All user reviews for the ESP Eclipse-I CTM Vibrato

The ESP Eclipse 1 series CTM is a brilliant offering. I always found the eclipse guitars to be too edgy for my tastes. The coupling of a satin black finish, gold hardware, gold triple ply binding, and a Bigsby B7 tremolo make a very refined statement. Following the gibson les paul recipe, the eclipse comes with a mahogany body and maple cap, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard. Seymour duncan humbuckers (Sh1-n and Sh4) are wired into tone and volume controls with standard 3 way toggle.

UTILIZATION

The gotoh locking tuners provide excellent tuning stability to this instrument. The neck profile is a "thin U" shape that feels very distinct to ESP. The neck is very comfortable in the hands but can feel sticky at time and not entirely conducive to fast playing styles. The bigsby works not only looks great but manages to stay in tune with tactful use.

SOUNDS

I played the ESP Eclipse 1 CTM through a variety of Bogner amplifiers (Shiva, Uberchall, 101b, and GF45). Bogner 4x12 cab. No effects.

The ESP sounds really great. The pickup are not overly powerful, so the guitar sits very well in a mid gain environment. The bridge pickup allows for some great bluesy solos. What I thought was going to be a guitar mostly suitable to aggressive style surprised me with a tame gentleness that made for a great blues/Rock focused axe. Going through almost the entire Bogner range of amplifiers, the guitar managed to keep up with every sound I went for.

OVERALL OPINION

The ESP Eclipse CTM 1 is a very pretty guitar to look at. You will feel confident playing it, but you might stumble around on the neck at first. The mildness of the pickups may disappoint those who want a more modern sound, but for those who were drawn to the guitar for it's sense of class and not by ESP's heritage of metal guitardom-- you may find this to be the perfect alternative to Gibson's Lp bodies. The guitar is not price competitive to Gibson but if you want something lighter, darker, and just plain different, this is definitely a viable solution.