stock saddles?

[mundy]

Hi EBMM Gurus

Sadly, I am forced to sell an Axis. I just got a question about whether I still had the "original bridge saddles." I thought I DID have 'em--on the guitar! They're not chromed but they seem otherwise identical to others I've seen in pics here. Help?

Same guy asked me if I had the "original pickups." It's a 1998 guitar and the gentleman I bought it from assured me that these were the stock EVH DiMarzio pickups. Is there a way to determine the p/ups' authenticity as well?

Thanks in Advance for the Wisdom

 

[beej]

Hey Mundy-

Nope, those aren't the original saddles. Look like Graph Tech or other aftermarket ones. On the plus side, you can easily buy new saddles from EBMM and they're not that expensive. (Email them Monday for a quote, you can always deduct that from the sale price, etc.)

Pickups look good though. They are most likely originals from what I can see (slugs on one side, screws on the other and the little holes in the cream bobbins). And the fact that most people don't replace those.

 

[mundy]

Thanks!

The question about the pickups had more to do with invoking the sacred "EVH" than the stock-ness, I think. The whole "is it Ed's design or Ernie's?" thing, the fact that now the Wolfgang pickups are Only Pickups Officially Named After Ed, etc. Guy thought maybe I had pulled p/ups out of a Wolfgang and put them in the Axis...

 

[Colin]

those pickups look stock to me. you can pull one out and have a look underneath and see what it says.

 

[TNT]

Mundy,

Good advice from Beej and Colin.

The only other thing is that, it should be noticeable if the pickups were changed out. The Wolfgang would be slightly "darker" too.

Just a note though, how long have you had the guitar??

Be sure they are not OLP pickups. Although I think the OLP pickups are good (for the money) they are NOT at the level of the Dimarzio. Also they appear shinier than original Axis (or Wolfgang) pickups.

One last note: Don't sell it - you'll regret it. Owning a MM is like owning something "special"!

 

[mundy]

Hi

Thanks Again!

I've had the guitar for 9 months or so. I've heard an OLP through the same amp, and I'm REALLY confident these aren't olps. The p/ups on my AXIS are HOT--the fullest sound across the register of any p/u I've played. They're consistent soundwise with other Axises (Axes?) I've heard.

I just wanted to be sure about the p/ups' "EVH" lineage since people can be a mite obsessive about that stuff. If I have the story straight, my AXIS has the same Ed-designed DiMarzios that went in the EBMM EVH. Ed left, the p/ups stayed (without his name attached, same as the guitar) and the "name brand" of record became Peavey.

Sound right?

 

[TonyEVH5150]

Look on the bottom of the pickups. They should be stamped with "N1" on the neck and "B1" on the bridge. If there's anything other than that, then they are probably not stock.

 

[roburado]

I think your bridge was probably a chrome finish before. It looks like it got plated to have a golden appearance or something.

The story on the so-called "Ed-designed" pickups goes a little like this. There were a some pickups made for the guitar by DiMarzio. Ed couldn't decide which ones he liked better. So, he asked Steve Lukather which ones he liked better. The "Ed-designed" pickups? Well, they were really chosen by Steve Lukather.

As for how EBMM ended up with the pickups, well...that story goes a little like this. Realizing that things between EBMM and EVH could go to crap, EBMM basically had an understanding with DiMarzio that they keep the pickups if Ed left, and that's what ended up happening.

 

[mundy]

Hi


Thanks for the info.
Incidentally, the bridge is just regular chrome. The walls in the room where it was photographed are yellow...

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

These are Graphtech string saver saddles. I use them on all my guitars!