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tjon901 « High end all around shredder »
Published on 07/08/11 at 10:24For many years the ESP M-II design was something you could only get in Japan. Many people in America wanted one because on the base level this is what the Kirk Hammett signature guitar is. For many years the only way to get an M-II in America without importing one was to buy a Kirk Hammett Signature and overpay and get the ugly inlays. Now ESP has listened to everyone and started selling the standard M-II in America. This is a real ESP model it is not an LTD. This means that this guitar is made in Japan to ESP's highest specs. The neck through models feature dual EMG pickups. It features EMG 81's in the neck and bridge positions. It has an alder body with a neck through maple neck with reverse headstock. The back of the neck is raw which is something you dont find on many neck through guitars. This gives the feel of a bolt on guitar. The fretboard is rosewood and it has 24 extra jumbo frets. It features an Original Floyd Rose locking tremolo system. The controls are a volume knob and a 3 way switch, the basic control setup for most shred guitars.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is a stripped down players guitar. There are no fancy tops or pretty dieseased wood on this guitar. This guitar is made for playing. The neck through construction means there is no heel to be found and get in your way when playing on the high frets. The neck is super thin and smooth so you can really speed up and down. The fretboard is nice and flat and the jumbo frets let you get a low action and really dig in. I would have preferred an ebony fretboard on a guitar this expensive but rosewood is ok with jumbo frets. The Original Floyd Rose is the original and still the best. Once setup this thing is locked down and will never go out of tune. The routing is good and there is plenty of room to move on the tremolo.
SOUNDS
With the alder body and the maple neck this guitar cuts like crazy. EMG pickups already have crazy top and bite. These things combine to make this guitar scream like crazy. Two 81s is not the best pickup combination. The bridge tones on this guitar are super clear. The 81 is a pretty bright pickup from stock so in a neck through guitar with an alder body this guitar is cutting through anything. The 81 in the neck is not a good choice in my opinion. With a guitar this bright you would want to darken up the neck position tones. I would have preferred an 85 in the neck. The 85 would have been good in the bridge also to thicken up the naturally bright tones of the guitar. With the EMG quick connect system this makes it easy for you to swap pickups so you can try other EMG models and see what you like best.
OVERALL OPINION
This is right up there with the USA made Jacksons and the Prestige Ibanez guitars. These guitars are top shelf shred guitars. If you are looking at getting an ESP KH you should check one of these out and see if you can save some money when you get pretty much the same guitar.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is a stripped down players guitar. There are no fancy tops or pretty dieseased wood on this guitar. This guitar is made for playing. The neck through construction means there is no heel to be found and get in your way when playing on the high frets. The neck is super thin and smooth so you can really speed up and down. The fretboard is nice and flat and the jumbo frets let you get a low action and really dig in. I would have preferred an ebony fretboard on a guitar this expensive but rosewood is ok with jumbo frets. The Original Floyd Rose is the original and still the best. Once setup this thing is locked down and will never go out of tune. The routing is good and there is plenty of room to move on the tremolo.
SOUNDS
With the alder body and the maple neck this guitar cuts like crazy. EMG pickups already have crazy top and bite. These things combine to make this guitar scream like crazy. Two 81s is not the best pickup combination. The bridge tones on this guitar are super clear. The 81 is a pretty bright pickup from stock so in a neck through guitar with an alder body this guitar is cutting through anything. The 81 in the neck is not a good choice in my opinion. With a guitar this bright you would want to darken up the neck position tones. I would have preferred an 85 in the neck. The 85 would have been good in the bridge also to thicken up the naturally bright tones of the guitar. With the EMG quick connect system this makes it easy for you to swap pickups so you can try other EMG models and see what you like best.
OVERALL OPINION
This is right up there with the USA made Jacksons and the Prestige Ibanez guitars. These guitars are top shelf shred guitars. If you are looking at getting an ESP KH you should check one of these out and see if you can save some money when you get pretty much the same guitar.