Members sip Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 So I think I've narrowed my next guitar to between these two beasts. The only problem I have is that the ESP is near impossible for me to find and play here in philadelphia! I'm sure much more of you guys have Ibanez RG's than ESP M series, so i'll probably get a lot of votes for the former....but... Which one is the greater shred machine? Why the heck are more expensive ESP's so hard to find? Ibanez and ESP are both Japanese... Please help me out and post any experiences you guys have with either guitar. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members westonjay Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 Really it would depend on which ibanez your talking about. The prestige range covers a lot of options. And there are also several options on the M-II more specific options on the models/specs you have in mind would be a help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Rossness Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 If you can find a kirk hammet model, It is a lot like the MII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 Neck shape and profile will be the thing that makes your decision for you I think. The Ibanez is more of a flat radius and the necks are typically very skinny from fretboard to back of neck. I don't know if they are wider or that just makes them feel wider but it's a really different neck from most brands. Some people love it (shredders tend to) and some people don't like it (it's not the most comfortable thing to the hand). I find the less material in a neck the thinner the sound personally. The ESP neck will typically be less flat, thicker, and not as wide. I think the reason that there are less of the more expensive ESP guitars around than Ibanez is because ESP makes less. The 'most shred' players that I know love Ibanez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Rossness Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 also, The ESP has better PU's than the Ibanez. You have a choice of EMG's or SD's. I'd pick the MII any day over the Prestige. You might be able to find more knowledge at jemsite.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vairish Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 Both fantastic playing instruments. Personally if you are willing to spend the same money on an Ibanez as you would on an ESP I would go for this model: Ibanez RGT220 Reasons being: better trem (imo), nicer finish than the standard ESP black and an amazing feeling neck (I love that prestige satin finish). The ESP has better pickups but pickups are cheap and easy to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shredtilurded Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 MII.You can find KH-2's for about $1000 on evilbay.Never liked Ibanez but could be just the ones I played were {censored}:idk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeëlzeM Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 ESP. I'm biased though, I don't like Ibanez at all. The M-II is a great guitar for the price. I'd definately go for the neck-through version by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EMG_GUY Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 beautiful guitar...its a shame such a nice guitar cant even be set up properly:cop: lolztrem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sip Posted December 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 ESP. I'm biased though, I don't like Ibanez at all. The M-II is a great guitar for the price. I'd definately go for the neck-through version by the way. Thanks for all the info and opinions everyone. I am learning towards the ESP MII with EMGS and a rosewood neck. Whether or not I should go with bolt on or Neck through body is hard to decide. After searching in other threads, I've read that theres almost no difference, but the aficionados say that neck through has more sustain. I guess I prefer NTB just because NTB is just all around sexier. How would you guys compare the tremolo systems. Vairish says the trem is better on his Ibanez RG, but is there really a difference or is it just arbitrary opinions? I guess they are both probably about as top of the line as you can get anyway and are both very good. The paint jobs are definately nicer on the ibanezs, but I also like the stripped down idea behind the ESP. Just paying for no frills and extra features and just getting a blazing fast guitar with a great neck, pups and trem works for me. Like smorg said, I probably should try out the necks first and take it from there. Just gonna have to find them...which should be a real challenge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted December 1, 2008 Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 ...its a shame such a nice guitar cant even be set up properly:cop:lolztrem. HA! Good eye!! It's doing a Vai/Dime thing without even being touched!! Maybe this is Ibanez' answer to the Gibson Robot(?). ...and...I've known people to have such trouble with the Ibanez trems that their guitar never gets played. One guy took his to a tech and the tech after looking at it for a while and tweaking it said "WTF is wrong with this?" The owner of the guitar said that when it is set-up it plays really well but the hassle involved with the bridge has been excruciating and just to get the thing tuned takes 20 minutes. He bought a '87 ish Charvel model 1 (vintage non-locking trem) and a Viper 1000 from me and says that the Ibanez is going to be a case queen...still in mint condition 20 years from now. He says the guitar was about $1500 but nobody can straighten out the bridge issue. I don't know what the deal with it is but it isn't like the old Edge trem from the late '80s which was incredibly stable. I have a bunch of OFR equipped guitars so I know the deal with locking trems and apparently so does his tech but...it isn't the first time I've heard this about Ibanez' newer bridges. The reason I add this tale of caution is that the Ibanez trem can't be replaced with an OFR without major surgery and the ESP likely can...but isn't that a real Original Floyd Rose on the ESP? If it is then there really is no improving on the bridge that is on it, particularly if it is made in Germany. I know that the OFR that is on the Charvel SoCal is a branded OFR but made in Korea and very cheapish feeling/looking. Once again though...the neck will make your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sip Posted December 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 I've never had a single guitar with a floyd rose trem before, so I i just watched a tutorial on setting one up.... Man that looks like a real pain in the ass. Hopefully I can just set it up once and it will stay in tune forever....but that still sucks I can't go from E to D whenever I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tube_Tone Posted December 1, 2008 Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 I have an ESP M-II Made in the USA its the best guitar Ive ever owned. Ill be selling it soon though once I fix the EMG 85 I put in the neck that I didnt soder right it distorts if you pick to hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oaksong Posted December 1, 2008 Members Share Posted December 1, 2008 I've never had a single guitar with a floyd rose trem before, so I i just watched a tutorial on setting one up.... Man that looks like a real pain in the ass. Hopefully I can just set it up once and it will stay in tune forever....but that still sucks I can't go from E to D whenever I want. BS. Install a tremel-no for $40. Then, when you want to drop to D, lock the tremel-no to dive only and drop-tune. Yeah, you only have a drop-only trem but it just takes seconds. I have this setup with my Jackson (I rarely want to pull up) and I use the fine tuner to move from E to D. Works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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