I checked out and played an ESP USA Eclipse. Wow are they "thickies".

Updated
I checked out and played an ESP USA Eclipse. Wow are they "thickies".

So The Music Zoo in Farmingdale NY has this used 2018 ESP USA Eclipse for sale. I was in there getting my JH-2 from a set up. (and to drool over the Gibson custom shop Les Pauls. It's just a matter of time before I get one. I am old and wow those things sound/play amazing compared to the standard production Gibson's IMO.)

Anyway, so I tried out the Eclipse. Well, I hated the pickups compared to all the Gibsons but that might be just my personal preference. I'll put the specs below, but they had "Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro Pickups". The Gibsons sounded way better through this Victory amp they had.

Playability wise it was amazing. Sick craftsmanship and the quilt/color looked amazing. For sure an eye catcher. The sculpted heel was nice for high fret access and body was thick. The USA Eclipses have a MUCH thicker body than the regular Eclipses we are used to. Heck it felt thicker than the old Eclipse FT with double binding they sold back in the 2000's. Action was great, easy to chug away and easy to play. Really nice guitar BUT...it was too thick for my taste. (Oh and it did not have stainless steel frets. The new ones do on their website it looks like. I have a USA Viper on order and I LOVE SS frets)

I attached some comparison shots of the thickness to a Gibson Les Paul 60's Reissue. It was way way way thicker than I expected. Like....abnormally thick. I actually did not like that at all. It felt awkward sitting down with it while the Gibson just felt better in terms of thickness. (lol I don't have a gut so I don't really like the tummy cut away but I guess it works for some people.  I wish it was a tad thinner like a Les Paul and no tummy cut) 

My consensus is that, it was an amazing guitar, amazing top, amazingly built...but bad pickups and too thick for my taste. I still am an EMG fanboy.

I have a purple quilted ESP USA Viper being built now and it should be here by June, so I'll have a review on my YouTube channel.

Here is the Les Paul I fell in love with and could not stop playing: 

 

Here is the guitar on their site with all the specs:

https://www.themusiczoo.com/products/esp-usa-eclipse-cranberry-sunburst-2018

Here is are some pictures

 

Road King

I like the ESP for the ebony board, and that finish is fire. Definitely needs EMGs. Not a fan of distressed finishes, but the LP has a comfy neck and of course the LP sound, if that's what you're looking for. The pre-installed pickguard always pissed me off. Did Gibson get their shiit together or something? Seems like a lot of dudes I know are can't stop talking about LPs or the EBMM Petrucci guitars. I find LPs to be too pricey and then you have to spend $ on hardware to make it stay in tune.

Mesa Sean
Road King wrote:

I like the ESP for the ebony board, and that finish is fire. Definitely needs EMGs. Not a fan of distressed finishes, but the LP has a comfy neck and of course the LP sound, if that's what you're looking for. The pre-installed pickguard always pissed me off. Did Gibson get their shiit together or something? Seems like a lot of dudes I know are can't stop talking about LPs or the EBMM Petrucci guitars. I find LPs to be too pricey and then you have to spend $ on hardware to make it stay in tune.

Yeah I ended up pulling the trigger on this monster. I never liked Passives but wow, this thing sounds so good. The Custom Burstbuckers sound really good. I wonder what the standard production line LP's sound like. I kept the same VH4 settings for overdrive, but had to add some more gain and it sounds sweet. No flub. 

Also this thing never goes out of tune for the most part, so I would never spend money on hardware if it existed on this model.

 

I love the aging.

 

 

 

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