From my perspective, as a guitar player who didn’t own any EBMM instruments at the time the Reflex was introduced, and already had my favorite brands, there were a couple of reasons why I didn’t feel like I needed to get one.
For one, I didn’t think the body shape looked that great. The Axis shape works for me, but the elongated lower bout on Reflex didn’t do it for me.
Two, the finish choices may have not made it stand out, but years ago the finish choices on all EBMM models were not the eye popping colors they offer today. I didnt even know the Reflex was offered in sunburst until I saw a used one on reverb dot com last year and I thought it was some rare limited run. EBMM sunburst finishes are quite stunning.
Third, the first thing that came to my mind was actually “What is this guitar trying to be?”. I asked the same question about the Axis Super Sport when EBMM introduced that model. Overall the Reflex body was reminiscent of a Les Paul, the upper bout reminded me of a Tele, and I never liked the way the Tele upper bout looks, the dual humbuckers again suggest a Les Paul, but the bolt on neck and 25 1/2” scale are inspired by Fender design. While there is something to be said for a frame of reference, you really have to break out of these boxes, plug in a Reflex, and play it to appreciate it.
I got a used Reflex with Game Changer in 2021. I used it to record rhythm guitar in a song I recorded in 2022. The parallel and piezo options aside, it’s a great sounding guitar, it’s easy to play even with a neck that feels slightly wider than an Axis neck, and with the rosewood fretboard on mine and the chambered body with mahogany block, it has its own tone going. I little less of the bite that the Axis has, lots of midrange chunk, but a more aggressive attack than a 24 3/4” scale set neck guitar.
