OLP Axis

Made in China. One volume knob, two pickups, basswood body. I think everyone knows all the specs by now. Has everything I need but I gave it a 9 because other people might want a tone knob and other features.

Amazing! I have had an OLP for a year now and just picked up a second one the other day in Trans-Gold. The pickups in this one sounds really good. A little better than the ones I had in my first one. Could be because the bridge is in a slightly different spot and angled a tad. (factory blem or whatever) it works well with this guitar. I might leave this original pickup in it. I swapped out my other OLP's bridge for a Dimarzio ToneZone. Full sound with this one and is nearly as good as my $2,000 Peavey Wolfgang guitar. I love these inexpensive guitars! Can't understand how they can make these and sell them for so cheap.

I had to tweak the action a bit but medium/low works well for me. No buzzing. The photo-finish looks really nice. Love the trans-gold finish!!! The trans-black one I have looks a tad green though.

OLP guitars are built to last. I have toured with my other one over the last 12 months. Played it under the most horrid conditions in 122 degree heat, outdoor shows etc.. This thing stays in tune GREAT!!! unlike my Washburn Idol which went out of tune just by looking at it.
Very dependable guitar. Never breaks strings either!!! I change them at least once a month though.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing 35 years, I have owned tons of guitars, Ed Roman models, Peavey Wolfgang, Washburn Idol, BC Rich's etc. The OLP is right up there with the rest. I love it! I bought this guitar used on craigslist for $100!!!!!!!!!!!! What a steal...

Year 2004, made in China, 22 fret, solid or laminate body unknown but has a photofilm top finish, controls are dead simple; three way toggle and volume, NO TONE POT (frankly doesn't need one!), pickups are MID-OUTPUT stock OLP H/H, Body I think is basswood, neck maple, like I said; photofinish orange "flame maple" repro., Body style is Ernie Ball/Musicman Axis/EVH shape, bridge is fenderesque no-locking tremolo, tuners are stock OLP/gotoh no-locking, Scale "seems" short. This is common in Ernie ball guitars and many players with "small hands" have commented on the easy of playing a neck this size, Haven't a clue about the frets BUT THERE ARE SOME! lol, fingerboard is maple, no accessories included but that didn't worry me.

I play predominantly neo-classical rock alla Herrs Malmsteen and V. Moore and this guitar's sound suits that perfectly. The pickups are supposed to be MID-OUTPUT yet I find no difficulty getting feedback or harmonics and they have a killer tone through my good gear. My "good gear" consists of Marshall JCM 900 stack, Roland BOSS GT 8 floor processor, and Jim Dunlop Crybaby. I've tried this guitar through my "back-up rig" (JCM 900 half stack, GT6, DOD YJM 308, and my wah) and also through my "teaching" practice amps (Marshall MG30DFX and Peavey Studio pro 112) and it sounds great regardless!

It's not noisy at all and the feedback is very controlled and smooth. Tone is tuby and rich on neck pickup and biting on bridge. Variety is great even with no TONE POT. I've produced bluesy tones, great cleans, evil, harmonic-filled distortions, and tuby 70s rock sounds all just by changing my patches and messing about with the toggle switch and volume pot.

The guitar was pretty well setup from the factory and for ages I didn't even lower the action! I have now done so and WOW!! Even better. :) There really doesn't seem to be any manufacturing errors that I can see (a little roughness of finish at the bass of the fingerboard is all I could find). Wood seems good and solid and no rust to report. No lose tuners, noise in the pickup selector or volume pot. HOWEVER, I had one scare early on as the neck was creaking and seemed a tad loose! I tightened the screws at the neck joint plate and the problem has not reoccured. phew!!

I know that this guitar will stand up to live playing as I have friends who gig on them, plus I've maintained a heavy teaching schedule on this very instument, it's solid!

I've checked over every bit of hardware and there doesn't seem to be anything that will fail anytime soon.

As I said, it probably my main teaching instrument so I DO rely on it!

Yes, i'd happily gig on it. :)

I can really comment on Ernie Ball as I've not had to deal with them. I guess they don't get many returns though.

I've been playing guitar (both electric and classical) for almost 20 years and have a roomfull of gear.

GUITARS; Ibanez RG550L and RG 470L, Fender USA strat (leftie), Epiphone G400L, Yamamha RBX270L Bass, Ramirez 4EZ and Admira Avila classical guitars.

Amp setups; 2 x JCM 900 100 watt heads, 2 x 1960A 4x12 cabs, 1 x 1960B 4x12 cab, Marshall MG30DFX 30 watt practice amp, Peavey Studio Pro 112 40 watt practice amp

Effects; Roland BOSS GT8, GT6 and GT5 effects processors, Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah, DOD YJM 308 booster pedal

I would hate to have this guitar stolen, but I'd definately replace it if it was. I can honestly say that the only thing I regret about this guitar is it's lack of a Floyd Rose tremolo! I'd REALLY love to get one fitted (complete with locking nut) to this guitar someday, then it would be in danger of being my first instrument! I don't HATE anything about it, and I even enjoy the simplicity of not having a tone pot. I'd just like to say that Ernie Ball have done a fabulous job on this guitar. I've been playing it now for close to a year and it IS incredible, as the black fingermarks on the pale maple board proves!!

A 5 is no insult. It doesn't have any fancy features, just a volume knob. I actually love the simplicity. I don't know why more guitars aren't made like this. I would love this guitar to have more of a body contour, though, because it does hurt my forearm a little after awhile. I wish they had more options, like mahogany bodies and rosewood fretboards

Off the shelf, I had a little trouble getting the tone I wanted with my Marshall JCM800. One day, I tried a Boss GE7 after my OD and nailed it. It's not good enough to be my mail guitar, but it is very good. It plays wonderfully and makes you WANT to pick it up. The best bargain in guitars under $700, definitely. I've owned a lot of more expensive guitars than this, but I play for sound, not the name on the headstock so this is a keeper.

This is probably it's biggest selling point. It plays nicer than most other guitars, in any price range. Some players won't like the cheap nut or unbound fretboard, but this guitar fits my hand just right. I love it. This is the perfect fret size for me. All I did was raise the pickups a little.

I've had it 2 years now with no problems. I live in Ohio, where one month it is 90 degrees and humid, the next month absolutely freezing. I still haven't had to adjust the truss rod. That's good if you ask me.

I've emailed them twice, after searching all over the web for a web site, and got no response either time. They do have a greatly improved website now, so maybe they are just now getting their act together. I might try again.

Purchased this guitar about a week ago. Unsure of the body wood, maple neck with maple finger board. it's a sanded finish, no laquer which seems to cause the fingerboard to pick up dirt easier than usual. Mini inlay fret markers. it's a twin humbucker setup which are replica zebra pickups. It has a transparent red photo-flame finish which is one of the better ones I've seen. An outstandingly beautiful guitar for the price. Bought from McCormacks in Glasgow as usual and got a free gig bag thrown in which is always nice. Hardware is a little on the cheap side but still good for the price. I will replace the bridge, volume pot and p/u switch. I don't trust the stock ones. Seem a little flimsy.

My style is heavy rock and the guitar suits the style easily. The pickups sound wonderful. They have quite a high output but sound just perfect. Pinched harmonics are a breeze with these pick ups. The guitar seems to pick up interference which is very unusual for a humbucker set up. I will get the wiring shielded to see if that improves it. The pickups to tend to be microphonic but I wasn't expecting anything else for the price. Nothing a p/u swap or wax potting wouldn't fix. Otherwise, a wonderful sound both clean and overdriven.

The guitar was well set up. Don't know if McCormacks had a look over it but I doubt it on a guitar for the price. The guitar came set up for .08s and it plays like the strings aren't even there. Just wonderful. The finish and build on the guitar is outstanding. Not one thing to complain about which is more than I can say for guitars I've bought that cost more than twice the amount. I just love the look and feel of this guitar.

