cm_17
Well-known member
My wife and I arrived in the US in spring 08, and will be living here till at least 2011. After a slight initial culture shock 
, we now truly enjoy living here, and I figured it's time for a real "made in the USA guitar". Back in Europe these things are just so darn expensive that it would be a shame not to make good use of our time here to gear up a bit .
That's when while waiting for the subway I noticed a guy with an instrument case that seemed tiny compared to my Ibanez cases I hauled through public transportation so far. Sure enough, it was a Music Man case. That's when I started to think, wouldn't it be great to have a more compact guitar?
So I test-played every display model they had at our local GC.
After a first moment of confusion - being used to pencil necks on my sexy-sleek Lag and Ibanez axes since close to 2 decades - my small hands felt right at home with the Axis. The legendary neck finish, the neck carve, the fretboard radius, the no-nonsense controls, but also the tone and the responsiveness...from my beloved prog metal shredding to dirty blues to crystal cleans, the guitar promised to do everything. But I especially wanted a guitar that is not a super-low action high-speed axe. I wanted something that is more of a full-sounding straight-forward American rock machine with character.
Plus - getting a Les Paul or a Strat is just not "me"...yet, frankly, the slightly goofy Axis design gave me some initial headaches, too.
Another thing to consider are the technical aspects. As the Axis has a non-recessed Floyd bridge, the only way to adjust the action is by shimming the neck. Now that is something I find a bummer, despite having done all kinds of setups myself since years. Oh well. I'll write a review about my setup and slight tweaks in review-style about the instrument sometime later. The knuckleheads here on the forum were very informative in this respect, however funnily, compared to other guitar forums out there, people here are way less fiddling around with their setups it seems than other people.
When I finally decided it's time for my own Axis, I browsed the web and stores for color options. I knew I did not want a BFR - the test playing did not give me too much of a difference, but what truly killed it for me was the 12th fret inlay. Confusing, and I did not like it at all, although I adore the round abalone (?) position markers on the BFR Axis. And I'm not a huge fan of the BFR colors. That's just how I'm internally wired, I guess. Oh well, you can't please everyone - but getting a non-BFR also leaves some cash to take me missus out for dinner, right?
Tobacco Burst caught my fancy early on, but I already have an axe in browninsh-orange. Transparent blue became the next focus, till I stumbled upon more and more pictures of Pacific Blueburst. Now that is pure win. The only problem is, I'm picky, so I wanted to find the "perfect" quilt top paired with a nice birdseye maple neck and matching headstock. Since this is somewhat random, I didn't want to gamble and just order one blindly. That's when I knew I need a cup of luck and a nudge into the right direction as to where to search.
That's when things got into motion. After browsing the forums here and reading more about the company's work philosophy, I wrote the people that must know best where to get an Axis in PBB - EBMM customer service! And that interaction truly enforced my decision to get a Ball. A company with such customer support is hard to find and worth supporting. So I fired off an e-mail, and sure enough, shortly after I get a reply from Dan McPherson with a short list of stores that have received a PBB Axis...priceless! If you read this Dan, I salute you!
So I fire off e-mails to all these stores with my request and get replies from some, which took some time. And sure enough, a small shop in the Mid West still had one...and the pictures blew me away. The owner had it in the case for quite some time (built 10/04/2007!).
That had to be the one! The pictures below will show you why.
Unfortunately, however, due to the economy and soaring layoff rates in his area, the shop owner had already decided to shut down his business. Yet another victim of the current state of things. So maybe this was actually the last guitar sold by the store, and I'll keep it in honor.
After it's arrival I pretty much immediately knew the search, the wait, and the research had paid off. A truss rod tweak, some trem adjustments, and a 45-degree turn of the pickup selector after, I can't stop grinning. Thanks to everybody who gave input along the long path to this day, EBMM for building such fine instruments, and CS for all the help.
Ok, let's quit the babbling. May I introduce my California Queen - Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis quilt Pacific Blueburst, G37452, born on October 4, 2007:
The obligate back-of-the-headstock shot:
Birdseye, anyone?
The following two things here are only slight bummers so far - the Volume knob is slightly deformed on one side. I guess there are replacements available for these?
Neck shims, hu - that's how it came out of the box. Looks strange, but that's what happens when a neck is raised to improve the action. Plays like a charm though.
