OLP MM1

Body is solid basswood, made in China (2002?), fake binding and clear coat over "photo-curly maple top" (let me stress, there is no maple top, body is solid basswood, top is just painted to look that way) I did see two other colors, a solid (no binding) black with a glitter like finish and a (no binding) dark maroon with glitter finish. Even if it is fake, the photo maple top looks better than the other two finish options. Pickups are H/H with 3-way selector

Body style is like the Ernie Ball Music Man Axis (previously Eddie Van Halen model), guitar is 22 frets, full scale but feels very small. Bridge is like an standard trem Fender bridge peace. Out of box included: trem bar, truss rod and saddle adjustment tools, instructions on how to adjust action and cheap guitar chord.

Did not come with a case or gig bag and none of the gig bags on hand fit it very well, the only real option is a Ernie Ball MusicMan Axis case (this will set you back about $120)

I'm rating 7 for this category because they actually included truss rod and bridge adjustment tools and instructions, try to find another guitar for $200 that includes this stuff.

This guitar sounds fantastic. I've always loved the EVH signature MusicMan, but they are very expensive. The OLP Axis is made well, setup well and sounds incredible. I wish OLP would release a model with a real curly maple top (even with the markup this may only bring the cost up an extra $100). Other than the fake top, this thing sounds so great. Like one of the other reviewers here I tested it against a real Axis in the store, not much different in the sound department. Both guitars have incredible sustain, sweet harmonics and great playability. The action on the real Axis (even the stop-tail peace model) is very low compared to the OLP. The radius is different, The Axis necks are 10", the radius on the OLP neck feels a bit larger. But the sound is great though both instruments. I brought home the OLP, so I will elaborate on it's sound. I use all three pickup settings and find myself switching in the middle of songs a lot more than I have with any other guitar. This is because the neck and bridge pickups can both be used for lead or rhythm, the neck is just a little deeper sounding.

I recently went into a local H&H music and played standard Peavy Wolfgang ($900) and was not at all impressed. I actually like my OLP better! I got home and did a little research and found this article I'd like to share (regarding the Wolfgangs):
http://www.worldclassguitars.com/custom/jobpwolf.htm

Action feels great, if you play an Ernie Ball MusicMan Axis and like it you may consider bringing the action down a bit on your OLP. I happen to like my action a bit higher and the factory setup was perfect for what I wanted.

Fit is great, Finish was as expected (mass produced quality)

The tuners are cheap, I expect I'll have to replace them in a few years, other than that it seems pretty durable.

Don't know.

I love this guitar. I wish it came with a gig bag, I wish OLP offered more "photo curly maple colors" for the $200 model and I wish they had a real curly maple top model for around $300 (Maybe a real curly maple top model with a licensed Floyd-Rose trem for $350.

Rumor I heard (and this as rumor please), Ernie Ball MusicMan gave the green light on these OLP guitars and Ernie Ball has a large stake in the OLP company (kind of like Fender has Squire series). The market is tightning and forcing companies like MusicMan and PRS to produce guitars for the low-end of the market if they want to stay in business. Ernie Ball doesn't want a direct connection between their high-end and low-end models so they have setup a new company OLP to import these guitars and do all the manufacturing in Asia. Unlike Fender (who will put out a crap guitar if you'll buy one), Ernie Ball is forcing quality control on these guitars.

Buy one for yourself and buy one for a friend.

I dont own one of these... yet but did chance to try one at Sam Ash recently, and i was pleasantly surprised. I had originally gone in looking for a Peavey EVH special with a stop bar and P90s. Instead I sat down with an OLP, an EVH Music Man Axis and a Peavey Wolfberg. Its a Van Halen Shaped guitar, with a basswood body and a maple neck. I tried one with a amber photo finish, To tell you the truth i liked the finish on this axe better than the other two. Its got two zebra DiMarzio Clone pickups, a three way pickup selector and a single volume knob. Oh and its got a traditional fender style tremolo rather than the Floyd Rose.

The guitar shined here and you would be hard pressed to find better pickups on a sub $500 guitar. I put all three guitars through a Line6 POD and a peavey classic 30. The other two guitars did sound a lot tighter and more complex, with a lot more depth to them, but for the money this little baby more than held its own. Distorted sounds were great, i got a great heavey metal palm mute chunk sound, good crunch, and surprisingly - pristine, single coil-like clean sound (i closed my eyes and i coulda sworn i was playing a tele, and it gets a very decent stratish quack in the middle position).But lead is where this guitar takes the cake. The neck pickup with the volume rolled back to 7.5 with a lot of gain and reverb sounded like Gary Moore and Santana, nice, round, thick and tasty. The middle position, and I was Jimmy page and Angus Young, and the bridge pickup with everything at 10 is just pure hell, it even pulled off nice pantera like lead sounds. All without a hiss, crackle or any sign of feedback or microphonic sqeals. Oh and it sustains forever. I was blown away by the pickups on a $200 guitar. But then plugged in the Axis and the peavey and they were all this and more but with an extra bit of OOMPH that the OLP lacked. Again for the money, cannot be beat and you can always swap the pickups for real DiMarzios - u dont really need to tho.

I doubt other ppl will agree with me here, but the OLP played better than the axis or the peavey. Its just me preference tho, i guess. The peavey and the axis have rounded backs that fill up the palm and they are kinda thin - thats what Eddie plays and tons of players relate to those dimensions. The OLP i tried was a tad thinner and the neck was a little wider than the other two and it was actually setup better too - with extra slinky .008s and a really low action (the .008s make bends a breeze despite the low action). The maple neck is perfect, with a very flamey grain and the frets are better than a lot of $1000+ guitars, smooth and glassey. Man i couldnt believe the shit i was pulling off with this neck, i play 10 times better with this guitar - i was shredding on a Bmin Harmonic scale and pretty soon there was a crowd gathered around me at Sam Ash!! The guy who worked there asked wether he could play with the same settings to see if it was me or the gear.

The finish is very convincing and it seems very solid, my only beef is that the guitar is kinda small, extremely light and maybe a wee bit neck heavey, not noticably so. The strap buttons and tuners are standard, run of the mill stuff, they do theyre job. at this price u can buy another one as a back up. The peavey and the axis by comparison were a bit heavier (what with the maple caps and the floyd rose) and balanced a little better too. They also seemed a lot tougher.

Dont know - dont own the guitar.

Ive been playing for some 5 years now and my style is best described as a heavey riffer/ shredder with melodic, neoclassical/jazz clean bits thrown in. This is weird because i listen to hendrix, vaughn, clapton, roy buchanon, et all and really want to play the blues - i own a strat, a tele and a Les Paul. But when i play i sound like satriani/vai, i dont listen to van halen, randy rhodes or other shredders. I dont get it, i just cant force the blues from my fingers, maybe ill mellow with age(im 23). This guitar is the kind of flasshy gear i stay away from - but the value for money here is undeniable. Its a must buy. Even for begginers - the only decent choice was the yamaha pacifica 112 but this blows that clear out of the water. cant wait till i get one.