New Musicman Axis arrived

[GBeattie]

Hey guys, am new to the Musicman world, just bought myself a ball reserve Axis (great guitar) and had a question listed below.
Im getting used to how to search function works but will keep trying to find things before posting long essays. Will upload a pic once I get one small enough, my photos are 2 large I think, cant upload atm. Is there maybe something stupid I'm doing? Ive a 3mb png file for it which cant upload?

1) if I leave the arm in the new floyd rose type permanently (push in, no allun key lock type) - will the arm start to get loose over time as whatever bush is in there might take a compression set? Has anyone experienced that? I like that the case design allows me to leave it always attached but was wondering if taking it out wen done playing would keep it "tighter" for longer as the presumed inter collar can relax to original diameter?

2) do you guys ever experience a "rise in the neck" at the pocket due to the small shims? Ive seen it after around 10-15 years on other guitars. I want to keep this neck in perfect condition and if u guys have noticed that then I'll go and make a full pocket angled shim to try and match the current neck angle etc.

The guitar is great, really bonding with it, will upload some pics once I can get the upload to work, if anyone has some tips on that, would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jayjayjay]

Curious as to what Axis BFR you purchased - I have one myself.

1) I leave my trem arm in. I'd think frictional wear due to repeated rotation would play a bigger factor than compression. That said, there's a grub screw on the back side of the tone block just behind where the arm inserts - you can access it by diving the trem - that controls the friction on the arm to resist rotation. I set mine last year shortly after getting my guitar so that it basically stays put on a stand if more or less vertical, but will swing out of the way on its own in playing position. I haven't noticed it getting looser in the time I've had it, which has been over a year. I don't play it constantly, so if there was a compression issue, I would expect to have seen it by now.

2) I'll let someone who has had an Axis for 10-15 years with a shimmed neck for that amount of time speak definitively as to whether the wood there eventually telegraphs the shim. Or, come back and ask me in 10 years. I do have a shim in the neck pocket of mine, needed to get the action where I want it - that's standard EBMM procedure. Note that EBMM sells shims specifically for the neck pocket, although I don't think they're tapered to fit the whole pocket.

If I were to speculate, a hump forming over the shim seems more likely if you get someone who really cranks down on any neck pocket bolts that aren't over the shim, so that there's a little gap in the pocket into which the neck can be pulled. Also, though, note that the body is made from basswood, which is softer than the maple of the neck. I would expect the body wood to be more likely to give before the neck bends. But like I said - I'm just speculating.

Looking forward to the pics. From my phone, I had to significantly downsize and save using higher JPEG compression. I think the forums have something like a 50kb limit for pics, so it takes a lot. Many folks here use a third party to host the pics, like photobucket, and then link to the pics, to get around the size limitation.

 

[GBeattie]

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Thanks JayJay, I'll leave the arm in, sounds good to me. Thanks for the info on that, i have found it harder to get advice online on the musicman stuff through standard forums/good searches etc but good I'm on this forum now.
She's a double trouble one, absolute beauty. I shimmed the inner saddles to match the 10" and I'm really happy with it now, just wasnt used to playing it unmatched, i know my other flatter radius guitars have it the opposite way, having to shim the outer saddles to be flatter etc. But its def making me very happy now.

Heres some images: i downloaded a file resizer for my phone, hopefully it works and they come up below. Def let me know your thoughts @jayjayjay

 

[fogman]

Congrats on the new guitar!! She's gorgeous.
The Axis is by far my most favourite guitar I've owned. .... looking to get another ... maybe one like yours.

 

[GBeattie]

Congrats on the new guitar!! She's gorgeous.
The Axis is by far my most favourite guitar I've owned. .... looking to get another ... maybe one like yours.

Yea, shes a beauty, i had played a few other peoples and finally had to go all out and buy one! Will post a playing video at some point

 

[JoeTam]

That's awesome! One of my favorite colors. Congrats.

 

[dibart77]

Hmmmm. That looks tasty. Wow. Well done!

 

[mr mojo]

What a great way to introduce yourself ! Welcome to the forum.

 

[jayjayjay]

Beautiful! As they say around here, that top sucks!

But... you didn't show the back. Don't the double troubles also have a quilt maple back?

 

[GBeattie]

What a great way to introduce yourself ! Welcome to the forum.

Thanks very much! Yea, def enjoying getting on the musicman train. Was a big decision to finally jump in. Had to be done. Been playing 25 years, was finally time to treat myself

 

[GBeattie]

Beautiful! As they say around here, that top sucks!

But... you didn't show the back. Don't the double troubles also have a quilt maple back?

Yea, ill get some pics of the back, its nice man, quilt both sides. Different from every angle. The headstock is glorious up close. I've the neck dead straight and action is at 1.3mm @ 12th fret on all strings. Is very impressive how clean it plays

 

[Sweat]

Nice and congrats, man I would love to have that in a hardtail!