, we now truly enjoy living here, and I figured it's time for a real "made in the USA guitar". Back in Europe these things are just so darn expensive that it would be a shame not to make good use of our time here to gear up a bit .That's when while waiting for the subway I noticed a guy with an instrument case that seemed tiny compared to my Ibanez cases I hauled through public transportation so far. Sure enough, it was a Music Man case. That's when I started to think, wouldn't it be great to have a more compact guitar?
So I test-played every display model they had at our local GC.
After a first moment of confusion - being used to pencil necks on my sexy-sleek Lag and Ibanez axes since close to 2 decades - my small hands felt right at home with the Axis. The legendary neck finish, the neck carve, the fretboard radius, the no-nonsense controls, but also the tone and the responsiveness...from my beloved prog metal shredding to dirty blues to crystal cleans, the guitar promised to do everything. But I especially wanted a guitar that is not a super-low action high-speed axe. I wanted something that is more of a full-sounding straight-forward American rock machine with character.
Plus - getting a Les Paul or a Strat is just not "me"...yet, frankly, the slightly goofy Axis design gave me some initial headaches, too
.Another thing to consider are the technical aspects. As the Axis has a non-recessed Floyd bridge, the only way to adjust the action is by shimming the neck. Now that is something I find a bummer, despite having done all kinds of setups myself since years. Oh well. I'll write a review about my setup and slight tweaks in review-style about the instrument sometime later. The knuckleheads here on the forum were very informative in this respect, however funnily, compared to other guitar forums out there, people here are way less fiddling around with their setups it seems than other people.
When I finally decided it's time for my own Axis, I browsed the web and stores for color options. I knew I did not want a BFR - the test playing did not give me too much of a difference, but what truly killed it for me was the 12th fret inlay. Confusing, and I did not like it at all, although I adore the round abalone (?) position markers on the BFR Axis. And I'm not a huge fan of the BFR colors. That's just how I'm internally wired, I guess. Oh well, you can't please everyone - but getting a non-BFR also leaves some cash to take me missus out for dinner, right?
Tobacco Burst caught my fancy early on, but I already have an axe in browninsh-orange. Transparent blue became the next focus, till I stumbled upon more and more pictures of Pacific Blueburst. Now that is pure win. The only problem is, I'm picky, so I wanted to find the "perfect" quilt top paired with a nice birdseye maple neck and matching headstock. Since this is somewhat random, I didn't want to gamble and just order one blindly. That's when I knew I need a cup of luck and a nudge into the right direction as to where to search.
That's when things got into motion. After browsing the forums here and reading more about the company's work philosophy, I wrote the people that must know best where to get an Axis in PBB - EBMM customer service! And that interaction truly enforced my decision to get a Ball. A company with such customer support is hard to find and worth supporting. So I fired off an e-mail, and sure enough, shortly after I get a reply from Dan McPherson with a short list of stores that have received a PBB Axis...priceless! If you read this Dan, I salute you!
So I fire off e-mails to all these stores with my request and get replies from some, which took some time. And sure enough, a small shop in the Mid West still had one...and the pictures blew me away. The owner had it in the case for quite some time (built 10/04/2007!).
That had to be the one! The pictures below will show you why
.
Unfortunately, however, due to the economy and soaring layoff rates in his area, the shop owner had already decided to shut down his business. Yet another victim of the current state of things. So maybe this was actually the last guitar sold by the store, and I'll keep it in honor.
After it's arrival I pretty much immediately knew the search, the wait, and the research had paid off. A truss rod tweak, some trem adjustments, and a 45-degree turn of the pickup selector after, I can't stop grinning. Thanks to everybody who gave input along the long path to this day, EBMM for building such fine instruments, and CS for all the help.
Ok, let's quit the babbling. May I introduce my California Queen - Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis quilt Pacific Blueburst, G37452, born on October 4, 2007:
The obligate back-of-the-headstock shot:
Birdseye, anyone?
The following two things here are only slight bummers so far - the Volume knob is slightly deformed on one side. I guess there are replacements available for these?
Neck shims, hu - that's how it came out of the box. Looks strange, but that's what happens when a neck is raised to improve the action. Plays like a charm though.
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