jhmusicman
Well-known member
Hi Guys; Ive been bursting for months to post about this guitar, and now I final can. Twenty years ago I signed a contract with Ernie Ball Music Man guitars. It was a total dream come true. As a kid I had long loved the Silhouette, and then the Steve Morse model, having bought the Power Lines VHS; but when the EVH came out that what the ultimate guitar for me; I had to have one!! After the EVH was replaced with the Axis I instantly fell in love with the Axis Sports, as I was a telecaster player and loved the the variations on pickup choice, switching and styling. To my utter shock Music Man took me on board at the start of my career, and have supported me ever since, going above and beyond what I deserve. I played Sports, and eventually became a long term Supersport player using one particular guitar almost exclusively for 18 years. The SS is a Swiss army knife of a guitar, and with the addition of the piezo it couldn't be beaten. I toured, filmed and recorded with that guitar so much. Ive even just come back today from some Mesa Boogie clinics, where that was my guitar of choice.
For many years I had requested certain custom options; for a while I had had a 3 single coil sport, but it was a demo guitar and eventually it went back to Strings and Things. I always loved the tone of a DiMarzio Fast Track T pickup I had in my old Tele. When I joined the Australian Pink Floyd show, Dudley built me a black Silhouette Special, with pickups spec'd by Steve Blutcher at DiMarzio. The bridge pickup was a Fast Track 1, essentially my old pickup! I loved the tone of that guitar but wanted it an Axis, as i loved the look and feel of that guitar, and for me the Axis neck is the best neck ever made. So fast forward twenty years, and following a conversation with Marc Snelling at Strings and Things; Brian and Scott Ball have made my dream come true by building me my absolute dream guitar; my own version of the Axis!!
The body is made from African Mahogany with a quilted maple top in black burst, with black back and sides. The neck is a highly figured roasted flame maple neck with stainless steel frets. I wanted this guitar to reflect all my main influences, Edward Van Halen, Ty Tabor, Brian May and David Gilmour. I wanted classic tones, hard rock tones, bluesy tones, as well as some unique switching options! I essentially wanted a hotrail in the bridge with single coils in the middle and neck positions. When we started this project Steve Blutcher advised that he didn't feel the Fast Track 1 would work that great with mahogany, plus I had been using low output classic paf's for so long and he didn't want it to be too much of a radical change. I still wanted the "balls" of an EVH but the honk of a Red Special, or the smooth Gilmour neck tones. I suggested the Chopper in the bridge, but Steve Blutcher felt it was too hot for my tastes. He suggested the Satch track, which although is sold as a neck pickup, its perfectly voiced for bridge positions, and was somewhere between the Fast Track and the Chopper both output and voicing wise. We tried something new for the middle and neck, I had used the DiMarzio Area series pickups on the Floyd Silhouette Special, so we opted for the Injector noiseless single coils. Control wise we went for a volume and a tone, a five way pickup selector and a three way toggle for piezo/magnetic options. I decided to not include the piezo volume pot as I never use it. I do all my piezo operation with a volume pedal, and myself an Drew Montell felt it streamlined the look of the guitar. The guitar also features twin outputs, as I have two wireless' and two independent signal paths with my live rig. The pickup selections are as follows;1 hotrail. 2 hotrail split with middle, 3 middle, 4 middle neck, 5 neck. I wanted to include a classic Gilmour, Brian May and Ty Tabor section, so I have a push/push tone pot that engages the neck pickup when in the bridge position.
This guitar sound absolutely incredible and has surpassed all my expectations. I shall film some video very very soon!!
