Newbie on the fence about the Axis...

[Jay]

I realize this forum is not exactly the place to get the most unbiased opinions about MM guitars, but being as this is not an impulse buy, perhaps some of you could help me out. I actually live in SLO, CA, and Music Man only recently came on my radar as a possible addition to my stable (LP, PRS, Martin). Very ironic that as close as I am to the shop, I have to travel a considerable distance to play/buy one of these guitars.

I'm currently thinking about an Axis, being as I'd like to get a Floyd this time around. Any advice for a newbie? Is each one unique in sound/playing? Or are they consistent? I tried one out with a rosewood finish and a rosewood neck, and while it was a great guitar, I just can't get excited about buying a guitar that looks like a piece of furniture. And what's with the eBay thing? Is there really a viable market for buying a guitar without having laid hands on it?

As I said, I'm a newbie, but any info you could pass on would really be appreciated.

Close and yet so far away......

Thanks,

Jay

 

[lenny]

Well all i can tell you and this is as unbiased as you can get,my family has owned and owns a Music store for 27 years and i have played fender and ibanez all my life and i am 36 .....this year in January i finally got to play an EB/MM and it the first of April and i have 2 hahahha all my fenders are gone and i had a stable of 13 guitars from 64 to 2004 and now i have an axis and silo the axis has the floyd and it truly is THE BEST GUITAR I HAVE EVER OWNED..........


AND also i just wanted to add i never found this forum until AFTER i made my first purchase AND i bought it at another music store in another province to get one!

 

[Dakine]

<--- First guitar Gibson Les Paul Std.
Second, Jackson Soloist
Third EB Axis SS Vintage Trem
Fourth EB Axis SS Hardtail
Fifth Ovation (so dos'nt really count)
To Be Sixth (well fourth as selling two) EB JP6

What gets played? The Axis's!

I have a rosewood vintage trem and a maple hardtail.
Tones are abit less dark on the maple.
Very light guitar.
Amazing range of sounds with the 5 way selector.

I like the width of my Jackson neck, but feel of the Axis, so selling one of each to buy a EB Petrucci!

Ya cannot beat em in my book!

Gibbo, Jackso, Ovation just feel suicidal in their cases. Cannot say much more.

Except be CAREFUL. It's a full blown addiction.

Should be EB Anonymous meetings!

Truly, take a drive and try one, the necks are sublime.
Axis is asymetrical (VERY clever) and very comfy for many!
JP is flatter.
Both are amazing as they are gun oiled unfinished birdseye maple.

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

Which side of the fence has the Axis on it?

Thats the side we recommend.

Playability-wise, they'll all come out the same. Tonally, well, each piece of wood has its own personality. I tried three of the exact same EVH models at the same time and bought the one that sounded the best to my ears at the time. Granted they all sounded great and if I had only one in front of me to choose, I definately would have bought it but I had the luxury of noodling on the three.

Most of us EVH/Axis owners would agree that in 99% of the time, play it once and it becomes your #1.

 

[Jim Warnstedt]

You can't go wrong with an Axis with a Floyd, and they are great and VERY consistent guitars. While i'm not keen on the rosewood finish either, they make some great quilt tops with a host of great colors. Their birdseye maple necks are great as well. I know I may sound biased, but they truly are the best instrument on the market at any pricepoint. Welcome to the forum and good luck on what ever guitar you decide to purchase.

 

[Jay]

Holy cow! I guess there's just a SLIGHT brand loyalty here. 4 replies inside of 1/2 hour. Wow. Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

Has anyone had good/bad experiences with eBay? I feel like a schmoe asking, but isn't there just something not quite right about buying a guitar unseen because it's a little less than what you can find within driving range?

Appreciate the brand loyalty. That speaks a lot about these guitars.

Jay

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

We're a bit rabid here but there is great reason to be..

 

[darchirnoj]

Let me chime in.

