Old VS New Axis guitars

[rsetlock]

Has anyone noticed a difference between the new Axis guitars and the older ones (made prior to 2000)? I own 2 Axis guitars. One built in 1995 and one built in 1998. Recently I was looking to pick up another Axis. I tried 3 new ones at the local guitar shops. I was amazed at the difference in sound between my old Axis guitars and the new ones. All of the new models seemed very brittle sounding to me. I also noticed that the wammy bar on the new models was also a bit different. Has anyone else noticed this difference? It is very dramatic and I was trying the new guitars back to back with my old ones. Ther is no doubt in my mind that something has changed. I really want another Axis but I am very disappointed with the sound of the new ones. I was just wondering if someone had some insight into this issue.

 

[hbucker]

I thought they were still making EVH's in '95.

I can't speak to your concerns about the new Axis'.

 

[nobozos]

I had heard a rumor that Music Man was going to switch from Schaller manufactured Floyd Rose trems, to Gotoh manufactured Floyd Rose trems. Can Derek or someone from here confirm or deny this rumor?

 

[atomic punk]

I thought the EVH as well as the axis guitars came with Gotoh trems since they first started making them? Both my EVH and my axis have the Gotoh trems.

 

[dwf1004]

The Axes that I had had Gotoh trems, as do the 2 EVH's that I currently have. The only thing Schaller on the guitars AFAIK are the tuning machines.

 

[Jimi D]

I had heard a rumor that Music Man was going to switch from Schaller manufactured Floyd Rose trems, to Gotoh manufactured Floyd Rose trems. Can Derek or someone from here confirm or deny this rumor?

They have always used Floyd Rose Licensed trems built to their specifications by Gotoh. The only Schaller trems used by EB/MM were used on the very first Silhouette and Steve Morse guitars - they used a Schaller locking design so that they wouldn't have to pay royalties to Floyd Rose, but that trem wasn't terribly well received, so they switched over to the Floyd and introduced a six-screw Wilkinson "vintage" trems with the Silhouette Special... The Wilkinson "vintage" trem was ultimately replaced by the custom two-post standard trem they use today.

As to the alledged differences between Axes of different periods, although I think it's safe to say that there will be subtle differences between guitars of the same model, as someone who owns Axes built between 1996 and 2002, I don't see or hear any radical differences in build quality or design - and as far as I know, no changes were made on the production end.

 

[VOLTAGE]

FWIW, the gotoh trem is as good as a OFR!

 

[nobozos]

Thanks for the info guys. I hate to be mis-informed. I guess I had my information backwards.