I'd like to finish off by giving the biggest thank you I can give to Sterling Ball and all of Ernie Ball Music Man for this incredible personal instrument, and twenty years of giving me the honour of being part of the artist family. My career accolades do not deserve the support and treatment you guys give me. Id love to personally thank Brian and Scott Ball for making this happen, and agreeing to my wishes; Dudley Gimpel for his attention to detail, Derek Brooks for always listening to me being an utter Music Man nerd and looking after my needs, and a huge thank you to Drew Montell for the Skype calls and my constant emails double and treble checking things, and my ever changing mind on the finish! Id also like to thank Strings and Things in the UK, Rod Bradley, Andy Cocklin, Alex Byford, Nick Club and Mark Harrison, Mark being the one who suggested me twenty years ago as a demo guy for Music Man. Also a huge thank you to my dear friend Marc Snelling who put the wheels in motion and who has really been behind me for the last twenty years.. Thank you all so so much for this!!! So here you go guys, here's my guitar!! Jamie
For many years I had requested certain custom options; for a while I had had a 3 single coil sport, but it was a demo guitar and eventually it went back to Strings and Things. I always loved the tone of a DiMarzio Fast Track T pickup I had in my old Tele. When I joined the Australian Pink Floyd show, Dudley built me a black Silhouette Special, with pickups spec'd by Steve Blutcher at DiMarzio. The bridge pickup was a Fast Track 1, essentially my old pickup! I loved the tone of that guitar but wanted it an Axis, as i loved the look and feel of that guitar, and for me the Axis neck is the best neck ever made. So fast forward twenty years, and following a conversation with Marc Snelling at Strings and Things; Brian and Scott Ball have made my dream come true by building me my absolute dream guitar; my own version of the Axis!!
The body is made from African Mahogany with a quilted maple top in black burst, with black back and sides. The neck is a highly figured roasted flame maple neck with stainless steel frets. I wanted this guitar to reflect all my main influences, Edward Van Halen, Ty Tabor, Brian May and David Gilmour. I wanted classic tones, hard rock tones, bluesy tones, as well as some unique switching options! I essentially wanted a hotrail in the bridge with single coils in the middle and neck positions. When we started this project Steve Blutcher advised that he didn't feel the Fast Track 1 would work that great with mahogany, plus I had been using low output classic paf's for so long and he didn't want it to be too much of a radical change. I still wanted the "balls" of an EVH but the honk of a Red Special, or the smooth Gilmour neck tones. I suggested the Chopper in the bridge, but Steve Blutcher felt it was too hot for my tastes. He suggested the Satch track, which although is sold as a neck pickup, its perfectly voiced for bridge positions, and was somewhere between the Fast Track and the Chopper both output and voicing wise. We tried something new for the middle and neck, I had used the DiMarzio Area series pickups on the Floyd Silhouette Special, so we opted for the Injector noiseless single coils. Control wise we went for a volume and a tone, a five way pickup selector and a three way toggle for piezo/magnetic options. I decided to not include the piezo volume pot as I never use it. I do all my piezo operation with a volume pedal, and myself an Drew Montell felt it streamlined the look of the guitar. The guitar also features twin outputs, as I have two wireless' and two independent signal paths with my live rig. The pickup selections are as follows;1 hotrail. 2 hotrail split with middle, 3 middle, 4 middle neck, 5 neck. I wanted to include a classic Gilmour, Brian May and Ty Tabor section, so I have a push/push tone pot that engages the neck pickup when in the bridge position.
This guitar sound absolutely incredible and has surpassed all my expectations. I shall film some video very very soon!!
I'd like to finish off by giving the biggest thank you I can give to Sterling Ball and all of Ernie Ball Music Man for this incredible personal instrument, and twenty years of giving me the honour of being part of the artist family. My career accolades do not deserve the support and treatment you guys give me. Id love to personally thank Brian and Scott Ball for making this happen, and agreeing to my wishes; Dudley Gimpel for his attention to detail, Derek Brooks for always listening to me being an utter Music Man nerd and looking after my needs, and a huge thank you to Drew Montell for the Skype calls and my constant emails double and treble checking things, and my ever changing mind on the finish! Id also like to thank Strings and Things in the UK, Rod Bradley, Andy Cocklin, Alex Byford, Nick Club and Mark Harrison, Mark being the one who suggested me twenty years ago as a demo guy for Music Man. Also a huge thank you to my dear friend Marc Snelling who put the wheels in motion and who has really been behind me for the last twenty years.. Thank you all so so much for this!!! So here you go guys, here's my guitar!! Jamie
Last edited:
