• Ernie Ball
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jlf599

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Sep 1, 2020
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There are several of these that showed up in my Reverb feed today:

Ernie Ball Music Man Axis - Blank Guitar Neck + Body - Quilted Amber | Reverb

They say used but they have several...all hardware gone and no neck plates. I'm perplexed by this and was tempted to report it to Reverb (though they seem to never investigate fakes for the most part).

Makes me wonder if someone took the plates to build cheap fakes and are also hoping to make some money on the body/neck, too.

Any thoughts?

J
 

DrKev

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I have never seen an Axis body without parts before but the quality of the routing and paint work on the back of the guitar has me suspicious. The fretboard could be a different piece of wood from the neck, which would be wrong but I can’t really tell for sure. The headstock logo looks just not entirely right somehow? I suspect outlines of a decal there but I can’t say for sure (it should of course be a silk screen not a decal).

It’s way overpriced, whatever it is, IMHO.
 

racerx

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I have never seen an Axis body without parts before but the quality of the routing and paint work on the back of the guitar has me suspicious. The fretboard could be a different piece of wood from the neck, which would be wrong but I can’t really tell for sure. The headstock logo looks just not entirely right somehow? I suspect outlines of a decal there but I can’t say for sure (it should of course be a silk screen not a decal).

It’s way overpriced, whatever it is, IMHO.
I also noticed the lack of any stickers or marks in the cavity. Additionally the missing EVH or Axis logo on the headstock (maybe an EX?). To me it seems stupid at best, malicious at worst.
 

dibart77

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I would say fake. In addition to all of the above there is no hole in the tremolo cavity from the RFID chip that is used to track the body and tell the buffing machine what it is buffing.

I agree it's a fake because I think I can see a decal edge on the headstock logo (which of course is silkscreened at the factory, not a decal).

However, Pete, IFF this is an Axis EX then there wouldn't be an RFID tag, as IIRC that didn't exist back in 1995. The buffer did, but I think they had to manually load it and select which program to run. However, that guy happens to be like 20 minutes from me so guess who will be investigating this weekend? 😝 Once I have it in-hand I'll be able to tell if it's real or not. And, P.S., real or not, it's not worth that price. You can get a fully assembled Axis for that amount. Admittedly, Axis EX seems to be going higher now.
 
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PeteDuBaldo

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I agree it's a fake because I think I can see a decal edge on the headstock logo (which of course is silkscreened at the factory, not a decal).

However, Pete, IFF this is an Axis EX then there wouldn't be an RFID tag, as IIRC that didn't exist back in 1995. The buffer did, but I think they had to manually load it and select which program to run. However, that guy happens to be like 20 minutes from me so guess who will be investigating this weekend? 😝 Once I have it in-hand I'll be able to tell if it's real or not. And, P.S., real or not, it's not worth that price. You can get a fully assembled Axis for that amount. Admittedly, Axis EX seems to be going higher now.

You're right, I wasn't thinking it was that old or an EX but after I replied I saw the toggle location and said "wait a minute, why is it there?"

Probably around 16-17 years ago I had my hands on an EX in the store for repair work, and it was the only time I've seen one in there flesh. I believe, and I could be selectively remembering, that it had a one-piece maple top. It was a dark trans gold/amber, with a different type of serial on the neck plate. I distinctly remember calling the factory about it and being told "likely an EX" which they didn't have serial information on.
 

tbonesullivan

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That is strange, especially that they have several, with no hardware at all, and it doesn't look like any was ever installed. They look almost too good to be fakes. Maybe the "left over EX" that got there somehow is plausible. That seller has a TON of stuff listed, and with 3000+ feedback at a 4.95 rating, I would assume they are a reputable company.
 
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