AXL Sherwood Tele

*** THIS IS A FOLLOW-UP TO MY 12/11/2003 REVIEW. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH MANDALAYMUSIC.COM, THEY HAVE NOT HONORED THEIR GUARANTEE. THEY HAVE KEPT THE RETURNED ITEM REVIEWED BELOW AND HAVE NOT REFUNDED MY MONEY AS THEY STATED THEY WOULD. CONTACT ME AT mr.hipp@comcast.net FOR COMPLETE HISTORY WITH THIS SELLER, WHOM I AM NOW TAKING TO COURT. eBay HAS REMOVED NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ON THIS SELLER THAT EXISITED, BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE PROBLEMS BY CLICKING ON THE "BIZRATE.COM" ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS SELLERS eBay AUCTIONS, eBay CAN'T EDIT THAT INFORMATION. SELLER HAS 25% NEGATIVE FEEDBACK AND 17% NETURAL.

2003 AXL Sherwood "Tele" made in China. Solid Alder, total of 3 pieces. Grain does not match very well. This is the "Honey Blonde transparent model with Maple neck and fret board. Since grain is a poor match, wished they had a Sunburst with Maple Fret Board. But the only other current option is black with rosewood. There is also a finish sander burn on the body about 1" long and very visable as well as many other finish flaws on the neck and body. It looks "pieced together".

Controls are total crap, both volume and tone. 3 way is very stiff, but functions o.k.

Bridge pick-up is totally quiet. Neck pick-up buzzes like crazy unless the crap volume and tone controls are turned all the way down. Not part way down. All the way down. This is not my idea of "low noise" EMG's [EMG pick-ups]

The neck pocket has a very tight fit. Excellent. The guitar feels very solid and somewhat heavy, which I do like. It "feels" great.

Not a "string thru" body, but sustains well. Tunes go out of tune very easy. Neck is fairly fat, I like that. Fret board is decent.

Came with cheap, but free gig bag, 10ft amp cord and shoulder strap. Free UPS shipping.

Guitar sounds decent, but the EMG in the neck position is just noisy as hell. I would replace it if I was going to keep this guitar, which I am not. I have asked seller to honor their excellent "satisfaction guarantee". I have asked for an exchange. If not better 2nd go around, will ask for money back and keep saving for a good Fender Tele.

Set-up was poor. Did not expect good set-up out of the box. Was not disappointed[lol]. Everything needed set-up. As stated before, Volume and Tone controls are complete junk. The tuners are junk. The fit of the neck pocket is excellent and the "feel" is good.

In it's out of the box condition, I don't like playing this at home, let alone live playing. No Way.

Bought from Mandalay Music . com, who has a great reputation and gaurantee. Will see if they honor it, I expect they will.

Been playing since 1972. Have had everything twice. Currently have 1982 Ibanez Rocket Roll II RR400 [PERFECTION] and Fender Mexican Strat, whose controls work fine, but feels to light and has too thin a neck for my tastes, so just a personal preference. I like the "feel" of the AXL Sherwood better, but the Mexican Fender is actually a better quality insturment at least for now. I believe the China built guitars will be as good as any pretty quick. The neck pocket on the AXL is a tighter fit than the Mex Fender. The AXL sustains better. The Mex Fender has a better finish.

I bought the AXL Sherwood Tele to give them a chance. The price of $169.00 with no tax, shipping or any other charges along with MandalayMusic.com's Satisfaction Guarantee" that I believe they honor made it worth a try. If the replacement AXL Sherwood is better than described here, I will post an update. If problems to the point I don't want it, I will let this post stand[give it a couple of weeks].

It's made in china I think, Its a 2001 or 2002 model. Telecaster style guitar, Tele bridge, body, and electronics configuration.
Two single coil EMG designed pickups. Kluson style split peg tuners.
Black fininsh, solid alder body, maple neck (22frets)with a skunk stripe, rosewood fingerboard.
I am basing my rating on the price range of this guitar. Exceptionally well equipped for a $140.00 to $170.00. Lists for $300.00

The guitar sounds very good! The EMG select pickups have a lot of pop for the money. I especially like the slightly out of phase sound (quack). These pick-ups are every bit as hot as real Tele. In fact the neck pick up is actually usable when adjusted to the proper height. The middle setting has plenty of punch, and the bridge setting is not as anoyingly bitey as some teles are. The bridge pick up is usable for rythym guitar by rolling some trebble off. The pick ups are very quiet. I like the way they sound. I use a Digiteck RP 200 pedal which just sweetens this thing beyond belief.
The neck setting is great for blues.
Considering the price of the guitarI give it a nine.(there are many better pickups but they cost more than this entire guitar.

The guitar needed to be set up..no big deal. I did most of it my self.
I couldn't get the action quite low enough for my liking so I will take it in for adjusting... again no big deal
I raised the neck pick up to proper height. Before i did that it was very weak. After the adjustment it was exceptionally sweet.
I also adjusted the bridge pick up, it was set to high. Very satisfactory results after adjustments
The guitar is very attractive. Black with a tortoise shell pick guard and white binding (you don't see that on inexpensive guitars)It is very nice looking

I have used it live..it is pretty heavy and I think it will hold up well.It seems as well put together as any Tele I've owned or played. Everything seems solid.
I went over everthing (took it apart when i got it home, cleaned neck joint. routing, tightened all screws, etc.)
Playing live I always have a back up. Who would go out and not have a back up if they could help it.

