He shows off a bunch of Gibsons then busts out a few of his Music Man guitars about 2 minutes in. He had great things to say about his MM axes:

They really are the nicest stuff

- Joe Bonamassa

Ever since they were announced a few years back I’ve been dying to get a Rosewood, Axis Super Sport. I think they look fucking awesome and rosewood necks just feel so damn good!!!

While trolling around eBay last night I stumbled upon this lil bastard…

It’s in pretty-much-new condition and the price was right… so fuck it, BIN. I had to do it – couldn’t help it.

There’s a thread on the Music Man about someone’s grievance with a Guitar Center salesperson.

Here’s a recap:

1. Dude goes to GC looking for Music Man guitars.
2. Salesperson says “I didn’t know they made guitars”.
3. Saleperson then quotes the customer a bad price after looking it up. Also says the price may go up $100 before the guitar is delivered.
4. Saleperson hands the customer an Ibanez and says it’s a way better guitar.
5. Customer is annoyed and posts experience on the Music Man forums.

This is par for the course. People like pissing on Guitar Center on forums. I moderate the EBMM (Ernie Ball Music Man) forum so I see, read & deal with this kind of stuff all the time.

Here’s the main issue: Those who frequent online message boards about guitars and basses know a ton about gear… we read about this stuff all day. Now, the salespeople at big retail outlets like Guitar Center aren’t always/usually as knowledgeable about boutique/non-standard brands like Music Man. Most of these employees are standard people (non gear-nerds) and know the some stuff about run of the mill gear: Fenders, Gibson, PRS Guitars and stuff like that. It’s not common for GC employees to know a ton of stuff about the smaller brands. Also, some of the younger types have the “youth attitude”… ya know: “Only old fucks play strats” and “If you play metal you have to use an Ibanez or ESP”.

When these two worlds collide you have the makings of a pissing contest. The gear nerds kinda get a hard-on telling salespeople that they’re dumb (or telling stories about these experiences) and the sales people just want their commission and some just like pushing their favorite brand.

So anyways… this thing gets posted on the MM forum. Sterling Ball, owner & CEO of Ernie Ball Music Man, chimed in with his 2 cents… The Marty Albertson, CEO of Guitar Center, cruised by to try and address the issue (scroll to post #54). So here you have 2 CEO’s, each from multi-million dollar companies, hopping onto the front line and interact with their customers “face to face”.

I really gotta tip my hat to these guys. Sterling and Marty don’t shy away from stuff and will step into a shower of bullets in order to represent their companies and try to “fix” situations… or at least provide some insight. I’ve met these 2 (Sterling’s a friend) and their both super nice and really care about their companies and customers.

Customer support matters. I consider these guys as mentors in that aspect of business. Props guys!

BFR Albert Lee from my friends at Music Man.

This guitar is fucking gorgeous. If I had some bank I’d snatch this fucker up in a second.

I’ve always wanted a nice Axis Super Sport. I had one with MM90 pickups (like P90s) but have always lusted after a humbucker version. This one’s pretty much perfect. It’s from a super limited run and comes with a koa top.

I’m gonna buy a lotto ticket tomorrow