As said, I would swap out some of the hardware. I always gig with a few guitars on hand but once the hardware is brought up to standard I would pound this thing night after night with no worries.

Never had to deal with them. Seems from the other reviews here that it's hard to get hold of OLP, but I've never tried.

I've been playing for 15 years and have owned more guitars than I would care to think about. I tend to just buy on impulse and play them in. If they don't ring my bell, they just get traded in against something new. I have an epi LP, a mexican strat, a squire fat strat and a squire tele that have lived with me for years. I can definetly say this guitar will be moving in beside them and has found a good home. I would have happily paid twice the amount for this guitar. It's just a wonderful bargain and a joy to play. I would recommend this guitar to ANYONE, be it a beginner or a gigging pro. Everyone should own one of these. They're just SO underrated. If you find a better guitar for the price, you buy it!

This is an update to my review below, from 11/14/2002.

I have since added a tone control, graphite nut, new bridge with graphite saddles and Schaller locking tuners.

BTW, these are NOT "plywood" guitars as someone suggested. They are laminated (mine has a 4 piece back), but most guitars are. Take a look at the back of most Gibson's or PRS for that matter. They usually have 2 or 3 pieces of mahoghany laminated together. Plywood is thin strips of wood glued flatwise and it is not good for guitar making. Guitars are made by laminating slabs of solid wood side by side like you would to make a tabletop. Of course the less pieces used the better, but 3 or 4 are perfectly acceptable.

Photo top is still cheesy, but I've covered it with so many stickers you can't hardly see it anymore. lol Also, look for the ones with a solid color on the headstock (not the photo finish that matches the body) as the necks seem to be nicer.

I still say this is the best budget guitar on the market. Evertime someone asks me what they should get their kid who wants to take up guitar, I suggest the OLP. Best starter guitar for rock&roll, period (even stock).
With the addition of a tone knob, this guitar has become one of my favorite gig guitars. My band plays covers about twice a month, and this little git covers a lot of rock&roll ground. Plus, I never worry about beating the hell out of it or worry if its gonna get scratched etc... I just plug it in and play. For awhile I was going to change the p/u's out, but have grown to love the ones it came with. Since I've shielded everything and changed to shielded wire in the control cavity, the original feedback problem is almost non-existant. Adding the locking tuners and the graphite saddles and nut has virtually eliminated any tuner issues, even when farting around with the tremelo.
I know they are trying to capture the whole EVH thing by not having a tone control, but it makes this guitar so much more usable. Unfortunately, it was not an easy task and some woodworking needs to be done because the control cavity is so small. I had to move the volume knob forward, which took some routing, and had to plug the original hole. Then I drilled the new hole for the tone knob and made small routes so the new pot shafts would come out of the top far enough to put the knobs on. Well worth the effort though!

Out of the box a 5, after alot of work 10. You can't expect a guitar at this price to be setup correctly. But I feel every guitar player should learn how to set their axes up correctly anyway. It's as much a part of learning guitar as learning scales or chords, or changing strings. Not saying everyone should know how to do a feet job or add a tone knob, but intonation, string height and trussrod adjustments can be done by anyone who can turn a screwdriver.

I gig with this guitar twice a month and practice twice a week. It has never let me down. It takes alot of abuse, because thats why I have it in the first place. I don't think stock, this guitar would be a good gigging guitar though. Cheap hardware would have you retuning constantly and not having a tone control kinda sucks live, because you have to control your tone at the amp. Also, the guitar has much better sustain with a good bridge and a graphite nut and saddles.

Good beginner guitar or a good project guitar for more experienced players that aren't afraid to tear into it. Hell, at less than 2 bills, why would you be afraid to f**k with it?

They are slowly building their website and can actually be contacted now! They are also releasing a Petrucci model this year that I wouldn't mind getting to dick around with. I have a real one and will be curious to see how close they make the knock-off. (btw, if you can afford one, there are few guitars that can touch a Petrucci. It is a dream to play)

Still give it a 9 just for the fun factor alone. This guitar is fun to play!

WELL THE FEATURES ARE PRETTY MUCH BASIC, NOTHING FLASHY.

I PLAY COUNTRY AND ROCK, I TELL YA' THIS LITTLE BOOGER WILL FLAT OUT PIN YOUR EARS BACK. I AM USING A CRATE GLX 212, WHEN YOU PAIR THESE TWO UP YOU COULDN'T ASK FOR ANYTHING BETTER. TO TELL YA THE TRUTH IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN ANY LES PAUL I HAVE EVER PLAYED. A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO MY BAND WAS IN THE RECORDING STUDIO, WE WERE TAKING A BREAK AND MY LEAD GUITAR PLAYERS SON ASKED IF HE COULD PLAY MY GUITAR WHILE WE WERE TAKING A BREAK, WE ALL WENT UP STAIRS AND HIS SON STAYED BEHIND TO PLAY MY GUITAR WHILE WE WERE UP THERE MY LEAD PLAYER TOLD SOMEONE HIS SON WAS DOWN THERE PLAYING HIS LES PAUL, COME TO FIND OUT HE WAS PLAYING MY GUITAR. LOL

THIS AREA IS THE ONLY PLACE I WAS UNSATISFIED, I HAD TO COMPLETELY RESET EVERYTHING ACTION WISE, BUT FOR 159.00 I GUESS I COULD OVER LOOK THAT. AS FAR AS THE FIT, FINISH, AND HARDWARE, NO COMPLAINTS HERE

THIS BASTARD IS A FREAKIN' WORKHORSE IT HAS NOT LET ME DOWN YET AND I DOUBT THAT IT EVER WILL.

I BOUGHT THIS BEAST AT GUITAR CENTER THAT IS THE ONLY PLACE I KNOW OF FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT, I DON'T THINK OLP HAS A CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 14 YEARS, AND HAVE HAD NUMEROUS GIBSON AND FENDER (F^$%@N JUNK) GUITARS AND THIS BY FAR IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE GUITAR. JUST YESTERDAY I BOUGHT A USED 1997 GIBSON BLUES HAWK AND I GUARANTEE YOU THAT IT WILL BE TAKING A BACK SEAT TO THE OLP.
IF IT WERE STOLEN FIRST THING I WOULD DO WOULD BE CRY LIKE A LITTLE BABY. SECOND THING I WOULD DO WOULD BE FIND THE SON OFA BITCH THAT STOLE IT AND CUT HIS BALLS OFF. AND IF IT COULD NOT BE RECOVERED I WOULD MAKE A BEE LINE TO GUITAR CENTER AND BUY ANOTHER ONE

This has been thoroughly covered by others here. So I'll skip to avoid redundancy, except to say the following: Has decent tuners and hardware. EXCEPT for the bridge. The bridge is pot metal junk, and they COULD put in a nice All Parts bridge without raising the price
more then a few bucks. They REALLY should, as it's an otherwise good instrument.

I play rock, funk\R&B, country and jazz. I find it does well for all of these, even country. The bridge position pick-up reminds me of a tele that has been "fattened" up. All in all, I was surprised that it sounded so good. I could use this guitar on a gig stock, without gritting my teeth at the sound all night. I use the guitar through
my rack rig which is the following: a 65' Fender Tremolux through a Holdsworth load resistor for clean, a Kasha three channel pre-amp for lead, into a Rocktron patchmate which routes through a Boss CS-2, a Boss SE-50, an intellifex (original model)a Marshall overdrive pedal,
into Peavy Classic 50\50 power amp. I also play the guitar straight into the Tremolux as a head and 1X12 cabinet combo. For teaching it goes into a little Johnson Vintage 60 watt 1X12.

The guitar does sound good through all of these, at least to my ear, which is used to my G&L's and Zion strats. The bridge pick-up can sound a bit thin depending on the application.

