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DimarzioForum.Com => Guitar Lounge => Topic started by: harmonics on December 18, 2017, 07:14:43 AM

Title: ESP guitars
Post by: harmonics on December 18, 2017, 07:14:43 AM
hi
what's your opinion about ESP-LTD?
i said that because someone said ESP wanted to be close to Gibson

but it  would never happened lol
is it really true ?

was it about the ec 1000 ?
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: DarthPhineas on December 18, 2017, 08:39:40 AM
Considering all the companies that has a version of a single cut body, this makes them no closer to Gibson than anyone else. If they were, they’d be getting sued, like PRS was back around 2001.


Does the ST or the TE series make them seem like they want to be close to Fender?  Or the V series like Jackson?

Not many do anything terribly original. It’s about finding a fit and a feel that works best with the player.

Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: harmonics on December 18, 2017, 03:38:40 PM
what's st or te?

the ESP/ltd  models like the ec 100 really look like the Gibson lp custom
with a lower price
and with EMG pickups
that's all

after, that with the EC 1000 +sh1 sh4 : does it really sound like a Lp with a higher price
i don't know because i have not this model
they were made to give more power to modern player and with a little price vs a Lp Standard 2018 for example ( the hp series cost a lot of money, more than before)
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: Rabelais on March 21, 2018, 07:54:19 PM
hi
what's your opinion about ESP-LTD?
i said that because someone said ESP wanted to be close to Gibson

but it  would never happened lol
is it really true ?

was it about the ec 1000 ?
[/quite]

If hard rock / metal are your generes, they are definitely worth checking out. The EC 1000’s are well built and come with locking tuners, EMG, Fishman Fluence or Seymour Duncan Pickups.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: Strobe on May 25, 2018, 08:55:48 AM
The eclipse models are thinner than a Les Paul, and have a different neck profile (usually a thin U). They have large frets and most models have a different control layout than the 2 volume, 2 tone on the Les Paul. The made in Japan Navigator series is a lot closer to a Les Paul - those are more in the replica territory. The shape is a little similar, but they are not very much like a Les Paul to me when you consider the overall feel.

The LTD models are good bang for the buck, but it's the MIJ stuff that really shines. My MIJ ESP E-II Horizon III in Reindeer Blue is stunning and the fretwork is immaculate. It's more of a super strat, but the shape of the horns is novel to ESP.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: buddroyce on May 25, 2018, 11:05:11 PM
The LTD models are good value guitars. Weirdly enough it was something ESP USA created for the US market and weren't available in Japan until the last few years.

They're great guitars but the E-II is definitely a step up in my opinion.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: corypheus on June 01, 2018, 04:19:06 AM
Besides all said, if you want an ESP and want it true to the Gibson in terms of construction, materials, looks and, to a lesser degree, sound, and don't want to part with a large sum for a Navigator, check the Edwards LP line. They can be had for surprisingly cheap if you're getting used, but new is problem because you have to import them from overseas.

 Long tenon set neck construction, correct wood choices, premium hardware and Duncan pickups. I've got two and I like them just as much as many of my Lester Standards real deals.

They feel a bit different, and sound different thanks to different pickups, of course. Edwards are not weight relieved but feel incredibly light (or atleast two of mine do), and with the JB on the bridge the sound is ofcourse more contemporary as you'd expect from a higher output pickup. That was really my only issue with them, the JB which I simply switched for a different pickup.

A buddy has a Jimmy Page lookalike Edwards that he put whola lotta love and an a2pro in the neck, and that guitar just completely nails those LZ tones to a T.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: bluesman on June 17, 2018, 03:11:51 PM
The Edwards guitars are definitely better than any LTD I've tried. Too bad you can only get them on ebay or something. I would love to try their Jimmy Page LP.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: The_Spell on June 20, 2019, 07:37:34 AM
hi
what's your opinion about ESP-LTD?
i said that because someone said ESP wanted to be close to Gibson

but it  would never happened lol
is it really true ?

was it about the ec 1000 ?

From what I remember ESP made a 1:1 conversion Les Paul. They made it better, in fact. Gibson took them to court, sued, won, and ESP had to start making their own stuff. Pre-Sue ESPs are rare to find.
It's worth a Google, at least.

