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tjon901 « ESP's Eclipse with a nice quilt finish »
Published on 07/04/11 at 08:26This is an ESP branded guitar so this is a top of the line model. The Eclipse is the single cut model offered by ESP and it is one of their most popular models of guitar. All ESP labeled guitars are made in Japan to the highest quality. The body of the guitar is slightly thinner than that of a Gibson Les Paul and a bit lighter. The guitar has a mahogany body and maple neck with neck through construction. The guitar has a nice quilted maple top also. The guitar comes with dual EMG pickups. The pickups are an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck, this is the pickup setup that James Hetfield from Metallica uses in his guitars. There is a volume control for each pickup and a master tone. It has a 22 fret ebony fretboard with flag inlays. The fret size is ESP's xtra jumbo fret size. It has sperzel locking tuners up top and a tonepros locking bridge at the bottom. It has the Earvana compensated nut so the intonation is slightly better than on most guitars.
UTILIZATION
The quality on the ESP branded guitars is pretty much perfect. The frets are fnished nicely and you can really get a nice action on the guitar. The neck through construction means there is no neck joint heel to get in your way when playing high on the neck. The compensated nut helps the intonation of the guitar so your notes ring out better because they are closer to perfect intonation than they would be with a normal nut. The body is nice and light due to the thinner body. The pickups are active so you will need a 9v battery to run the pickups.
SOUNDS
This guitar produces solid metal tones. The 81 is a classic bridge pickup for metal. It provides great crunch and clarity. The 81 in the bridge is pretty bright and searing. This means it will retain clarity through even the thickest gain and lowest tunings. The 60 in the neck is all right but I prefer the 85 in the neck position. The 60 is good for clean tones in the neck position. If you want to play high gain leads in the neck position I recommend using the 85 in that position. The 85 will give you a fatter sound. With EMG pickups you can do the 18v mod. With this mod your pickups are powered by two 9v batteries and it will give you more headroom and a more natural sound overall. Standard EMG pickups can sound kind of sterile but the 60 on its own produces a good clean sound naturally.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a classy looking high end ESP guitar this is it. It has the looks and the tone. It comes already upgraded with all the things you would do to the guitar to make it gig worthy. The EMG pickups sound great out of the box and can do pretty much any style. If you are looking for a good looking ESP guitar this guitar is one of them working.
UTILIZATION
The quality on the ESP branded guitars is pretty much perfect. The frets are fnished nicely and you can really get a nice action on the guitar. The neck through construction means there is no neck joint heel to get in your way when playing high on the neck. The compensated nut helps the intonation of the guitar so your notes ring out better because they are closer to perfect intonation than they would be with a normal nut. The body is nice and light due to the thinner body. The pickups are active so you will need a 9v battery to run the pickups.
SOUNDS
This guitar produces solid metal tones. The 81 is a classic bridge pickup for metal. It provides great crunch and clarity. The 81 in the bridge is pretty bright and searing. This means it will retain clarity through even the thickest gain and lowest tunings. The 60 in the neck is all right but I prefer the 85 in the neck position. The 60 is good for clean tones in the neck position. If you want to play high gain leads in the neck position I recommend using the 85 in that position. The 85 will give you a fatter sound. With EMG pickups you can do the 18v mod. With this mod your pickups are powered by two 9v batteries and it will give you more headroom and a more natural sound overall. Standard EMG pickups can sound kind of sterile but the 60 on its own produces a good clean sound naturally.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a classy looking high end ESP guitar this is it. It has the looks and the tone. It comes already upgraded with all the things you would do to the guitar to make it gig worthy. The EMG pickups sound great out of the box and can do pretty much any style. If you are looking for a good looking ESP guitar this guitar is one of them working.