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As distressing has become
more popular, quite a few companies now offer models
featuring the unique cosmetics. However, more often than
not the end result doesn¡¯t look very convincing. With
the Badwater series, AXL provides a unique take on
distressing offering up guitars which, per their
marketing, are ¡°warn in, not worn out¡±.
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The Jacknife sports a
Flying-V type vibe with slightly more aggressive
contouring and a semi-circular cutout in the lower bout.
The uniquely distressed cosmetics elicit the imagery of
swamps and Cajun shacks rather than the typical
¡°battered¡± look of reliced guitars which I found very
attractive. AXL paid great deal of attention to detail
in crafting this guitar¡¯s look; even the pickguard and
Tune-O-Matic bridge are antiqued! Features of the
Jacknife include a string through body design, master
volume, master tone, and 3 way pickup selector switch.
AXL has additionally rounded off the top back edge of
the solid alder body to provide a little comfort against
your ribs, nice touch.
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I¡¯ve never felt completely
comfortable with V styled guitars as the shape and
weight distribution always feels a little alien. However
those more comfortable with the V design will feel right
at home.
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The 25¡± scale, fast and
thin, three piece maple neck joins the body at the 19th
fret providing comfortable access to even the highest
notes. Fretwork along the 14¡± radiused rosewood
fretboard was decent though there were quite a few rough
ends, a few might even qualify as sharp. Tuning
stability was good with no binding across the 1-5/8"
bone nut.
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I auditioned the guitar
with a Digitech GNX3000 run direct and with a Tech21
Trademark 60. The high output Alnico, EMG designed P90
styled pickups are slightly dark in nature and I had to
adjust each rig¡¯s top get a little extra bite. P90¡¯s
seemed a rather odd choice for a guitar marketed towards
metal players as single coil pickups are noisy with the
gain cranked by nature and the Jacknife is no exception.
Metalheads will definitely need to use a noise gate when
cranking the gain with this guitar. At extreme gain
settings, the hum was severe enough to render the axe
unusable. However, those willing to suffer some moderate
hum are rewarded with a surprisingly versatile guitar
capable of decent higher gain tones as well as workable
clean tones. I felt the tonal spot this guitar felt most
at home was a vintage Marshall-esque crunch with enough
gain to get some nice sustain yet retaining enough
clarity to easily pick out notes in a chord, think AC/DC
or old school Aerosmith. At these settings, the pickups
exhibited a nice balanced tone and were admirably
dynamic to pick attack and volume knob changes.
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The AXL Badwater Jacknife
certainly delivers a cool vibe at an affordable price
point. Our review model would require a fret dress
before any serious usage and those seeking the brutalist
of tones will likely need to swap the pickups. However,
shredders looking for a more vintage voiced guitar to
complement an otherwise modern arsenal should be
pleased.
¡¡
Price: ~ $270 USD
Pros: Fast thin neck, good tones, cool vibe.
Cons: Some sharp fret ends. |
