ESP STEF-7 Stephen Carpenter

This is a Japan made custom shop neck through 6 string model. It has an alder body with maple wings, maple neck, ebony fret board, and string through tune-o-matic bridge.I have the black one with the older pearl binding. I hate cheap looking binding like on the LTDec100 line but ESP got this one right. The carved top also adds a touch of class.

Stock it came with a seymour duncan jb bridge, ESP middle humbucker, ESP neck single coil, 1 volume, 1 tone, and a five way pick up switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is an absolute dream to play. The 25 1/2" scale gives your fingers just a bit more room which really helps on the upper register of the neck. I normally do not like painted necks but this one feels great, not sticky. The cut away is also a bit deeper than other guitars so getting to the 24th fret is no problem. The weight distribution is so nice and it just sits perfectly in your hands. I think this is something that gets taken for granted but with how I play it is extremely important for performance and health in the back.

When I bought this guitar I could tell it had been put through hell but still there were no problems with the frets or neck and a quick set up with new strings was all it took to get it playing great again. This thing was literally trashed, the pickups did not work, the binding was chipped off the headstock, the bridge was jacked up to allow a bass string to be used for the low E..it was just a mess.

SOUNDS

I play a mixture of metal, rock, prog, clean chords and I get so many sounds out of this guitar. As I mentioned this guitar was trashed so once I got it playing I quickly swapped out the JB. I did plug it in briefly with the stock set-up but I was never a fan of that pickup so I won't comment on that. I went through many pickups searching for a perfect bridge pickup and settled on an Anderson h3. With this pickup it has everything I want in a guitar. The low end is tight, the highs are just enough to cut through a dense mix, and the mid range is never honky. I will say I do not use the middle pickup very often but I think that's because the other positions sound so good that it's not really necessary. Right now I have a dimarzio air zone single in the neck and have the 4th position on the selector set up to coil tap it. It's really amazing how this guitar can go from modern metal to sweet sounding blues in the flick of a switch.

OVERALL OPINION

I really cannot think of anything I don't like about this guitar. I think ESP cheaped out a bit on the middle and neck pickups but most people change those out anyway. Still for the money they could have at least loaded it with all Duncan. If you can find one of these guitars and you play any kind of rock or metal it would be tough to beat it. They have since discontinued the 6 string model but you can get a pretty similar guitar in the Horizon line.

First the price is not 935 euros as of 2000 euros but is not a signature ESP LTD.
Made in Japan, 24 frets extraJumbo, keys in ebony, maple neck through 3rooms, alder body, 2 pickups and a micro ESP Seymour Duncan SH-4 in the bridge position, strings and bridge traversing TonePro.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is a marvel. Flawless finish, perfect balance, access to acute excellent. The neck and body being one is the same varnish that covers the entire guitar. The handle is very nice and very fast. As this is a neck-through sustain you get a very important. The game is very simple and it sounds right away to hell.

SOUNDS

HUGE! the sound is HUGE!
ESP really puts the packet. It sure is not to make bagpipes.
I play mainly metal and the sound is perfect: both very sharp and precise and at the same time very lourd.Je em played on a Peavey Triple XXX and it's a killing every time. I plan to spend on Mesa / Boogie Rectifier, and then I think the studio will tremble.
This guitar is still quite versatile. You can get sounds crystal clear in its sound as well as warm. But let's be clear it will not be the lens of a Fender or a Gibson heat because it's an ESP, and these animals are cut for the big sound. Important point: if you detune the scratches you can go up to 2 tones and sound better than some 7-string whose price is not far. The sound deserves a clear 8 / 10 but the sound is saturated in at least 12/10.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 6 months now and it's always a pleasure every time opens the ESP fly. This is my seventh or eighth guitar and so far the best. I already have a custom ESP Horizon which is fantastic but the "Carpenter" has something more.
I had tried three years ago and since that day I knew I had the.
For about 2500 euros this new skyscraper is quite the price even if it is still a large sum.
If I could go back I would do this choice without asking questions.
My only regret is that they are so rare and so hard to find so if I think I would have more certainenemt.