Axe Limited
 | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mail Order Musical Instruments |
| Founded 📆 | October 1987 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Defunct | March 1990 |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Star Works, Salter Street, London , United Kingdom |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Products 📟 | Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drum Kit |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | [Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). ] |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Axe Limited was a mail order musical instrument company headquartered at Star Works, Salter Street, London, United Kingdom. It traded between October 1987 and March 1990.[1]
The company specialised in three primary musical instruments: electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums; targeting fans of Rock and Heavy Metal by advertising predominantly in Kerrang and Raw music magazines.
In 1987 the first instrument sold was an electric guitar that included a small battery-powered practice amplifier and all necessary accessories. In February 1988 they expanded their range of instruments to include a bass guitar, a drum kit, as well as guitar effects pedals and new instructional book and tape sets. In September 1989 they added four electric guitars with custom finishes to their line-up.
Axe used several advertising slogans emphasising their rock music credentials and how simple it was to learn the instrument using the bundled instructional book and tape set:
- “No rock fan can afford to be without one”
- “By selling direct to you we’ve cut out all the shops profits”
- “Axe, the new concept in selling quality musical Instruments”
- “Too good to be true? Seeing IS believing”
- “Choosing your first guitar has never been so easy”
- “For the Lord said... and let there be rock”
- “It used to take 5 months to sound good. With Axe it takes 5 minutes!”
- “Get ‘eavy in an hour wIth Axe”
- “Born to rock”
- “Armed & dangerous”
- “Are YOU ready to rock”
Instrument reviews
There were several positive reviews printed in music magazines that concentrated on the Axe electric guitar, these included
- “A mammoth guitar for a measly price” Kerrang.
- “Tremendous value for money!” Kerrang.
- “Priceless!” Sounds.
- “Impossible to pass up... it’s the guitar pack that has everything.” Sounds.
- “Very, very competitively priced... to frills, just thrills. Marks out of 5...5!” Melody Maker.
- “Until now I’ve not been able to recommend beginners on a limited budget, now though there’s Axe, and I can’t imagine any person being anything but delighted. It sounds good and looks the business.” International Musician.
Axe instrument range
Electric Guitar
In October 1987 Axe released their first instrument, the electric guitar.
Price
- October 1987 to March 1988: £78
- April 1988 to May 1989: £81
- June 1989 to August 1989: £89
Bundle specification
The guitar included a choice of four colours (red, white, grey and black), tremolo arm, 22 frets, two humbucker pick-ups, a three-way toggle switch, fine action adjuster, volume and tone controls and a one-year guarantee. The price also included a 2-watt practice guitar amplifier (“TMA-2”, volume & tone, headphone socket, 3½” speaker, powered by two 9v batteries), a carry bag, instructional book and tape, a tuning tape, lead, strap, pick and postage and packing.
Bass guitar
In February 1988 Axe released their electric bass guitar. The bass guitar package was sold without a practice amplifier, advising the buyer to plug the bass in to a hi-fi. In November 1988 an optional 2-watt practice guitar amplifier (“TMA-2”, volume and tone, headphone socket, 3½” speaker, powered by two 9v batteries) was advertised at an additional cost of £7.95. In September 1989 the practice amplifier came bundled with the bass guitar.
Price
- February 1988 to March 1988: £81
- April 1988 to August 1989: £84
- September 1989 to January 1990: £95 (price included practice amplifier)
- February 1990: £67 (closing down sale)
Bundle Specifications
The bass guitar included 21 frets, one full pick-up, two half pick-ups, one tone control, two volume controls and fine action adjusters. The accessories included a carry bag, strap, lead, pick, instructional book and tape set (practice amplifier from November 1988) and postage and packing.
There was a choice of four colours: Flaming Red, Snow White, Bohemian Black and Charcoal Grey.
Drum kit
In February 1988 Axe advertised their five-piece drum kit, complete with all accessories, hardware and cymbals.
Price
- February 1988 to March 1989: £199
- April 1989 onwards: £229
Bundle Specification
22” x 14” bass drum with pedal
14” x 5 ½” chrome snare drum
12” x 8” tom-tom
13” x 9” tom-tom
16” x 16” floor-tom
16” cymbal
14” hi-hat
All stands
Drummer's throne
Price also included: drumsticks, “Learn to Play Metal – Part One” instructional book & tape, a one-year guarantee and postage & packaging. A choice of three colours were available: black, white & red.
Effects pedals
Axe advertised nine electric guitar effects pedals in February 1988. The price included postage and packaging. The range comprised
- Compressor £25 (Price from April 1989: £27)
- Overdrive £21 (Price from April 1989: £23)
- Parametric Equalizer £24 (Price from April 1989: £26)
- Analogue Delay £44 (Price from April 1989: £46)
- Flanger £27 (Price from April 1989: £29)
- Phaser £24 (Price from April 1989: £26)
- Ultra Metal £24 (Price from April 1989: £26)
- Chorus £24 (Price from April 1989: £26)
- Distortion £19 (Price from April 1989: £21)
Book and tape sets
In addition to the bundled “Learn to Play Heavy Metal Guitar” instructional book and tape set, in February 1988 Axe advertised “Heavy Metal for Guitar – Part One & Two” for £8.95. This included approximately 70 rock chords and riffs. These instructional books were designed with simple notation that required no previous music reading knowledge. Also available was “Heavy Metal for Bass – Part One” and “Heavy Metal for Drums – Part One” both priced at £4.95.
Electric guitar (custom finish)
Released in September 1989 the custom electric guitar came in four new paint finishes. These replaced the original red, white, grey and black.
Price
- September 1989 to January 1990: £103
- February 1990: £69 (closing down sale)
Bundle specification
The electric guitar included a choice of four custom finishes (Phantom, Riffmaster, Rhythmaster and Rock Master), tremolo arm, 22 frets, two humbucker pick-ups, a three-way toggle switch, fine action adjuster, volume and tone controls and a one-year guarantee. The price also included 2-watt practice amplifier (“TMA-2”, volume and tone, headphone socket, 3½” speaker, powered by two 9v batteries), a carry bag, instructional book and tape, a tuning tape, lead, strap, pick and postage and packing.
References
- ↑ Kerrang Magazines (Issues: 156, 157, 158, 161, 162, 163, 164, 176, 177, 178, 185, 186, 188, 191, 213, 214, 215, 218, 228, 234, 237, 244, 247, 258, 264, 266, 275)
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