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.
