These video should serve to explain as to why getting your guitar repaired is so expensive. There's a lot of labour hours & knowledge you're paying for here by people who care about their craft. Love your work Dave.
Thanks Dave it plays like a charm now, you did a great job on it. The mess guys was from the last guy I got to do a setup on it. Buy a sticker everyone
yes thanks ,the neck moves a ton in our Canadian weather changes if you leave it out of the case. The rest was a butchered setup job done about 3 months ago. I bought it with the dent about 10 years ago.
Music store nearby sends it out to their guy. There was a gal who used to do a great job but she recently stopped since there is not much money in this anymore.
Very good timing of this video, a friend of my handed down an OLP MM1 Axis version to me from his sickbed, made it a special guitar for me. So this video is very welcome since both models are almost the same and it's good to see how a setup is done on this model. Even if it has Ernie Ball treats, maybe you can tell us sometime why you don't like Ernie Ballsacks Dave. Rock on!
Just bought an Axis, so this was super handy, thanks. Been a Gibson/Fender guy my whole life, but nothing can touch these Axis necks for comfort imo. Now that I have arthritis it matters a lot more. Thanks again for the video.
I have seen you do this type of repair before... but I have watched so many of your videos, over all these years, some of them many times, so who knows!
Your knowledge amazes me Dave, I've never seen anything like the bridge saddle set up on that thing... Looks like something you use too pirate pay for view... AS always great vid my friend.
It was actually called the Axis first, initially for Albert Lee, but Albert went with another design. Eddie was with Sterling Ball and saw this design which had been shelved and they began tweeking it to Eddie's specs and then released it as Eddie's model. I believe Eddie left MM for Peavey after they couldn't keep up with production demands for overseas.
yup dave these need shimming and constant truss rod adjustment, I'll put a picture up of mine setup with a micro action, not the easiest guitar to work on, but a brilliant guitar once sorted, very versatile and I love mine. The neck moves with humidity change due to lack of finish.
johnp1657 agreed I have a 91 EVH and it is easily my most finicky guitar when it comes to the neck, unlike my Peavey wolf's which are solid as a rock. But yes it is amazing when set up right
Nothing strange about the head stock Dave. Just as Leo Fender's head stocks were designed to keep every string straight from bridge to tuner so is this designed for the exact same reason. No bend between nut and tuner means no tuning issues. Ever had a cantankerous SG or Les Paul where you're being driven nuts by tuning issues Dave ? Of course you have so you'll understand why.
All for the low low price of $2,549.00!!! (Added $200 for the quilted maple top). Body is basswood, literally the cheapest body blank material I could find. Cheaper even than poplar. Basswood $45.00, Poplar $55.00. Basswood is also twice as soft mahogany, and even softer than yellow pine. I would hate to sneeze and dent my 2.5k guitar. Lol
I read there are a few grades of basswood, the higher grade does not sound mushy or dent easily. Personally I like a few of my Japan Strats in light (probably budget) basswood, fun to play. The maple-cap-board one has a nice midrange 'howl' thru an amp. Wood cost isn't the sole criteria of importance.
My e series Squier strat is made of basswood. I can confirm that good quality basswood is not soft. My cat knocked it off the wall and it fell on the bottom of the body. Couple nice chips out the paint but the wood didn't dent in the slightest. It also has one of the strongest resonance when you play it acoustically. A friend of mine has a cheap strat copy made from basswood that has the acoustic properties of toilet paper ☺
Dave, I was wondering if you had to shim the neck more to lower the action or was removing the nut shim and straightening the neck out enough to get the action low enough? Keep up the good work sirs !
i had one. it was the eddie model. was purple stain . at the time was just to nice to take out and play. lol.. sold it years later for 4 times what i payed for it. that was a good investment.
For 4x?! Really? I have a '93 amber top like this one. I don't want to sell it, but the most I've ever seen them go for was maybe 3x the original price. I paid $1250 new for it in '94. I've seen them priced insanely and hanging on a wall in a shop forever because nobody is paying the price. Good score getting 4x your money back.
