Axis of Evil,,

[Phantasmagoria]

Well..... a Sterling Axis AX3FM....

NIce guitar, reasonably priced..plays like butter. Had one flaw that nearly made me send it back...until I found out what the problem was...

When I first plugged in this guitar I could'nt believe how dull and lifeless it sounded, no matter the pickup/switch position. Tried lowering/ then raising the pups, changed the strings, polished the frets, tightened the tuning keys/neck joint...still sounded like complete and utter ass..

Turned out the tone knob was wired backwards (and still is, until I figure out how to reverse it) so when it was fully turned up it was actually fully turned down. Don't know how that got past inspection?QC?

Anyway, as long as I have the tone knob turned the other way...it sounds fine. Axe has sweet tone/great sustain & sings nicely.

Was curious to know how the Sterling compared to the EVH Wolfgang I just bought. Obviously, not quite the same specs & the Wolfgang costs almost double what this Sterling does. But both axes do have a similar feel and tone to them & the both look awesome w/ great finishes.

The Wolfgang is a higher quality axe, the frets came well polished & dressed, while the Axis did feel a bit rough out of the box. I had to bring out the old Scoth Brite pad to smoothen them out a bit. But otherwise, they were completely even w/ no sharp ends or anything . Action on both Axes can be adjusted insanely low without any buzzing and they both have great feeling fast necks.

Conclusion...both really sweet axes that I'm glad I have :bigthumb:

 

[Mincer]

I wondered about the Sterling versions of the EBMM guitars. I own 2 EBMM guitars that I love, but considered checking out some Sterlings as well.

 

[El Dunco]

Don’t you just need to reverse the wiring on the tone knob?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah I think the hot wire is probably wired to the wrong lug on the tone pot or something. The truth is since I don't ever use the tone pot (or the volume one to 'clean-up'...cuz who wants to clean up haha). I'll probably just leave it as it is. My near sight is getting worse by the minute and soldering anything is now a huge PIA.

@ mincer..can't complain about the way these are put together or finished. sounds great too. Pickups are sweet. They did a damn good job for $350 new.. I'd have liked an AX4 with a Floyd Special, but those are'nt available here atm..

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Some neck pup noodling. Sloppy cuz I'm spending more time setting up NGD's than playing

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Gotta say..it's a nice sounding/playing axe though

 

[GuitarDoc]

Never been a fan of the 4x2 tuners headstock. I do, however, love that it creates a straight line for the strings over the nut. That is the main reason I prefer 6 in-line rather than 3x3 (I do realize that there are some 3x3 headstock designs that do a good job at keeping the strings straight over the nut).

 

[Mincer]

Never been a fan of the 4x2 tuners headstock. I do, however, love that it creates a straight line for the strings over the nut. That is the main reason I prefer 6 in-line rather than 3x3 (I do realize that there are some 3x3 headstock designs that do a good job at keeping the strings straight over the nut).

See, I like the 4x2. It is small, and keeps the guitar balanced.

 

[Top-L]

I dont like 3x3 or 4x2 at. all.

The reason? Because when tuning you have to flip your hand over to the other side, which is a pita when I am looking at a tuner.

Inline 6 for life.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I dont like 3x3 or 4x2 at. all.

The reason? Because when tuning you have to flip your hand over to the other side, which is a pita when I am looking at a tuner.

Inline 6 for life.

I probably have about 3 guitars out of 50+ that have anything but 6-in-line. It's not that big of a deal for me. I'm not one of those who is constantly tuning/retuning as I play. I just play.

Most of my guitar's have Floyd's anyway..it's almost never an issue.

 

[GuitarDoc]

See, I like the 4x2. It is small, and keeps the guitar balanced.

I think that functionally they are great in that respect. But it just looks odd to me and it's not that easy to find replacement tuners that are 4x2 that function the way I want and are reasonably priced. No, not for me. There are too many other options.