1993 Albert Lee For Sale

[SteveB]

Questions for you folks.
(1) Did Albert Lee have a hand in redesigning his model with P-90s and does he
perform with this version?

(2) Did the earliest version of this guitar (AXIS?) look exactly the same before the name change? Was "pinkburst" the only color?

(3) Has any one AB'd the two models? I was wondering about the twang factor with P-90s (Though this NOT the only sound I'm interested in!).
You guys are great! Thanks!

I think I can answer #2 for you. Dudley and Sterling designed the "Axis", and Albert Lee liked it so much they changed the name of it to "Albert Lee". Later they re-used the Axis name for guitar now known by that name. So, I believe that it did look exactly the same when it was first made and called "Axis".

Not 100% sure about pinkburst being the only color initially offered, but that does ring a bell..

 

[Spudmurphy]

Welcome to the "Albert Lee Owners Club" to which I'm a relatively new member myself!

I consider the AL to be one of the finest guitars I have played and I have two other "beauts" in my arsenal!

Custom shop ? - why, when you can order brand new al guitar to YOUR specification, but you will wait about 3 months or so to get it. Pretty good going in my book.

Let us know how you get on with it - it looks a great buy!!
Spud

 

[GWDavis28]

I'm pretty sure that pinkburst was one of the original colors. Do a forum search on "pinkburst" and you should find your answer man.

Glenn |B)

 

[kai54]

Once again, you folks are great! Thanks for info. I sometimes wonder what the earliest AXIS models are going for...hopefully they haven't joined the ranks of over-priced "vintage" guitars. Maybe they're still a used bargin.
When I visited the MM booth at the NAMM Show I remember thinking that these guitars are fantastic, probably over-looked by the Fend-Gib-PRS crowd, and destined to be future classics.
I could be wrong here being so new to the "MM family" and perhaps older models have already entered vintage status/prices. I pray the rep grows but prices still allow the common player to enjoy used models.
Does any one know if Albert Lee attended or played at the NAMM Show? Thanks again.

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, I think you might be missing something. The AL started out as the "Axis", but was never sold as an "Axis". EBMM has one hang in SLO factory, http://community.webshots.com/photo/456918396/1456990981015042659WdmPFu I took this picture at the Open House last September.

Albert Lee liked the guitar, so they renamed it. Then EBMM developed the EVH and when EVH split with EBMM the EVH became the Axis.

As far as vintage EBMM's there are a few that show up from time to time. Ernie1966 got an early Silo and was going to have it restored. Hey Ernie how's that coming along???

The prices of the EVH's are thru the roof most of the time, you can find a decently priced one ever now and then.

Around here the sparkle finishes seem to be the ones that sell for more because people them because of the fact that they are discontinued colors.

If this seems like rambling, sorry it's early.

Hope this helps, Glenn |B)

 

[kai54]

Thanks Glenn,
Thanks for the picture and thoughts & info. Like I mentioned before, I'm new to this family and my "knowledge" is a spattering of bits and pieces from one site to another. You folks have been the best source of help that I've found!
In my search for detailed info on the AL, I came upon someone's site with two of his personal Albert Lee models posted. He stated that the AXIS was originally aimed for the Europeon market. Germany in particular. Why Germany? I haven't a clue and he didn't elaborate. Where he came upon that piece of history or urban myth is unknown. Any forum members from Europe?
Glenn, your photo was the first I've ever seen with an AXIS decal on the current incarnation of the AL. I also forgot about the EVH models - and their current prices! Since I live in California I'd like to visit one of their open houses. If its open to the general public that is....
Thanks again Glenn.

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, that's okay glad to help, that's what we are here for.

EBMM just had their first and only Open House for forum members last September and let me tell you it was a blast!!!! They don't do tours. It was 2 days and it was by far the best 2 days of my life next to my wedding and my kids births.

Where are you in California??? There are a bunch of forum members here from California you might be able to network with them.

Do some searchs and search by Forum member BigPoppa (aka. Sterling Ball, great guy) and read some of his stories, they are enlightening and entertaining.

Glenn |B)

 

[kai54]

Thanks Glenn. I'm originally from Hawaii but now live in Southern California near Orange County. Hopefully, MM will host another open house in the future - would love to attend.
Here's another question for you (others join in too!). Albert Lee played in Clapton's band for several tours. Does anyone know if he: (1) Used his AL model during that time? (2) Was he using the same amp/effect set up?
The "pinkburst" is coming on the 16th! Some one in the forum just ordered an AL and is patiently waiting through the building period (90 days I believe).
I have just a few days to wait in comparison and am already so anxious. Again, you folks are fantastic! Don't forget to take your loved one out and celebrate Valentine's Day...your other "love" will understand and be waiting in the case.
Thanks!