Hey Dave. I hope you’re healing up and hope they caught the dirty bastards that attacked you. Do you have a drawing of the home made heat stick you used to straighten necks? If so I would appreciate a copy so I can make one for my business.. If not then I’ll try to figure out how it’s made. Thanks and keep healing . Cheers and Peace
I have to ask where you got that crowning file from? I've seen some but I don't think they're the same quality as yours. Could it be from the un named devil store?
Hey now lets not talk about another mans headstock like that, you want to give the guy a complex, not everyone can headstock envy. lol Great work Davy another one saved from the Bird house gods. :)
Hey Dave, a novice luthier here. On Floyd rose equipped guitars, what is that string tree type thing near the nut for? What does it do and what does it affect when setting up a guitar? Thanks
There is no way that came from Musicman that way. They have some of the best quality control in music. .they inspect and set up every guitar and bsss until it’s perfect. An average of 45 minutes per unit.
Patrick Nicolucci I believe it's called The Key and you can get them from Stewmac and other places. (That's if you on about the tool for doing the intonation on the Floyd).
I've owned 2 Axis guitars. My 90s Super Sport was one of the best guitars I've ever owned. My 2013 Floyd Rose wasn't so great....it sounded very sterile compared to it's counter part.
The guy below is right, Once EVH got pissed at Ball he pulled his endorsement & Sterling renamed that guitar the Axis.. I guess just fucking his wife wasn't enough, Then He went on To Peavey which in time He did the same thing & moved on to Fender.. He should have renamed it the Mozart or Amadeus to stick it to evh.. Gouge to the eye if you will. That might be one of the nicest guitars you've ever had on you're channel Dave.. They are BIG bucks.
It may look a bit different, but they're the only company that's allowed to make guitars with that 4/2 configuration in the USA as they've a copyright for them.
+Roy The Axis is the MusicMan "EVH" model renamed. The EVH model was Ed's first signature guitar before the "Wolfgang" and was renamed "Axis' after Ed quit using MusicMan's guitars as an endorsee. And no, it's not cheap actually.
These video should serve to explain as to why getting your guitar repaired is so expensive. There's a lot of labour hours & knowledge you're paying for here by people who care about their craft. Love your work Dave.
Thanks Dave it plays like a charm now, you did a great job on it. The mess guys was from the last guy I got to do a setup on it. Buy a sticker everyone
Glad to know it, man. Glad you posted here! It was a mess, but nothing Dr. Dave hasn't seen before, lol! Thank God the neck was okay.
yes thanks ,the neck moves a ton in our Canadian weather changes if you leave it out of the case. The rest was a butchered setup job done about 3 months ago. I bought it with the dent about 10 years ago.
Who did the bad job before you brought it to Dave?
Music store nearby sends it out to their guy. There was a gal who used to do a great job but she recently stopped since there is not much money in this anymore.
Sweet guitar. It would be a nice addition to my collection.
This is a great place to see how guitars hold up and the kind of craziness people put their guitars through.
I think that is the first time I have seen fire used during a guitar repair. Added suspense....
Very good timing of this video, a friend of my handed down an OLP MM1 Axis version to me from his sickbed, made it a special guitar for me. So this video is very welcome since both models are almost the same and it's good to see how a setup is done on this model. Even if it has Ernie Ball treats, maybe you can tell us sometime why you don't like Ernie Ballsacks Dave. Rock on!
Lovely work Dave on a very classy guitar.
the intonation song always reminds me of canned heat - on the road again
The finish repair is the best bit. Very chill.
Just bought an Axis, so this was super handy, thanks. Been a Gibson/Fender guy my whole life, but nothing can touch these Axis necks for comfort imo. Now that I have arthritis it matters a lot more.
Thanks again for the video.
Guitar Memoir rather thick ?
Dave the energizer bunny of guitar repair.
I am straight up addicted to watching these videos.