The real test of an electric guitar is it's acoustic sound. This guitar has plenty of sustain and resonance, which tells me that even if the pick-ups aren't perfect, one could obtain a great sound from this guitar by installing new pick-ups. My only complaint would be that the guitars produce an unuseable and unmusical feedback, and they do seem prone to feeding back quicker then most guitars.

Finish is good, at least in terms of the lacquer job.
The fake flame finish is what it is.
The truss rod and action needed adjustment right out of the box, but the it's a 200.00 guitar and I didn't expect much there. I like my action a tad on the high side, and always anticipate setting a guitar to my liking. The nut really needs to be set so that it can accommodate both nine and ten guage strings. I use nine's and they move around and rattle a bit, and I've lost my nut files! And again, there is no excuse for such a cheesy bridge. A few dollars more and they could have put a milled steel bridge block in there.

Seems sturdy, although it is very light in weight, which throws me off a bit. I'm used to feeling the weight of a guitar all night long.
I replaced the strap buttons with strap locks. The buttons that came stock would not have been sufficient. Finish seem good, and yes, I could take this guitar to a gig without a back-up. Although I would replace the switch and volume pot before hand, as these seem a bit cheap.

Not applicable

I've been playing 24 years, and have owned all manner of high-end guitars, but the only guitars I have liked enough to keep are my G&L's. I like this guitar, and am hanging on to it as it's the only double humbucking guitar I have. It sounds and plays well enough that I don't intend to part with it, although I have put in an All Parts bridge (made a substantial difference in play and tone- I recommend this) and am getting two DiMarzio's in the near future to replace
the stock pick-ups with. I really like this guitar for it's playability, and it's responsiveness to touch. If lost or stolen, I might get another one, at least I'd seriously consider it. But I chose this guitar for something different than my strats, and the fact that it was so inexpensive. It's a serious bargain for the price.
This guitar could fairly sell for a higher price, and be worth it.

This is you basic guitar, 2 humbuckers, one volume and a switch.
Like the guy before this review, I went to Guitar Center to check out an Axis Sport. Played both and ended up buying this. Not that this is better, It just played a little more to my liking. The flame type quilt finish looks pretty good and you would think its an axis from about 10 feet away. One problem was the fret edges needed to be filed a bit to get rid of some sharpness. The neck was straight & I set the action to my pref. Intonation was right on. I dont have any problems with it going out of tune. Other guitars I have, Gibson LP Standard, Custom shop Gibson DC Pro, Gibson Nighthawk & Taylor acoustic.

Sounds very good, Kinda Les Paul'ish. I play out of a Engl 530 preamp, into a Lexicon MPX g2, into a bbe maximizer, into a VHT 2-90-2. Not much noisier than anything else when you push it thru that rig. I gate the rack.

Except for that fret thing it was in Really Great shape for the price.

Seems ok, I've played more expensive guitars that were worse. This is a great jam night gig guitar, If this were stolen I wouldn't nearly feel as bad as having a one of my others ripped. and this is fun to play. I was wailing the shit out of it one night, folks couldnt believe it was a $199. guitar. The amp helps.

Put it this way, the only thing in the box was a cord (Very cheap one at that) the arm, an allen wrench for string height and a truss rod tool. No warantee card. Although I don't think a $199 guitar really is enough to need an 800 line.

I've been playing for 25 years. Owned around 15 guitars, mostly Gibson. I work on guitars and bought this on impulse after playing it. I went to buy the Sport & had the cash. I am a little brand concious but bought it anyway. I would try out several and pick the best one. It is a lot of guitar for the price, and well worth it. Even if you have to tweak it yourself a little to get it just right.

Solid bound body (EVH/Axis knock-off), with foto-flame top* 2 humbuckers* 1 volume control* 1 3-way switch* maple on maple neck with satin finish* plastic nut* knock-off gotoh tuners* standard Fender style tremelo with newer styled bridge saddles*

Pretty basic stuff, all cheap hardware but the body and neck feel and sound great. Hardware is relatively inexpensive to replace. I have already replaced the volume pot and 3 way switch, and replaced the wiring with shielded wire. I shielded the control cavity with foil, and replaced the strap buttons with "grippers". I plan on replacing all the hardware eventually and add a tone knob. Bridge should be replaced because it doesn't like to be "used" without going out of tune (in combination with cheap tuners and plastic nut).

Gets a 5 because there are no "extras" and no tone knob. As basic as they come.

I had been shopping for an Axis for awhile, and have tried dozens of them (and Wolfgangs as well), and almost every store that had the real Axis, had the OLP's too. I hadn't even picked one up, because I figured for $199 its gotta be a piece of crap. Then one day at Guitar Center, I was trying an Axis sport and sitting right next to it was the OLP, so I gave it a try. Felt better in my hands than the real one! The neck is almost identical and is even slightly thinner the the real Axis. The body reverberates nicely so I plugged it in. I was blown away, how did they pack so much sound in this thing for that price?? I build guitars as a hobby and do setup work for various players around town, I know guitars. I used to recomend Mexi-Strats to new players for a cheap way in, but no more. The OLP is a better bargain for some one trying to learn rock and roll.

The hardware is cheap, but can be replaced, so I talked the sales guy down to $179 and walked out the door. I figured it would make a nice project guitar.

I took it to band practice 2 nights later and the rest of the band could not believe it was a $179 guitar I was playing. Sounded as good as anything in my 10 guitar line up (LP's, Strats, Ibanez RG, Custom built Tele, LP junior, handmade semi-hollow, etc...). I was blown away as well. It is a little bright with the bridge p/u (needs a tone knob) and at really high gain, the cheap p/u's will squeal on you, but those are things that can be easily remedied. Has a good, fat sound overall and you can easily get everything from early Blackmore, neck p/u tones, to EVH harmonic squeally tone. Not a real good axe for cleaner stuff (although I do do some SRV with the gain backed off), but thats not what it's designed for anyway.

I'd rate the sound at about an 8. Would be a 9 with a tone knob and better potted p/u's.

No guitar under $1000 will be setup properly when you buy it, and some that cost more are guilty as well. The action was too high, strings to old and not intonated. Didn't expect it to be for $179. Frets were not polished, swirl marks from an obviously quick buffing, etc....

I changed strings and set the action and intonation and the only problem I found was the 22nd fret was too high, causing the 20th and 21st fretted notes to buzz slightly. I filed down the fret and it plays fine now. I hate the foto-finish top. They would have been better off just painting them (which I plan to do). Soooo, I just started covering it with stickers *lol*

I rate fit and finish a 5, but what can you expect from a cheap, chinese made guitar?

I imagine it will hold up like any guitar, although I have noticed the neck is susceptible to weather change more than most of my other guitars. I have to tweek the truss rod as the weather warms or cools.

They don't have any. The store that sold it to you is your only outlet.

I have been playing guitar for 28 years and building them for about 10. I always look for bargain guitars that might just need some hardware changes to make them great players. I have a real LP and an Epiphone LP and after a lot of hardware changes and tweeking, I prefer my Epi. That's the kind of player I am. I don't care what name is on the headstock or how much it cost you, CAN YOU PLAY IT??

This guitar would be a bargain at twice its price, and with some work and new p/u's, you have a great guitar at a great price. I've played this guitar out and everyone thinks its an Axis until they get close to it, then they are shocked that it's an OLP!

Cheap as it was and as much work as it might need, I love this guitar and plan on buying another as backup. Well worth the asking price for a beginner or someone playing longer looking for a bargain.

Give it a 9 just for the fun factor!

This OLP MM1 Axis Guitar is a 2002 model with an alder body, figured maple "photo-finish" top, bound body, 22-fret maple neck with jumbo frets, 2 zebra, Seymour Duncan-style pickups, and a transparent amber finish. It has a standard Fender-style tremelo, one volume knob, and one three-way switch. Hardware is chrome.
The MM1 is "crafted" in China by the same people who probably make several other big name guitar lines as well. Fit and finish is, however, above the norm for an import guitar.

