ESP M-II Maple EMG

ESP is one of the most popular guitar makers from Japan. Most ESP guitars people see are really LTD's their budget line. It is easy to confuse the two brands because they are built to exactly the same specs just in different places. ESP branded ESP guitars are built to custom shop quality in Japan. This guitar is the ESP MII with EMG's and a maple fretboard. This model has bolt on neck construction and features a maple neck with a maple fretboard. The fretboard has 24 jumbo frets. The body is alder and is in your standard super strat MII shape. It has a Floyd Rose locking tremolo at the back with a set of EMG 81 pickups in the middle. The controls are super simple with just a volume knob and a 3 way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar was designed to play fast. The bolt on construction lets you have a fast raw neck that is free of finish. The heel is angled to give you good access to the upper 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 simple controls mean you will never hit the wrong switch or knob because there is only one of each. Since the pickups are active you will need a battery to operate them but ESP provides a easy access battery compartment.

SOUNDS

EMG pickups are a perfect fit for this guitar. They provide super output and clarity thanks to their active design. The 81 in the bridge is a classic setup. It has a high end crunch and distortion that gives it clarity no matter how much gain you are using or how low you tune. The 81 in the neck is not as common. I am not a fan of the 81 in the neck especially in this guitar. With the alder body and maple neck and fretboard this guitar is pretty bright and the 81 in the neck is too bright. When I switch to a neck pickup I want it to sound like a neck pickup. An 85 in the neck would have been a better choice. 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. Good thing EMG's come with a quick connect setup so it is very easy to swap out pickups among EMG's you can easily see what combination you like best.

OVERALL OPINION

There arent many high end shred guitars that come with maple fretboards nowadays. They are coming back in popularity. This guitar is a good solid design and is a stable in the ESP line up. This guitar is the definition of shred guitar. It has no frills its just black and ready to play. If you are looking for a no frills shred guitar with a maple neck this guitar is a beast.

* Bolt-on neck
* 25.5" Scale
* Alder Body
* Maple Neck
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* 42mm Locking Nut (43mm Neck Width)
* Extra Thin U Neck Contour
* 24 XJ Frets
* Black Nickel Hardware
* Gotoh Tuners
* Floyd Rose Original Bridge
* Duncan JB/59 pickup set
* Master Volume
* 3-Way Toggle



UTILIZATION

This is a great super strat! One of the original superstrats ever to be produced for the metal player! Simple design, simple layout and simple controls with the added metalness of the original floyd rose, which is of course very very stable. It is easier than a strat in terms of upper fret access, definitely is, but it's not AS easy as some other guitars out there. I generally don't mind neck through or bolt-on guitars, I have no personal preference I think they're both fine.

The thin U neck contour is of course good, it's probably ESP's most popular neck profile. It's not uber-thin like an ibanez wizard but still thin enough to comfortably shred on. Nearly everything about this guitar is high quality, the finish is perfect, the fretwork is of course amazing, the floyd rose is original and stable the pickups are quality pickups also.

SOUNDS

You can't go wrong with the JB/59 pickup set. It's seymour duncan's most famous and versatile pickup set, not too hot and very usable for metal. I prefer this pickup set over the EMGs as they seem to be a bit more dynamic, you can clean up by rolling the volume down and still get usable sounds, whilst with EMGs you cannot.

The sounds are very versatile. I can get any sounds from rock to death metal with these pickups. The JB is generally high output but has a sharp attack so notes and chords are clear.The 59 is tubby, in a good way for thicker leads.

Clean the 59 is a very thick clean PAF-type humbucker. The JB is also quite good and has plenty of headroom, it doesn't break up with harder right hand technique on the clean channel of an amp. I'm giving this an 8 simply because I am SO used to the sound of these pickups, they are installed on SO many guitars nowadays that it's sort of becoming way too standardized that instead of sounding great, it's sounding average.

But with an alder body, maple neck and rosewood board and this pickup set. You're already going to be getting the sound you'd get from 90% of guitars out there. This is a very common set of woods and pickups being used. Thus the sound would be very common as well, the perks would be that the guitar is well made.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall it's what I'd call the staple metal guitar. It's got a simple volume and 3 way with a great neck, good high output pickups and an awesome floyd rose that's built to last. And it's all black! What else does one need?

My only beef with ESPs overall is their stupid logo on the 12th fret. It's so big, it's like an advertisement on your guitar and it's so ugly. I hate it! Even when you pay top dollar, you'll still get that nasty inlay! I'd want to pay top dollar to NOT have any more advertising!

Though the guitar's looks are not versatile, the actual quality of the guitar is great and the sounds ARE versatile. So of course depending on how you rock it, this would mainly be a guitar more suited for heavier styles of music.

Made in Japan by the factory mre ESP.
Table in Alder
Maple neck 24 frets 3-roomed screwed Jumbo, matt varnish
Maple fingerboard (for mine) but there with rosewood (less brightness).
Original Floyd Rose (a must)
2 EMG81 active pickups (with a pi-cell type playskool)
Key Gotoh
1 volume knob
Tone of 0 (we will correct with an amp)
A slecteur 3 positions

For who does not like black guitar, must go to the US custom shop, not necessarily more expensive and better finished!