I do not, repeat, do not own an ernieball musicman. With that said, I myself have been on the fence to buy not one, not two, but muliple ebmms. Why? Because each one of their models are excellent in their own way. I have played a few axis guitars and I instantly fell in love with the all rosewood neck axis; I tell you that I have never played anything that felt the way that neck felt. I kept bringing it up to my wife and she finally got fed up with me mentioning the word,"butter".
It was light weight (which I like), but did not sound light weight. I plugged into some sort of effect amp with a PRS McCarty, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson SG standard, Jackson Kelly, and the axis humbucker. I really liked the sound of the axis; did not sound like the others and that is a good thing with all this clone music going around. I mean, it sounded better (to my ears) than all of the others. That combined with the light wt., the best neck I've ever felt, EBMM's reputation for awesome customer service, and a forum with a bunch of nice guys who are always eager to help and be supportive, I can't think of a better reason to buy one of these guitars. Trust me, you will know what I'm talking about when you get one. I just won a wt. loss contest at work (hey, I'd better won, I'm the damn dietitian). The money I won is going to hold a rosewood axis with mm90's until I sell my other guitars.
Hope this helps.
-darchirnoj

 

[Larry]

eBay if you can live with some scratches not mentioned or if over all little things dont bother you. For me i like to buy all my things new and break em in myself where as some people dont mind used gear. If you dont mind it i say ebay is a excellent choice for yourself

Out of the eBay ones id pick this one great price if you ask me
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ernie-Ball-Musi...oryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[lovechick]

Jay, I used eBay to find my EB S. Morse and Axis (both used, new condition). Except for a quick string change and truss rod tweak on the Axis (I use 10s), both were ready to roll out of the box. My other EB six-string is an Albert Lee which I purchased new (but still unseen) from Leitz Music in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. It too arrived ready to play. While there probably is some luck involved in going 3-for-3, it goes without saying that I was fairly discriminating in making these purchases.

I'm with Dakine on this. In the last 12 years, I've owned 4 Stingray basses: two pre-EB, one early EB, and a more recent EB, which I purchased in '99. The quality of that last bass so impressed me, I decided a couple years later to hock the PRS and go with the Morse. Earlier this year I got sick of tweaking my old Gibson US1, so in came the Axis. The Strat was next, replaced by the AL. I still have my LP, which I keep for sentimental reasons, but it doesn't see much playing time.

One last thought: Why the Floyd? One of my bands plays a lot of 80s stuff so I went with the Axis with the Floyd. However, I recall reading that Steve Lukather (an absolute master of the Floyd) felt his non-Floyd EBMM stayed in tune and played better than the Luke I. Had I read this before making that purchase, I may have considered a vintage trem Axis.

 

[Josh O]

I'm a former Axis owner and I'll say the only reason I don't own it anymore is I just didn't like the Floyd Rose. I'm pretty much a simpleton and like a nicely designed non-locking trem, a good nut and locking tuners, I'm not into needing allen keys to change strings, FLoyd and I just never got along. That aside, the Axis was a damn sweet guitar, beautiful birsdeye maple neck, guitar felt great in the hand and just screamed rock machine. If I didn't have enough guitars and wasn't GASin for a JP6, I'd have an Axis Super Sport in my possession.

 

[Larry]

the Axis in my opinion is the best guitar EB makes. Now there are probaly many who will disagree with me saying about the piezo and such. But when you just feel like having a rock star moment grab you Axis and bust out harmonic dive bombs nothing is better. I fully reccomend the Axis to anyone who is in the market for A EBMM

plus how can you compete with this

and dont get me started about birdseye

 

[Jonny Dubai]

I have to agree. The axis is an amazing guitar. It says quality at every turn. For me the necks are so smooth and playable, pick ups so responsive, wood quality and finish 1st class. When you put all that together through a hot amp you will find tone to die for.

A great guitar to express yoursel on!

Get off the fence!!!! (just joking)

Jonny

 

[fogman]

Holy cow! 4 replies inside of 1/2 hour.

Jay

Wow! Sorry about that! It's been a little slow around here lately!

 

[Jay]

And I'll say again, WOW! I've been to a few niche forums before, but this one is a c t i v e like I've never seen before. Answering lovechick's question, my answer is a most erudite: I dunno. My PRS has locking tuners, different than the Axis SS, but short of using some vice grips from hell, a couple of divebombs, and the guitar's out of tune. I'm not doing any gigging, but quite a bit of home recording/uploading, when I'm in that recording mood, I just don't want my gear failing me. I guess my thinking was that the Floyd was more bombproof than another locking tuner setup, but I'm getting the sense that what I have could be improved upon, and maybe resides on an Axis SS?