I am playing this guitar through and Yngwie Malmsteen YJM-308 preamp set for a clean boost with treble attenuation going to a Behringer V-AMP set for the Marshall High Gain setting, out to a Randall RG-100 half stack. The clean sound is the Jazz Chorus emulation of the V-AMP. I use a really open voiced, high gain setting similar to John Petrucci or Eric Johnson for my lead tone and this guitar sounds REALLY good. The pickups are high output with a midrange boost that makes them similar to a good PAF Pro or a George Lynch Screamin' Demon. They do feedback profusely at mid to high volume which tells me that they are not potted correctly. Some real Seymour Duncans or Dimarzios would alleviate this symptom. Clean, the guitar is very full bodied with rich, warm Les Paul-ish tones on the neck pickup and bright, brash, Brian Setzer-like tones on the bridge pickup. You can coax EVH tones out as well as the heaviest of John Petrucci tones when using a Rectified Amp model on the V-AMP. Really impressive versatility for a guitar in this price range. Still, the pickups do feedback a little too easily so I will probably be replacing the pickups.

I am really impressed with the fit and finish of this instrument. The Chinese are at least making these things with more attention to detail than their AK-47's and I really think that this instrument is on a par with the best that the Koreans at Samick are producing (SEE SAMICK VALLEY ARTS STRATOCASTER Series).The neck is straight as an arrow right out of the box. It was even in tune when I removed the bubble-wrap! The photo finish is decently done (I'd like to have had the trans-purple over the amber.) The polyester finish is very nicely polished and I could not find any production blemishes in the body or neck finish at all. The fretwork is amazingly precise for a rolled-in import job and the fret size is good (medium jumbo like a 6130 or 6150) and I could not feel any nicks or burrs along the edge of the fretboard. I will be mirror polishing the frets though for that extra smoothness I like. The setup is typical but with the neck set up as it is, the factory .009's are REALLY slinky! I will be putting .010's on it for stability. The satin finish on the neck makes this a really playable guitar and the contour of the neck is just like the Axis guitars! REALLY NICE!

I have yet to see if this instrument will stand the test of time. It seems sturdy enough. I would advise anyone to put theirs through a set-up and inspection to head off any concerns before they gig actively though. I do this with every guitar I get. Sometimes you'll find sub-standard pots or switches that can be replaced before they go out on you. Have it looked at and if needed, spend the extra bucks on some good quality switches and pots. (SEE AllParts or Gibson for Self-cleaning switches and pots)
The physical construction of the guitar seems sturdy enough but time will tell if the neck was properly cured before construction and such.

There is none...Whatsoever...If you buy from Guitar Center, they will go to lengths to ensure you are happy, though. This is one of those special purchase deals for GC and they get them through their involvement with Ernie Ball/Musicman.

I have been playing professionally for 18yrs. I play progressive metal in the vein of Yngwie Malmsteen, Symphony X, and Dream Theater. I have two Malmsteen Strats, V-AMP, Zoom MRS-1044CD Digital 10 track recorder, Randall RG-100 half-stack, Digitonix Drum Machine Software w/Element for computer recording. I would buy this guitar again with no reservations. I'd like to have another, albeit in trans/purple or trans/red. The shape is nice and the instrument is well balanced and ergonomic. Kind of like a poor man's Axis or Wolfgang. This guitar plays very well and is worth checking out for the sole reason that it is an outstanding value for a good guitar. Looking forward to using it on my upcoming album "SEVENSTAR" look for it locally in Georgia in January 2003. If you like melodic, virtuosic instrumental music, I think you'll like this album. Thanks!

Made 2002(?) in China. According to sales rep:
- Body is solid bassword

- Top is "fake" photo of curly maple top that has been applied to wood and the laquired over (all wood is solid), cream binding is been placed in (it really binds nothing, since there's only one peace of wood) this is why the binding feels a bit odd when you rub your finger over it.

- Pickups are "DiMazio clones" or "Semore Duncan Zebra clones" which ever your perfer, the point is they sound very close to the EVH Music Man signature (which had custom DiMarzio's)

- Body style and neck is licensed by Ernie Ball, think of it has the Squire Axis of Music Man, but with high qaulity materials

- Tuners aren't fancy, they are immitations of the expensive tuners used on the high dollar Axis and EVH models.

First the pickups. I'm blown away, if you think these sound cheap, you need to plug in a Squire or any otehr guitar under $200, these pickups shine and sound very similiar to the EVH model, Lots of warmth in the front pickup, almost natural chorus sound in the middle and lots of crunch in the back.. great sustain thoughout.

Factory setup was horrible. I didn't realize this untill I let a professional adjust the intonation and the action. This guy happen to love the Axis models so he brought the action down to the factory settings of a real Axis and put new strings on it (.09's factory setting comes with .08's) and wow... It feels like a new guitar.

The pickup selector knob already broke. I have a feeling this will be a high maintence guitar, even as basic as it is.. You get what you pay for I guess.

There isn't any.

Jay Turser now makes a Axis/EVH MusicMan clone that only cost about $250 ($50 more than this one), while this official licensed Axis clone is an excellent value, I'm disapointed with the factory setup and I wish they would have put a real maple top on it.

The Jay Turser EVH clone (official model is Jay Turser MM-72 or (JTMM72)) is a much better deal. Although the body style is not 100% to scale of the Axis on the Jay Turser model, it does have a solid body and a real flame maple top for only $50 more than this one. The Jay Turser is made in China just like the OLP Axis, but Jay Turser puts there guitars though quality assurnace twice and as a result they are always perfectly setup out of the box (better than some high dollar instuments). If I had to buy one again, I would have bought the Jay Turser music man clone, just because it would have saved me $40 in work to get the OLP to sound right.

OLP Axis MM1 What a fantastic little guitar.....Its got two nice sounding humbuckers, a 3 way switch, cutaway neck heel, 10 inch radius neck, jumbo frets, cute mini dot markers, a spring tremolo, really nice paint job, smooth machine heads,plays like a dream and its light in weight...What else would or could you need for $199.00? I've paid more for repairs on guitars then this little beauty cost!! Only thing it is missing is a high dollar price tag.....

I think I would be the last guy on earth you would expect to buy this guitar however I snatched it right up!!! Im not really a heavy metal player or into playing in the style of Eddie VanHalen..I can play some of that stuff but have not been called on to play that in many years. I am more from the jazz, r&b, country,blues, soul, funky, swing, surf , roots music school and you have probably heard my music in movies or television as I play guitar and compose alot of that stuff..especially for the soaps. I have played a telecaster for years and have cut hundreds of sides with the same guitar. I went into GC on sunday to pick up some strings and I picked up this guitar that I could not figure out for the life of me what the heck the name was...The neck felt very familiar to me and it really feels like a nice tele neck...So I plugged it in and was amazed at the playability, twang and smoothness of the tone and I still cant believe something right out of the box could play so sweet!!! The tone is just perfectly blended,,not to muddy, not too shrill,,,its just right!! Its clean sounds are just beautiful....I can get a great jazz tone out of it or the twangiest , funkiest tones out of it...overdriven it got some pretty nice rock tones....and it gets a very pleasantly surpising Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow" or "Wired" tone...It can do all the blues stuff perfect from TBone Walker to Freddie King to those nice tones Duke Robillard gets....I think the tones in this guitar blow away half the Gibsons, Fenders and Paul Reed Smith guitars out there and this guitar plays great right out of the box,,,,the others need a really good setup..
Tone on this guitar is king!!!