I put 9 out of 10 for the absence of knobs of Tone

UTILIZATION

Ct use BUG!! my girlfriend is jealous, since my happens IBD is home, I never leaves her side, long live the dishwasher!
More srieusement, level of finish quality, the Japs do not care really not our mouths ... just irrprochable, varnish, hardware keys Gotho and Original Floyd Rose, one feels that it is not you p ter hands. Book gives a pretty all right Hard Case with a Floyd Rose Original rgl tip-top, this is a scratch vritable plug and play! I have a gibson junior and I can say that level Premire printing (Hard Case, Tuning, protection, etc. ...), ESP Kilomtres the above (the Japs are strong), which does increase consumer confidence in the eyes of the firm.

Good move on the marketing and dtails coming to the point, what you INTERESTED, what is worth? Well, I do not know if j'tais cuckold the day on I tried it but after 2 minutes of use capella without amp (it's like we're trying a guitar) I almost made a stain on my pants so I was lucky to come across this guitar ... Oh Yeah! sustain the prsicion and brightness of the sound are waiting for you!!

The handle is Saddle varnish and screwed (not personal like the glue on the handle end) and NeckThruBody (race driver) 400 again, not worth the trouble, I tried 2, which is a shame to lose the quality and the default table. Brief return to the handle ESP Saddle, all the guitars I test it owns and by far my sleeve prfr you play just about what is best in Mati re handle fast if you do not like the sleeves for, go your way. The sustain is the what they say, not really, it's the handle of the guitar sduit me the most. CHAC is to dernires nickel frets even when you have large fingers like mine and you have the ear a little slow!

Ergonomics is tip-top, we forget that it has been in the hands and the light weight of this guitar is an asset on scne the quilibrage is pil-haired, she is right even APRS several beers (did not actually drink too much pain overdose of microphones), the form is that of a stratum, and personal like the head of the aggressive guitar, with the keys inverss!

The body is alder for excellent craftsmanship, sustain, precision, and the brightness is still rel everything I love in a guitar! The table is cut to a CASC to 20th frets easier. Fans of Gibson and Cleaver will be lost ... yes, yes a single volume knob, when I tell you it's a guitar plug and play! But it has the advantage of being serious prcis and does not lose too much tonal. RAS on the Toggle switch (it's a toggle switch).

I therefore look forward to plug into an amp for lamps (throw your transistors, transistors / lamps, and other modlisation is poop) my music store to hear prfr bte .

SOUNDS

That's it I plug this marvel of a Mesa Boogie 5:25 ET l WAhouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, I sound like Metallica! The two are the EMG 81 for procs that you have with your neighbors saturax, adcoiffe, prcis ultra sound (so it is better to play prcis) and of METAL! I test the application on an amp bte more conventional lamps and certainly less expensive. A peavey classic 30, and no surprises saturation TRS outputs as well, good bass, not too many mid (dpend of rglage) and make plans trebble tapping all night! !

Well, as everyone knows, this guitar is first made for big sounds very full, for the distortion in big-rock and hard rock and heavy returns mtal has all the other guitars in the strings (no guitar), and no risk of having bees around you!

But since I do not play as nag, I pass a clean sound, and even surprise from what I heard on the EMG 81, the sound is not at all cold or hot either, let's say it's tide! Keys Rabl (like the handle) correct a little problem of the coldness of EMG 81 in the clear to leave a much more bright and hot! And yes, a sound not too bad in the clear with IBD affects Rabl (these Japs are really strong), but let it be said, the EMG81 does not compete with or SH1n SH4JB in clean !

However, blues, jazz, arpges, and natural harmonics can therefore be played out and more than adequately for a little as we know rgler the amp. And still dpend the amp you use it day and night. Have a look on Ytube cuerdasoxidas and type you can get an IDE coupled with IBD podlive can produce many sounds diffrent without losing his own guitar.

In conclusion, I would say that even when the saturated ground and prdilection. But other styles can be around and the sound can s'avrer INTERESTED. In any case, this guitar is not for people looking for vintage sound, warm but plutt for guitarists who want to be the same as Kirk Hammett is the new sounds (like me) in several styles.

OVERALL OPINION

I use this marvel for 2 months and I'm not PRS me spare. I jou on Ibanez RG, Gibson Junior, Fender Start and Yamaha T, and I can say at the level of playing comfort and the quality of the neck, this guitar is by far the best. I test the horizon II without floyd, I have less AIM handle (yes, really) even if it is also amazing with its varnish spcial (trs are really strong these japs ). The guitar is really excellent qualitprix invoice for the report. And sound, although the latest puts everyone at the fine saturation, and suggests untapped possibilities in sound clear. If you like the vintage sound, this guitar is definitely not for you at all in absolute (that's clear!).

In conclusion, I would say that you can go there with closed eyes, this skyscraper is gniale, the test and you make chque illico, and if you can pay in installments when it is better 1390 same ... Report Qualitfinition / sound / price the best in the world (ARE REALLY SELLING THESE ULTRA MEGA JAPS)

Ps: I'm not Jap
Ps 2: Take a music bath twice a week for a few years and you will see that music is me that the bath is to the body.