Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Well, after waiting for a couple of months, my ESP M-1 finally came in. Big thanks to Eddie Carlino of Carlino Guitars for the great deal and service. Check this guy out when looking for an ESP. I`ll do a short review and then get to the pics. This is the first "real" ESP that I`ve ever owned. I`ve played quite a few over the years and always wanted one, but could never quite put it together. I`ve owned a couple of LTD 1000 series guitars so I may reference them while doing this review. Features: Ok, this is a very stripped down guitar. One bridge position humbucker and one volume knob. The pickup is an EMG 81 so no coil taping. The volume knob is the only tone control. If you view straight forward simplicity then this guitar is perfect for you. Other notable features are the use of Gotoh hardware including the TOM bridge and Magnum locking tuners. All finished in black nickle. An added plus is the ebony fretboard. Making this the only standard series M model that features ebony. Feels great and looks great. Score: 8.5 Fit and finish: I had to look very, very hard to find any finish flaws at all. I found one spec of dust stuck in the finish. That`s all the bad news. The rest is great. The finish is very thin feeling. The entire guitar has the same satin finish. Making it feel like one piece. Apparently the black body finish was done first, then the entire guitar was sprayed with a thin satin sealer. Note that the neck has the same finish feel as the body. It is not unfinished or oil finish. It is the same satin sealer that is sprayed over the black finished body. It feels very thin, like an acoustic guitar finish. I`m curious to see how well it will stand up to abuse. Every piece that fits against another is perfect. No rough edges, no gaps, no funny stuff. The fret job is as good as I`ve seen in a production guitar. All hardware is mounted perfectly and just looks like it belongs. There is an over-all look and feeling showing that the guitar was built to impress. This is what seperates the high end LTD`s and the ESP standard series. You hold the guitar in your hands and just feel the difference. It`s very subtle yet powerful at the same time. Score: 9 Playability: This is easy. The action was set up on the low side of moderately low. Perfect for fast, easy fretwork but with enough space for a heavy picking hand. Like I said. The fret work is as good as I`ve seen on a production guitar. I would compare it to the fret work on Jackson`s USA series. Short of having stainless fret wire, I don`t see how it could be any better. I dropped the tuning 1/2 step and it plays like butta. No dead spots, no buzzing, no fretting out on big bends. Really, really nice. Score: 10 Tone: Also easy to describe. Anyone worried about an EMG 81 in a neck-through guitar with an alder body...forget about it. This thing sounds huge. Like a giant. The bottom end is much bigger than my mahogany bodied EC-1000 had. In fact, everything seems bigger. The mids are the best I`ve ever heard out of an 81. Wide and smooth. Not round like mahogany. Wider in frequency responce and even. A really nice tonal charactor when playing through my 5150 II which can be kinda strident in the mids. The big suprise was the even transition from mids to the high end. The treble tones are soft and pleasant. Smooth like the lead tone of a neck position humbucker, but with the cut and bright edge of the bridge position. I thought this guitar would be a one trick pony. Working either for heavy rhythm or leads, but not both. I am more than pleasantly suprised and think that it will do a great job at both. This is the best I`ve ever heard a bridge position 81 sound. Score: 9.5 As you can guess. I`m very happy with this guitar. It is everything I hoped my first ESP would be. IMO, the ESP standard series is one of the best deals on the market. Fully equal to USA Jacksons, but at a lower price point. This is most definitaly the nicest production model guitar I`ve ever owned. As nice as any I`ve ever played. If you can get past the single pickup design you owe it to yourself to check this guitar out. Now for my crappy picstory. I would like to say that I got some sleep last night, but I was too excited. There was no way the FedEx driver was going to sneak up on me. Every car that passed my house had me running for the door. Then about 10:30 the wait ended. You can tell, I`m not the only ESP fan in the house. Annabelle was very excited when she saw the new guitar was in an ESP box. She was also very sad because she`s just a cat and can`t play guitar. Talk about case candy. Not only do I get a killer guitar, but also a "real" ESP plastic bag. At this point I`m almost jumping up and down. I`m afraid I tore my ESP plastic bag up pretty bad in my excitement. But look at what I found. What a sexy guitar case. Then the moment we`ve all been waiting for. Like the first time seeing a beautiful woman naked. Maybe even better. Hmmm... Now for the rest of the pics.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seven58 Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Happy NGD! (oYo) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 I LIKE IT!!! HNGD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlackHatHunter Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Enjoy! (Something tells me you will ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wedgehed II Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted May 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 WooHoo...jugglies for the new M-1. Thanks guys. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ged LST Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Poor cat HNGD though!!! - Ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lylamjo Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 VERY NICE!!!i want a M-II with floyd rose though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Exdeath Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Nice ESP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Congrats - I really like the way they've done that neck joint. Should be a good instrument for serious rocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chankla135 Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 hey, is that neck gloss or tung oil finish? and do u know if all the M-series are like that for ESP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Attila Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Congrats. (o)(o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted May 16, 2007 Moderators Share Posted May 16, 2007 Not my kind of guitar but that looks like it will kick so many types of {censored}.....those Japanese fellers sure make beautiful guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 That guitar is fucking fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Big Muff Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 "No kitty, that's my ESP." "Meow?" "NO KITTY, THAT'S A BAD KITTY!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LeftyTom Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Happy New ESP Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArKay Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Cool, I like it. Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BobbaFret Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Congrats:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted May 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 hey, is that neck gloss or tung oil finish? and do u know if all the M-series are like that for ESP? It`s neither one. The entire guitar has the same satin sealer finish on it. All they did was tape off the neck to spray the body, then sprayed the whole thing with the satin finish. Which I am assuming is a clear satin sanding sealer. This gives the guitar a serious one piece feeling. The finish is really thin too. Feels thin like an acoustic guitar finish. The guitar has a very lively feel to it when playing. Like it`s alive in your hands. I guess this is a result of the combination of TOM with string through, neck-through body and thin finish. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Looks really nice, I love my ESPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave_Mc_2 Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 looks awesome, esp's are badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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