 

[PugNinjas]

Some one in the forum just ordered an AL and is patiently waiting through the building period (90 days I believe).

Quit rubbing it in

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, fill in your location in your profile. It cost a lot of $ and BP covered all but our flights and rooms, so chances are there might never be another one, but you never know.

Not sure when did he tour with Clapton? Yours has a Bday of 1993, so chances are that he may have used one on tour.

I waited for mine for a short period as well and it was like waiting for my wife to give birth to my daughters. But man was it worth it in the end, on both accounts.

Pug, that's not a shot, the wait will be definately worth it man, trust me.

This place is pretty cool, stick around and enjoy the instruments, threads and the people. I met a lot of the people here at the Open House and let me tell you they are among some of the nicest people I ever met, and the employee's of Music Man rate second to none.

Glenn |B)

 

[PugNinjas]

Glenn,

I hear ya, it will no doubt be worth the wait but how about you lend me your Albert until mine is ready

PugNinjas

 

[GWDavis28]

Glenn, I hear ya, it will no doubt be worth the wait but how about you lend me your Albert until mine is ready

Hahahahahahahaha, ah NO!! Sorry man GC lost mine in shipping and I feared it was gone for good. But I can be relentless and thus I tracked it down like a blood hound looking for a fugative.

That bad boy is never leaving my sight.

Did you buy yours from Royal? See if they'll send you one until your comes in??

Glenn |B)

 

[art027]

I think Albert was in Clapton's band from '79 to '83 or something.
He has always been a die hard Telecaster player and his favorite was a '53 model.
So during his time with Clapton the EBMM didn't excist yet.

I think i read somewhere that sometime in the early ninetees BP gave him the pinkburst 'Axis' as a present, he tried it and loved it so much he never looked back. I think that particular guitar has a maple body and also the neck and fretboard are finished.
A few years later they started producing the model and the only finish available at the time was pinkburst.
I had one a few years back and i still regret i sold it, i think it's a cool finish.
The combination with the body shape gives it a classic '50's R&R vibe.

 

[brentrocks]

Thanks Glenn,
Thanks for the picture and thoughts & info. Like I mentioned before, I'm new to this family and my "knowledge" is a spattering of bits and pieces from one site to another. You folks have been the best source of help that I've found!

congrats on the AL!

 

[kai54]

Brentrocks - thank you! Al (and others) - thanks for info on the Clapton/Lee question. Glenn - would love to see photos of your White Sparkle AL!
Here is another question for those who play piezo-equipped EBMM models. ( Note: I have not tried one and assume that MM uses either a Fishman or Baggs set up and heard that their set up is different from other piezo-equipped electrics)

"How does one get rid of the typical "quack" associated with piezo pickups"?

"Can the piezo signal first be run into a (for example) Yamaha AG Stomp - to give it more "air" or natural acoustic-like sound - before going into the board"?

Any info you folks can share or personal rigs will be most appreciated! Thanks to you in advance. Mitch

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, NP. http://community.webshots.com/album/158336509LqGLNJ

A piezo equipped AL has 2 connections for the output. You could run it thru a pedal first if you wanted too.

Glenn |B)

 

[kai54]

Thanks Glenn. Whoa! beautiful AL! Very classy lookin' and definitely worth considering as a color choice if Mr Tax Man is gracious to me this year.
Thanks also for the info on the 2 jack system MM uses - this, however, is very different from other piezo-equipped electrics I've played. They all had a single jack and the players (for the most part) used stereo Y cords to send the signal to diferent locations (amp/board).
It "appears" that the AL's piezo signal can't be blended with the magnetic signal of the pickups - but I definitely could be wrong here. The Fishman Power Bridge offers several ways to incorporate their piezo bridge with one's guitar. Of course, each option cost more $ as one upgrades his set up.
Glenn, are the MM piezo bridges Fishman? I'm going to try and call them this week but just thought you might know. Again, much thanks!
I like the way the hint of White Sparkle (and perhaps its more vibrant in person) interacts with the pickguard & P-90s!
Oh, another question for you (and this may be because of the digital photo itself). Is the maple on your AL slightly darker (ala a slight "vintage" tone to it)? Like I said, it may be the lighting.
I've seen two other older MM guitars and both necks (both well taken care of...) had what appeared to be a more vintage tint (golden yellow hue) to them. I did not get to ask the owners about it.
Can these necks when re-oiled/waxed be sligttly darkened? I've been around enough Fender stuff to know the aging & wear process of maple necks but these appeared "aged" verses aged by time. Have a great day! Thanks.

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, thanx I feel the same way about it. Sorry they don't offer white sparkle as a finish anymore, that's one of the main reasons that I scooped it up.

NP about the piezo I really don't know much more than that. I wished mine had it, but it doesn't. As far as how the piezo works, call customer service they can explain it to you in detail.

