I've long wanted an Axis - I still plan on getting a Music Man Axis Super Sport down the road, but they clock in at north of $2500. I bought my Sterling Axis for $350 as a guitar that I could tweak, add a GK pickup, mod, practice fretwork, etc. It's my cheapest ax, but it's quickly becoming my favorite! Why? Simple - the neck. It feels fantastic. It's wider but thinner than my Strat or my Gretsch, and has an asymmetric cut. After playing my Axis a while, I pick up my Strat and it feels like I'm holding a baseball bat. Sterling didn't cut corners on feel, or, for that matter, on pickups. The humbucker pickups are hot and have a nice, full tone. The five-way switch serves up a nice pallet of tones from the two humbuckers. So, to sum:
The good:
- Resonant basswood body, same as it's more expensive EBMM cousin. Almost as loud on its own as my semi-hollow Gretsch.
- Great pickups, hot, useful selection of tones from the five way switch.
- Truss rod adjustment at the heel of the neck, no wrench needed.
- Sculpted neck joint, held on with five bolts.
- Light weight and compact, but it's a full 25.5" scale length.
- Nice finish and a matching headstock (I'm partial to those).
- Action is set nice and low out of the box (but see below).
- That neck! Plays great, it's fast. That's really why you want it.
Of course, at $350, there are compromises to reach the price point, as you'd expect.
The not-so-good:
- Tuning machines feel cheap, are notchy to turn, small, and fiddly. They're by no means unusable, but you can tell they're cheap. I may replace with a set of ratios down the road.
- Tremolo bridge is so-so. It's a 2-point vintage style (like a Strat), which I like, but feels cheap. The arm always has some play, unless it's nearly cranked down. Out of the box, it's decked (only down bends, no up), and the springs are cranked pretty tight. Because of this, it takes a little effort to bend; much more than my Strat, which I have configured as a floating trem. I think it's setup this way because it makes tuning easier - it acts like a hardtail when not bending. That also means you could do a drop-D tuning without having to completely retune the instrument. However, I don't see any reason why you couldn't set it up to float. I haven't done that, though, so I don't know how stable it would tune if setup to float. If the spacing fits, I may eventually replace the bridge with a Gotoh.
- Fretwork is mostly OK, but there's a buzz in my low E string at the 6th and 7th frets. I'm 90% sure that's because the frets aren't completely level. That could probably be dialed out by raising the action, but I plan on doing a level and crown job to fix it properly.
- Out of the box, it needed intonation. Honestly though, I don't consider that a minus. Most guitars need a proper setup after shipping, unless you buy from a local dealer that has already done a setup.
In short, it's a fantastic budget guitar - just don't expect precision finishing like you'd find buying a higher end model from a dealer. It's certainly playable out of the box, but will play better with a proper setup. Plan on spending $70-100 unless you know how to do a setup and fret level yourself. Beyond that, it could be absolutely killer with another $200-300 spent to put in better tuning machines and a better trem. At that point, you'd have a $500-$600 guitar that I'd put up against any MIM Strat, any day.
Play on!
