bugbus
Well-known member
Recently, a friend brought over some guitars and we informally tested their sound and playability through my Johnson Millennium I had lying around. Neither of us played all these iconic guitars back to back to back and we found the results informative.
#1 Music Man Axis: We agreed the build quality was absolutely top notch. The tone was edgy, great for lead and rhythm. Hands down the clear winner in playability and ergonomics. Man I love this neck! Love at first touch and still loving it.
#2 Fender American Strat: Great build quality. Unmistakably classic tone. Feels great and higher registers were surprisingly easy to play.
#3 Les Paul: Terrible build quality. Friend told me the pickguard had fallen off at some point. The lacquer finish looked uneven. However, absolutely monster 800 lb gorilla tone! Lead or rhythm, the tone was ultra fat and "organic". Seemed to be alive in the full spectrum of frequencies. Playability was average.
#4 Music Man Silo Special with piezo: Great quality build. The maple in the neck seemed subpar compared to the beautiful birdseye in the Axis. Neck is thinner than the other guitars. My friend likes the neck but I much prefer the axis neck. Very clean uncolored tone.
#5 BC Rich Ironbird w/EMG 81 85: Custom handmade from the 80's. Definitely a lead guitar. The emgs are super hot. Big wide shredding neck. Great quality but can't go back to this lacquered neck after playing the Axis.
Summary: If I could only have one guitar it'd be the Axis. Nothing feels like it. I only wish there was a way to make it sound more like the Les Paul. What gives it that analog "organic" sound? The PU's? The wood? Wish I knew. I wonder how the axis would look with those big metallic Gibson PUs?
#1 Music Man Axis: We agreed the build quality was absolutely top notch. The tone was edgy, great for lead and rhythm. Hands down the clear winner in playability and ergonomics. Man I love this neck! Love at first touch and still loving it.
#2 Fender American Strat: Great build quality. Unmistakably classic tone. Feels great and higher registers were surprisingly easy to play.
#3 Les Paul: Terrible build quality. Friend told me the pickguard had fallen off at some point. The lacquer finish looked uneven. However, absolutely monster 800 lb gorilla tone! Lead or rhythm, the tone was ultra fat and "organic". Seemed to be alive in the full spectrum of frequencies. Playability was average.
#4 Music Man Silo Special with piezo: Great quality build. The maple in the neck seemed subpar compared to the beautiful birdseye in the Axis. Neck is thinner than the other guitars. My friend likes the neck but I much prefer the axis neck. Very clean uncolored tone.
#5 BC Rich Ironbird w/EMG 81 85: Custom handmade from the 80's. Definitely a lead guitar. The emgs are super hot. Big wide shredding neck. Great quality but can't go back to this lacquered neck after playing the Axis.
Summary: If I could only have one guitar it'd be the Axis. Nothing feels like it. I only wish there was a way to make it sound more like the Les Paul. What gives it that analog "organic" sound? The PU's? The wood? Wish I knew. I wonder how the axis would look with those big metallic Gibson PUs?
