Music Man Axis (Van Halen) Series

The Ernie Ball / Music Man Eddie Van Halen signature model was introduced In the early 1990s and Eddie used on the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance albums. When Eddie left Ernie Ball/Music Man in 1995, the company was made to keep the guitar in production pretty much unchanged as the Music Man Axis model. All of the design, including the neck, pickups, and woods used are the same, but there were a few improvements made. Music Man introduced the Axis Sport and Super Sport to appeal to a wider range of players by using various bridge and pickup combinations not found on the Axis/EVH model. The Axis Super Sport is a non Floyd Rose version of the Axis with the addition of an added tone control and a five way switch.

MUSIC MAN AXIS

When Edward Van Halen's endorsement deal with Music Man ended in 1995, the company decided to keep the guitar in production. They renamed it the Axis but it is pretty much the same as when it was the Eddie Van Halen guitar. Most of the design, including the neck, pickups, and woods used are the same, but Music Man made a few changes:

1. The neck was widened slightly (1/32") at the body end. This was to solve problems with the high E string slipping off the neck on the 12th fret and up.

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MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT

The Music Man Axis Sport is like the Music Man Axis but with an ash body, choice of pickup combinations (HSS,HH or SSS) and hard-tail bridge or vintage tremolo. Some had a white pickguard - some had no pickguard. Pickups were custom DiMarzios or MM90s depending on the configuration chosen. The MM90 models used the Silent Circuit noise reduction electronics. It was introduced in 1997 and has now been replaced by the Axis Super Sport model.

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MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT

The Axis Super Sport has an ash body, bound figured maple top, bolt-on maple neck, 22-fret maple or rosewood fingerboard with black dot inlays. It is like the Axis but has a tone control,  instead of a Floyd Rose bridge it has a stop-tailpiece or an optional vintage tremolo (models 320, 321), has an optional rosewood fingerboard and is available in 3 pickup configurations:  2 humbuckers, 3 single coils, or 2 single coils + humbucker.  The base price of the SuperSport is somewhat less than that of the Axis.

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MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN

ERNIE BALL/MUSIC MAN made the EDWARD VAN HALEN between 1991 and 1995 with approximately 6000 made in total. They have a beautiful bookmatched figured maple top on a basswood body. The top were hand stained (usually red, amber blue or purple with a few greens) - but this stain often fades to a much lighter color . A very small number were made with solid black or gold finishes. The bridge was a choice between a strings through the body hardened steel bridge or a Music Man licensed Floyd Rose tremolo.

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Specifications:

ModelImageFinish colorsFinish effectsMade inNumber of stringsScale lengthFinish materialBinding
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
black finish, gold finish, purple finish, red finishsunburst finish, transparent finishUSA6 strings25.5 inches scale-length--
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
black finish, blue finish, gold finish, green finish, ivory finish, purple finish, red finishsunburst finish, transparent finishUSA6 strings25.5 inches scale-lengthpolyester finish-
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
black finish, blue finish, gold finish, green finish, ivory finish, purple finish, red finishsunburst finish, transparent finishUSA6 strings-polyester finishbody binding
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
gold finish, purple finish, red finishtransparent finishUSA6 strings25.5 inches scale-length--
ModelBody materialBody shape featuresBody top material
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
basswood bodysingle cutawayfigured maple body top
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
ash bodysingle cutawayfigured maple body top
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
ash body, basswood bodysingle cutawayfigured maple body top
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
basswood bodysingle cutawayfigured maple body top
ModelBridgeHardware colorTuners
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
Floyd Rose licensed tremolochrome hardwareSchaller M6 tuners
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
strings-through bridge, tremolo bridgechrome hardwareSchaller M6-IND locking tuners
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
strings-through bridgechrome hardwareSchaller M6-IND locking tuners, pearl button tuners
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
Floyd Rose licensed tremolo, strings-through bridgechrome hardwareSchaller M6 tuners, pearl button tuners
ModelFingerboard materialFingerboard position markers
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
maple fingerboard, rosewood fingerboarddot fingerboard position markers
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
maple fingerboard, rosewood fingerboarddot fingerboard position markers
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
maple fingerboard, rosewood fingerboarddot fingerboard position markers
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
maple fingerboarddot fingerboard position markers
ModelNeck jointNumber of fretsTuner layoutNeck widthNut
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
bolt on neck22 fret---
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
bolt on neck22 fretfour-up-two-down tuners--
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
bolt on neck22 fretfour-up-two-down tuners1.625 inches wide at nut-
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
bolt on neck22 fretfour-up-two-down tuners1.625 inches wide at nutlocking nut
ModelPickup selector controlsVolume controlsTone controls
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
3-way selector switch1 volume control-
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
5-way selector switch1 volume control1 tone control
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
5-way selector switch1 volume control1 tone control
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
3-way selector switch1 volume control-
ModelPickups brand and modelPickups configurationCircuit functions
MUSIC MAN AXIS
1996
DiMarzio pickup(s)2 humbucker pickups-
MUSIC MAN AXIS SPORT
1997
DiMarzio pickup(s), Music Man MM90 pickup(s)2 humbucker pickups, 2 single coil pickups and 1 humbucker pickup, 3 single coil pickups, HH pickup(s)Silent Circuit noise reduction electronics
MUSIC MAN AXIS SUPER SPORT
1997
DiMarzio Custom pickup(s), Music Man MM90 pickup(s)2 humbucker pickups, 2 single coil pickups and 1 humbucker pickup, piezo-transducer bridgeSilent Circuit noise reduction electronics
MUSIC MAN EDWARD VAN HALEN
1991 to 1995
DiMarzio pickup(s)2 humbucker pickups-