AXL AM-1 German Silver Tricone Resonator

- not sure of year, made in Germany (Continental factory), ebony fret board, slotted headstock, three piece maple neck.
- german silver body (not really silver, but an alloy used in early Nationals that is highly sought after for tonal properties)
- hand spun Continental cones
- basically, this guitar is a very high-end reproduction of an early National guitar.

Rating is a 9 because the AM-1 surpasses the features of a similarly priced National Style 1 tricone with its thick highly-figured C-shaped maple neck, wide ebony fingerboard, and German silver body. I'd give it a 10 if it came with a Schatten pickup installed or had engraving. But, alas, a 9 is still pretty dern good.

Very good sustain and complexity. It doesn't have the bite of a duolian (well, it's not supposed to), but it does have mojo on the bass strings when you give it a good alternating thumb line. With a slide, it really sings and sings. Although AXL and Johnson are owned by the same parent company, this is no Johnson tricone. Johnsons are manufactured in China, not Germany. Soundwise, the AXL is much more akin to a National, although I would characterize the sound as *different* than a National --not necessarily better or worse-- if anything more refined or nuanced. But this may be due to the Continental cones rather than the body materials. It's hard to say.

Exquisite workmanship. The action was setup for combo slide and fingerstyle. The guitar is literally a work of art. I only wish I had the money to buy a Style 2 or 3 to get some engraving on there. The feel of the thick neck might require some getting used to for some people, but the thick neck increases sustain, which is what a tricone is all about. The frets were excellently done and I can't find a single flaw on her.

I could knock you out with this guitar and then play a gig with it without retuning it. It's not light, but it's lighter than its brass-bodied counterparts, which is nice after playing 10 songs on it--doesn't cut the circulation off in your thigh.

I tried to contact AXL about this guitar and they referred me to a distributor who was quite helpful, but I was able to find out much more about these guitars from the one store that I found that had one in stock.

I've been playing for 12 years. I own about 10 guitars, including a National Delphi, a Martin 000-28ec, and many mid-range (~500) guitars that tickle my fancy in different ways. I wouldn't sell this tricone. Given the rarity of German silver bodies and that it retails for over $2,200.00, it would be too hard to replace. I'm not sure if they're even manufacturing these guitars anymore. If it were stolen, I'd really try to replace it but would probably be forced to buy something else because it's really hard to find these puppies in the states. I believe that AXL may just put their headstock cover on top of a Continental resonator and call it an AXL (e.g. OEM manufacturing). I don't think that AXL has operations in Germany and the only resonator manufacturer in Germany (to my knowledge) is Continental. Amistar (Czech) and Beltona are other resonator companies that I'd consider along with Continental and National if I had to replace this guitar.