Axl Badwater Basses?

[Diesel Kilgore]

Never even heard of them until the other day while doing some GAS shopping and stumbled onto them at MF's website.

Dont care for the relic look but the brown finish with the yellowed pickguard does look pretty good.

Everything I have read on them has been very positive. EMG pickups, nice fit and finish and the price is very agreeable as well.

Im curious if anyone who owns one or somebody in the know might have more to say about them? My 2 biggest questions are who makes Axl? Or is it a stand alone company? And where do they build their instruments? Im assuming based on price its not the USA.

Thanks.

[jlepre]

http://www.axlguitars.com/basses/badwater-bass-series
http://www.axlguitars.com/about
Google is your friend

[the wako kid]

AXL is a big company that own several others like johnson. about ten different brands are assembled in the same factory in china and marketed under different brands. My johnson is probably the exact same bass as the AXL P bass. they're pretty good basses but don't expect those EMG pickups to be stellar.

[Diesel Kilgore]

Originally Posted by the wako kid

AXL is a big company that own several others like johnson. about ten different brands are assembled in the same factory in china and marketed under different brands. My johnson is probably the exact same bass as the AXL P bass. they're pretty good basses but don't expect those EMG pickups to be stellar.

Why is that? Are these low end EMGs?

[steve_rolfeca]

I believe that AXL is marketed by the same company that took over VHT amps a couple of years ago.

The amps are a terrific value. The company has been pretty good about support. Everything is made in China. The designers had a good eye for where to cut corners so that they could hit their price point, and still preserve a decent tone. I've modded them for myself and others, and I rate them as one of the better bedroom/practice amps.

All of which is a polite way of saying that they're junk, but good junk.

So onto the basses...

As far as the pickups go, the AXL website doesn't mention EMG at all. The only place I've seen the EMG reference, is on the MF website, and one video that shows an EMG-designed sticker on the bass. The pickups feature the AXL logo, not the EMG one.

EMG offers the active ones, and Select, which are their passive pickup line. If AXL was buying the Select series, they would be bragging about it.

So no, these are not "regular" EMG's, they're almost certainly being made in a Chinese factory, and I wouldn't count on them sounding the same as other EMG pickups you may have heard before.

[Ewo]

IIRC, Bass Player did a review of the AXL Badwater basses.

That was several years ago; Bill Leigh was editor. Again, IIRC...I think they commented they were good quality for the money.

You might search their website.

[pedrodelawasp]

I bought a loaded axl scratchplate from the bay, featuring the aforementioned "EMG designed pickups" sticker. I've popped them in to a parts P-bass and am now in love with the thing.

They don't sound like the EMG pup I had before, but for me that has worked out as a good thing, as I really didn't dig the active pups at all.

Sure, these are not high end pickups, but they do sound great. I haven't heard any negative reviews for the axl stuff in general, though personally I am not as keen on their styling and finishes as I am on the pickups.

[dabbler]

I don't have an axl bass, but I do have a brown badwater 1216 (lp style guitar) which I love. If a matching bass came along at a good price, I would be tempted, even though I have too many basses already!

[Josh Thatguy]

There's a local luthier-wannabe who carries $$$ vintage gear (all on consignment) in his shop, which is right next door to a guitar lessons/bass lessons shop. He started carrying AXL axes as a bait/switch item for the kids who come in. He has a ***monstrous*** profit margin with them, and sells the crap out of them to the clueless moms & dads who buy "wow factor" stuff for their kids who are learning how to play. So, locally, the only people you see playing Axl are 'tweens and teens on local battle-of-the-mediocre-band showcase weekends.

[Brad4083]

I have a J-style Badwater bass. My pickups say AXL Alnico on them. The bass is neck-heavy and the tuners are very stiff. I need to do some light fret-leveling and file the fret ends. Otherwise, I like the bass and play it often. It has a lot of character.

[wolfmancharlie]

IMHO, the badwater series should only be wall art. SX is a major step up.You dont even get what you pay for.Not even a good starter bass. There are some that arent terrible.Why waste your money? get a SX and ,if you must, drag it around and relic it. It would be at least ten times better. Or its a great bass if its your first and you are ten years old. Some of their other stuff isnt too bad but the Badwater Series , IMHO, isn't worth a plug nickel.

[Joe Nerve]

I had gas for them for them when they first came out. I was super excited to see them at NAMM that same year. They had them all on a wall and I was able to fiddle away to my heart's content. That fiddling lasted about 15 minutes. 1st, it was only about 2 days into the the show and most of the basses had issues of one sort or another. If I remember correctly electronics were the main problem. Faulty pots, jacks, etc. That immediately turned me off as these were their show pieces, and while equipment gets played a lot at namm, it's not like a GC. The stuff is not getting seriously abused by anyone. Anyhow, I don't remember the details about the basses but I tried a few, and my gas was immediately wiped out. The last day of NAMM people practically give away the instruments they have at the show. I asked for the best price on one of the basses and I think they said $100. I thought it might make a good project bass, but I thought a little more and passed. Never considered them again. And I think they look pretty badass.

[dabbler]

In case you didn't see my NBD post:

I know AXL gets little respect, but no matter, I already had a badwater 1216 which I liked, and decided to get a bass to go with it.



If the fretboard looks dry, it's because it is, but I have no intention of oiling it. This is my down home, dirty and worn bass! I love it! I love the finish, especially the aged hardware. I don't know what kind of strings are on it, but I'm enjoying them too. They have a clanky top end (I mean that in a good way) but you can roll the tone back and get some depth. I do think they are brighter than the webstrings that I normally use, and I have no intention of changing my main strings, but I'm enjoying the change.

The neck is chunky, I like chunky. I didn't take a pic of them together, but just so you know what I'm matching it with, here's my 1216 (the actual color is closest to the second pic):



The copper pickguard and pups are the only shiny things on the 1216 and I had thought that the bass had copper guards too, but they aren't ,they are painted an aged white.

[DeanT]

AXL is total crap. I had a Badwater crackle bass. I bought it brand new and it arrived with a badly twisted neck. Brand new out of the box! It sounded like crap as well. As was said, SX is about 100 times better.

[Immigrant]

I would be afraid of buying one because it probably sounds like a mix of Ethel Merman and Katherine Hepburn, then it's ego balloons until the rest of the band can't take it any more.

Oops. Wrong Axl.