I have seen you do this type of repair before... but I have watched so many of your videos, over all these years, some of them many times, so who knows!
Nasty bridge!
Well worked as ever Dman.
Your knowledge amazes me Dave, I've never seen anything like the bridge saddle set up on that thing... Looks like something you use too pirate pay for view... AS always great vid my friend.
Dave, happy xmas from dear old IRELAND. Thanks for the whole year.
The Axis model. Formerly the Eddie Van Halen signature model.
It was actually called the Axis first, initially for Albert Lee, but Albert went with another design. Eddie was with Sterling Ball and saw this design which had been shelved and they began tweeking it to Eddie's specs and then released it as Eddie's model.
I believe Eddie left MM for Peavey after they couldn't keep up with production demands for overseas.
Maybe Eddie was throwing everybody off the trail like he always did. “Try to imitate me while playing THIS!” (Jkg) thanks for the video.
Dave your videos are not only entertaining educational and eye opening they're very relaxing to watch😀🎸
yup dave these need shimming and constant truss rod adjustment, I'll put a picture up of mine setup with a micro action, not the easiest guitar to work on, but a brilliant guitar once sorted, very versatile and I love mine. The neck moves with humidity change due to lack of finish.
johnp1657 agreed I have a 91 EVH and it is easily my most finicky guitar when it comes to the neck, unlike my Peavey wolf's which are solid as a rock. But yes it is amazing when set up right
solan417 I haven't played mine in 12 months due to medical issues , but I know I'm gonna have to swing on that truss rod lol
Love watching the finish touchups.
Great work and great video Dave.
all the best for the new year from the north of the UK
Hey Dave from what it was before... Good job!! Really nice work. Cheers!!👍
Another great movie brother. Thanks and cheers!
Happy New Year Dave ! All the best to you and you're family Sir !
Your channel is kinda like Ask This Old House for us guitar geeks. Thanks!
Feel free to give em away to patrons or use on your customers set ups :P
How am I doing? Just Fine! REALLY enjoy your videos. Guitar repair explained in a concise, down to earth vernacular!
Nothing strange about the head stock Dave. Just as Leo Fender's head stocks were designed to keep every string straight from bridge to tuner so is this designed for the exact same reason. No bend between nut and tuner means no tuning issues. Ever had a cantankerous SG or Les Paul where you're being driven nuts by tuning issues Dave ? Of course you have so you'll understand why.
Great job on the Musicman Dave 👌✌
Thank you for sharing the stick been looking heavily into this myself
Hot Knives....that takes me back.
These are actually decent Guitars worth fixing.
Ah so much fun! , been tinkering with my 98 les paul a lot, so many freaking problems caused by lack of adjustment!
very cool finish repair.
It's a good job. It started making little purring sounds when you tightened the nut.
That was some fun Stuff Dave. Cool.
Cool video. You make it seem easy.
NIce variety on this one. Pain by proxy. I like it.
15:41😂 Color theory with Dave
Dave, your a star.
Two of the best channels on TH-cam are Canadian, Dave's World... and Nick's Garage...
I have two Ernie Ball-Sacks and they are good...
I made a cheap solder iron laq stick tool by brazing on a flat on the tip so you don't need to keep heating the knife.
All for the low low price of $2,549.00!!! (Added $200 for the quilted maple top). Body is basswood, literally the cheapest body blank material I could find. Cheaper even than poplar. Basswood $45.00, Poplar $55.00. Basswood is also twice as soft mahogany, and even softer than yellow pine. I would hate to sneeze and dent my 2.5k guitar. Lol
I quite like basswood as a tonewood though.
I read there are a few grades of basswood, the higher grade does not sound mushy or dent easily.
Personally I like a few of my Japan Strats in light (probably budget) basswood, fun to play. The maple-cap-board one has a nice midrange 'howl' thru an amp. Wood cost isn't the sole criteria of importance.
I have an Axis and it is one of the best guitars on the planet. Tom Anderson said it was the best tonewood.
