I've been itching to get a Les Paul Junior(ish) guitar, I say ish because I'm a bit of a tight git, not over flush with money and like to be a bit different anyway.
On my radar had been Vintage V130 (DC), V120 (SC), Epiphone Junior or Special (with set neck) and a Quincy Leeds ((DC) just seem to be sold by one place in Manchester) all in the £200 - £350 category. I also fell in love with Gordon Smith's after a recent trip in to Manchester but they were really getting over my budget.
On said trip to Manchester a brand I'd never heard of caught my eye, AXL. It was a second hand Torino, the guy said he believed it was American but he knew little about them. After a few days of research I discovered they were imported bodies and necks (far east), hand finished (in the USA) including installing frets, fret levelling, setting up along with good quality components (coil tapped Fralin pickup, TonePro bridge, Grovers, etc). I decided to make a cheeky offer which would bring it well within my budget, which was accepted.
I changed the strings, just an excuse to check whether or not it was a Fralin pickup as I didn't expect to get that within my budget.
See below, I'm very happy. It sounds great, very well set up, looks and feels fantastic. Weighs in just under 7lb which suits my back: )
AXL USA workshop pics
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Comments
Seems great, string height about 1.25mm, no fret buzz, fret ends are very good. Feels lovely. Of choice I would have gone for the black version but beggars can't be choosers: )
It is fair to say I'm very happy!
Lindy Fralin talking about the pickup... does it better than me: ) Start at 2:14 for the High Output Humbucker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd5SazQqKnA&feature=youtu.be&t=134
AXL demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSo4_8UzlqM
That guitar's not too shabby at all.