The ESP Guitar Company

I'm a metal player as you expected, with my band project we play stuff that I would call "harmonic metal" as to create a new subgenre ^^. Sort of melodic stuff with heavy rhythms and lots of keys, just put Children Of Bodom and Sonata Arctica together and you'll be quite near it. LOL

I'm a big fan of active EMGs, they suit my playing style perfectly. I pick the strings quite softly, so I use active pickups and wicked string tension to compensate for that. I haven't tried many active Duncans but as far as I have seen, they are too loud for me so I keep with EMGs. Latest bump on a 81/89 set ^^.

I still can't fucking decide... I don't want the price to be the major issue, and both feel very nice in my hands. I'll just work for enough cash and then I'll buy both !

Nope nothing out for the moment with my band. We still search for a drummer and our keyboardist is not sure to integrate the band. Plus I'm studying the weirdest thing you can get in France so I have almost no time right now. We write a lot of stuff though (3 songs finished, 2 instrumental tracks, 9 other tracks on the way) ^^.

Now for you brandono61cr : I already checked the japanese website. nothing special there. About your neck advice : I have pretty small hands and short fingers (my articulations didn't grow when the rest of my skull did, LOL even if it's not a joke...) and I'm a lead guitarist, so the more shreddy the neck is, the better for me ! About the finish : I'd get the guitar in trans red and I like both finishes, so it's not the real issue.

Here's the way I choose my guitars :
- First the look, cause I won't like to play an ugly guitar, especially if there's another one that is really eye-catching right next to it. And the look and image of a musician is VERY determining on his success... sad but true !
- Second, the specs and the overall feel, unplugged. I take a closer look at the electronics and the hardware, and I play a bit focusing on the neck. Then I put a strap on and check the balance, cause neck heavy guitars suck.
- Finally, I plug it in and check the sound. I like rich cleans and cold distortion (weird, huh ? ^^). I always check the sound at last but it's also the most important thing to me (we are talking music, aren't we ? ^^)

The guitars I have kept : ESP SV Standard, ESP LTD M-50, ESP LTD F-104. I have owned a few Ibanez but I threw them away, they are all shit IMO. Plus the ugly guitar whose brand I don't even remember. Other than that I have played on many of my friends' guitars (ESP Horizon, Jackson Demmelition V, a BC Rich Warlock, Ibanez S, Strats, Les Pauls...)

What I want here is a guitar with a more traditional shape (superstrat) but still top-of-the-line shreddy.

@brandono : Worst thing when you play is when people look at you like "what the hell", that makes you feel really bad and you lose self confidence so... I try do get a guitar that I like and that doesn't "shock" people. I would still play the pink Jackson RR5FR lol cause it's cool :)

LOL

sounds like your and ESP guy (:lolthat sv standard sounds sexy :lol) but it sounds like you still are more in the realm of jackson territory but who knows ? you might be lucky enough to own both of them some day !!;);)
also i take it you like floyds !:cool:
i think the best bridge of all time is a blocked OFR i like hard tails because i change tunings up 4 times a day:confused: and nothing feels better when palm muting than a floyd

I'm on both ESP and Jackson in fact. I like ESP SVs, Eclipses, Horizons, I'd frickin love EXs if they had 24 frets; and I like Jackson Soloists, RR24(M)s, Kellys (ftw !) and Warriors. Mostly I like distinct and agressive shapes, as long as they are not "distinct and agressive" à la BC Rich ^^.

And yes I'm a Floyd guy. Thing is, I switch between Standard D, Standard E and sometimes Dropped D tunings, but I can't do without the floyd so in fact I need 3 guitars -__-'. I was thinking SV Standard, Jackson KE2, plus the superstrat we're talking about in this very thread.

I'm not afraid in putting a lot of cash into a guitar as long as I'm sure to get a good one, so I want to make the best choice possible. If you want an idea of my weird&wicked dream guitar list (if I only take series guitars and not customs) :
ESP SV Standard, Horizon FR-II, Eclipse-II, FX Standard, Forest Bass, BTL Bass
Jackson : SL2H, KE2, WR1, KV2, RR24M
Plus this goddamn Gibson Les Paul Custom that gives me ultra bumps ^^

Yeah, money is the shit part of music. That's why I started this thread ^^

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I said I'm not interested in other manufacturers nor models. I already checked everything I knew, I checked Ibanez, BC Rich, Dean, Gibson, Fender, Schecter, PRS, Cort, etc.

I already knew about the SLAT, but honestly, I'm looking for the manufacturer's really top-of-the-line guitar so I am sure to get the best one. And the BC Rich pro's are not to be compared with an Horizon or a USA Soloist... They are good for the money of course, but as I am ready to throw 2000 bucks on the table, I guess there is something even better to be found at such prices.

How could you anyway ^^, it's all right don't worry. Anyway my NGD is still far far away

I've owned quite a few LTDs... and quite a few more jacksons.

The LTDs are a great value, but they just don't have the features I'm looking for. I'd have no problem shelling out a grand or a little more for a guitar with an ebony board and a hard shell case. Jackson just seems to have more models (at least now anyway, this wasn't always the case) That come neck through, ebony board, and with a HSC. The standard sharkfin inlays are sweet too. I highly dislike dots.

As far as the Soloist v. the Horizon its a tough call. I've always seen the horizon as a double cut guitar like the PRS double cut stuff while the soloist is a neck through super strat. I'm kind of loving Alder more than Mahogany nowadays, at least in sub 2k guitars. You'd probably be happy with either, but if it were my money, I'd go with the Jackson.

heard there will be a flamed maple m2 2011

BTW, I will mention that the Jackson USA Soloist HSCs are crap. Flimsy construction and the headstock pretty much sits in the bottom of the case just asking to be broken on impact...and I've heard of it happening with people setting the case down too hard, case falling over, etc. Overall, really junky cases for otherwise classy guitars. I almost wish Jackson would reduce the price and sell them without a case. That way you could put the money toward a proper case.

The new style ESP cases work decent, but they're rather plain. The old ones with white piping on the outside were really nice.

i dont remember who , but i recall someone saying that the jacksons neck is quatersawn (true) but the horizon's is not. the particular horizon that i played had a painted back , so im not sure but my ltd has a quatersawn neck so i can guesss that the ESP will have one too.
im infering tho , so take it with a grain of salt !:lol

Neither have I but I haven't made out the real difference yet, to me it's just "maple". But if anyone could tell me what the big deal is, I'll take a lesson, I know a lot of things but I can still learn some more !

Jackson uses quarter sawn maple in an effort to reduce warping in a single piece neck. ESP uses three-piece laminated maple necks for the same reason. I'm sure both construction methods have produced examples with warping, but if the wood is dried and prepared properly, the risks are greatly reduced.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, the Horizon and the SL2H are really very different guitars. Since you can't play these exact guitars, perhaps you should find guitars made with similar materials to both of these and see if you prefer the tone of one over the other.

Hey people, maybe that's because my eyes have crappy image definition but I don't SEE a difference between quartersawn and regular. Could anyone actually EXPLAIN the difference (man I sound stupid ^^) ?