Ebmm axis 1996 Vs 2000 to present

justtt007

Hi guys, looking at buying an axis have been to see 2 so far and have noticed a real difference in overall feel of the earlier pre 2000 models and the later ones, the 1996 axis I played came in a g&g case and seemed to be slightly better built, recessed neck plate and overall feel, neck profile also felt slightly different to the newer model I played, both were awesome quality but the newer model just seemed a little bit lacking compared to the older one else found this or is it all in my head? Only reason I'm asking is the 96 model is a couple of hundred more expensive and just wanted to know if there was a reason?

Cheers for any input guys

Winny_Pooh

Can't think of any reason why the older model would cost more. EBMM moved over to CNC for most work years ago, so if anything the newer guitars should be more consistent & any difference you noted just be that individual bit of wood and setup. 

DrBob

Iirc correctly they stopped recessing the neck plates because they were having issues with the finish cracking at the lip of the recess

justtt007

There's no real logical reason I can give for it, perhaps the recessed neck plate gives it a different feel maybe, both of them were awesome the 96 was in the Trans amber which I suppose is the evh colour perhaps that's where the extra price is coming from, the Neck on the older model definitely felt more substantial in my hand though

DrBob

justtt007 said:

There's no real logical reason I can give for it, perhaps the recessed neck plate gives it a different feel maybe, both of them were awesome the 96 was in the Trans amber which I suppose is the evh colour perhaps that's where the extra price is coming from, the Neck on the older model definitely felt more substantial in my hand though

Ah, now, interesting that you should say that.
At one point I had a 94 (I think) Axis Sport MM90,
a 97 Axis (still got, complete with chip at the edge of the recessed neck plate) and a 2005 Axis Supersport and although they all had the same assymetric neck profile the actual depth of the necks got skinnier as the guitars got younger. 

I basically got hounded off of the EBMM forum for daring to suggest this even though I had the evidence right there in my hands ...

justtt007

justtt007 said:

There's no real logical reason I can give for it, perhaps the recessed neck plate gives it a different feel maybe, both of them were awesome the 96 was in the Trans amber which I suppose is the evh colour perhaps that's where the extra price is coming from, the Neck on the older model definitely felt more substantial in my hand though

Ah, now, interesting that you should say that.
At one point I had a 94 (I think) Axis Sport MM90,
a 97 Axis (still got, complete with chip at the edge of the recessed neck plate) and a 2005 Axis Supersport and although they all had the same assymetric neck profile the actual depth of the necks got skinnier as the guitars got younger. 

I basically got hounded off of the EBMM forum for daring to suggest this even though I had the evidence right there in my hands ...

That's exactly how it feels the necks are definitely chunkier on the earlier models, I wonder if they were still using the evh profile back then? I know they changed it slightly after he stopped using them but I wonder if the change was more a progressive change, not really sure but they are 100% different feeling necks that's for sure.

Philly_Q

justtt007 said:

justtt007 said:

There's no real logical reason I can give for it, perhaps the recessed neck plate gives it a different feel maybe, both of them were awesome the 96 was in the Trans amber which I suppose is the evh colour perhaps that's where the extra price is coming from, the Neck on the older model definitely felt more substantial in my hand though

Ah, now, interesting that you should say that.
At one point I had a 94 (I think) Axis Sport MM90,
a 97 Axis (still got, complete with chip at the edge of the recessed neck plate) and a 2005 Axis Supersport and although they all had the same assymetric neck profile the actual depth of the necks got skinnier as the guitars got younger. 

I basically got hounded off of the EBMM forum for daring to suggest this even though I had the evidence right there in my hands ...

That's exactly how it feels the necks are definitely chunkier on the earlier models, I wonder if they were still using the evh profile back then? I know they changed it slightly after he stopped using them but I wonder if the change was more a progressive change, not really sure but they are 100% different feeling necks that's for sure.

Blimey, I've been moaning on for years about EBMM necks being too skinny - largely based on my experience of owning a 1997 Axis Sport.  Now I find out they're even skinnier than they were then!

I didn't know they'd stopped recessing the neck plates either.  Obviously saves them a bit of production time/cost, but it was a fairly unnecessary (though nice) feature.

