Musicman Axis - owner opinions

Elwood

I've been offered a Musicman Axis but don't know much about the brand. They seem to be a very well regarded, if niche, maker. Any owners able to give an opinion?

When googling Musicman I've often seen people mention the necks are great - Charvel great?

Any opinions helpful

Marshall_stax

IMHO, Next level great when compared to Charvel, but as I say. That's just my opinion.
I've played a ton of MM's in the last few weeks as I'm gassing pretty hard for one. Probably the nicest necks I've ever played.  

woody

The necks are pretty cramped on them,even for somebody like myself with very small hands.if you can work around that they are tone monsters.

CarpeDiem

Musicman guitars are well made and I think are under-rated. The necks are really smooth to play as they are treated with oil and wax. Build and component quality is consistently good.

DrBob

I've got a 97 Axis in Purple, had it since 2002.
I love it for supercharged rock action but yeah, the neck is a bit narrow for my hands and I find it a bit meh for clean tones

Majorscale

Worked for him.... the EVH model became the Axis when Eddie fell out with EBMM. Only change being the switch position and the name!

Elwood

I see what you mean nut is 41mm, compared to a strat at 43mm probably does make a noticeable difference. 

Elwood

What would you say is a reasonable value on one?

DrBob

Majorscale said:

Worked for him.... the EVH model became the Axis when Eddie fell out with EBMM. Only change being the switch position and the name!

I think that the Axis also features a Belly Cut whereas the EVH had a total slab body

bassbora

I have had one for 12 years and really liked it.  I have toyed with the idea of selling it over the years but never done it.  Being a bass player you would think that this narrow string spacing was uncomfortable but it has always been great for me.  Clean is not its forte and I guess when you know who it was designed with clean was not really the point.  Great guitars and really well made.

No idea what they are worth.  I would guess between 1K and 1.2k but I might be wrong.  Its also the old saying its worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

Also another difference from the EVH model I think the volume control actually said Tone and not Volume.  As that was the whole point of using the volume to control the tone.

Dave_Mc

Elwood said:

I see what you mean nut is 41mm, compared to a strat at 43mm probably does make a noticeable difference. 

it's probably about the same as vintage-style strats. but yeah as you said, noticeably narrower than modern (non-reissue) USA strats at 43mm.

they're lovely if you can handle the neck. i think they changed the trem a while back there, though- initially the trems were basically gotohs (i.e. awesome). I'm not sure what the new ones are (and i haven't tried them, they may be fine), but I'm always a bit suspicious when a company changes from a part which is known to be good and known to be chosen for quality rather than price to a part which is unknown.

Elwood

Dave_Mc said:

Elwood said:

I see what you mean nut is 41mm, compared to a strat at 43mm probably does make a noticeable difference. 

it's probably about the same as vintage-style strats. but yeah as you said, noticeably narrower than modern (non-reissue) USA strats at 43mm.

they're lovely if you can handle the neck. i think they changed the trem a while back there, though- initially the trems were basically gotohs (i.e. awesome). I'm not sure what the new ones are (and i haven't tried them, they may be fine), but I'm always a bit suspicious when a company changes from a part which is known to be good and known to be chosen for quality rather than price to a part which is unknown.

Interesting - i'd not seen that. I know the nut changed at some point. They were bolted through, like an Ibanez, and are now surface mounted (I guess glued on).

Any idea when the change was?

monquixote

I find the necks impossible to get on with. 

Lots of people love them though so I'd say try before you buy.

Elwood

monquixote said:

I find the necks impossible to get on with.

Was it the width or something else?

hotpickups

monquixote said:

I find the necks impossible to get on with. 

Lots of people love them though so I'd say try before you buy.

I know I love mine and I'm usually a les Paul player

spark240

Love my Axis super sport with piezo, one of the best guitars I own,

lysander

Had an Axis Super Sport for quite a while, lovely guitar but indeed the neck was too cramped for me.

Elwood

Thanks for the help guys. Just to finish the thread off, any pictures?

bassbora

https://i.imgur.com/MfmigD5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/e7ExsvJ.jpg

Elwood

Nice, that is a very cool colour.

hubobulous

I have an original EBMM EVH and love it. I have normal sized hands and whilst I notice a difference in neck size, it doesn't hamper anything.

Stunning necks to play on and overall great quality.