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tjon901 « More traditional sounding EC1000 »
Published on 08/16/11 at 20:28The EC1000 is ESP's jack of all traits Les Paul style guitar. It is made by LTD which is ESP guitars budget line of guitars. These guitars are much cheaper than ESP branded guitars because they are made outside of Japan. This guitar has the typical EC shape. It has a mahogany body which is much thinner than that of a normal Les Paul. The neck is mahogany with set neck construction. The fretboard is very dark rosewood and has 24 jumbo frets. The tuners up top are locking tuners. These newer ESP models have standard nuts instead of the compensated nuts that older models had. The bridge is a tonepros locking tune-o-matic. The pickups are another big difference with this newer model. It has a set of Seymour Duncan pickups. They are generic models but they are Duncans nontheless. The finish is a gold top with a big of a metallic hue. There is a 3 way toggle up top and two volumes with a master tone.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays great like most ESP guitars. The EC models give you the shape and look of a typical Les Paul but with the playability of a super strat. THe body being much thinner than a Les Paul is nice and light and balances well. The fretboard has a nice flat radius with jumbo frets. This lets you get a nice low action on the guitar so you can rip up some speedy solos. Being 24 frets but having a 24.75 inch scale means the upper frets can get pretty crowded but the jumbo frets help out with this. I wonder why ESP is not putting Earvana nuts on these guitars any more. I guess it is to save money. The change is not noticable at first but if you have played a guitar with a compensated nut before you will know how good it sounds when you have perfect intonation. The locking tuners and locking bridge are great features. The locking bridge locks down your saddle settings and locks the bridge in place so it can fall off and get off setup. The locking tuners keep you in tune even if you knock the headstock around.
SOUNDS
The Duncans are a pretty big change from the EMG's most of the EC1000 guitars come with. I would recommend the EMG's over these pickups even if you are not a metal player. These pickups are basic generic Duncans. It is not the JB 59 or Jazz set you find in most Seymour Duncan equipped guitars. These are more basic Alnico magnet Duncans. They do fit the styling of this guitar well though. They have a very vintage voicing to them. They are great for classic rock and blues. They have a nice loose sound that matches up well with classic rock riffs.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is the answer for the people who want a great mid level guitar like the EC1000 but do not play metal and thus so do not find the active EMG pickups useful. This guitar coming with classic sounding Seymour Duncans gives this guitar a tone more suited to blues and classic rock. This matches well with the classy looks you get with this guitar that come from the rosewood fretboard and the gold top finish. If you want a nice mid level ESP guitar that looks more vintage and delivers more vintage tone this is your model.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays great like most ESP guitars. The EC models give you the shape and look of a typical Les Paul but with the playability of a super strat. THe body being much thinner than a Les Paul is nice and light and balances well. The fretboard has a nice flat radius with jumbo frets. This lets you get a nice low action on the guitar so you can rip up some speedy solos. Being 24 frets but having a 24.75 inch scale means the upper frets can get pretty crowded but the jumbo frets help out with this. I wonder why ESP is not putting Earvana nuts on these guitars any more. I guess it is to save money. The change is not noticable at first but if you have played a guitar with a compensated nut before you will know how good it sounds when you have perfect intonation. The locking tuners and locking bridge are great features. The locking bridge locks down your saddle settings and locks the bridge in place so it can fall off and get off setup. The locking tuners keep you in tune even if you knock the headstock around.
SOUNDS
The Duncans are a pretty big change from the EMG's most of the EC1000 guitars come with. I would recommend the EMG's over these pickups even if you are not a metal player. These pickups are basic generic Duncans. It is not the JB 59 or Jazz set you find in most Seymour Duncan equipped guitars. These are more basic Alnico magnet Duncans. They do fit the styling of this guitar well though. They have a very vintage voicing to them. They are great for classic rock and blues. They have a nice loose sound that matches up well with classic rock riffs.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is the answer for the people who want a great mid level guitar like the EC1000 but do not play metal and thus so do not find the active EMG pickups useful. This guitar coming with classic sounding Seymour Duncans gives this guitar a tone more suited to blues and classic rock. This matches well with the classy looks you get with this guitar that come from the rosewood fretboard and the gold top finish. If you want a nice mid level ESP guitar that looks more vintage and delivers more vintage tone this is your model.