ESP

[DavidMgT]

What I meant by my statement, is that if someone is in the market to get a guitar that looks like a Les Paul, but not a Gibson-than get an ESP one. They make better Les Paul style guitars than all the other import companies.

 

 

 

Yep, I agree. They do indeed make very good Les Paul-ish guitars:thu:

[Shiny_Surface]

Great guitar imo, I enjoy mine quite a bit.



Just don't expect it to sound exactly like a LP, it's a different design. Excellent build quality imo.

[sgt mukuzi]

i played a real 62 strat on thursday. i was playing my ESP strat then picked up the 62
the ESp was way better to play

[noisebloom]

ESP is a great company. My 4 main guitars are all ESPs. I ordered a KH-3 off of Ebay a while back (new) and it arrived with some neck buzzing problems (truss rod was loose). I contacted ESP and without ANY question they had me ship it to them and fixed the neck. They called me to let me know that it was fixed and it on the way back, the kicker is that Kirk Hammet was walking through their office that day. He actually played the guitar when he saw it was one of his custom shop sigs (this was all over the phone) and gave me the "ok" on it. Cool story eh?

That is a GREAT story! I guess the guitar's a keeper, then?

[DavidMgT]

Speaking of ESP, check out the ESP Phoenix II - looks like they gave the Gibson Firebird the Eclipse treatment.

http://www.guitarworld.com/article/esp_phoenixii_electric_solidbody_guitar

[Reignman]

ESP is a great company. My 4 main guitars are all ESPs. I ordered a KH-3 off of Ebay a while back (new) and it arrived with some neck buzzing problems (truss rod was loose). I contacted ESP and without ANY question they had me ship it to them and fixed the neck. They called me to let me know that it was fixed and it on the way back, the kicker is that Kirk Hammet was walking through their office that day. He actually played the guitar when he saw it was one of his custom shop sigs (this was all over the phone) and gave me the "ok" on it. Cool story eh?

That guitar would be ruined for me.

[WildWill]

ESP is a great company. My 4 main guitars are all ESPs. I ordered a KH-3 off of Ebay a while back (new) and it arrived with some neck buzzing problems (truss rod was loose). I contacted ESP and without ANY question they had me ship it to them and fixed the neck. They called me to let me know that it was fixed and it on the way back, the kicker is that Kirk Hammet was walking through their office that day. He actually played the guitar when he saw it was one of his custom shop sigs (this was all over the phone) and gave me the "ok" on it. Cool story eh?

I agree, ESP makes a nice guitar. I gave my son an LTD for Christmas a couple of years ago and it is sweet.

Yes that is also a cool story.

But what we really wanna know is... was he wearing sweet cargo shorts when he played it?

[Fireproof777]

ESPs are phenomenal guitars. They can get pricey, but so can Gibby's. If price is a concern and it's not going to be one of your main guitars, you might want to check out the LTDs. I have both an ESP and an LTD (as well as some Gibsons) and while there is a definite difference between the two (not just the price tag), they're both really good guitars. The LTDs are made in Indonesia, Korea and ??, and are kind of like the Gibson/Epiphone deal, however, the LTDs simply blow away the Epi IMO. Bottom line is you can't go wrong with the Eclipse.

[w00dsy]

the kicker is that Kirk Hammet was walking through their office that day. He actually played the guitar when he saw it was one of his custom shop sigs (this was all over the phone) and gave me the "ok" on it. Cool story eh?

through a wah i assume

[antipole]

To clarify... I'm not talking about ordering an actual built to my specs custom shop guitar. They have a stock series referred to as the "Custom Line" of guitars. I'm wondering what the spending 3x as much gets you? Eclipse-II - Standard Series - Generally seems to retail for around $1600 or so. http://espguitars.com/guitars_eclipse.html Eclipse Custom Series - Retails for $5000. http://espguitars.com/guitars_esp-custom.html

 

All though there are essentially the same models, the custom series are built by the master luthiers that also responsible for customer's special custom orders. There are more attention to details, more hand made instead of CNC machined and the woods used are of even high grade than the standard, if I am not mistaken. This custom line is on par with the Japanese Original Series. In another word, these custom lines guitars are off-the-shelf without the months of waiting customs with prescribed specifictions.

 

 

How does it (the standard Eclipse) differ from a Les Paul?

 

The body is thinner but not chambered like some of the Gibson Les Paul do. The neck is thinner than the Gibson's spec and those big jumbo frets allow faster playing.

[LlymboKO]

I second the Michael Kelly option. I've owned an ESP EC-1000 and I like the feel and tone of my Patriot Black more than the EC-1000. I eventually sold the EC-1000 because it didn't get as much playing time, the real kicker is that I got my Patriot Black for $300 on clearance. I haven't played many Eclipse II's, but the ones I did play were great! I terms of feel they were significantly better than the EC-1000 I had. I don't know if it's double the price better, but there was a difference. If you go that route, snag one used. But I would say the Patriot Black definitely gave the ESP Eclipse II a run for it's money. The Michael Kelly build quality for the price is quite ridiculous... to the point it makes other companies look a little greedy.

[billybilly]

ESP's are great guitars, if you like a shredder neck which is thin, has a flat radius and huge frets.

[JerEvil]

ESP's are great. I had a standard series Viper and an M-II Custom. Both were solid guitars. I have played a few Eclipse models and they were nice. I prefer my Edwards if you are looking at an LP copy though.

[dreamspace]

In my experience (owned 6 ESP guitars, tried countless), ESP is one of the companies that makes the most consistent guitars. Solid axes

[S540]

I'm looking at an Eclipse-II. What's the general opinion about ESP? What's the difference between the standard line and custom line (it's a pretty significant price hike)? How does it (the standard Eclipse) differ from a Les Paul? I already have a couple of Les Pauls, so I'm not looking for an LP copy per se. More looking for an EMG loaded axe for metal that's similar to what I'm already used to.

 

 

ESPs are the shiznitz

 

And if your wanting a modern heavy metal LP, they are the way to go. The differences should be listed on their site, generally, its like any other brand - woods, hardware, options like that.