KrisGee

I owned a bunch of these but on a particular one neck felt the best to me. It could've been down to how much it was played and it was played a LOT. Not sure what year it was as I stopped visiting ebmm forum and checking the serials but it had a recessed neck plate and GG case. 

prlgmnr

I've heard it said somewhere that pre 2010 ones are better than post 2010 ones but as is so often the case with internet hearsay I can't remember who said it or where.

justtt007

I'm just glad it's not just me, I mentioned it also on the ebmm forum and was blasted for it

prlgmnr

Yeah the ebmm forum is like that episode of the Twilight Zone where the kid has psychic powers - don't be criticial of Music Man in there or Big Poppa will wish you into the cornfield.

DrBob

justtt007 said:

I'm just glad it's not just me, I mentioned it also on the ebmm forum and was blasted for it

Mate I was astonished at the response to my post on the matter. It wasn’t like I was attacking them or saying it was a bad thing, merely saying that the three Axis’s I had had different thickness necks and the response was basically “Nope, can’t be you’re wrong and how dare you question our product”.

justtt007

DrBob said:

justtt007 said:

I'm just glad it's not just me, I mentioned it also on the ebmm forum and was blasted for it

Mate I was astonished at the response to my post on the matter. It wasn’t like I was attacking them or saying it was a bad thing, merely saying that the three Axis’s I had had different thickness necks and the response was basically “Nope, can’t be you’re wrong and how dare you question our product”.

Very strange response from them, I even started by saying that ebmm were my favourite all around guitar and I'd never played a bad one and was literally only asking if any had noticed a difference in neck profiles, the torches were then lit and out came the pitch forks!

tekbow

There are arguments to be made for the earlier Axis guitars being a little more desirable than later production instruments.

I have a guitar whose serial number is Jan 97 and has a neck pocket stamp Dec 96.

What's true to say:

While it's TRUE that they've employed CNC from the start for part manufacture, the guitars were hand assembled and finished.

One of the main issues with the EVH guitar was production capacity, and one of the officially cited reasons that EVH left was they lacked the capacity to get out the numbers he wanted.

If you look at the EVH guitars a lot of the quilt tops were less than spectacular.

So, when they came to produce the Axis, they were done at a rate that suited EBMM. You didn't really see many poor quilts on the early axis, although they were less common. But when you did see them, well.. let's just say you'd have to buy a BFR to see that kind of quilt these days and in fact for a long time a quilt top was a paid upgrade.

And because of Eddie, a good quilt is kind of seen as the top to have.

Another factor is the colour. The earliest Axis, up to around 2000, had the hand stained top, but with a better UV blocker in the clear coat that prevented the notable fading that many EVH guitars suffered from.

In 2000 or so they moved to a spray on colour coat or some such that had a less rich, "popped" 3D effect. Taking the classic amber as an example, the earlier ones are are a gorgeous pumpkin kind of colour, the current ones are a less rich kind of yellow.

Finally the earliest ones had some left over parts from the EVH fitted, like the offset saddle Gotoh bridge unit, which are seen as desirable by some, are actually of more practical design and are nice IF the knife edges haven't worn.

The necks rear profile are all supposed to be the same, but many will cite variation. Many will cite variation on the EVH instruments too. I suspect hand finishing is responsible.

Finally 96 is the year the EVH model ended and the Axis began, so it's often thought of as a transitional model/first year model.

Here's some gear porn of mine.

justtt007

That is spectacular and just convinced me to pull the trigger on the 96 amber axis I went to see! Will be collecting it in the morning

justtt007

Very pleased with these 2, got the axis and picked up a pc1! So impressed with both!

96 axis and Jackson pc1 https://imgur.com/gallery/ix1Wdbo

tekbow

Yup, that has an offset saddle Gotoh bridge, so what some enthusiasts would call a transitional.

justtt007

It plays very well, have noticed the high e will slip off the board a little now and then but I'd imagine that's just me getting used to the neck difference from my peavey Wolfgang

tekbow

Wait what? As in past the 12 fret? And the neck alignment is otherwise good?

That's interesting..

tekbow

Also, does it have a Belly cut?

justtt007

It does have a belly cut yes, and yes the slippage is only below the 12th fret, very curious as to how you knew that though??? Lol