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nickname009
Published on 04/23/11 at 19:30
* Bolt-on neck
* 25.5" Scale
* Alder Body
* Maple Neck
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* 42mm Locking Nut (43mm Neck Width)
* Extra Thin U Neck Contour
* 24 XJ Frets
* Black Nickel Hardware
* Gotoh Tuners
* Floyd Rose Original Bridge
* Duncan JB/59 pickup set
* Master Volume
* 3-Way Toggle
UTILIZATION
This is a great super strat! One of the original superstrats ever to be produced for the metal player! Simple design, simple layout and simple controls with the added metalness of the original floyd rose, which is of course very very stable. It is easier than a strat in terms of upper fret access, definitely is, but it's not AS easy as some other guitars out there. I generally don't mind neck through or bolt-on guitars, I have no personal preference I think they're both fine.
The thin U neck contour is of course good, it's probably ESP's most popular neck profile. It's not uber-thin like an ibanez wizard but still thin enough to comfortably shred on. Nearly everything about this guitar is high quality, the finish is perfect, the fretwork is of course amazing, the floyd rose is original and stable the pickups are quality pickups also.
SOUNDS
You can't go wrong with the JB/59 pickup set. It's seymour duncan's most famous and versatile pickup set, not too hot and very usable for metal. I prefer this pickup set over the EMGs as they seem to be a bit more dynamic, you can clean up by rolling the volume down and still get usable sounds, whilst with EMGs you cannot.
The sounds are very versatile. I can get any sounds from rock to death metal with these pickups. The JB is generally high output but has a sharp attack so notes and chords are clear.The 59 is tubby, in a good way for thicker leads.
Clean the 59 is a very thick clean PAF-type humbucker. The JB is also quite good and has plenty of headroom, it doesn't break up with harder right hand technique on the clean channel of an amp. I'm giving this an 8 simply because I am SO used to the sound of these pickups, they are installed on SO many guitars nowadays that it's sort of becoming way too standardized that instead of sounding great, it's sounding average.
But with an alder body, maple neck and rosewood board and this pickup set. You're already going to be getting the sound you'd get from 90% of guitars out there. This is a very common set of woods and pickups being used. Thus the sound would be very common as well, the perks would be that the guitar is well made.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it's what I'd call the staple metal guitar. It's got a simple volume and 3 way with a great neck, good high output pickups and an awesome floyd rose that's built to last. And it's all black! What else does one need?
My only beef with ESPs overall is their stupid logo on the 12th fret. It's so big, it's like an advertisement on your guitar and it's so ugly. I hate it! Even when you pay top dollar, you'll still get that nasty inlay! I'd want to pay top dollar to NOT have any more advertising!
Though the guitar's looks are not versatile, the actual quality of the guitar is great and the sounds ARE versatile. So of course depending on how you rock it, this would mainly be a guitar more suited for heavier styles of music.
* 25.5" Scale
* Alder Body
* Maple Neck
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* 42mm Locking Nut (43mm Neck Width)
* Extra Thin U Neck Contour
* 24 XJ Frets
* Black Nickel Hardware
* Gotoh Tuners
* Floyd Rose Original Bridge
* Duncan JB/59 pickup set
* Master Volume
* 3-Way Toggle
UTILIZATION
This is a great super strat! One of the original superstrats ever to be produced for the metal player! Simple design, simple layout and simple controls with the added metalness of the original floyd rose, which is of course very very stable. It is easier than a strat in terms of upper fret access, definitely is, but it's not AS easy as some other guitars out there. I generally don't mind neck through or bolt-on guitars, I have no personal preference I think they're both fine.
The thin U neck contour is of course good, it's probably ESP's most popular neck profile. It's not uber-thin like an ibanez wizard but still thin enough to comfortably shred on. Nearly everything about this guitar is high quality, the finish is perfect, the fretwork is of course amazing, the floyd rose is original and stable the pickups are quality pickups also.
SOUNDS
You can't go wrong with the JB/59 pickup set. It's seymour duncan's most famous and versatile pickup set, not too hot and very usable for metal. I prefer this pickup set over the EMGs as they seem to be a bit more dynamic, you can clean up by rolling the volume down and still get usable sounds, whilst with EMGs you cannot.
The sounds are very versatile. I can get any sounds from rock to death metal with these pickups. The JB is generally high output but has a sharp attack so notes and chords are clear.The 59 is tubby, in a good way for thicker leads.
Clean the 59 is a very thick clean PAF-type humbucker. The JB is also quite good and has plenty of headroom, it doesn't break up with harder right hand technique on the clean channel of an amp. I'm giving this an 8 simply because I am SO used to the sound of these pickups, they are installed on SO many guitars nowadays that it's sort of becoming way too standardized that instead of sounding great, it's sounding average.
But with an alder body, maple neck and rosewood board and this pickup set. You're already going to be getting the sound you'd get from 90% of guitars out there. This is a very common set of woods and pickups being used. Thus the sound would be very common as well, the perks would be that the guitar is well made.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it's what I'd call the staple metal guitar. It's got a simple volume and 3 way with a great neck, good high output pickups and an awesome floyd rose that's built to last. And it's all black! What else does one need?
My only beef with ESPs overall is their stupid logo on the 12th fret. It's so big, it's like an advertisement on your guitar and it's so ugly. I hate it! Even when you pay top dollar, you'll still get that nasty inlay! I'd want to pay top dollar to NOT have any more advertising!
Though the guitar's looks are not versatile, the actual quality of the guitar is great and the sounds ARE versatile. So of course depending on how you rock it, this would mainly be a guitar more suited for heavier styles of music.