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I've gone from no EBMMs to four in as many weeks. My first was an trans. purple AXIS EX which several list members helped me identify as an assembled in Japan model. Beautiful guitar with a lovely quilt top, birds-eye neck and a killer sound. It inspired me to get the other three EBs--two of which I now have in my possession: a well-gigged and loved trans. black 1993 EVH and a mint trans. orange AXIS SS w/piezos. As a 30 yr. Les Paul veteran, I surprised myself when I found I preferred the EVH and Axis with the floyd rose over the fixed bridge string-thru SS.
The final one is still in transport from the US. It's a 1998 Axis which the seller said was a "premium flametop." The top looked excellent in the photos so I went ahead and bought it, however, I was under the impression that the "premium tops" were something EBMM started a couple years ago? What's the story? And, are there premium flames as well as premium quilts?
All in all I'm quite happy with EBMM guitars. They feel, balance and sound better than anything by G or F that I've owned (or borrowed) over the years (probably 50+ guitars in all). At this point, the AXIS EX, EVH and AXIS SS I have now are three distinct guitars, though. Oddly enough, the assembled-in-Japan EX sounds best right now, but after getting the EVH set up with the same gauge strings (EB regs), that may change. I just visited the man who works on EBMMs here in Osaka. He said that he'll work on the EVH--the action is too high even after tweaking the neck. He wants to sand the neck pocket down to adjust the neck angle and make a solid shim-free neck/body joint and should bring the strings closer to the pups which should improve the sound and sustain.
Trans. orange is pretty and I love the recessed neck plate, but the SS isn't turning out to be the guitar I was looking forward to. The piezos remind me of the sh***y sounding piezos I had on a 15 year-old Ovation custom legend. I have an under-1000 dollar hard-gigged and bashed-around Yamaha acoustic that blows it completely away in the "acoustic" (read piezo) sound quality department.
I've found that the regular pups on the SS lack the "bite" and sustain of the EVH and AXIS EX. I'm not sure if this has to do with the reg. nut and string-thru arrangement vs the locking nut and f.r. tailpiece on the Axis or the difference between the SSs rosewood fingerboard vs. the maple on the Axis. Admittedly the action on the SS is a little too low and it needs to be properly set up. But frankly, I'm tempted to cut my losses and sell the SS immediately without going to the expense of getting it set up. I'd be curious to hear from users who own (or have owned) both (or who have A/B'ed) the AXIS and the AXIS SS (string-thru/fixed bridge/rose neck) and what kind of sound difference they notice? Of course, ideal sound is a very subjective thing, both the EVH and the EX come very close to it for me, but I can't imagine the sound of the SS improving to the point that it could compete. (Maybe all those knobs and the 5-way are making my flash back to the countless strats that never quite delivered the goods.) Should I try getting it set up? Or should I cut it loose?
d-d
PS The "premium top" AXIS is on it's way to Japan right now. Which means that sometime this week I should be able to A/B a San Luis Obispo AXIS and pretty purple Japan-assembled AXIS EX. I'll post the results to a NEW thread with an obvious title in case anyone is interested.
The final one is still in transport from the US. It's a 1998 Axis which the seller said was a "premium flametop." The top looked excellent in the photos so I went ahead and bought it, however, I was under the impression that the "premium tops" were something EBMM started a couple years ago? What's the story? And, are there premium flames as well as premium quilts?
All in all I'm quite happy with EBMM guitars. They feel, balance and sound better than anything by G or F that I've owned (or borrowed) over the years (probably 50+ guitars in all). At this point, the AXIS EX, EVH and AXIS SS I have now are three distinct guitars, though. Oddly enough, the assembled-in-Japan EX sounds best right now, but after getting the EVH set up with the same gauge strings (EB regs), that may change. I just visited the man who works on EBMMs here in Osaka. He said that he'll work on the EVH--the action is too high even after tweaking the neck. He wants to sand the neck pocket down to adjust the neck angle and make a solid shim-free neck/body joint and should bring the strings closer to the pups which should improve the sound and sustain.
Trans. orange is pretty and I love the recessed neck plate, but the SS isn't turning out to be the guitar I was looking forward to. The piezos remind me of the sh***y sounding piezos I had on a 15 year-old Ovation custom legend. I have an under-1000 dollar hard-gigged and bashed-around Yamaha acoustic that blows it completely away in the "acoustic" (read piezo) sound quality department.
I've found that the regular pups on the SS lack the "bite" and sustain of the EVH and AXIS EX. I'm not sure if this has to do with the reg. nut and string-thru arrangement vs the locking nut and f.r. tailpiece on the Axis or the difference between the SSs rosewood fingerboard vs. the maple on the Axis. Admittedly the action on the SS is a little too low and it needs to be properly set up. But frankly, I'm tempted to cut my losses and sell the SS immediately without going to the expense of getting it set up. I'd be curious to hear from users who own (or have owned) both (or who have A/B'ed) the AXIS and the AXIS SS (string-thru/fixed bridge/rose neck) and what kind of sound difference they notice? Of course, ideal sound is a very subjective thing, both the EVH and the EX come very close to it for me, but I can't imagine the sound of the SS improving to the point that it could compete. (Maybe all those knobs and the 5-way are making my flash back to the countless strats that never quite delivered the goods.) Should I try getting it set up? Or should I cut it loose?
d-d
PS The "premium top" AXIS is on it's way to Japan right now. Which means that sometime this week I should be able to A/B a San Luis Obispo AXIS and pretty purple Japan-assembled AXIS EX. I'll post the results to a NEW thread with an obvious title in case anyone is interested.
