This is a Limited Edition Ernie Ball Music Man Axis Super Sport model guitar. It was built in September 2007 with the following specifications:
* Color - Blue Dawn with matching headstock
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* Dual Humbucking Pickups
* Piezo, Hardtail Bridge
This guitar has no dings, dents, or scratches and is in near-mint condition. It has never been dropped or mishandled. It has always been kept in a smoke-free environment and has never been gigged. Fretwear is minimal as I am a bedroom player but don't get as much time to play or practice as I'd like. I've replaced with pearl tuner buttons with chrome ones but will include the original pearl buttons. The blue limited edition case will also be included, of course.
This is a beautiful guitar! It has an awesome neck with an insane amount of birdseye. It plays wonderfully and sounds incredible. Check out this YouTube clip featuring the bridge and neck humbuckers.
The 5-way pickup selector allows for some coil splitting, which gives some decent single coil type sounds and makes for quite a versatile guitar. Hearing is believing, so check out this YouTube clip. If you close your eyes, you might not even realize these are not single coil pickups!
The piezo bridge provides even more versatility, giving you an acoustic sound as well as the capability of blending this sound with the output from the magnetic pickups.
The Axis model is substantially the same model as the Edward Van Halen guitar, which Music Man produced from 1990 to 1995, except for the following changes:
1. The neck was widened by 1/16 of an inch to help prevent the high E string from slipping.
2. The pickup selector switch was relocated.
3. The back of the body was contoured slightly, for comfort.
Otherwise, the Axis model is the same as the EVH model. The pickups are exactly the same on both models. These are custom Dimarzio pickups that are not available for purchase separately from the guitar; you couldn't get them from Dimarzio or from Ernie Ball / Music Man if you tried.
This Axis Super Sport model differs from the Axis model in that it has:
1. A "hardtail" bridge instead of the Floyd Rose licensed trem.
2. Piezo pickups
3. A 5-way pickup selector instead of the 3-way.
4. A rosewood fingerboard instead of a maple one.
5. A tone knob. (The EVH model had only a volume knob, which was labeled "tone".)
More information about the Axis Super Sport guitar is available from the Ernie Ball Music Man site.
When I purchased this Limited Edition guitar last year, the retail price, with all the options I selected, was $2,800. Ernie Ball Music Man took orders for these guitars only during 2007, so only a limited number of them were produced. This could very well be the only guitar built with this specific configuration (hardtail, rosewood fingerboard, piezo, Limited Edition 2007 Blue Dawn).