As far as my opinion goes, I love them. Their guitars feel great, the budget models don't sound too great (my EC-256 sounds kind of flat in the clean department), but they do play great. I played on Ibanez gear for a decade, tried out the ESP stuff and fell in love.
I'm poor so I can't really comment on their expensive stuff but I can say I got a killer deal on an F-414FM and that normally went for about 600 USD. I got mine for 350 and it sounds amazing.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: HarlowTheFish on June 20, 2019, 09:29:49 AM
From what I remember ESP made a 1:1 conversion Les Paul. They made it better, in fact. Gibson took them to court, sued, won, and ESP had to start making their own stuff. Pre-Sue ESPs are rare to find.
It's worth a Google, at least.

As far as my opinion goes, I love them. Their guitars feel great, the budget models don't sound too great (my EC-256 sounds kind of flat in the clean department), but they do play great. I played on Ibanez gear for a decade, tried out the ESP stuff and fell in love.
I'm poor so I can't really comment on their expensive stuff but I can say I got a killer deal on an F-414FM and that normally went for about 600 USD. I got mine for 350 and it sounds amazing.
Gibson actually sued for the EX/MX shape (copy of the Explorer) which is why you can only get the weird pointy one outside Japan nowadays. IIRC (as I heard from the ESP collector I bought my '03 Eclipse I - the 4-pot LP-contour one - from) they got a cease-and-desist from Gibson over the Eclipse and just stopped shipping the 4-pot Eclipse I to the US, which is why we only get the 3-pot Eclipse II. You can still find non-US 4-pot Eclipse IIs pretty easily though. Same as the old ones, they just don't retail over here.
Who knows though, Gibson might get prissy and decide we can't even have that if their latest ad's got it right.
My '03 Standard 4-pot is straight up the best-sounding, slickest-feeling Les Paul I or any of my friends have ever played so I get why the Big G would want to get rid of the competition.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: The_Spell on June 24, 2019, 09:08:07 PM
From what I remember ESP made a 1:1 conversion Les Paul. They made it better, in fact. Gibson took them to court, sued, won, and ESP had to start making their own stuff. Pre-Sue ESPs are rare to find.
It's worth a Google, at least.

As far as my opinion goes, I love them. Their guitars feel great, the budget models don't sound too great (my EC-256 sounds kind of flat in the clean department), but they do play great. I played on Ibanez gear for a decade, tried out the ESP stuff and fell in love.
I'm poor so I can't really comment on their expensive stuff but I can say I got a killer deal on an F-414FM and that normally went for about 600 USD. I got mine for 350 and it sounds amazing.
Gibson actually sued for the EX/MX shape (copy of the Explorer) which is why you can only get the weird pointy one outside Japan nowadays. IIRC (as I heard from the ESP collector I bought my '03 Eclipse I - the 4-pot LP-contour one - from) they got a cease-and-desist from Gibson over the Eclipse and just stopped shipping the 4-pot Eclipse I to the US, which is why we only get the 3-pot Eclipse II. You can still find non-US 4-pot Eclipse IIs pretty easily though. Same as the old ones, they just don't retail over here.
Who knows though, Gibson might get prissy and decide we can't even have that if their latest ad's got it right.
My '03 Standard 4-pot is straight up the best-sounding, slickest-feeling Les Paul I or any of my friends have ever played so I get why the Big G would want to get rid of the competition.

Somewhat related, even of only by Seven Degrees of Separation.

I see Gibson is going after Dean in a class action lawsuit to sue them for "infringing on their IP" over the shape of the Flying V and Xplorer; aptly titled the Dean V and Dean Z. I knew they were desperate but sheesh. Seems like every so-often Gibson throws a hissy fit and tosses a lawsuit at someone over something stupid.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: HarlowTheFish on June 25, 2019, 06:49:27 AM
Gibson is just  :-\
I bought an Explorer for my 18th birthday because I wanted a Big Boy Gibson (tm) but holy hell what a dog. The damn thing had more dead spots and wolf notes than actual playable fretboard, and I'm not even gonna talk about the fretwork because clearly they didn't do any.

I hope they lose and all their stuff goes public domain so ESP can bring back the MX. I will straight up sell a lung for one if they release one in the US.
Title: Re: ESP guitars
Post by: Guitar74 on June 28, 2019, 01:33:15 PM
Back in the 80s they couldn’t give a Gibby away until G’nR came along.  Then all of a sudden you couldn’t afford a Gibson. Never mind that Slash wasn’t even playing a real Les Paul in those early vids.
I got a GL-200 k for my birthday from my wife and love it.  I never could afford a Kamikaze so she saw it bought it and gave it to me as a gift three months later. Thing plays great, and the “Lynch u” shaped neck is just awesome.

It doesn’t play/sound nice for a $500 guitar. It hangs with my much more expensive axes.