The guitar was setup very nice, the finish looks as nice as a Mexican Trick Paint job, the frets were perfect, the whole package is a very high quality guitar.....better then some Gibson stuff for 10 times the money

this guitar feels pretty solid.....the bridge saddles,,,,I dunno...there not the best quality but...the guitar sounds so good and its cheap!!!I think it will last a long time...there is not much to break on this guitar its so simple

Have notneeded to call

Playing since 1982...thats 20 years !!! and all kinds of guitars, good and bad..

I wish I could of got some kind of info on this guitar like who makes em? A catologue? what other options? How much if I buy 10 of them!!

I compare all guitars against my old tried and true 60's Telecaster and this thing really comes close in tone and feel however its different enough to spark other musical ideas...I really think this guitar is something.....so all you old farts like me who been playing for years...pick one of these up , you will love it...if you dont..give it to your kids....

See the (many) other reviews, as far as I know there is only one single version of this guitar... one that is basic but is good at what it has.

I LIKE it, a lot.
Came across a guitar-shop coincidentally, and having some time decided to pick up a few guitars just for the fun of it.
After having had my go at various Fenders, a Gibson, and a Blade or two, I noticed this OLP Axis.
Recognized it as a MusicMan copy, but didn't know what it was.
When I got it in my hands I was amazed (it just immediately felt right). Looked at the pricetag, and was staggered.
So it is possible after all, to get a guitar that feels right but doesn't cost...
When plugged into a few amps (small Marshall practice-amp, ieks, and then, better, into an Orange 15 combo (cool! must get one...), I liked the sustain and liveliness of the tone.
The neck-PU sings beautifully, but the bridge-PU was not solid enough for my taste.
Decided to sleep on it, came back next day. The guy at the store had a used Seymour Duncan TB4 (Jeff Beck model, I think) that he offered at Euro 70,- (+/- 60 US$).
With this PU at the bridge the guitar was alive at BOTH positions.
Also had the Volume-pot changed by a pull-push pot, to get the single-coil output of the TB4 as well.
With this, the guitar is really versatile: warm/full at bridge, heavy at the neck, and twang in the middle (both pu's, bridge at single-coil).
But most important: the tone is somehow "alive"...

At home, ran it into my Marshall TSL100... ahhhhhhhh, love it!

Actually, the store also had 3 "real" MusicMans, so I could compare.
Ok, admitted, they are sooooo nice, but then again, cost about 5-10 times as much.
So, for the money (Euro 370 + 70 for the SD-TB4 = US$ 400,-), it is definitely a good deal.

Guitar was set up quite nicely by the store, standard .009 set.
They put on new strings for me .010 (no charge !), and finetuned intonation and action.
I still would like the action a little lower, which I think should be no problem, as there is hardly any rattle or so.
The nut could be better though, I'll need to find some files.
And as the headstock is not bent backwards (like Fender), but does not have string-things (you know, that push them down), the G-string seems to be not 100% when played open.

The finish is a matter of taste. I got the gold-paint, and I like that.

no idea, just got it a week...

The store ("Stand By" at the Oudegracht in Utrecht, Netherlands) was 100% ok.
New strings, a bag, and changing of neck-PU: all for free!
Also they give THREE service-runs for free, which may be difficult for me as I live in another country :-(

Came across this OLP in a guitar-store in Utrecht (Netherlands) named "Stand By".
Small shop run by 2 or 3 guys that became fed up with the mentality of pushing boxes across the counter of the "large" musicshop in the same city; so they started their own, and doing well in the past 7 years.
I personally like it a lot when in these small shops they have time for a chat (and free coffee... I'm Dutch...) and don't push you to buy.
Also, "Stand By" has an impressive collection of guitars (and basses) that are out of the ordinary, like special colours and models: not mass, not a huge selection, but what is there is really worth being there!
Recommend this shop highly !

Bought new in 2002 from Musicians Friend based mostly off of other reviews here. Features are simple, just the volume control to let your amp do the work. Simple enough. Just crank up your amps volume and vary the sound by adjusting the volume. Jumbo frets, and mine is the photo top transparent gold. Cheap Fender style tremolo/whammy bar. Everything else is as stated previously.

Sounds very good. I am impressed with the stock P-ups. They sound much brighter and better than the stock P-ups on my Epi LP, but not as good as my Gibson 57's in another LP but that's a different type of sound. The OLP can get a variety of sounds by going through the different P-up selection. The neck P-up is surprisingly smooth and the bridge P-up can put out some great rock sounds. Both P-ups are a lot clearer than I would have thought on such a cheap guitar. This guitar has made me replace my Epiphone LP pickups with Dimarzio's just so I will continue to play it. But even if I do replace the P-ups and tuners, for $400 dollars I will have an outstanding sounding guitar, and it's all about the sound.

The setup was alright. The strings were crap and thus replaced. The pickup selector switch was busted off which seems to be common. Dealing with MF was a runaround, but I talked them into a partial credit back to my account rather than take the chance with another guitar. The neck is super easy to play. The selector switch, even broken, works fine.

Seems reliable. I replaced the strap buttons immediatley with strap locks so I don't drop the thing and I plan to replace the selector switch one of these days. Very impressed with it for such a cheap guitar. Even the "photo" top is alright. It's not going to fool a lot of people, but it still looks decent. May replace the tuners as well.

Don't know how to contact OLP, but MF, after about ten emails, finally credited back money for shipping the instrument with a broken selector switch. So for MF, I will give them a 7

Have been playing for six years, this is a great buy for the money. I also play an Epi LP standard, a Pan (Japanes imitition) LP, and a Washburn Strat. I can't imagine paying high dollar for a guitar when there are quality guitars around for so cheap. I don't even think I will replace the P-ups, at least not for a while. It offers a sound my other guitars don't provide. I would recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a great guitar and for the money you can't find any better. I would put this up against guitars that cost 3-4 X's as much. Don't expect it to sound like a $1500 guitar, because it won't, but it sounds incredible for 200 bones, and better than my Epi LP with stock P-ups. If stolen, I would buy another one.

The OLP Axis -- a year 200x made guitar (probably). Manufactured in China. Licensed by Ernie Ball. The neck has 22 Jumbo frets (I think they?re jumbo). It?s a copy of the EVH Signature, which you know already from reading the other reviews here. I got the Black sparkle top, it is really nice looking and doesn't grab everyone's attention or shine too much, which is just how I like it. Plus you can?t really tell if it's dusty or anything. It's a good clean finish without any major blemishes.

It comes with two Seymour Duncan zebra pickup copies, they are nice, but not the best I've used. For one thing they're relatively loud when I move my fingers across/against the strings, like the screech you'd get on an acoustic. I expected a less noisy output, but it could just be my pedal because when I play with my amp's overdrive on it sounds fine. The distortion sounds like crap if I put on my pedal and try to play, but if I just use my amp's (Ibanez 25R) overdrive it sounds fairly crisp. I think it just seems like it's too much with the humbuckers picking up all up and all the distortion going at once. I rarely get that annoying screechy feedback, but it's there if I stand close to the amp naturally.

The body style is that of the Musicman Axis, it's kind-of half-and-half, sort-of like a strat on the bottom and a Les Paul on the top. Standard tremelo, it really stays in tune because I bend the hell out of the strings and they don?t break or go out of tune. I haven't broken a string yet, and I've had the guitar for about 3 weeks.

Tuners are nicer than the ones I used to have on my old Rogue ST-3. I like them, they're pretty solid and they stay in tune well. The neck feels comfortable with the frets seeming a little sharp on the ends, but not nearly as bad as some that I've felt on some generic pawn shop guitars. The neck seems to be a tiny bit fat, but my fingers are pretty long so it suits me. The head seems really small (only like 2 inches when compared to strat necks). The selector switch is 3-way, and the sound changes a little with each position. I got a whammy bar, 8 foot long cable (estimation of length), tremelo adjusting tool, and a truss adjustment rod.

