I loved my SUB Ax3 so much I decided to get an Ax30D also. It feels just as good and the DiMarzio pickups sound great. I found a couple of problems with my new guitar tho and have mentioned them to Brian Martin from Sterling.
1. I found strips of sandpaper under the base of the neck being used as shims to tilt the neck back and raise the string at the bridge. I guess the Sterling vintage bridge must be higher than normal so they had to allow for it.
2. Like my Ax3, the strings were not very well aligned to the neck and the high e was too close to the edge.
3. The input jack was so loose I could wiggle it with my fingers.
4. There is quite noticeable streaking in the maple veneer that covers about 30% of the top. This seems to be in the wood and not the gloss finish.
5. The red edge of the cherry red sunburst colour is very narrow and doesn't look as nice as all the pictures I have seen of other Ax30s.
It took a bit of effort but now I have fixed most of the problems. I fitted a new Wilkinson bridge that is the correct height and adjusted it so the strings are now correctly aligned on the neck and removed the sandpaper shims from under the neck joint. I can't do much about the finish probems tho
1. I found strips of sandpaper under the base of the neck being used as shims to tilt the neck back and raise the string at the bridge. I guess the Sterling vintage bridge must be higher than normal so they had to allow for it.
2. Like my Ax3, the strings were not very well aligned to the neck and the high e was too close to the edge.
3. The input jack was so loose I could wiggle it with my fingers.
4. There is quite noticeable streaking in the maple veneer that covers about 30% of the top. This seems to be in the wood and not the gloss finish.
5. The red edge of the cherry red sunburst colour is very narrow and doesn't look as nice as all the pictures I have seen of other Ax30s.
It took a bit of effort but now I have fixed most of the problems. I fitted a new Wilkinson bridge that is the correct height and adjusted it so the strings are now correctly aligned on the neck and removed the sandpaper shims from under the neck joint. I can't do much about the finish probems tho