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Les Paul Axcess

Wondo

By Wondo,
in Gibson Custom

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Staxman

Staxman

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ya musician friend or any online retailer dont have them even listed.. only guitar center has them right now.. the only thing i wish they would have done was to keep the pickup covers on' date=' it makes it look better with the floyd because there both chrome (well the cover could be nickel but you get the idea).

[/quote']Check out www.wildwoodguitars.com they have several of the gunmetals available online. They also received some iced-teas but I believe they are all sold already.

 

I'm mixed on the pup covers. I think the black coils look cool with the gunmetal finish, but the iced-tea not so. Is it easy to put covers on open coil pickups? Do you have to have them soldered to the base or can they just be pressed on? and does it effect the tone much or at all?

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Staxman

Staxman

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Admin,

 

Can you tell us how the serial #s on the Axcess are devised? I'm assuming the first 3 charachters, "CS8", is Custom Shop 2008, but what do the following numbers represent?

 

I have a gunmetal with # CS85088

 

My guess is Custom Shop 2008, manufactured in May (5), Axcess unit 088?

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jimmypage1stfan

jimmypage1stfan

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Check out www.wildwoodguitars.com they have several of the gunmetals available online. They also received some iced-teas but I believe they are all sold already.

 

I'm mixed on the pup covers. I think the black coils look cool with the gunmetal finish' date=' but the iced-tea not so. Is it easy to put covers on open coil pickups? Do you have to have them soldered to the base or can they just be pressed on? and does it effect the tone much or at all?[/quote']

 

the pickup covers are easy to put on, the custom shop solders most of them on but you dont have to because the magnets keep it in place... i agree with you about it looking way better with them off on the gun metal gray, but im not to much of a fan on that color, or the silverburst, they just look to modern i like the old flame tops because they look 100 times better in my opinion.. i like the flame top which is why i like the covers on.. but now i have to buy 2 gibson pickup covers which are $40..

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Staxman

Staxman

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the pickup covers are easy to put on' date=' the custom shop solders most of them on but you dont have to because the magnets keep it in place... i agree with you about it looking way better with them off on the gun metal gray, but im not to much of a fan on that color, or the silverburst, they just look to modern i like the old flame tops because they look 100 times better in my opinion.. i like the flame top which is why i like the covers on.. but now i have to buy 2 gibson pickup covers which are $40.. [/quote']I didn't think I'd like the gray either until I saw it in person, then it really grew on me. I like black guitars and this one is really almost black with a metallic look to it, and it has a very dark rosewood board (not light like the photo on Gibson's website, that one does not look as good with that really light rosewood board). I picked the gray one over an iced-tea GC had also received and that one had a pretty boring top. I'm getting an iced tea also next week, this one has a killer big-flame top, and that one will need covers. Thanks for the advice on the magnets, was hoping I wouldn't have to solder them on.

 

I also wish they had just left the covers on the iced-tea like all the prorotypes had, but worth $40 for the looks. Open coils/sunburst top just doesn't look right imo.

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Custom Admin

Custom Admin

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Admin' date='

 

Can you tell us how the serial #s on the Axcess are devised? I'm assuming the first 3 charachters, "CS8", is Custom Shop 2008, but what do the following numbers represent?

 

I have a gunmetal with # CS85088

 

My guess is Custom Shop 2008, manufactured in May (5), Axcess unit 088?[/quote']

 

the 8 is for 2008, the rest of the numbers indicate the guitar's place in the sequence of CS guitars for 2008.

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Staxman

Staxman

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they are available in Iced Tea and Gun Metal Grey. list price in the US is approx. $5200.
I'd be happy to sell you one of each color for $5200!

 

Actually the price on the street is $3,499, that seems pretty consistent at all the dealers who have them so far. They are still not cheap guitars even at that lesser price. But they are hand-made by CS so I guess that's the price for such an instrument if you want a real CS Les Paul with the factory Floyd. It is a lot of dough, but I am very happy with the guitar (after changing the setup from 10s to 9s, IMO the tremolo setup works MUCH better with .09s).

