• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

Tone?

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
348
Location
San Francisco, CA
Ok guys maybe this has been done before, but to any of you who own both or have played both. What are the differences in tone that you can tell??

I have an AXIS and absolutely love it and am always curious about the BFR ones.
Ok, so I am curious about most of the EBMM models,lol. But that is besides the point.

anyone??

are there any vids out there that show the differences?

btw I am talking strictly about the maple neck ones with floyds.
 

walleye

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
436
Location
Melbourne, Australia
living in america you have that envious luxury of actually being able to try these things for yourself. find one in a store and try it
 

Tone?

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
348
Location
San Francisco, CA
Trust me if I found one where I am I would!!!

I found one but it had a rosewood neck.......fricken nice though
 

Stratty316

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
2,491
Location
Sin City!!!
Axis with a rosewood neck... where would that be?? and I would think a Guitar Center may have both in stock. San Fran has to have a "flagship" store much like Hollywood that would stock both.
 

Tone?

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
348
Location
San Francisco, CA
Nope they only had the rosewood one.

Someone tell me now how they sound!!!!

lol

I keep looking back here for an answer and get people that havent played em both!!!

lol
 

beej

Moderator
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
12,419
Location
Toronto, Canada
I haven't been able to A/B them, but generally speaking the mahag Tone Block adds a bit in the lower mids to the sound. So I'd expect you'd find the same thing from the BFR Axis.
 

bbake1

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
576
Location
Gilbert, AZ
My rosewood BFR does not have a tone block, but does have rosewood neck and top. Not sure if this what you're looking for. I find that the BFR has a darker, creamier tone. Not as rich in highs as the maple top/necks that I prefer. Not that it is dead in any freqs, but more subdued. A little bassier, not boomy. I have to tweak my Axe-FX presets with higher mids and highs to bring it up to the maple cousins tone. It has a great acoustic sound (not plugged in). Sustain seems to be greater. All of mine are the standard Axis w/Gotoh locking trems.
 

cm_17

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
182
Location
Boston, MA & Zurich, CH
I own an Axis (also thanks to some input by you :)), but have also test-played a BFR Axis through the same amp, yet not extensively. And it's been a while.

The BFR did have indeed a bit more mids, IIRC. An open low E sounded slightly more dark. When on the neck pickup, higher registers were vaguely more creamy. But overall the difference was not extreme, and I thought I'd also played some regular Axis that sounded brighter and others that were darker. I would guess with time you could get deeper into the individual sounds.

What I do recall (besides the absolutely gorgeous piece of maple neck) is (besides the absolutely gorgeous piece of maple neck) that the BFR was notably lighter than the regular Axis. But then I picked up another Axis that was even lighter than the BFR...so that must be simply dependent on the basswood slap used for each individual instrument. This might have a profound influence on subtle tonal differences anyway :).

But once more, that's all my memory, my opinion, and based on a few minutes of testing. The only thing I had trouble with is the BFR logo on the 12th fret, that's too weird for me. The other BFR position markers are very elegant, however. Once more, my opinion :).
 

beej

Moderator
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
12,419
Location
Toronto, Canada
Whad'ya mean "weird"? It's still a relatively new addition so you're not going to get a ton of guys with a BFR Axis yet.

Do a search on the Tone Block ... mostly you're going to get people (including BP) saying that it adds to the lower mids. That's the effect it has.
 

Jack FFR1846

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 17, 2008
Messages
2,176
Location
Hopkinton, MA
living in america you have that envious luxury of actually being able to try these things for yourself. find one in a store and try it

I have to agree with this.

I was in the Boston GC early this week and they were more than willing to move a guitar from another store for me to try it. As it turned out, I found another GC during my business travels to do an A to B comparison.

I've played both, but not during the same sit down. (BFR in the store, non-BFR back home) and there's enough lost that I could not say for sure what the differences really were.
 

threeminutesboy

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2003
Messages
6,907
Location
France
I suggest to check youtube. there is a guy doing very nice EVH covers that plays both Axis and BFR Axis you will hear the difference by yourself (sorry can't remember the name of the guy)
 

fatkatz77

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2004
Messages
357
Location
Wisconsin
I own a BFR Axis and several regular Axis'. The BFR has a warmer sound to it. That's really the only difference. I love it.
 
Top Bottom