I play a lot of grunge and rock type stuff, Nirvana mostly, but usually whatever seems to interest me. This guitar gives a lot of power when distorted and gets kind of complex when used with a pedal. It is best heard when used with the on-board overdrive that comes standard on some combo amps.

When the guitar is played clean it sounds great, there's not much difference between the 3 different switch positions though, the farthest right position {closest to the tremelo} is really twangy and sounds good clean. The middle is bassy but the farthermost left {closest position to the neck} is a little bit heavier.

When I received this guitar from Musician's Friend the action was set perfectly for how I play --- nice and low. The playability is great on it. The tremelo has 3 support springs, which is standard I'm pretty sure. It was intonated (Which I'm glad of, because I've heard of Musician's Friend sending out guitars that aren't).

The volume knob is nice and solid, it's better than my old Rogue knobs, it seems a little fatter and harder to turn so I can get more precise volume levels.

My main concern with this guitar's workmanship wasn't actually anything related to the guitar makers at all. It was Musician's Friend. They sent me the guitar with a busted off selector switch, which I've heard isn't uncommon. Weather or not it was sent to me from the factory already broken, or broken during shipping is only for them to know I guess. I eventually just decided not to return it because I've heard of the run-around they give to people. I just counted my losses like others have, and just decided to live with it.

People often ask me what type of guitar it is, and I kind-of like that attribute because you don?t just look at it and say, "Oh. That's just a Fender." or "Oh. Look he has an Ibanez."

It's heavier than my previous guitar {Rogue ST-3} by a few pounds, but it does look a little small. This is only because of the shortness of the head. I actually like having it smaller because I bump it on things less often, but it sometimes goes out of tune in my gig bag.

I never needed to use it, although I could have notified Musician's Friend about my broken selector switch. It just didn't bother me enough to want to spend all the time getting a new one. I will probably never buy anything from Musician's Friend again though.

I've been playing for only about 6 months and wanted a new guitar with less feedback and a heavier tone. My amp is only 25 watts, but I hope to be getting a new 65-watt Crate combo or something similar within the next few weeks/months.

I wish it had a tone knob, but that's not really needed very badly. If it was stolen I probably would buy another one because I don't like spending a ton of money on my equipment because I don't have a job and have to save my money for long periods of time. This is really worth the $200. I had the personal decision of getting either this or an Epiphone or squire, I picked this =). I've never played the real Musicman so I can't really compare it to this.

I love the finish on it, and I don't know anyone else with a similar looking guitar. The only thing I wish would change is the pickups. If they were a little quieter I would have been in paradise, but the guitar is still very good for the price range. Overall it?s a great deal and seems good enough to be used from beginners to even advanced players.

This Guitar is made in China, 22 frets maple top basswood body,maple neck. All passive electronics. I give it a 5 because its a basic guitar, which I feel is good what it missing in features it make up in tone. This is a red hot tone machine!!!!

Well, I'm a great fan of Eddie VanHalen so I bought the guitar to try and capture his tone as well as a cheery rock axe, you get your two basic sound distortion and clean. It captured Eddie tone Exactly, I played it against a sound track of wn its love-live Cd, couldnt seperate the difference.
mean distortion sound, blues-like clean sound like a 63 strat.
They may be dimarzio clone zebra pick-up's but they sound just lke the custom blackbacks Eddie uses on his axis.

Well the action is very very low, just as Eddie likes, me too ha ha ha.
The finish is beautiful and smooth not ruff at all, I cant believe what I got for my $650.00Aust well I traded my mex fender strat for it costing $1200.00, But man it was worth it

Well I'm ing to test this guitar on stage at the local club, I have that much faith in it I could use it without a back-up, but a back is a good Idea only coz the strings dont last foreva.
But I trust it, It has become my number one axe!!!

Neva had to deal with em, but since Ernie Ball himself licenced it I guess his company should be contacted.
But hey mines made so so well I wont be needing to do that.

Excellent I bet even Eddie himself would trust this guitar on stage, after all he designed it-right.

all I can say that this rocks ellegantly and burries the les paul dead. It sings in my fingers.
I'll leave you with this thought THIS IS ONE CHEERY ROCK AXE!!!!!!!!!!!!

See Previous Entries. Only thing left out in previous entries is that the top is not carved/contoured like the high-dollar axis/wolfgang

In my opinion, the pickups sound just as good as the axis and wolfgang, which completely surprised me. I bought this guitar as a fixer-upper. I'm not changing a thing, including the pickups. This can be a bit subjective, but I think that the pickups couldn't be any closer without them being the real deal. This is the kind of guitar eddie would've experimented with in the early days as a fixer-upper.

It came with 8s. I changed them to 10s, lowered the action a bit and I could fly on this guitar. Straightest neck I've ever felt. You can bend strings up 2 steps without fretting out. You can lower the action as low as any high dollar guitar without buzz.

I'm sure it is fine. I gig every week, but I would never gig without a backup no matter what I was playing. This guitar is going in line with my strat and LP.

Who the hell makes these? They don't have a website.

For the money, this gets an 11.

Okay, here's the scoop. I broke my most sacred promise to self: Never buy a guitar through mailorder without playing it first. Well, I'm glad I did with this one, because for the money, it may well indeed be the best guitar I've ever owned. I'm 32 and have been playing for 20 years. I play a wide range of music, mostly good old R&R Van Halen, SRV, etc...If there were some way people could do a blindfolded "feel-test" and "sound-test" with this guitar, as compared to it's more expensive counter-parts, and other high dollar guitars, I would guess that people would pick this guitar at least as much as the other guitars, and would certainly always pick it above the cheap ones. This guitar may be cheap, but I've been making money by playing for over ten years, and it will be right up there with the big boy strat and LP guitars. When the new sunburst version comes out, I'm picking it up too.

This guitar is a korean made copy of the Ernie Ball Axis model guitar (which was originally the Eddie Van Halen signature model guitar). The pickups are humbucker/humbucker and are voiced to sound very close to the original instrument its modeled after. It's all passive electronics with only a 500K pot between the pickups and the output. The guitar is simply a basswood body and a maple neck.
If you're familiar at all with the Van Halen /AXIS style guitar you have a good idea of what the OLP Axis MM-1 is all about.
This guitar however comes with a 6 post vintage tremolo, not floyd Rose like the original. In my estimation, this is an easy retrofit to fix.

The sound of this guitar is incredibly lifelike and "brown", just like its older sibling. If you're a fan of modern Van Halen tone you will like this guitar!

The faux maple finish on the yellow guitar model is the only one I don't like. Frankly because of how inexpensive these guitars are to buy I don't know why anyone would care about the finish. Buy it, bring it home, and get your favorite color spray paint out and paint it up for the price its sold at!

The action on these guitars is very nice. Because the neck profile is so close to the original Axis it plays quite well. I must admit that the action seems a tad high for an Axis type guitar (having played the real thing) but if you do buy this guitar you owe it to yourself to put in a Floyd Rose anyways and then when you do that you can just adjust the action to your liking.

This guitar is so inexpensive you should not feel bad about experimenting with it to make the instrument as GREAT as it can be. Install a Floyd Rose, move the switch to the REAL place it ought to be (if you know the EVH model, you know what I'm talking about), paint the body to your liking, and put on a Strat style TONE knob!

This isn't just a fixer-upper though. This guitar has TONS of potential!

I've not played it for too long but considering the price, I'd buy 2 of them and keep one as a backup. Personally, I never buy guitars valued over $400 because they were meant to be PLAYED not worshiped! High priced guitars are worthless if you ask me. Real musicians will see the value in the OLP for the instrument it is ... buy it, play the crap out of it, and love every minute of it with no regrets!

Don't worry about it. EVH once said, "It's just wood and metal."
Play it for the instrument it is.

