Sterling AX40 by Ernie Ball Music Man - Rare Magenta Transparent Quilt Top Electric Guitar SN1021

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Overall Excellent Condition! This is the most rare, gorgeous and sought-after Magenta Transparent Quilt Top. The tuning keys have been upgraded to Gotoh Locking Tuners with a Pearloid Button. This guitar was just set up with new strings, it looks, plays, and sounds AMAZING!!!!

The Sterling AX40 Electric Guitar has a bound basswood body with a beautiful quilted maple top and a bolt-on maple neck with 22 medium-jumbo frets. A unique asymmetrical neck carve offers the comfort of a fast playing neck, yet enough mass to yield good tone. The Sterling AX40 has a Sterling locking tremolo bridge, the Music Man 4+2 headstock, Sterling A5 Zebra humbucking pickups, and chrome tuners.

Sterling by Music Man, is for players seeking the Music Man vibe at a more affordable price. These instruments are accurate versions of popular Music Man guitars and basses with no compromise on quality or materials.

Sterling AX40 by Music Man Translucent Quilt Curly Flame Top Basswood Electric Guitar.

The AX40 is an instantly familiar single-cutaway design based upon the Music Man Axis model. Its rock ‘n’ roll look is captured with a two-piece bookmatched quilted maple top and matching painted headstock, both finished in a Transparent Gold polyester. The body is top-bound with a strip of single-ply cream binding and features a tummy cut on the back of the guitar, which is finished in dark black polyester. The guitar has an untinted maple neck, which is finished in a satin polyester and features the comfortable Music Man asymmetrical neck carve that has an offset medium “C” profile. The neck is topped off with a 16″ radius fingerboard to accommodate the profile of the Floyd Rose style tremolo and features 22 polished, medium-jumbo nickel frets and black micro dot fret markers. The headstock features the classic Music Man compact 4+2 tuner design, with the added touch of a highgloss clear finish applied to the back. The “spoke wheel” at the base of the neck makes truss rod adjustments easy, without the need for string removal.

The guitar is voiced with a pair of Music Man-designed Zebra humbucking pickups that feature Alnico V magnets. The pickups are wired to a 3-way selector switch and single Volume knob like its American counterpart: bridge humbucker, both pickups full humbucking/ parallel, and neck humbucker. The pickups are mounted directly to the body, which improves the sustain of the instrument through the more efficient transfer of wood vibration through the pickups. The guitar features a well-placed cream Strat-style Volume knob neatly wired to a 500K pot.

The chrome Sterling, Floyd-style double locking tremolo bridge is a two-post variety that is set flush to the body and provides for downward tremolo bending. Like EVH this type of setup assists with tuning stability (especially when you break a string) and improves the transfer of string vibration through the wood and pickups. The tremolo setup is well executed, and with the help of the well-seated 1-5/8"- wide locking nut and string guide, it stays in tune after heavy use. The chrome strap buttons feature black felt bushings, which is a classy touch, along with the square chrome input jack. The neck is firmly attached to the body at the 17th fret with the use of a 5-bolt sculpted neck joint with chrome neck plate and offers easy access to the upper frets. The Sterling pearl-plastic button chrome tuners add to the guitar’s snazzy appearance.

The guitar not only shares the styling of Music Man Axis, it also shares its playability and tonal characteristics. The guitar has a medium weight, is highly resonant, and has a loud, punchy voice when strummed acoustically. The design traces its roots back to Eddie Van Halen’s Music Man guitar, so it comes as no surprise that this guitar is at home driving the front end of a high-gain amplifier. The neck is very comfortable due to its carve, rolled fingerboard edges and satin finish—that along with the excellent fretwork makes this guitar play quite easily. The selection of tone woods also provides the basis for the guitar’s tone, which has a strong upper-mid emphasis with a tight low end. The midrange emphasis from maple neck augmented by the fatness and balanced tonal response that basswood typically provides helps give this guitar its rock ‘n’ roll voice. You will notice that the guitar’s voice does possess a certain degree of snap and presence that a maple top often provides. The bolt-on 25.5"″ scale maple neck certainly added to the guitar’s liveliness and overall vibe.

Plugged in the guitar’s rock ‘n’ roll roots become immediately apparent. The pickups lean to the hotter side of classic humbucker offerings and are effective at driving the front end of the amplifier. The bridge pickup is punchy, with a touch of harmonic overtones, and it exhibits an emphasis on the upper mids. You could get lost for hours shredding away with your favorite axe-wielders of yesteryear. The neck pickup is bloomy yet articulate when used in conjunction with the well-tapered Volume knob. It too seemed to lose some definition and clarity at higher gain settings. The dual pickup combination is a pleasant surprise, as it offers up pleasing Fender-esque quack and chime without the humbuckers being split. Perhaps this is due to parallel wiring of the dual humbucker combination, you’ll like playing this pickup combination clean with a touch of chorus back in the ‘80s is hard to leave behind. The substantial sustain and punchiness of this guitar was merely enhanced when put through the dimed drive channel of a modded Marshall. As Mr. Van Halen said, “volume equals tone,” and you’ll find manipulating the single Volume knob provided a great deal tonal versatility with this guitar—a very impressive feat for a guitar at any price point, let alone for one that has a street price like this one.