I think that the neck looks darker because it was hanging around GC for "3 years!!". It's got a ton of birdseye on it though compared to my Silo Special or Axis Sport. That may have something to do with the neck looking darker. I had to send it back to EBMM after I bought it, it had a bad case of fret sprout. Jon pimped it out really nice and cleaned it up for me, thanx once again Jon .

Glenn |B)

 

[kai54]

Glenn,
Just got through reviewing those photos of your AL again. Really nice. Did you replace the standard "strat-type" knobs for "tele-style" ones? They look good against the pickguard & body color.
If I'm seeing correctly - the knobs appear to be capped with a jewel-like top? I'm probably wrong though...clue me in. Are they after market knobs?
Does the AL, or any other MM model for that matter, come with "flamed maple" necks? They seem to like birds eye a lot! Yours definitely has a ton of it - even more than the guitars I saw at the NAMM Show.
Really makes it unique to other MMs I've seen. Though I know my overall exposure is limited compared to you vets out there. You guys talk about me being lucky in finding the "pinkburst" - and I do agree! - but for a beauty like the White Sparkle to sit for so long at the "push 'em out the door" grind of GC...Glenn, you scored!
I can only imagine (hope) that they discounted it a ton when you got it. Only fair. Just attempted to contact another GC who had a similar situation with an AL sitting on the show room floor. Knocked down price...SOLD! (Understandably).
Gotta go and get some food. 2 more days, if UPS keeps to their schedule, and I'll officially be in the Albert Lee club! Thanks Glenn...

 

[GWDavis28]

Dude, no problem always glad to help out. Yah I asked Jon about that, he said he had to change the pots from split post to solid post, or vise versa it's been a while. Yah I liked that combination the white crush pickguard and white sparkle paint the chrome really came together well. They are standard tele knobs, EBMM sells them, but there are a ton of places on the web that sell them too.

The necks are pretty much luck of the draw. My Axis Sport and Silo Special (my baby) are the ones that have some very nice flame. How much birdseye or flame never really mattered to me. What mattered was that the guitar was clean and sparkled like crazy.

I tell you man that AL was just dumb luck. I was sufing the dealer locator at lunch one day and came across a dealer listing that had it. I prefer hardtails, I'm not very good with a trem. I printed the page, but the heading (aka. dealer info) didn't print. Then my computer crashed and I lost where I was. I went back to where I thought I was, but it wasn't listed. I contacted Dargin (aka. Scott Ball) and the was very nice and tried his best to help, but there wheren't any AL's in sparkle finish, MM90 and hardtail configuration. I thought oh well such is life.

Then a couple of days later I'm killing sometime, so I call the GC that I thought that I was checking out, well don't you know that they had it, it just wasn't on there listing anymore, fell off for reason. They tell me the story and history of the guitar, I ask them to take pictures and email them to me. They mess around for like 4 days, oh we don't have a camera, oh we promise we'll get them to you first thing tomorrow. Finally, I tell them look I'm pretty sure I want the guitar, but I'm not buying it sight unseen. Sidenote, I've bought all of mine off the web had the seller send pictures and never had a problem. So, they send it to a GC 15 minutes from my work. However, it gets lost in shipping just before Christmas. I'm crushed!! Again, I think oh well such is life. Then I'm sitting here at lunch (do that sometimes) and I'm thinking nothing can get truly lost. So I have a friend who's girlfriend works for UPS I talk to him, she recommends that I call. So, I call and get a very nice lady who helps me out huge. Well to make a long story short after a couple of days UPS tracks down the package and it's back at the original GC!! So I call them and they are like oh yah we were going to call you, I'm like really, when you've had it for 3-5 days?? So, I tell them to overnight it up here to the GC near me. They do it, I go and check it out and it looks beat. There's pitting on the bridge, there's a stain on the pickguard from the selector switch the neck looks disgusting. The local GC guys try to sell me the guitar at it's original cost, now the original location was going to sell it to me at a discounted rate since it had been hanging around for so long. I start wheeling and dealing and they're not budging. I say nevermind keep it and walk out. I go back over the next 2 weeks and it's still there and they can't sell it. Then I walk in and they've marked it down to the price that the original location was going to sell it to me. We start talking again and they want me to pay for the case!! I'm like heck no, EBMM's are sold with the case, I'm like call them they'll tell you. Remember this was considered a "New" guitar, so it still had a warranty and stuff. So we rangle for a bit and they come down a bit and I go up, because deep down I really, really wanted this guitar. And that's the story man, I took it home and sent it back to EBMM, which made her look like new and Jon gave it the royal once going over and it's beautiful.

Sorry to be long winded.

Excellent, your gonna love it man. You'll be wanting to get another with piezo and all the bells and whistles in no time.

Glenn |B)