I've heard a lot of nay-sayers rip this guitar apart and I think its because these people spent $2500 on the real EVH guitar and now feel jipped. Personally I think EVH got jipped when Ernie Ball took this GREAT guitar design away from him. (Yes, his contract with EBMM stated he never owned the design - that's why he went to Peavey). The OLP guitar is a nice instrument. It beats every Squire, Epiphone, Washburn and other cheap guitar out there for tone and playability. And best of all, it actually gives its higher priced cousins a run for their money. If I were you I would get TWO of these guitars and show your friend who bought the EVH model ... they'll hate you for it!

This is a very simple guitar. Two humbuckers with a volume knob and a a 3 way (LP style) switch. The pickups are zebra Seymour Duncan clones, and they are very nice. I currently play a one-of-a-kind custom Carvin, 1968 Alvarez acoustic, and a 2000 American Strat Plus--all of which are pretty high end. I bought this guitar for the chapel I play in, and now I leave my electrics at home and play this. It's great. The controls seem limited, but I agree that going through the 3 settings (N / N&B / B) REALLY change the sound. The neck is great! No sharp edges, very high end feel to it. Nice finish (I got the red one). Standard strat style tremolo.

Very rich sound. It does what it should. Play through both humbuckers, and this baby pushes a beautiful clean sound. I can get a Carlos-y sound through the neck pickup with some gain. I play this through a Tech 21 Trademark 60. No effects, just the amp's reverb and channel switching. Clean is marvelous! Not too bright, not too dull. I'm pretty much of a riffster/soloist. This might lack for the rhythm guys (our rhythm guitaist doesn't like the round back on the neck).

I bought this used from a guy who bought it and sold it right away. The action was way off from him, but I let loose on the truss rod, and raised it and it rings wonderfully now, man. ABSOLUTELY not a single flaw on this guitar. Not one. I never realized what pieces of junk we make here anymore. This is only a $200 guitar and it kicks!

The finish does seem a little thin, but I like that. When I do my own finish work, I do that intentionally, so that might bother some people. I've only had it a month, and I leave it at church, and kids and who knows who and what else regularly pick it up and bang on it. It's a rough and tumble guitar. The hardware is solid, but I do agree that the tuners are weird. They are die cast plastic, I think, but they keep tune well.

I wouldn't know who to deal with. No warranty...used.

This is a FANTASTIC guitar for $200. FANTASTIC! The tremolo is set up pretty tight on mine, and I don't use it. Come to think of it, I wouldn't know how. So, if you're a Van Halen type dive bomber, I would stick with a Floyd. But otherwise, if I had to stick with ONE electric, of my custom Carvin, Strat Plus (with the works--noiseless PUs, trans red finish, locking tuners), I'd have no problem playing this one instead. None at all. If it were lost, I get a hardtail, and maybe the amber flame photo job.

It has everything it is supposed to have

typical 2 humbucker guitar, not especially subtle tonally

pretty nice for $200. Some of the american branded imports
better take a look at these, ahem, fender...

for what it is, this thing is well made.

here's the deal:

I was asked to help a friend select an instrument for a friends
11 year old son as a first guitar.

i went to the Guitar Center and looked at all ibanez, fender , epiphone etc. all of them were really poorly finished; sharp edges on frets andswitches that didnt work.
were the most telling example of the cost cutting involved.
i picked up one of these and the difference was night and day.
It played like a real guitar, sounded like a real guitar, sustained well and just generally rocked. i was sitting in front of a decent amp and I have to tell ya, regardless of the tone i set the amp
up for, this little guitar sounded great.

ive owned many many guitars in the past 25 years. lots of vintage
stuff, really GREAT guitars. I know a skunk when I smell one.
this little guitar is the real deal. I would gig with one of these
without hesistaion. as a matter of fact I might buy one,
put a split coil humbucker in neck position and a single coil
in the middle, add a switch and have a dandy little guitar for
blues jams. My 63 strat can stay home.

For $200 ya just gotta love these guitars!

Just like everyone else said. Axis copy. I liked everything about this guitar except for one thing...it is so small...maybe its just me, being 6 feet tall, but it felt like i was playing a mini guitar...i saw artists play it live, and could have sworn that it was regular size...if your a small person, than this guitar is probably great for you. I couldn't take how small it was for 1 day, and i had to return it. Other than that, its a great guitar.

Sounded great when i played it. Everything i was hoping from it.

The finish looked a lot better on the picture than in person, yet it still wasn't horrible.

I have no idea, i had it for 1 day...and returned it

No idea

This is a great guitar, from the one day i had it, but keep in mind if you are a tall person (6 feet or over) like me, this guitar is going to look mini on you. I even have a Fender Strat, which is a pretty small guitar, and that blows this out of the water size wise. From the hour i played it, it sounded very good.

22 frets, maple neck with maple fretboard, solid basswood body with laminated maple top. 2 "DiMarzio clone" humbuckers in neck and bridge positions. Quilted maple photo under clear laquier finish on top (to give a quilted maple look). Strat style (non-Floyd rose) temolo unit.
One volume knob, three-way selector switch for pickups.

This guitar is amazing! It sounds fantastic, the pickups have a lot of volume without cracking or sounding muddy (like the Ibanez custom humbuckers in their lower-end guitars). Pickups are balanced well and I find myself using all three settings regularly Set in the middle to turn both front and back pickups on to get a sparkling clean tone that's almost telecaster... Think "Finish What You Started" or "316" (sorry had to make a Van Halen reference).

I'm considering replacing the pickups, I called DiMarzio (the company that created the pickups for the original EVH sig MusicMan guitar) and they suggested using a DiMarzio PAF in the neck and a DiMarzio ToneZone in the bridge to get "as close as possible" to the custom EVH sig pickups in his MusicMan (which are no longer being made). I really like the stock pickups so I haven't decided if I'm going to shell out an extra $200 do update the pickups or not.

This thing was inspected and setup on par with American made Fender strats. Guys, if China can mass produce this kind of quality, we're in trouble! Seriously, put your "Everything American built is better" attitude aside and give this guitar and unbiased try, you'll be blown away buy quality/cost.

Its action is setup almost indentical to the non-tremolo version of the MusicMan Axis (the ones with Floyd-rose tremolos all have very low-action). I considered lowering it a bit, but found it perfect for what it is (I wouldn't recommend using the tremolo bar anyway as it will just go out of tune on you).

Don't know. Someone said Ernie Ball is distributing OLP. I'm not sure if that is acurate as OLP is created by:

HHI
4940 Delhi Pike
Cincinnati, OH 45238
(800)-999-5558

Not sure why this information is so hard to obtain.

Never contacted

Outstanding value, pick one up!

Made in 2001, Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis copy. 23 frets, solid Basswood body. One volume control. Two Seymore Duncan Zebra copy open coil humbucker pickups, 3-way selector switch. Passive electronics. Gorgeous Solid, rock maple neck and fret board. Beautiful Ernie Ball head stock with 4 over 2 under. Excellent brass fretwork. Mine is finished in Candy Apple Red--matching Ernie Ball headstock with OLP ensignia. Standard Fender type tremolo, adjustable bridge. Closed Grover-style tuners (solid). Only reason I cant give this category a 10 is because it is a very simple ax. But in this case, less is BETTER!

First, right out of the box--TRASH THE STRINGS! Put some good strings on before you do ANYTHING! I am using Ernie Ball Slicks, which perform nicely on this guitar, but you will have to use your own favorites to find the real value in this instrument!

Although this ax only has a volume control, there is a great deal of sound variation between the pickup selections. Of course, there are infinite sounds that can be created with a decent amp and digital processor or stomp box, but there is plenty of variation here. I like the fact that the manufacture of this guitar allows the player to control the sound through the electronics he/she uses, and allows the freedon on the guitar itself to limited selections--that way the player can change sounds quickly with simply the flick of the toggle switch and adjustment of the volume knob!