Don't know yet

Been playing a pretty long time about 33 years. I own and have owned too many guitars to remember. Hagstom, Gibson, Ibenez, Johnson, Harmony, Nelsonic, Alvarez, Ovations, Takamine etc etc....
I'm glad I bought this guitar and i hope to play it for a long time (you know, until I want/need something else.)
The guitar plays great, sounds great, I would buy AXL again if it were lost or stolen. For the price it at least equals a Fender Tele standard if not surpasses it....I have played various Tele's and Tele copies, and this is a real value. I have seen AXL guitars like this one selling for $350.00 in an area music store more than once. They are worth the $350.00, but you can get them eveyday for 150-170 dollars.
I give this guitar an overall rating of nine based on price, value and actual playability.

This AXL AT 200-N was made in China in 2002. It has 22 frets. It is made of solid alder wood.It has the standard 3 way pick up switch, 1 volume and 1 tone control. It has 2 single coil EMG pick ups. They are passive. The body is finished in a beautiful 50's type yellow tinted clear. The neck also has this finish which gives it a very 1950's vintage look. It is of the telecaster style body. It has a hardtail bridge ( tele style) with 6 bridge saddles(fully adjustable).
The tuners are exact look a likes of the vintage Kluson style. But they are very cheap in design and should be replaced right away with real Klusons because they slip and have a lot of slack. ( here's where AXL cheated a bit to save costs I guess) It has a standard "C" radius neck with medium to thin frets and a beautiful maple finerboard. It came with the adjustment allen wrenchs, a cheap 10' cord. No gig bag or case( but for the price, what could you expect)

It suits my style of playing very well. That would be blues and rock-a-billy. I use a Roland BC60 blues cube. It makes almost no noise at all even when turned all the way up. The EMG pick-up in the bridge position is a little weak in punch and kind of thin sounding. I am going to replace both pick ups with Fender noiseless vintage ones very soon.The neck position is pretty nice but my experience is balanced matched sets of pick ups should always be used so the front will have to go just because of this theory. It is fairly fat in the front position a fair mid range punch in the center position and as I stated earlier, kind of weak and thin in the bridge or rear position. If it had the right pick ups it would be an awesome sounding instrument, and so it shall in just a few days. I love almost everything about this guitar except the tuning gears and the bridge pick up, but for 129.00 dollars how much can one expect?

The set up was fair but neede to be fixed with a proper pro set up. This is easily done and very inexpensive to do. The action was a bit high for my style of playing. The pick ups were adjusted about as well as tele type pick ups can be. There were 2 scratches in the wood below the clear finish but once again for the money how critical can one be? The woods used are just beautiful and superior looking. This is one stunning instrument to look at and prsents it's self wonderfully on stage. The hardware is very good for this price range and is very sturdy.

No doubt you could play this one without a back-up but I never do because of experience and when your making your living playing music, you never risk that.The hardware, except the tuning gears should last forever it seems. The strap buttons are solid. I do depend on it and will continue to as my front line guitar, night in and night out.

I haven't needed to deal with AXL as of yet but the dealer I bought it from, (Guitar source on line)has been outstanding to deal with. It has a 2 year warranty.

I own Moondog Recording Studios and I have been making my living playing music for nearly fourty years. No there is nothing I wished I'd asked because for the price paid I am WAY ahead of the game so to speak. This guitar is just the greatest buy for the bucks out there anywhere. If some one stole it I would hunt them down , hit them in the head with it and take it back! I love evrything about it except for the tuning gears as stated eariler and the bridge pick up. If you spend just a few extra dollars on these items after you get one you will have an awesome playing and looking tele guitar. For the seasoned pro or even the beginer, this is a wonderful instrument. It gives the starting player all he will ever need to get started and with the above mentioned improvements the pro player can obtain a simply wonderful piece for next to no investment. I own many guitars, some worth thousands and every time I walk by the rows of guitars here at Moondg, I am always drawn to my AXL AT 200-N Tele.The very best Bang - for the - Buck out there. Someday very soon players are going to discover these AXL guitars for what they are and the price is going to go thru the roof on these.

Chinese made (I think) Dark natural, Telecaster. Solid Alder Body with Darker Red Tortise Pickguard. Maple neck in the 50's Yellow Poly finish. Ibanez shaped headstock. Two EMG pickups with 3-way toggle and 1 vol, 1 tone control. Tele style bridge. Kluson style tuners. Came with inexpensive, but nice gig bag.

Playing thru a Fender Princeton 65 around the house. Sounds great no buzzing. A friend that is a veteran played sat with it one night and really enjoyed.

Action out of the box was high. Dealer brought it down in a few minutes. The action is extremely low and there is no buzz anywhere. The neck is smooth as glass, Frets very smooth. I have the natural finish on an Alder body. Very nice

This guitar is built like a truck. I don't know how well the switch and pots are made though. The selector switch seems cheap as do the knobs.

Not sure about AXL. Have not used them. I bought it at a music store that has outstanding support.

Only playing two years. I had a Fender MIM Tele in my hand in Agave Blue. I chose the AXL over the Fender. Value and quality wise, for $149 bucks, less than half the price of a Fender MIM. It certainly meets my needs. I would only choose the natural finish though. That was a tie breaker.

I absolutely hate the Ibanez shaped headstock. I put my belt sander in a vise and reshaped the headstock in minutes. Touched with minwax poly and it looks factory. Sort of a Fender Peavy Morph now.