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This Item  Sterling By MusicMan 6 String Sterling by Music Man Axis AX3S Electric Guitar Body, Right, Black with White Binding (AX3S-BK-R1) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $399.99 | $449.99 | $239.00 | $219.99 | $439.00 | $249.99 |
| Delivery | Get it May 20 - 22 | Get it May 17 - 21 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 22 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 20 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| For beginners | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Craftsmanship | ||||||
| Sold By | Alto Music | GearNuts | HANZHENG | DBROTH | EART-US | Amazon.com |
| hand orientation | Right | Right | Right | Right | Right | Right |
| number of strings | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| fretboard material | Jatoba Wood | Maple Wood | Rosewood | Engineered Wood | Rosewood | Laurel Wood |
| back material | Basswood | Poplar Wood | mahogany | Mahogany | Okoume Wood | — |
| top material | Maple | Maple Wood, Poplar Wood | Maple | Mahogany | Rosewood, Mahogany Wood, Okoume Wood | — |
| string material | Nickel | Nickel | coated nickle phosphor | nickle steel | Nickel Plated Steel | Nickel Steel |
| body material | Basswood | Poplar | Maple | Mahogany | Okoume | Poplar |
| neck material | Maple | Maple | Maple | Mahogany | Okoume Wood | Maple |
Reviews with images
Good budget guitar
I bought this one before the price went up. At current price I think you can find better values out there. The price I got it at is about right. The guitar itself is good and plays well. I like that it has a Basswood body. Some newer Sterlings use Poplar and I hate the sound of that, having had cheap Poplar Strats before. The humbuckers are great. The 5-way switch, however, feels cheap. So do the knobs. It's a light guitar at less than 8 lbs.Setup was decent but I had to make several adjustments before it played well. Lowered strings, pickup height, adjusted truss rod, and especially the bridge springs which were way too tight. I have it where I like it now, but the thing won't stay in tune if you dive bomb the whammy. That's because the tuners on this thing are the worst ones I have ever seen on any budget guitar.My radius gauge showed 10" rather than 12", which was a pleasant surprise since it matches my PRS SE. I don't mind the slightly more curved radius, but find it interesting that it was advertised as 12" radius. Is this just mine? I do like it. And the asymmetrical neck feels beefy in the hands but is very playable.It also arrived with no fret dressing so the strings sound scratchy when you bend them on the fret. Not a big deal because it will smooth out after much playing. But some people mistake it for the Jatoba fretboard being dry. It is the frets not the wood.Other than that, it is a no frills budget guitar that with the increase in price isn't worth it imo. I'd have given it 4 stars at the price I got it. But with the price increase 3 stars because there are much better budget guitars out there for that price.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2019
Color: Black with White BindingVerified Purchase
Looks great, well made. Sounds good with rich deep clear tones. The tremolo bar doesn't work at all, it's just for show apparently, not that I use it at all and most probably don't either. The nut seems like it's made out of some type of plastic, definitely not bone. It's a smaller parlor guitar type in length but has some real weight to it. Feels solid and doesn't feel cheap at all. It's a quality build for sure. It has passive pickups. Doesn't have a battery as listed, no place for a battery as I opened up the back and found none, lol. The fretboard is made out of Jatoba wood also known as Brazilian Cherry which is a very hard wood but it feels nice, not Rosewood as listed even though it does say Jatoba wood earlier in the description. Looks good though. The neck is Maple and really nice and smooth and really great for playing. Has a really nice finish on it. The neck isn't clunky or rough or overly big or long. Low D type. Makes playing easy. Frets are nice and smooth, no sharp edges. Tuners are decent. The 5 way toggle switch is really nice and tight & solid & gives you some really nice sound & tone options to play with ranging from more tremble & clear sharp sounds to more bassy & rich thick deep sounds. Toggle switch doesn't rattle either. Everything is tight on this guitar, knobs also, nothing loose. Volume & Tone knobs feel good and work as expected. Has some nice bark to the sound. Paint job shines but gets finger smudges on it easy. The brown fretboard and black body look really good together. If hooked to a nice guitar pedal & a bigger and better amp this guitar would really rock & roll. I'm not using a pedal and just have it hooked to a Fender Frontman 10G Amp but it still rocks. It's set low, plays low with low action. It came with light soft strings, didn't say what kind. I'm gonna replace them with some good medium gauge strings. Bought it from Chicago Music Exchange thru Amazon because they had it for $12 dollars cheaper at $299 with free prime shipping. They delivered one day earlier than expected. It was doubled boxed and well protected. Came setup and ready to tune after they tell you to wait 24 hours for it to heat up in your house. It's made in Indonesia. I'm gonna have fun with this guitar, Peace & rock on. 🎸
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Top reviews from other countries
Tom
Great for the money
Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2020Color: White with Black BindingVerified Purchase
DavidL
Well made, looks great and sounds really brilliant.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2019Color: White with Black BindingVerified Purchase
natune5090
コスパ良し！ただ…
Reviewed in Japan on December 20, 2022Color: White with Black BindingVerified Purchase
Derek Uttley
Good experience
Reviewed in Canada on June 3, 2021Color: White with Black BindingVerified Purchase
