The Axis I bought through a Harmony-Central Classifieds arrived via FedEx today. I have to say this is the most pleasant and effortless online transaction I ever dealt with.
As I saw in the pics, the Axis had a very beautiful Cherry Sunburst bookmatched quilt top. It had a heavily figured birdseye maple neck, and matched headstock.
Being a predominantly Strat and Les Paul player, it seemed a little small at first. But once plugged in, the smallish demeanour all but disappeared. The stock zebra pickups were focused, sweet, and had harmonics on tap. They responded extremely well to picking dynamics. This is one guitar I will leave totally stock.
The neck was what caught me by the balls. It wasn't thin and whimpy like the Ibanezes I've tried. In fact, it reminded me of a Fender 52 reissue Telecaster neck. It was meaty!! Meaty, but fast. Real fast. I totally loved the smooth feel of the neck. Playing largely on nitrocellulose coated necks, this was a god-send. The frets were jumbos I think, and felt nice on the bends.
To my surprise, the floyd-rose bridge felt very sturdy, yet moves fluidly, and decisively when dive-bombed. I owned an Ibanez Prestige RG before, and totally hated the lo-pro edge. But the Axis' floyd-rose was world's apart. To add to an already sweet deal, the seller has configured in an EVH D-Tuna on the bridge.
I opened up the rear cavities. The first thing that made my jaw drop was the neat wiring job. Gosh! The only place I've seen a wiring job this neat, are in high-end amps. The wires were neatly grouped, and were even labelled! The shielding was spotless, and one of the neatest, and most systematic jobs I've seen on guitars.
Perhaps the only complaint, though a minor one, is the filmsy feeling 3-way toggle switch. Not a biggie at all.
Bottomline. If there was ever a guitar built perfectly for the kill, this was it. I'm just kicking myself why I didn't head this way earlier.
Thanks all,
WR
As I saw in the pics, the Axis had a very beautiful Cherry Sunburst bookmatched quilt top. It had a heavily figured birdseye maple neck, and matched headstock.
Being a predominantly Strat and Les Paul player, it seemed a little small at first. But once plugged in, the smallish demeanour all but disappeared. The stock zebra pickups were focused, sweet, and had harmonics on tap. They responded extremely well to picking dynamics. This is one guitar I will leave totally stock.
The neck was what caught me by the balls. It wasn't thin and whimpy like the Ibanezes I've tried. In fact, it reminded me of a Fender 52 reissue Telecaster neck. It was meaty!! Meaty, but fast. Real fast. I totally loved the smooth feel of the neck. Playing largely on nitrocellulose coated necks, this was a god-send. The frets were jumbos I think, and felt nice on the bends.
To my surprise, the floyd-rose bridge felt very sturdy, yet moves fluidly, and decisively when dive-bombed. I owned an Ibanez Prestige RG before, and totally hated the lo-pro edge. But the Axis' floyd-rose was world's apart. To add to an already sweet deal, the seller has configured in an EVH D-Tuna on the bridge.
I opened up the rear cavities. The first thing that made my jaw drop was the neat wiring job. Gosh! The only place I've seen a wiring job this neat, are in high-end amps. The wires were neatly grouped, and were even labelled! The shielding was spotless, and one of the neatest, and most systematic jobs I've seen on guitars.
Perhaps the only complaint, though a minor one, is the filmsy feeling 3-way toggle switch. Not a biggie at all.
Bottomline. If there was ever a guitar built perfectly for the kill, this was it. I'm just kicking myself why I didn't head this way earlier.
Thanks all,
WR
Anyway, you're right, the Axis is a special guitar! Now we're going to see how long you can last with just one! 