I tried an Axis yesterday with a Floyd, and while it did stay in tune with a few divebombs (which I don't normally do, but hey, I was test driving it), it felt stiff and sort of unnatural. Just an opinion from someone who doesn't know any better. So now you have me thinking.....

Thanks, everyone, for such animated responses. Jeez, this is a very lively group on this site!

Jay

 

[SteveB]

Jay,

EBMM is the ONLY brand of guitar that I would buy new, sight unseen. They're made to be played, and in the rare event you have problems, you will always get a fair shake from this company.

However, most if not all of their guitars have a unique neck profile. For that reason alone I would suggest you go wherever you can to try the various models and find the one that feels best to you.

In my opinion, at the extremes of the neck differences are the Luke and the Petrucci. The Luke is small, V-shaped and everyone says it's great for small hands. The Petrucci is wider and flat and is probably the most comfortable for ex- (or soon to be ex-)Ib@nez players. In between you've got a meatier, sorta 'C' feeling series of necks on the Axis, Albert Lee, Silhouette and Morse.

If at all possible I'd try a Luke, a Petrucci, and one of the other models just to feel how different the neck profiles are. One or more of them will feel great to your hands.

 

[heavymetaljames]

I bought my AXIS about 2/3 weeks ago on eBay in the UK - I didn't know about this forum at the time, but read plenty of reviews at harmony central and anywhere else I could find! I had never played an EB before, but I decided I needed to have a go! I bought mine in as new condition from a great guy who is also a member of this forum as he told me about it (thanks davetran). Of course there was doubts - I bought it without seeing or trying out - mind you the pics provided sold it on their own! The seller had a lot of feedback on eBay that was all positive - so it seemed right.
I am really fussy about guitars and trems - despite playing 25 years (ish!) I have problems with keeping regular guitars in tune! I've been playing locking units so long - I have gotten lazy! Anyway this unit on my AXIS is fantastic - yes it is a bit stiffer than the unit on my ibanez, and took getting used to - but now I actually have more control plus the tuning is better for country style bends etc with the way the trem is set up.
I have only played this for a few weeks, but will definately have another!
I will get a pic up soon!
James

 

[koogie2k]

Welcome to the addiction!

Jay, there is some great advice here. We might be slightly biased in our opinions about EBMM guitars/basses. I personally have 3 Petrucci models, 2 bongo basses with a third on the way.....so, my advice might not count....LOL.

SteveB said it best. You really should try out all the models that you can get your hands on. Each one has a different feel and sound. Again, no two Axis will sound the same. None of my Pets sound the same. Wood is wood as no two pieces are alike. However, no EBMM sounds bad....it must be the SLO voodoo in the factory.

With all that said about the guitars and basses.....I will add something to this that has not been stated.

With an EBMM purchase you get more than the axe, case and case candy. You get the undying support and loyalty of EBMM itself. What I mean is this, the owner posts here daily...(Big Poppa), as well as many employees of EBMM. But it gets better. There is NO OTHER company out there who's Customer Service can beat EBMM's. They truly are the best. They will bend over backwards for you. Other companies should pay Big Poppa to show them how it's done! Many here will attest to that as I am one.

Even though all of us knuckleheads aren't HUGE rock stars....you are treated like one with EBMM. I know how much Big Poppa cares about us and wants all of us regular joes to be happy. EBMM have done things that NO ONE has done before for their customers. That is one of the many reasons why many of us have more than one...hence, the addiction.

Again, try out as many models as you can......then when you get one, you must post pics....as it is the rule here. Again, welcome!

 

[Larry]

about the Floyd being stiff on the Axis my new cherry burst one took about a month of play till i guess it got "broken in" and now it is easier to dive-bomb (or i got stronger ). So dont let just the hardness of it scare you away. It will get easier.

 

[blackspy]

The stiffness could be that springs are new and very tight, or they're set up in a V pattern, I like them better now in a straight pattern. It feels looser to me. The down only installation on the Axis does make it feel a little different than a floating floyd too.

As for whether to buy an Axis, it seems you have a taste for quality guitars, you mention PRS, Martin and Gibson. The Axis would fit in nicely and probably stand out from that crowd. I haven't heard of a single dissappointed Musicman owner yet. Everyone I've ever spoken to has always been wowed by the guitars. Not just forum members either.

Good luck choosing one. After that, good luck keeping it at just one.