Axis Sport & Albert Lee - similarities w/MM90s

[PurpleSport]

MM90ed Axis Sport & Albert Lee - tone similarities/differences?

Here's one for you lucky folks who own both the Axis Sport w/MM90s as well as the MM90-ed Albert Lee:

How similar are these two in overall sound?

Don't have both models in a store near me right now to compare, so curious to know if the ash body/maple neck formula make for a similar tone recipe.

But, I'm also wondering if there's a noticeable difference between the Axis's Gibsonesque 500k controls vs. the AL's Stratty-er 250k in this pickup configuration. I'd think the Axis would be the more rockin' of the two.

Sooo...anyone modded their AL's to make it more Axis-like, or is it even worth the trouble?

 

[tvanveen]

I've wondered the same thing. I've considered getting a sport so I could have MM-90's and a rosewood board.

I'm pretty sure the MM-90's in the AL are custom wound for each position. I wonder if the sport has it's own custom windings?

 

[PurpleSport]

TV - which leads me to my next question...have there ever been any rosewood-boarded ALs made?

Coulda sworn I saw a pic of one somewhere out there on the 'Net - even thought I might have even seen it on the Instrument Builder here on the site - but perhaps that was just wishful thinking on my part....or maybe I just confused things in my addled head whilst I was looking up stuff on the Axis Sport line.

If not, wonder why they don't offer it as an option? I'd bet there's plenty of Fender folks that EBMM might possibly convert that prefer rosewood over maple but won't plunk down the dough on an AL that basis alone (not that it would stop me, of course, even though my favorite Strats/Teles were slab rosewood L-series jobs from the early-mid 60s).

I mean, heck, the AL is essentially a Strat/Tele at it's base level, if ya think about it...seems logical to me, unless AL was adamant about not having rosewood ever at all on his model.

 

[tvanveen]

have there ever been any rosewood-boarded ALs made?

As far as I know, no. I think I remember someone on the forum asking MM if they'd make him one and he got turned down.

I've toyed with the idea of finding a beat Axis with rosewood neck to cannibalize...I mean, there *is* at least one "stock" AL in the world with Axis in the headstock.

Yeah, I don't know why they don't offer it. I guess cuz it's considered a country guitar, and country guys like maple? Maybe?

There has been some talk of MM setting up a custom shop, so maybe in the not too distant future it will be a possibility.

 

[Jimi D]

This was such a cool question that I almost tripped off an answer from the office yesterday, but I thought I'd hold my horses until I could sit down and play the two guitars side-by-side and then respond with the results fresh in my mind...

These are the guitars I'm comparing:

My Axis Super Sport MM90

and my Albert Lee MM90

First of all, it should be noted these two MM90-loaded EB/MM axes are quite different. They have the same scale length, of course, and though both have Swamp Ash bodies, the Axis Super Sport has the flame Maple top. The AL is equipped with the Music Man trem while the Axis is a string-through-body bridge, and the AL actually weighs about 6 ounces more than the Axis (though both are quite light). But the differences are significant enough that you can hear distinct differences in the tonality of the guitars even before plugging them in. Played acoustically, the Axis is quite loud, tight, with bright attack and lots of zip. The Albert Lee has lots of volume too, with a that tone isn't quite so bright, but springier, and the attack is rounder, softer.

These basic differences are amplified when the guitars are plugged in. I jacked into my Deluxe Reverb and played clean to get a better feel for the tones. I decided to limit my test to a direct comparison between the neck-only and bridge-only pickup selections, as these are the only two positions that these guitars have in common. And here's what I heard: On the neck pickup, where the AL is big and airy and loose, the Axis is sharper, brighter with a much tighter and more narrow bass, but without as much depth as the Albert Lee. Rolling the Tone control down to 3 on both guitars darkens the AL's tone considerably and offers up a really woody, jazz vibe so pronounced I find myself reflexively comping "Fly Me To The Moon", where the Axis sounds more focused even with the diminished attack, and maintains a nice tight bass response. On the bridge pickup, the Axis is sharp and twangy and loaded with aggressive Tele goodness without being at all shrill. Rolling off the tone again softens the attack without sacrificing the pickup's character and the tone remains punchy with a real spring and zip - very nice. Here again the AL sounds more open, bigger, rounder, with lots of mids and looser bass tones and a subtle, springy aire that suggests a Strat with greater breadth and depth, but without the Axis's bright liveliness. But with the Tone rolled down on the AL, the pickup loses a lot of it's punch, and sounds flatter, restrained, almost dull; honestly not a tone I'm likely to dial up often, if at all.

Now I should mention that I've quite consciously invoked the Fender classics here, because I think in terms of the comparison between the two instruments, the references are quite valid - these guitars are as different to one another as a Strat to a Tele, and it really is quite a striking difference when you play them side by side... The in-between tones on the AL are excellent, and the middle pickup offers up some great rhythm tones when used solo. Combining the neck and bridge pickups on the Axis again invokes aural images of the Telecaster and pretty much begs you to strum a few cowboy chords. In the end, both are wonderful guitars, and I'm thrilled to have them.

 

[tvanveen]

You didn't mentioned any volume differences. Can we deduce that the pickups are the same and that the differences are due to the woods and bridges?

 

[tvanveen]

Oh, and thanks for a good post.

Also, do you have any clue why they don't offer a rosewood fretboard?

 

[Jimi D]

You didn't mentioned any volume differences. Can we deduce that the pickups are the same and that the differences are due to the woods and bridges?

There weren't really any significant volume differences... I don't know if the pickups are the same (I would hazard a guess that they are), but their outputs are pretty much the same...

Also, do you have any clue why they don't offer a rosewood fretboard?

"It's a Signature guitar." According to the people I've corresponded with at EB/MM, they don't add options to Signature guitars that the endorsing artist doesn't request, nor will they customize a Signature instrument. So if there's no AL with a Rosewood board, I have to presume it's because Albert doesn't want a guitar with a Rosewood fretboard.... Of course, we now know that they will make exceptions for the Dweezil Zappas and Blues Saracenos of the world, but I don't think we quite rank

 

[PurpleSport]

JimiD - thanks for the detailed report! Figured you of all people probably had the best take on this.

What you've described with how the maple cap on the Axis played a bit into the brightness thing, as well as the hardtail vs. trem bridge (a known factor in "airiness") and the volume pot values certainly seem to fall in line with my theories about how different these models would sound. Would be interesting if an experienced EBMM employee could confirm these findings if they've tried prototype or one-off ALs with these parameters in place.

I agree with TV that it sure would be nice if they had a custom shop to add the stuff you want on your preferred body style. Looks like neopotism is the only other way to go to get what ya want on an EBMM - have a look near the bottom for a description of an AL configuration that I'd like to have (and actually had thought about before I saw this article)!

http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~takeito/ball.html

Anyone here know how this gentleman's related to the family?