First ever Musicman: old, beat up, ugly Axis SS. What did I even get..?

[Pott]

My first ever Musicman: old, beat up, ugly Axis Sport (and loving it!)

Well being on a trip here from my usual territory of Luxembourg I stopped by my favorite guitar shop in Amsterdam for er... guitar porn, let's not kid ourselves.

I saw this dual P90 hardtail Axis on their second hand wall and I realised it had been there for years... now since I have a certain history with rescuing old unwanted guitars, I figured I'd give this babe here a try.

Totally worth it. Overpriced, decent but not perfect setup, the neck apparently needs oiling (more on that later) and well... she's old and ugly. And I don't really know what it is.

What I do know:

Axis Super Sport
9v battery compartment at the back (some kind of silent circuit?)
Aftermarket D tuna style on the low E tuner (works a treat)
old and ugly (I love it )

Would any of you guys be able to help out with:

Model and specs?
What I should do regarding the neck's current state..? What kind of oil to use etc..?

Thanks As soon as I get back to Luxembourg she's getting a set of 11s, tuned to Standard, frets polished and the entire body cleaned nicely...

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

D-Tuna? I think it's beautiful ! Wax & Oil check the FAQ , D-Tuna?

 

[Pott]

D Tuna

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

That is cool....Dont mind me, I live in a cave Nice Guitar !

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

For the neck you can order the Birchwood Casey Tru oil & Wax here--> Birchwood Casey

If they do not ship international, There are a couple of Ebay sellers that will.
It will make the neck come alive. It looks like that has a nice flame as well.

 

[Ricman]

Ugly? Not a chance...beautiful axe. I'll bet the colour is called "Platinum".

 

[Ricman]

PS - here's mine...Auctiva Image Hosting

 

[Pott]

A sister! Well that just made my evening... THanks Ricman. Do you know what years these were made in? I know this one is at least 5 years old but I have no serial number or anything else...

And yes she sounds and plays incredible. The only issue is that with buying a guitar second hand here, a fret level then adds a full 200 euros to the price... :/

 

[Ricman]

Mine is 1991 - not sure what years the Sports were made, somebody else will chime in. I've done a fair few mods to mine over the past few weeks...pics to follow!

Your serial number should be stamped on the neckplate. Post it here....

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-guitars/3830-important-my-ernie-balls-serial-351.html

..and the nice people at EBMM will give you the date of manufacture.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I saw an Axis Supersport that looked almost exactly like that one, but of course with white binding. With the MM90's, I thought it was actually a great price, but I already have one with a nice trans flame top, so left it there.

 

[Stratty316]

Yeah, that's an Axis Sport. The model was introduced in 1997 and was discontinued around 2002-3. It has a solid ash body and no p
maple top. I would say that it was prob made around the end of 1999 since there is no pickguard on yours, but the neck plate is recessed. 2000 was the year they stopped recessing the neck plates.

Sports are great, I love mine. It's too bad they were discontinued... The MM90 ones like yours were really cool! Specs are pretty much the same as the axis super sport minus the maple top.

 

[Ricman]

Sorry, mine is 1998, not 91...brain freeze.

 

[straycat113]

When you said ugly I thought it was going to look beat to death. That is a hell of a nice looking ax. I am just afraid to ask what you paid for it since you said a fret dress is 200 euros there which is about $300 which is insane lol.

 

[threeminutesboy]

Nice but no need for the drop D thing with locking tuners.

The battery is index for the silent circuit

Enjoy that beautiful gtr ( what's the problem with guys saying those are ugly? )

 

[fbecir]

Congratulations

The Music Man P90 are really great pickups. You will enjoy them !

 

[Pott]

They sure are. Despite the fact that the guitar plays like butter (I really couldn't believe it wasn't... ah nevermind), she sounded incredible. I wouldn't be surprised at the Ash body... I can't see the wood but it does explain the very sweet and slightly more complex midrange I usually get with Basswood.

DOH on the serial number... I did find it on the neckplate as y'all told me ah... brainfart. G04825. I'll post it on that thread

Guitar was advertised at 995 euros without any kind of hardcase or gig-bag. Since it was so old I negotiated it down to 900 euros with a set of D'addarios 11s and a very nice padded Gibson gigbag (the inside looks so comfy I'm almost jealous of the guitar...). It's expensive, and in fact stores here sell at RRP with little and usually no room for negotiation. Everyone was quite surprised I even got a discount at all!

 

[fbecir]

900€ is really a good price for Europe. I have seen an used Axis at 1200 € in shop in Paris. In general, it's hard to find a Music Man under 1000 €.

 

[Pott]

Ah good to know thanks A quick search around the forum also yielded all the missing info I wanted; it all explains a lot to why I like it so much.

10" fingerboard radius, Ash body, narrow nut width. I never thought I'd be much of a P90 guy but these sound incredible. There's also a very good pseudo-Tele sound on the middle position.

 

[browndog]

Thats a sweet Sport ya got.

MM90’s eh. Hmmm, may have to check them out.

 

[Ricman]

Mine was on the bay for $550. You've never seen me move so fast.