First music man- question about toggle

[Chaseman]

Hey guys,
Been trolling this forum gathering info on MM axis guitars for a while. Great forum and excellent posts.

Anyway I finally got one, well 2. And trying to decide which one I want to keep. I'll be returning the other.

First is a blue ASS semi hollow hard tail w a full rosewood neck. Really like it! This guitar came w 10 ga strings. I like heavier strings. Play 11s on my strat. Anyway it came w a 3 way toggle installed. I was confused when I opened the case and found the old 5 way sitting in there. Any idea why someone would swap the 5 way with a 3? I want the 5 way I think. I like the tones of the split coil positions. It reduces the tonal flexibility w the 3 way in my opinion.

Second is a red ASS semi hollow trem w maple neck. This guitar came w the stock 9 ga strings and the stock 5 way selector. So much more tone possibilities w the 5 way but tone feels weaker. Like is it just because the strings are a lower gage? Or does the hard tail and rosewood neck really effect the tone that much? Or is the blue one have some wiring mod that impacts tone?

As of now I'm leaning towards keeping the blue rosewood and having the 5 way wired back in. However I'm still wondering why the previous owner put the 3 way in?? Both are great guitars and sound awesome. So glad to have a music man. First time I played one is when it showed up at my door!
Which would y'all pick? I'll post pics soon!

 

[Chaseman]

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[MJM]

nice guitars! I can't answer your questions as to the tone difference... but try some 10's on the red one. Quick question on the blue.. does the tone knob do anything when you adjust it on that guitar?... only reason I ask is that maybe the previous owner tried to wire it up like a standard axis... with has the 3 way switch and no tone knob in the circuit... The axis guitars are just a little hotter sounding than the supersports with tone knobs... just a thought..

Anyway, keep both
they both look killer

 

[kimonostereo]

Very nice guitars! If I were to guess, I'd say the previous owner put a 3 way in because it suited their playing style. Some folks like just 3 settings vs. the "fiddly" in between sounds. Hard to say unless you open up that control cavity and see how it's wired though. Are you sure those are the stock Axis pickups?

As far as the tone differences, are you hearing a different tone plugged in or acoustically? The rosewood neck and hardtail on the blue vs. the maple neck and vintage trem on the red will give a pretty good variation on tone. They are similar but different.

I haven't seen a full rosewood neck on a Axis super sport semi hollow before. It also look like the headstock is a matte finish as well. Both are very nice guitars!

 

[Johnny Alien]

I like that all rosewood neck! I don't care at all for the split pickup settings so a 3 way switch makes a ton of sense to me. I have never really found a humbucker that I think sounds good split.

 

[sanderhermans]

I like that all rosewood neck! I don't care at all for the split pickup settings so a 3 way switch makes a ton of sense to me. I have never really found a humbucker that I think sounds good split.

Try the albert lee HH. I've got one with the push/pull from the factory and the humbuckers sound great split!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Keep the blue one, its more suitable for playing the blues.

 

[Chaseman]

Thanks guys. I ended up keeping the blue rosewood one. Love the guitar. Was sad returning the red one. Hopefully it finds a good home.

I think the pickups are stock but not sure. The tone is definitely thicker on this one. It was apparent after a good jam and playing it acoustically. The neck is amazing. My strayt


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[Chaseman]

...my strat feels so much different now. Not sure I can go back. The tone knob def effects the tone. The harmonics on these pickups are awesome too. Cuts through so much better than my noiseless fender single coils.


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[Magic Jason]

You'll end up selling all your other guitars...

Many of us have...and never looked back!

 

[Johnny Alien]

Try the albert lee HH. I've got one with the push/pull from the factory and the humbuckers sound great split!

Don't they use the Axis pickups? I didn't care for the Axis pickups split BUT the pickups are still great. I just don't care for split humbuckers...they don't sound like good single coils typically. Again, not that I dislike the pickups in the guitars I actually like them a lot. I just don't use the split coil sounds.