the "sound" of the rosewood Axis Super Sport?

[davidp158]

Can anyone describe the sonic difference between a solid rosewood neck and versus maple neck with rosewood fingerboard?

I'm lusting for an Axis Super Sport and trying to decide on rosewood neck, or just rosewood fingerboard. I have seen a lot of used solid rosewood neck models lately, so I'm wondering if there are issues with them. I know some people don't care for the straight grain of the rosewood tops (I'm kinda of neutral about it), but I'm mostly concerned about how the solid rosewood neck sounds, feels, how stable and durable it is.

I owned a maple neck Axis Super Sport with MM90s, and liked it a lot...but the narrow neck bugged me and I sold it. I've regretted it ever since, and want to replace it with either a rosewood fingerboard SS, or maybe one of the solid rosewood neck models. I realize the neck shape is the same, but I'm hoping the rosewood will feel better than maple.

I play a mix of roots rock, blues, and alt-country, and keep wanting to get another SS with MM90 pickups, but I also like the idea of humbuckers that can be split. I have never played or heard an Axis with humbuckers, and not sure if they are the way to go.

Does the solid rosewood neck work better with MM90s or humbuckers? I find some neck pickups too dark and muddy, once the bridge pickup tone is dialed in. Some people have commented that the rosewood neck is "darker" sounding, and that may be nice with MM90 pickups.

BTW, I'm seriously looking to buy a used Axis Super Sport, if anyone has one for sale. Neck must be in excellent condition (straight, minimal fret wear), and rosewood fingerboard is preferred over maple. I'm not particular about finish other than no metalic colors. Vintage trem (preferred) or hardtail, but no Floyd Rose trems, please.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated,
Dave

 

[Funky Chicken]

I own one of the first Super Sport Rosewoods shipped-I've had it since late May.
It's a hardtail with humbuckers. Here's my impression of how it differs from the same guitar with maple neck and top.
Rosewood necks tend to smooth out guitars that are bright. I find the RW makes the Super Sport "right" for me-it's slightly fuller sounding than a conventional Axis, which is a bit too zingy for me.
The RW neck also improves sustain andIMO seems to clarify chords-tricky to explain but easy to hear. If you are playing first position chords, on many guitars as the chord rings out the notes within the chord seem to vanish at different times, leaving only the "tonic" of that chord. Example-hit an open E chord, and as it fades out, only the "E" is left. My RW guitar "holds on" to the entire chord much longer. When playing arpeggiated patterns, each note seems to sound as clear and as loud as the others- it's easy to sound "even" when playing.
The neck also has a distinctive feel and many owners mention the scent of unfinished Rosewood as being pleasant. The feel is not asdifferent from an EBMM oil/wax finish as it is from a conventional finished neck, but the texture of the wood is different from an EBMM Maple neck.
If you do some reading at www.birdsandmoons.com (a PRS centered forum) there is plenty to learn about RW necks- PRS has been offering them as options off and on since 1998. (They also charge $600 for a Rosewood Neck upgrade.)
As far as the cosmetics are concerned-the guitar is understated, but in a classy way. The lack of a "trophy" top bothers some people, but not me. I love the way the binding/knobs/zebras look against the Rosewood top. I'm also 40 years old and a bit burnt out on the whole "nice top" scene but that's just me.
Mine is definitely not for sale. I'm not sure that the guy who loves a conventional Axis with a Floyd will warm up to the RW, but a Super Sport hardtail or vintage trem with RW neck is definitely an improvement IMO. It just sounds "better" to me.

 

[kbaim]

I played a rosewood for about an hour at GC 2 weeks ago. I had owned a tobacco ss hardtail with hums rosewood board and piezo that I sold to a forum member in summer.

I had the same issues with the rosewood one that I had with mine and it's why I never took to the ss.

The Good - the neck. The rosewood at GC really felt great.

The Bad - Neck pickup too dark for me. Split positions had huge volume drop, and no forearm contour tired my right arm too fast.

I prefer the mm90 version and still own one of those.

 

[davidp158]

aha!

Funky Chicken - Thanks for the reply. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I searched this forum for quite a while, but only found debates about the rosewood top, and hardly anything regarding the tone of the rosewood neck. All components (neck, fingerboard, body, pickups, hardware) contribute to the sound of a guitar, and I was hoping the solid rosewood neck would do as you suggest.

In some cases I like the tone of maple necks, but they can be too strident and harsh. Mahogony necks with rosewood fingerboards have always seemed dark to me, but I never played an all rosewood neck, so I couldn't tell if it was the mahogony neck or rosewood fingerboard.

As I am leaning towards a SS with the MM90 pickups, I think the solid rosewood neck will smooth out some of the edge those pickups have. I had a maple neck SS with MM90 pickups, and compared to my other guitars, those pickups were dyanamic, yet a bit unforgiving. On a "good night" the guitar really delivered the goods, but on a "bad night", those MM90 pickups seemed to exaggerate my flaws! Maybe the solid rosewood neck will be a bit more forgiving on my bad nights (or inspire me to play better) and also warm up the MM90s.

