Product: Abel Axe Green with Trem
Price Paid: : )
Submitted
04/28/2000
at
10:49am
by
Guitar Player and Enthusiast
Email: Pippin9 at usa<dot>net
Features
:
9
Made in U.S., small Strat style body is 6061 T-6 aluminum, one inch thick, perforated with three different size holes in three rows along its perimeter, body is anodized green, 22 frets, 6105 equivalent fret wire, rosewood fingerboard, hard rock maple neck, dot inlays, 25.5" scale, Kahler trem (I believe it's a Flatmount but the arm is not oversized like on other flatmounts I've seen), graphite nut, Kent Armstrong twin humbuckers (passive) with three-way selector mini switch, Sperzel locking tuners (green), gig bag included. Only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because it could have had more features like 24 frets, tone knobs, and coil splitters. I wouldn't use the 24 frets or the tone knobs anyway...
Sound
:
10
Perfectly suits my style: rock/jazz. Tone is the best I've heard: bright, super clear tones that carve the air into sculptures. Absolutely no noise and distorts better than any other guitar I've tried (see below). The sustain, harmonics and overtones are unmatched. I like everything about this guitar's sound. I added coil taps to mine just to make sure I could cut through with the cruddy amp they have at my local open mike blues jam.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Fit and finish is not perfect: the neck was sanded down slightly in the neck joint area to align with the bridge properly and the nut slots could have been spaced more evenly. Perfect action with stable neck. Stays in tune with straight string pull design and the well-oiled Kahler. The Abel Axe neck joint is the thinnest of any bolt-on guitar I've seen and puts the "all access" neck joints of other companies to shame.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This guitar is built like a tank. The body is indestructible. To hurt the finish you have to scrape it with metal. The hardware screw holes are machined perfectly into the body to hold the strap buttons, bridge, etc. solidly in place. There is not another wooden-neck electric guitar as reliable as an Abel Axe.
Customer Support
:
10
Lifetime warrenty which I haven't needed and will probably never need. Excellent support from the makers when I asked for information and ordered a different bridge color, and they're not even making them anymore!
Overall Rating
:
10
I've owned or played them all over the past 11 years. I had an Ibanez JS10TH, a BC Rich Exclusive, a Jackson Soloist, a Fender Strat and sold them because the Abel Axe killed them for tone and feel. I even went to a guitar show just to try Ed Roman's Koa Strat, Edberger, the Gibson DC's, PRS's, and everything else he's hyped. So far no other electric can give me the tones, feel and durability I've found with my Abel Axe. It turns out my dream guitar is not made of wood, but of aluminum. Maybe it's the Riddle of Steel? :) Anyway, I highly recmommend them and have a tribute site with information and pictures for anyone who's interested in these cool guitars: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/aa17/AbelAxe.htm