My e series Squier strat is made of basswood. I can confirm that good quality basswood is not soft. My cat knocked it off the wall and it fell on the bottom of the body. Couple nice chips out the paint but the wood didn't dent in the slightest. It also has one of the strongest resonance when you play it acoustically. A friend of mine has a cheap strat copy made from basswood that has the acoustic properties of toilet paper ☺
The axis that I have is very solid..
Some people like those gashes and dings. They even pay for them. Imagine sending your relic job for a set up and having them fix it. Oh boy.
Hope you had a rockin' Christmas Dave ! It's cold as F#$& here in Michigan . PEACE
Brian Olendorf cold hre in Toronto as well
Dave, I was wondering if you had to shim the neck more to lower the action or was removing the nut shim and straightening the neck out enough to get the action low enough? Keep up the good work sirs !
you should title or tag this video about the lacquer stick fill - you haven't actually shown it before
The headstock looks nice. Tuners are in line with strings thru nut. Hate that string tree . Got one like it on a Cozart 12 string.
Yo Dave, you sort of mentioned it... a How To prep a guitar/bass for long term storage, airplane travel etc... that would be cool.
Is there a reason for using an alcohol burner instead of something like a propane torch or is it just convenient and easy?
I have a 2019 Axis Family reserve 18 of 50 in mint condition authenticity paper,and all new hardware that came with it if your interested
The stick fix was nice to see. I'd like that guitar without Ex Machina. I've seen pocket watches that were less complicated
It's a locking trem big deal
Dave does the hot knife boogy!where do you get that device to hold the trem Dave?Thats a prety clever way to repair laquer ,Cheers
What are three sticks made of? Which material?
Mr. Dave, Where did you get that awesome crowning tool? Love your movies btw!
I need to remove the neck shimmings and i think to remove the neck plate base from Floyd Rose to lower the tension strings.
Was this set up for slide...?
This is where years of practice doing hot knives with a torch pays off! 🤣
I have one of these guitars my switch isn't working bridge works and both work but I cannot get neck pickup to work alone, what to do????
I just subscribe.. You are dooing good work.. You love guitars, you even like those poor little's people complicate guitars..😁
Your some sort of Wizard Dave!!! lol Merry ho ho bud!
Where can I get a Black Lacquer Stick?
i had one. it was the eddie model. was purple stain . at the time was just to nice to take out and play. lol.. sold it years later for 4 times what i payed for it. that was a good investment.
For 4x?! Really? I have a '93 amber top like this one. I don't want to sell it, but the most I've ever seen them go for was maybe 3x the original price. I paid $1250 new for it in '94. I've seen them priced insanely and hanging on a wall in a shop forever because nobody is paying the price. Good score getting 4x your money back.
Hey Dave. I hope you’re healing up and hope they caught the dirty bastards that attacked you.
Do you have a drawing of the home made heat stick you used to straighten necks? If so I would appreciate a copy so I can make one for my business.. If not then I’ll try to figure out how it’s made. Thanks and keep healing . Cheers and Peace
I did a video about it's making..heaters and power supply come from amazon
Wow that guitar was a mess. Good thing you had dave
Wouldn't it be easier to heat the laquor stick over the flame instead of the knife?
I have to ask where you got that crowning file from? I've seen some but I don't think they're the same quality as yours. Could it be from the un named devil store?
good job
Wow I just did the conversion if i got it right the action is like 3mm that's high.
Hey now lets not talk about another mans headstock like that, you want to give the guy a complex, not everyone can headstock envy. lol Great work Davy another one saved from the Bird house gods. :)
Hey Dave, a novice luthier here. On Floyd rose equipped guitars, what is that string tree type thing near the nut for? What does it do and what does it affect when setting up a guitar? Thanks
It's used to make sure the strings are seated properly in the nut. That way when you tighten the locking nut down it doesn't go wildly out of tune.
good stuff!!
