[Djeff]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

No, no. This is old jazz usage that began with saxophone and other horn players. It may be from the sound of the word "sax," or from the player "swinging." From there any musical instrument became an axe. "Chops" is from use of the jaw and lips to play those instruments. It takes strong "chops" to make a good embouchure. That jazz slang also was extended to other instruments, probably in the 1950's. The reference of "chops" to lips is old--it predates jazz by a long way.

Howard has the vote on this according to www.word-detective.com. They state:

"The use of “axe” as slang for a musical instrument dates back to 1955, i.e., in the edenic pre-Kiss days. The instrument to which “axe” was first applied, however, was not the guitar, but the saxophone. The logic may have been simply the “sax/axe” rhyme, but another theory ties “axe” to the “swing” of a jazz sax player in full stride. “Axe” was also later applied to the trumpet before becoming accepted as slang for the guitar, a use which has probably persisted in part because of the instrument’s resemblance to an actual axe."