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thegregslife

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I love the neck on an Axis, but the body is a little awkward to me. Do any of the other Ernie Ball guitars have identical dimensions to an Axis neck?
 

racerx

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The StingRay is close, if not exact.

I'd agree, both are great in their own way. The StingRay nails the vintage vibe and voicing whereas the Axis is a bit more "modern" (for lack of a better expression).
 

Pink

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Look up. Waaaaay up.
I suppose a question to ask is which EBMM body style(s) appeal to you most? It wouldn't matter if a STV or Majesty's neck is closest but you can't get along with the body style.
 

thegregslife

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I suppose a question to ask is which EBMM body style(s) appeal to you most? It wouldn't matter if a STV or Majesty's neck is closest but you can't get along with the body style.
Aesthetically I actually don't care too much about the body (unless a guitar is butt ugly lol). All of their guitars are beautiful though. When I say the Axis body is awkward, I just mean the way it feels when I play it (both standing and sitting). But the neck of the Axis is literally perfect in my hands. In a perfect world, I would slap an Axis neck onto a Fender Strat body.
 

headcrash

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Does the Stingray also have that asymmetrical profile?
Is it as narrow?
Both things I consider to be very distinct about the Axis necks.
I am VERY used to the Axis profile, although the narrow-ness can be tricky.

When I still had my Silo Spec and AL, whose neck profiles were very similar to each other, it took a few minutes getting used to the respective profile, when switching between those two and Axis.
 

scottcentilli

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They are both asymmetrical and have the same 1 5/8" nut width, if that's what you mean by narrow. I have one of each at the moment and the neck depth at the first fret seems to be a little thicker on the StingRay than the Axis, though I could be wrong.
 

thegregslife

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They are both asymmetrical and have the same 1 5/8" nut width, if that's what you mean by narrow. I have one of each at the moment and the neck depth at the first fret seems to be a little thicker on the StingRay than the Axis, though I could be wrong.

I got my hands on a Stingray. It's neck didn't feel like an Axis at all IMO. It was noticeably thicker 🤔 I can't seem to find an EBMM guitar with an almost identical neck to the Axis. 😫
 

Ishmun

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I agree - the stingray feels fatter than the Axis neck...I always found the Albert Lee HH neck to be most similar to the axis
 

jayjayjay

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Aesthetically I actually don't care too much about the body (unless a guitar is butt ugly lol). All of their guitars are beautiful though. When I say the Axis body is awkward, I just mean the way it feels when I play it (both standing and sitting). But the neck of the Axis is literally perfect in my hands. In a perfect world, I would slap an Axis neck onto a Fender Strat body.
While EBMM is without a doubt my favorite brand - I think their instruments are about the finest you can get for their price point - have you considered EVH guitars? As I understand it, the Axis neck originated from EVH's collaboration with MM back in the 90's, as it was basically a copy of the neck of one of EVH's guitars.

You might look at their Wolfgang model - it's basically's EVH's evolution of the Axis. It has an asymmetrical neck carve, but the body is a bit more contoured. Could be just the ticket you're looking far.
 

racerx

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Just for posterity for anyone curious, here are the measurements on mine (bear in mind every instrument is a little different so this is just an approximation):

StingRay Depth First Fret: 0.82" / 20.82 mm
StingRay Depth Twelfth Fret: 0.93" / 23.62 mm

Axis Depth First Fret: 0.86" / 21.88 mm
Axis Depth Twelfth Fret: 0.94" / 23.88 mm

Anecdotally they both feel similar with the Axis being marginally larger. Both have a nice "full" profile with the Axis feeling more chunky on the bass side than the treble side (the asymmetrical bit). I wouldn't kick either out of bed.
 

thegregslife

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While EBMM is without a doubt my favorite brand - I think their instruments are about the finest you can get for their price point - have you considered EVH guitars? As I understand it, the Axis neck originated from EVH's collaboration with MM back in the 90's, as it was basically a copy of the neck of one of EVH's guitars.

You might look at their Wolfgang model - it's basically's EVH's evolution of the Axis. It has an asymmetrical neck carve, but the body is a bit more contoured. Could be just the ticket you're looking far.

I have! I have played both a MIJ Wolfgang Special, and recently I played an EVH Signature Wolfgang (USA). The former guitar I remember not liking as much as my Axis (I had the two guitars side by side). Tbh, I don't remember my exact reasoning being it was a couple years ago. The EVH Signature that I played recently instantly felt different than my Axis. The body of the EVH I preferred because it had an arch, whereas the Axis is flat. But the neck I definitely preferred on my Axis. The EVH neck was noticeably fatter. By no means was the EVH a bad guitar, but the neck just didn't fit in my hands as well as my Axis.

With regards to my Axis body, I can only play it in classical position. My strumming shoulder is agitated when I play the guitar in the casual position. Whereas my strat is very comfortable in the casual position.
 

Stratty316

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There is nothing quite like an Axis neck.... that being said, the Albert Lee neck is pretty close in girth and overall feel once you get past the C shape vs the asymmetrical carve on the Axis. I do think my AL is one of the most comfortable (overall) guitars I have ever owned... I really would love to play one of the new HH ALs with the roasted maple neck as I think it will brighten up the guitar a touch.
 
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