Why can’t you melt lacquer in a container and brush it in?
you mean a lacquer stick? messy and no fun
I have this guitar but mine came with 6 screw fender type tremolo no locking nut and no string tree
I'm betting it didn't leave the factory like that Dave hehe, but nice job, I know you hate the locking trems ;)
great teck
There is no way that came from Musicman that way. They have some of the best quality control in music. .they inspect and set up every guitar and bsss until it’s perfect. An average of 45 minutes per unit.
Yeah, see John F's comments above (he's the owner), the guitar has a bad setup done 3 months ago.
I know a old comment but 100% agree the best I have ever seen off the rack ,flawless everyone I ever touched. .
And then after that guitars are at the mercy of incompetence.
I seem to have missed the part where you fixed the string height. It was 8/64” before, right?
Dave, were you in the Canadian Army long ago?
“Eats beef STEW MAC and cheese” 😂 merry Xmas Dave
Where can I find lacquer sticks at Dave?
lee valley tools or stew mac I think..had mine for 20 years
Thank you
Thanks Dave
What are three sticks made of? Which material?
That looks exactly like the one I just got from China, with exactly the same problems. The problems I am having is what got me to this video.
Hi David 😎, I love the eat StewMac and cheese stickers 🎅✌
Controls? One volume and a pickup selector??
Yes thats it, no tone controls
Dave whats that gizmo called and were can i get one ? Thanks
Which one?
Patrick Nicolucci I believe it's called The Key and you can get them from Stewmac and other places. (That's if you on about the tool for doing the intonation on the Floyd).
www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Bridges/The_Key.html
“I don’t own a shit color guitar” love it
I've owned 2 Axis guitars. My 90s Super Sport was one of the best guitars I've ever owned. My 2013 Floyd Rose wasn't so great....it sounded very sterile compared to it's counter part.
The guy below is right, Once EVH got pissed at Ball he pulled his endorsement & Sterling renamed that guitar the Axis..
I guess just fucking his wife wasn't enough, Then He went on To Peavey which in time He did the same thing & moved on to Fender.. He should have renamed it the Mozart or Amadeus to stick it to evh.. Gouge to the eye if you will.
That might be one of the nicest guitars you've ever had on you're channel Dave.. They are BIG bucks.
"Thats why its important to put Vaseline where you dont want this shit to go"
The very words I live by sir.
I would think that in real life, you put Vaseline where you DO want shit to go! ;)
Yep haven't watched enough of your videos yet now I find out that I spoke too soon you do know about those repair kits.will I'll be dipped
No crowns has probably a little to do with it being 15 years old.
That's a Eddie vanhalen guitar when he went with music man guitars before fender / evh brand
I thought so too
I'd love to look with you at this guitar but sometimes you just have to be there to see things in perspective. Nwim?
interesting guitar
The headstock looks so weird
MomoTheBellyDancer ik that it's just so like weirdly shaped and compact
The low E tuning peg is a little to close to the string tension bar. Other then that I don't mind the head stock.
It may look a bit different, but they're the only company that's allowed to make guitars with that 4/2 configuration in the USA as they've a copyright for them.
I mean when fender decided they were the ONLY ones who could have a good headstock, everyone else had to improvise.
I like it.
that's just a dive bomb setting I guess
Daves old hash knife.
I could be wrong but I think this is an inexpensive EVH Wolfgang copy.
+Roy The Axis is the MusicMan "EVH" model renamed. The EVH model was Ed's first signature guitar before the "Wolfgang" and was renamed "Axis' after Ed quit using MusicMan's guitars as an endorsee. And no, it's not cheap actually.
Pretty handy $ 3000 cdn
I must have got it mixed up with another Wolfgang copy.
+Roy Not trying to be an authority, just wanted to give you the info. Thanks for your reply, cheers!
No problem. There is one that is an inexpensive copy, but not this one. Got mixed up.
Ernie Ball is a high quality guitar whoever owned it messed it up.
The owner (John F) posted above that it got a bad setup a few months ago