 

BTW Wildwood Guitars has posted a few iced-teas for sale now in addition to the gunmetal ones.

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Staxman

Staxman

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Staxman how do you like yours is it really worth all the money because Im kinda on the fence about buying one
It is all a matter of your personal tastes I guess. At $3,500 you can choose from a lot of other awesome guitars. Or you can put together a cool Floyd-equipped LP style guitar with components from Warmouth or similar, although not sure you can do that with a set-neck configuration. In the end it's what makes you happy and inspires you to play, I guess. I have played mostly PRS Custom-22s for years, which are incredible guitars. But I always had a weak spot for Gibson tone over PRS. Both are excellent, I just personally prefer Gibson in that arena. I also love Floyds, they stay in tune so well no matter what you do with them. My biggest issue with Gibsons was no good tremolo setups, and my biggest issue with PRS was no Floyd setup, and I did not want to risk an instrument by attempting a modification. So for tremolo stuff I played the PRS and for stoptail stuff I played a Les Paul, but with the PRS tremolo you have to maintain a little control or you will go out of tune. I've owned strat-style and other guitars with Floyds, but none that I liked overall as much as a PRS or Les Paul.

 

The Axcess is an excellent hybrid of the 2 things I really like, Les Paul feel with a set-neck and great Gibson tone, and a functional locking tremolo that stays in tune no matter what you do to it. The non-traditional features like the thinner body, neck joint carve and belly scarf are big plusses IMO, as they take LP feel to a new level and make the Axcess a very light and comfortable axe to play while maintaining much of the feel of a traditional LP. It is different from a traditional LP, mind you, so if you want a guitar that is exactly like a traditional with a Floyd, this is not it. The neck is a comfortable carve for me, very similar to the PRS wide-fat that I am used to. It's not 59 fat, but not skinny either.

 

As I think I've mentioned, I did change the setup from 10s to 9s and had to compensate a lot with the Floyd's spring tension, bridge height and neck adjustment. The 10 setup from the factory was very stiff, I like it much better with the 9s. The tone is excellent for my styles. I play a lot of Rush as I'm in a Rush tribute, but I also record a lot of other styles, mostly progressive rock, jazzy and bluesy styles. The sound of the Burckbusters combined with the Floyd is very ballsy with good mix of low end punch and ringing highs, and when you back off the volume knobs they clean up real nice with excellent clarity. The coil-tap is a very cool bonus, it adds a wide variety of very rich-sounding single-coil tones.

 

As for the price being worth it, I guess I'd say it's a stretch I was willing to make to have a real Gibson Les Paul with a factory Floyd. You can certainly get a great guitar elsewhere for less money. A lot of people on these forums seem to have issues with Gibson and it's understandable as they are not always consistent in quality and customer service, but I don't buy the company I buy the guitar. If you want a LP with a factory Floyd, this is the real deal from Gibson CS, and wether they are justified in the price or not is not the issue for me, it's how the guitar effects me as a player. I fell in love with the concept of the Axcess when I first saw Alex Lifeson playing the prototypes, and the product itself has delivered almost all my expectations of what it should be. If you get a good example, which I believe I have, it is an excellent guitar from the company that has outfitted many of the worlds top players for decades. To me it's a very fun instrument to play that feels good in my hands, creates a lot of sounds I like and inspires me to pick it up and jam, so yes it was worth the money. Another thought is to wait and pick up a used one down the road. Since they are not limited, I'm sure there will be some good deals before too long.

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Staxman

Staxman

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Stax' date='

 

How does the neck feel compared to the Lifeson?[/quote']It rounder and feels fatter to me than the Lifeson, but not much, only a fraction fatter. They are both very comfortable for me, but I have long thin fingers and can't play real skinny necks, my fingers bunch up. It is NOT 59 fat. I think Admin said it's an 80's profile? I've never owned an 80's LP so can't compare.

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