radius fingerboard and slim 42mm (1.65-inch) wide nut. Also included were the company’s ‘modern classic’ hardtail bridge, plus push-push pots