Keith - Thanks for your comments, too. I hear ya about muddy neck humbuckers. Its been a problem with every humbucker equipped guitar I've owned. Are the humbuckers screwed into the body and not allow for any height adjustment? If so, putting some high density foam under the neck pickup and raising the height would probably yeild more high frequencies. Maybe a cap could be placed somewhere to darken the bridge pickup to match the neck pickup, and then adjust your amp for more highs. I have a Gibson R7 Les Paul, and replaced the Classic '57 pickups with WRC Goodwoods, new pots and caps, and that guitar really came to life.

As for splitting humbuckers to get a usable single coil sound, its always been a compromise. Lindy Fralin makes a humbucking pickup called the "unbucker". It has one overwould coil and an underwound coil. When split, you get the overwould coil, which supposedly has less of volume drop and more "girth". In humbucking mode, there is less hum rejection as the coils are not matched, but it still sounds like a humbucker. A friend of mine has one in his Anderson guitar and loves it.

Thanks again for your posts,
Dave

 

[davidp158]

lots of used Rosewood Axis guitars these days...

I'm curious why there are so many of the Rosewood Axis SS guitars, lately. In the past month I've seen 4 on ebay (nearly half the Axis guitars that have been available). I have also gotten emails from a few others with "nearly new" Rosewood Axis guitars, but their prices aren't low enough to warrant buying as used. I've been anxious to play one of these, but reluctant to buy one without playing one first.

Any thoughts on this?

Dave

 

[kbaim]

Pretty ugly, no?

 

[mbgreene]

Pretty ugly, no?

no

 

[fogman]

no +1

I like the paneling look!

 

[kbaim]

Pretty ugly, no?

Well, up against the Y2D it's like Rosie O'Donnell next to Eva Longoria.

 

[davidp158]

I wouldn't say the rosewood top is "ugly" by any means, just different. Let's leave it at that and not offend those who really like their rosewood tops. Fair enough?

I am a bit neutral on the looks of the rosewood top. I sort of like it, but sort of don't. The hyper flamed, quited, burled, birds eyed tops are a bit too flamboyant for me, but now and then I see a really nicely book matched top that looks gorgeous. I'd like to see the rosewood top in person. At a distance, the straight grain probably blends into a flat color, but up close it might look weird.

Its odd that Music Man won't offer the rosewood neck as an option, as it seems like an easy thing to add to their custom orders. You can order your choice of maple or maple/rosewood fingerboard neck, but you can't order just the rosewood neck? They all bolt on the same way, and it appears they would get a lot of orders for this option.

Anyway, if the guitar plays well and sounds great, I don't think the rosewood top would prevent me from buying one. I just wish I could play and hear one in person.

Dave

Pretty ugly, no?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

...

Its odd that Music Man won't offer the rosewood neck as an option, as it seems like an easy thing to add to their custom orders. You can order your choice of maple or maple/rosewood fingerboard neck, but you can't order just the rosewood neck? They all bolt on the same way, and it appears they would get a lot of orders for this option...

Dave

Well, here's my observation, applied to the y2d, a guitar with just a few options.
The y2d is offered in 3 colors. Each color can be ordered 4 ways.
Hardtail - NMH
Tremolo - NMH
Hardtail - MH
Tremolo - MH

4 combinations X 3 colors =
12 possibilities for a normal y2d

Wanna see it get freaky? Add a premium top, choice of flame or quilt.

Hardtail - NMH
Tremolo - NMH
Hardtail - MH
Tremolo - MH
Hardtail - quilt - NMH
Tremolo - quilt - NHM
Hardtail - quilt - MH
Tremolo - quilt - MH
Hardtail - flame - NMH
Tremolo - flame - NHM
Hardtail - flame - MH
Tremolo - flame - MH

Just the option of a premium top choice alone means there are now 12 possible cominations for each of those colors. That's like adding 24 more ways to order a y2d, bringing the total possibilities for a y2d up to 36.

Imagine adding a rosewood neck to a Silhouette, where you already have several different colors, matching/non-matching headstock, multiple tailpiece/pickup/piezo configurations, pickguards...chaos on Dargin's computer

Just an observation.

 

[mhorse]

Its odd that Music Man won't offer the rosewood neck as an option, as it seems like an easy thing to add to their custom orders. You can order your choice of maple or maple/rosewood fingerboard neck, but you can't order just the rosewood neck? They all bolt on the same way, and it appears they would get a lot of orders for this option.

Can you order a rosewood ASS painted? Personally I'm not dying for rosewood top looks, but it seems after reading this thread I would like the difference it makes in the sound.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Can you order a rosewood ASS painted? Personally I'm not dying for rosewood top looks, but it seems after reading this thread I would like the difference it makes in the sound.

Nope!

You can try one out on Sunday the 18th tho...