I MUST add that this guitar has an INCREDIBLE SUSTAIN! I could not believe that a guitar in this price range would sustain a note for 20 seconds, but THIS ONE DOES!!!

This ax has Seymore Duncan copy humbuckers, but they are not your average Asian "just barely passable" pickups! They actually have a nice tone, and are very quiet. I fully planned on relplacing them with some nice p-90's or Seymore Duncans, but I think I will put that off for now--these are quite usable!

The difference between the neck pickup and the bridge position is huge: the neck pickup creates a nice, warm, jazzy stlye sound with the capability to grind with the volume turned all the way up; the bridge pickup is nice an chunky and brassy and fat, making a classic rock tone; put the selector switch in the center position and you haev a nice, full, warm yet chunky tone that will rock with the right amp behind it! I love the sound this ax makes! Its hot as a nympho in a peep show!

Action is a relative thing, and perfection has a different definition for every player. Anyone past the beginner stage will be able to tell what he/she likes or hates, and either be able to set it up or pay a luthier to do so--I highly reccomend the new player to LEARN how to set up the neck and bridge and action, and set intonation as well (it is NOT all that difficult!), because there will come a day when it has to be done, and nobody will be around to do it FOR you!

Out of the box, this guitar was set up nicely--obviously our Chinese friends have learned how to build a guitar properly! The neck and fretwork is as nice as the real Ernie Ball Axis; the neck nice and smooth and well crafted and solid! The tuners are a generic Grover, but nice and tight. This guitar literally comes alive when you play it, transferring vibrations all over the body and neck for a nice responsive feeling. The routing for the pickups is nice, and the fit and finish on the body is excellent for a guitar in this price range. I would have to say that for price vs. value, this guitar is worth much more than what it costs.

I would gig with this guitar without a thought, and without a backup! I like this ax BETTER than my 1986 Fender rear-routed Strat with HSH, double locking Floyd rose tremolo set up! It is heavier, better balanced, the neck is faster and the tone is more versatile--even though all you get is the volume knob! The general FEEL of this guitar is just--comfortable! This guitar would hammer nails if you didnt care about the finish! The strap buttons are rock solid, the fit around the neck is tight. The tuners are solid, the bridge is like a rock and stays in tune even after thrashing on the tremolo. The only real complaint I have is that the back covers are a cheap plastic, and the pickups are screwed directly into the body, and have no covers around them so all you see is the routed edge. I will fix all that for next to nothing, though, when I replace the pickups--AFTER these go bad, probably!

Have had no need to deal with the company--but if Ernie Ball warranties this instrument, I have no worries!

I have to be honest--in this world you GET what you PAY for! It is rare to find a two-hundred dollar guitar that is better overall that a SIX hundred dollar guitar (My Strat)but, FOR THE MONEY, this is an incredible deal! It is not to be compared to the 2,000.00 Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis, because there IS no comparison, but REALLY, for 200 bucks, I DARE you to find a better guitar! This is, WITHOUT A DOUBT, the best value for a guitar in the 200--500 dollar price range!

Made in 2001 in China. Offical name of guitar is apparently OLP Axis MM1 (sometimes the Axis and MM1 part are subed out, so I'm not sure as to what the manufacturer intended) neck is 22 Frets with a 15" radius, maple fretboard with finish, large frets, laminated maple top with clear coat over (unconviencing) quilted maple photo. Sales rep told me back is solid basswood. One volume knob (no tone knob), one three-way toggle switch (Gibson style)

Pickups are "DiMarzio clone" humbuckers in neck and bridge. Bridge is a Strat style tremolo. Tuners are generic and cheap. Out of box included truss-rod adjustment tool, allen wrench for action adjustment, instuctions on how to adjust the action and truss-rod, and a guitar cable. Case not included (and if you want one, prepare to spend an extra $130-$150 on a MusicMan Axis case).

I'm giving the OLP Axis 10, Because for $200 you'll find few guitars that include this many features, with this kind of factory set up for the price.

The sound is great! Although this guitar is a "low-end" replica of the American made Ernie Ball Musicman Axis, you have to keep in mind that it's design and concept is very much the same guitar that took MusicMan many years to design (Eddie was a very hard guy to please), same goes with the pickups. I've played many, many guitars. The n/b humbucker setup is common these days, but with 95% of the guitars out there you always get inconsistancy in volume and/or EQ when you toggle the neck/bridge pickup selector, making it common that you use the neck pickup for rhythm and bridge pickup for lead (often requireing different EQ on the effects patches to compensate). Not so with any of Eddie Van Halen's designs or inspired designs, including: The original MusicMan EVH sig, the Axis, the Peavy Wolfgangs and now even the OLP Axis!

All of these guitars have pickups that sound almost indentical, and I'm blown away that OLP pulled this off with their MM1. The pickups are very powerful and balanced in front and back positions, you can play rhytm and lead on both without adjusting EQ or volume. To really understand this, you need to plug into a high-gain amp, but when you do.. you'll be blown away be the versitility of the three unique pickup tones you can get.

If you're a Van Halen fan, you can hear Eddie switching all the time. One of the best examples is "Humans Being" off the Twister soundtrack. The begining of the song is played on the front pickup for that deep sound and then when the drums and bass kick in, he switchs to the bridge pickup and the tone is just varied enough to cut though perfect without having to make any amp/effects adjustments. I believe Eddie used a Peavy Wolfgang when he recorded Humans Being, but you can get that same versitility out of the OLP Axis, even my wife noticed this.

Adjust was suprisng perfect. I assume Ernie Ball MusicMan did the setup themselfs.

No comment.

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I love this little guitar, I'm really glad Ernie Ball decided to start licensing low-end models, because their American crafted instruments are way outside my budget. I'm also very pleased with quality of the OLP product. In my opnion, Ernie Ball/MusicMans high end guitars have always been a few notches above the rest, it only makes since that Ernie Ball/OLPs are some of the best built in their price range. I bought the photo-finish quilted "gold" model, I suppose they did the best they could have with the fake top, but when you put it side-by-side with a real quilited maple top, you notice instantly. I hope OLP produces more color selections in the future, but I'm not counting on it.

Made In China during 2001. 22 fret maple neck with 15'radius that feels much like the neck on the Musicman Axis' and Peavey Wolfgangs. However, neck is finished unlike the Van Halen signature guitars. Two passive humbuckers w/ 3-way switch and a volume control. Basswood body like the Peavey and Musicman, maple foto-quilt top. Vintage strat style trem. Generic tuners. Tools for adjustments provided along w/ cheap cable. Cheap volume pot and three-way switch. (normal for foreign guitar in this price range and easy to replace)

Excellent sounds from both pick-ups. Very quiet w/ full sound. Good clean sounds, but the guitar is best suited to a distorted amp. After all, it is a copy of a guitar designed by and for Ed Van Halen. Great sound from cheap pick-ups provided, but a set of Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan pick-ups would make the guitar sound even more complex and interesting. I wouldn't hesitate to spend $200 on pick-uos for this $199 guitar.

Set-up very well, altough the intonation did need to be slightly adjusted. Binding on top had no gaps or edges, very smooth. the butt end of the neck could use a little more sanding, but that is easy to fix. Otherwise, a flawless little guitar.

Solid guitar that should last a long time. Superb finish that is very glossy and attractive. Hardware is good. Cheap volume pot and three-way switch.

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Played for 10 years. Own a variety of guitars and amps. Marshall, Laney, Red Bear, SWR, Behringer, Yamaha, OLP, G&L, Ibanez, Gibson, Kramer, etc. I lost I would replace immediately. In fact I hope that OLP comes out with the foto-quilt/bound top model in other colors such as green, blue, red, and purple. I love this guitar because I am a long time Van Halen fan and have always wanted a Guitar like the Musicman EVH or Peavey wolfgang, but didn't want to spend $1500 or so each cost. Excellent guitar for anyone's arsenal.