AXL Badwater 1216 Jr

[djrussell]

Has anyone played/owned one of these? They look pretty good and I heard a few good things, but would like to know a bit more before taking the plunge (its not an expensive guitar, around US$180 but i cant be bothered reselling any more guitars... buy for keeps these days)... i particularly like the antique brown:



But it also comes in sunburst and a worn white... these are the specs:

Slab-body, Single Cutway Body Style. Distressed Solid Mahogany Body. Solid Mahogany Set Neck. Rosewood Fretboard. AXL Dog-Ear P-90. Wrap-Around Bridge/Tailpiece. 24-3/4" Scale.

Would love to hear some impressions.

[ImTheSlime]

Awesome value. The only problems are that the finish is kind of cheap and so are the electronics. It weighs practically nothing

[djrussell]

Really? I thought i might have to throw a new harness in there but wasnt too sure. What does the P90 sound like? There is only 1 demo I could find of this guitar (YouTube), and hes playing U2 or something (horrible song choice whatever he was playing), so I wanted to know what it sounded like with high gain

Cheers

[ImTheSlime]

The P90 doesn't have as much output as a normal P90, sounds pretty good for a cheap guitar though. I think I'm going to put a Seymour Duncan Stacked Noiseless P90 in it eventually.

[djrussell]

Hmm... might keep an eye on it. I really cant decide whether to get this guitar or not ... its not particularly expensive -- at the moment... but that could change if it required a lot of upgrades.

[nutsauce]

One of the guys I play with on a regular basis bought one about 3 months ago. I'm just a noob myself but he has been playing for 40 years and we were both very impressed with it. They had the brown and white. The white just looks more dirty than vintage. Didn't dig that finish at all. The brown looks pretty cool, haven't seen a burst.

[BCRGreg]

I have them in stock. EXTREMELY cool guitars. I grabbed a white one for myself.

[sj250]

Isn't there a bit higher priced one that comes a Lollar P90 and Tonepros hardware?

Edit- It's a Fralin and it's a fair bit more at $549. Good parts though!

http://www.axlguitars.com/al1090.html

[cynic79]

I've heard good reviews of the USA assembled line, but I'm surprised to see such good will for their budget brand, both here and elsewhere. If Greg likes them, they're definitely worth a look.

[djrussell]

Originally Posted by sj250

Isn't there a bit higher priced one that comes a Lollar P90 and Tonepros hardware?

Edit- It's a Fralin and it's a fair bit more at $549. Good parts though!

AL

Yep that was the Bulldog range I think. They are identical to the Badwater, only they have a Fralin and better tuners (around $150 max)... but they charge $400 more for it. I dunno. It'd be cheaper to just get a 1216 and just deck it out.

[Wraptail]

I got one for Xmas from a local mom & pop. They had three of them, and all three played very well. I plugged one in, loved it & took it home.

I DIG this guitar! It's a keeper. Nut is perfect, fret job is good, guitar plays great up and down the neck - no notes choke out or dead spots. I like the pickup it came with as well.

I swapped a few different magnets in it, and tried some other P90s as well - a Sheptone, an Antiquity, a pull from early 80s Japanese LP Junior... and currently a Throbak.

They all sound good in there, and I have no problem with the stock electronics and hardware. Throbak is staying put and the P90 from the Axl (with A3 mags and keeper bar removed) now lives in the neck position of a tele.

It's generates tons of interest wherever I take it.

Only quibble is the neck angle on these. The bridge is as low as it'll go and I would like to bring the action down a little. I check another one at that store and the bridge was all the way down on that one as well.

This thing is bad a$$. If you don't like the sound of the stock pickup then you can hog it out with a Fralin, Wolftone etc and still come in way below budget.

[djrussell]

So what colour was yours? The white seems the most popular... I was gonna go for the natural brown, but I saw some pics of the sunburst recently (ones other than the promo stock photos) and it looks amazing.. so i'm leaning towards that. Maybe in a couple of months.

[5-0 phonebooth]

Their Strat's are winners as well from everything I've heard and read.

[Wraptail]

Originally Posted by djrussell

So what colour was yours? The white seems the most popular... I was gonna go for the natural brown, but I saw some pics of the sunburst recently (ones other than the promo stock photos) and it looks amazing.. so i'm leaning towards that. Maybe in a couple of months.

I got the sunburst. When I got it they had a white one and a natural one as well. I got the sunburst because it was the most "lively" out of the three.

Everyone should get one of these! It's very liberating to have only one pickup IMO.

[djrussell]

I'm pretty sold on the idea of getting one of these now... I placed an order a few weeks ago, but decided to cancel it afterwards (buyer's remorse )... pretty keen on that sunburst finish now. Do you have any pictures you wouldnt mind sharing? ... Sometimes promo pics dont really do the guitar justice, and I havent seen a set of pics outside of the ones i mentioned before for the sunburst.

[Wraptail]

I don't have any pics.

[djrussell]

Thought id bump this thread and see if anyone else would chime in. I plan on picking one up in a week or so. Anyone else own one? Dont skimp on the details

[Matt19894]

I played one of these in a local shop the other day and it actually sounded pretty good with the stock pups. I agree with some other posts though, the worn white isn't for everybody. I bet the burst would look nice in person.

[djrussell]

Well i went to buy one of these from Amazon US the other night and before when I did it I was able to get as far as the Pay Now screen (the confirmation page) with, including shipping, coming to $200USD. But this time, Amazon no longer "ship to my current location" I should have gone through with my original order... obviously AXL have asked Amazon not to ship this model out of the US anymore, cause the Bulldog is still available - but at $500 odd its not really worth it. Damn. The next cheapest option is about $270USD.

[djrussell]

Well after months of umming and ahhing I found one for $244 shipped...



Should be here in a couple of weeks. Not the finish I wanted, but it was a good $40-50 cheaper than anything else ive seen over the past few months so I had to bite. Will post a review when I've had a play.

[nutsauce]

My bandmate has a brown one like in the first picture. After a good setup it is a really cool guitar I think. I like the sound of the P90 it comes with. I've only heard it through a JCM800 so that may have something to do with it.

[longbow]

I've got the walnut colored one. You know the dark one. Finish is thin so it comes off fairly easily as in bumping it etc. However the electronics SUCK in it. So paid for a good harness from a guy that hand makes the harness's off ebay. Made a major major improvement in tone. So much so I didn't replace the pickup. Has great tone roll off and vol. roll off now. It's a slab body on mine too. One piece of probably asian mahogany. It is very lt. wt. has excellent tone and playability and stays in tune very well. You can find them cheap on the bay if ya look. It is a can't miss Jr. clone, play it just about every day. thanks

[kasu]

I like the looks of this one.
AXL Al 820 MS Sunburst Set Neck Badwater Mahogany Body Electric Guitar 1216 | eBay

[Kensei]

I have the badwater jacknife. It plays okay, but the neck finish is pretty horrible and the fretboard is not very nice. But at that price i cant complain. The EMG licensed P90's are really good.
I think it's good enough to cosider buying a better neck to fit to it.