Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster vs Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
Reasons to Get
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster over Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
Reasons to Get
Sterling Axis Quilted Maple over Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster
Other Key Differences
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster vs Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
Shared Features
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster vs Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster is probably the better product overall with its final score of 74 compared to the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple's 66 score, although not by a lot.
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster wins when it comes to sound, build quality. On the other hand, the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple has the upper hand when it comes to playability, value for the money.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple is easier to play.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster is the better choice.
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
New Player Friendliness
Sterling Axis Quilted Maple- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Locking tuners
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster Overview
- From Reverend's 2021 Signature series
- Greg Koch Signature
- Made in South Korea
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 10" to 14" Fretboard Radius
- Korina body
- Roasted Maple neck
- Roasted Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Fishman Greg Koch Signature Gristle-Tone (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Fishman Greg Koch Signature Gristle-Tone (Single Coil/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Wilkinson Classic 3-Saddle Bridge bridge
- Medium Oval, Custom Fat Gristlemaster V (Black) Bolt-On neck
- 22 Jumbo frets
- Reverend Pin-Lock tuners
- Weight between 6.9lbs (3.1kgs) and 7.75lbs (3.5kgs)
- Compare Specs >
Sterling Axis Quilted Maple Overview
- From Sterling's 2022 Axis series
- Made in Indonesia
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 12" Fretboard Radius
- Quilted Maple top
- Jabon body
- Hard Maple neck
- Hard Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Sterling Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Sterling Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Bell knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Fulcrum Tremolo bridge
- Axis Bolt-On neck
- 22 Narrow Tall frets
- Die Cast tuners
- Compare Specs >
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster
Roasted Maple is just maple without a finish. It's technically cheaper than regular maple, but it doesn't have any extra disadvantages because of this. The color is darker, and it's lighter weight and very stable even when there's a lot of humidity.
Limba is a relatively rare wood that shows exotic tight dark grain stripes. It comes in white or black. As a tonewood, it is comparable to Mahogany but with richer mids. Find out more about Limba.
Woods Used in the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Jabon is similar to Basswood and is often compared to Mahogany. It has a well-rounded sound.
Winner: Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster.
Pickup Configuration
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has an SS configuration while the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple has HH pickups.
SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.
On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Country and similar genres.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Sterling Axis Quilted Maple gives you 5 switch options while the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster gives you 3. This means that the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster comes with some kind of pickup modification: Multi-Voicing.
Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Sterling Axis Quilted Maple.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster compares to the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster is built in South Korea while the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple is made in Indonesia.
South Korea was for many years the number one choice for mass-producing semi-premium guitars. They can build excellent guitars for a cheap price. Now, it's less common to find Korean guitars because Indonesia has proved capable of building guitars just as well, but likely for cheaper.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has a Boneite nut. This is an artificial material made to imitate the favored type of nut: bone. This allows it to sound and feel pretty much like bone, but without the inconsistency of natural materials.
On the other hand, the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple comes with a Compensated nut. Each hole where the string sits at the nut is cut at a different distance from the bridge, which compensates for the different amount of tension that each string is subject to. This fixes most intonation issues across the fretboard, so it gives great tuning stability.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster's brige is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
On the other hand, the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple's is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Winner: Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster
- Locking Tuners
- Expensive Wood
- Boneite Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Multi-Voicing Pickups
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in South Korea
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Sterling Axis Quilted Maple
- Compensated Nut
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No Expensive Woods
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 41.9mm (1.65''). This is a 1.1mm (0.043'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".
This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.
However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster has a V type of neck. This neck shape was more common during Fender's early years. Some people like it because they use their thumb over the edge of the fretboard to press the lower strings. It's rather thicker than most modern necks, so it's not usually used for playing fast solos.
The Sterling Axis Quilted Maple, on the other hand, has a Asymmetrical neck. Even though this neck shape looks like a poorly-made job, it's, in fact, the neck that most naturally adapts to the arc of your hand when grabbing a guitar neck. You'll notice that the lower part of your palm makes a more pronounced, deeper curve while the upper part makes a more subtle arch. This is the shape that adapts the best to that natural arch your hand makes while playing.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster favors large hands more than the Sterling Axis Quilted Maple.
Reverend Greg Koch Signature Gristlemaster:
Sterling Axis Quilted Maple:
Fret Size
Both have a Jumbo fret size. This is one of the tallest frets you can get. You won't feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. It will give you the best sustain and all types of chords will be easier to play. However, you can end up changing the pitch of your notes if you press too hard, which is something people used to feeling the fretboard do when trying Jumbo frets for the first time.
