Jump to content

AXL guitars


JMR

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I haven't played any of the very recent ones... none of the aged looking Les Paul types.

 

I played three or four of the aged looking strats when they first came out. Overall, I'd say I liked them more than a Squier Standard, but not enough to buy one.

 

If I had found a used one for ~$100 locally, I would have snagged it and upgraded the trem block and pickups.

 

Don't know of anywhere in town that has them but when those aged strats came out, there was a shop in town down on the south side on Madison that carried them. Pretty sure that shop closed though. They were the same shop that is/was 'Moho Mods' that modded pedals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The ones that look like they were dredged up from the bottom of the lake compare, quality-wise, to lower end guitars from any number of manufacturers... I would conjecture that they could be made in the same factories as one reason that might be the case. It's a plank of wood with a thinner plank of wood strapped to it. CNC means the parts turn out pretty okay, but some corners seem to get cut with all the ones I've played. Mainly hardware. Tuning problems. Could make fine project guitars if you like the appearance, it'd probably be kind of a pain in the ass to get them to look like that on your own?

 

If you're going to get a Made in China guitar just 'cause, I'd recommend Ibanez, personally. They seem to be a bit better in terms of consistency, perhaps better QA, dunno. I like Rondo's Agile line (MIK) for inexpensive imports, and Schecter's Korea stuff too, though Schecter has been doing MIC for some time now as well and I have had one very poor experience with a $900 MIC Schecter - ES-335 style, the fretboard had shrunk post-assembly, so the fret wire was sticking out considerably on both sides of the fretboard, resulting in near-lacerations trying to play it if you weren't careful. It hung on the shop wall for at least a year that way, too, I don't know why they didn't send it back as that's pretty clearly a factory defect. The $300-$700 Made in Korea Schecter guitars sitting right next to it were fantastic players, by way of comparison. One of my most played guitars is a 2006-2007 MIK C-1 Classic. Gaudy as hell in appearance, but it plays great, sounds great, flexible pickup switching.

 

Anyway, topically, (edit: imported) AXLs are "just okay" from what I've played, but if retrofitted with quality hardware and electronics, wood is wood for the most part these days, the good stuff's either used up or so damned expensive you won't be seeing it in guitars at least an order of magnitude higher in price. CNC consistency helps, but people can still screw up putting the parts together, so give 'em a good going over before you commit. I wouldn't buy blind, if it were me, but then I wouldn't buy a modern Gibson sight unseen either, so it's not like it's just an issue with inexpensive guitars. Probably have the most faith in Rondo for workmanship in the low end. Shielding paint, clean clean clean routs, competent and well-managed electronics, and a generous return policy if you get a dud (which has happened to me, ah, three times). So maybe faith is the wrong word - trust but verify? :lol:

 

It's interesting that they're doing finishing in the USA, wonder just how much is done where. Still, that does seem to have good parts and all that. I'd be interested to hear experiences with 'em.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
a local shop carries them, they look nasty.



Musicbrokers? :lol:
A few years ago I bought one of the Badwater Tele type things, played it for a couple of weeks before I realized it was a piece of junk and took it back. Havent tried any other model but those distressed semi-hollows look intriguing. . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Musicbrokers?
:lol:
A few years ago I bought one of the Badwater Tele type things, played it for a couple of weeks before I realized it was a piece of junk and took it back. Havent tried any other model but those distressed semi-hollows look intriguing. . .



yup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...