sterling AX40 - ever play one?

[markD]

anybody have or play one of those "sterling by musicman" axis guitars? they look as if they'd be a great deal and i love the EBMM axis. i regret selling mine. i thought about picking one up, but....

here is what i am talking about:

http://www.sterlingbymusicman.com/main.html?dir=guitar_ax40

[straycat]

Made in China would be my guess.I'm thinking OLP here.

[Flatpicker]

Looks like China, Probably closer to what PRS did with the SE's, but, I wish MM didn't go this route.
The SUB series was really good.

[markD]

the back of the headstock on the website says "made in indonesia". so i know that much. it doesn't concern me too much because my pink sparkle tele was made in indonesia, and that guitar is good enough to gig with.

if the sterling plays as well as a PRS SE then it's worth getting....but, i'd like feedback from someone that HAS played one.

[DRM]

They rule. They don't have the same fretboard radius as an Axis, I think the Sterling's are 15" or 16" (they're really flat) and the Axis has a 10". I've played them both side by side, and while I personally would spring for a used Axis, the AX40 plays well and doesn't feel cheap like the OLP's did. I also owned an OLP MM1 and it was garbage compared to the new Sterling's.

The trem stayed in tune, but granted I only played it for about 20 minutes. The bridge pickup sounds exactly like a Tone Zone, but the neck pickup isn't very good. Notes blur together during legato runs and it just sounds muddy overall. The neck profile is really nice and feels like a C profile, I can't really tell if it's "assymetrical" or not...I can't even tell on an Axis, so what do I know? lol

Fretwork was really impressive. And I don't mean for in this price range, I mean it was good in general. No dead spots or sharp edges. It plays really nice.

My opinion: if you want to save some bucks, pick up an AX40 and drop in a better neck pup and an OFR and there's no reason to get an Axis. However, at that point you could get a used Axis, so the choice is really up to you.

[markD]

cool. thanks!!