Ec-1000ctm?
Ec-1000ctm?
I recently bought my very first ESP guitar ... a black LTD EC-1000T.
When it arrived, it seemed to me as though the fretboard was actually rosewood ... the staff at the music store agreed and so they took pictures of the guitar and contacted both their distributor and ESP. I just had a conversation with the music store who today received this (non-verbatim) response from the ESP rep in California:
"There are three types of ebony that ESP uses; one from Africa, one from India and the other from Indonesia. All advertised ESP / LTD guitars that feature ebony fretboards do indeed have them, but the perceived difference is due to the fact that the premier ESP models feature ebony from Africa or India, whereas the LTD models have the ebony from Indonesia, which isn't as dark as the Indian or Africa ebony woods, nor has the ultra-tight grain. These guitars with the lighter Indonesian ebony *can* sometimes be confused for rosewood, but I assure you that it is indeed ebony. It's unfortunate that your customer's model (the LTD EC-1000T) has a lighter form of the ebony wood, but we will be glad to hand-pick a replacement LTD EC-1000T with as darker wood and tighter grain as possible, and ship it to you for comparison."
And so that's where it stands ... I await a new guitar with, what will hopefully be, a much darker ebony fretboard.
Wish me luck.
Fair enough, but it's a matter of "percieved value" of what I've paid for, to be honest.
I selected this guitar after months and months of looking, testing and weighing the pros and cons of the guitars available at the different shops in my area. I'm not pro player, and I've only ever owned an '86 Japanese Fender Strat until now, so I really had to do my homework.
The EC-1000T had the features, advantages and benefits that I was looking for ... one of them being the aethetics of the black body and black fretboard. If this was some cheap $250 guitar - no big deal - but it certainly isn't. Not even close.
Like I've mentioned in my other posts, even the guys at the guitar shop were concerned with how the guitar is advertised and what ESP is passing off as "ebony" ... which is something that I have also taken into consideration.
Having said that, I do understand ESPs position on this, but even other members of this forum (in posts prior to mine) couldn't tell the difference between the lesser quality ebony and rosewood ... and that makes me wonder if I'm truly getting my money's worth?
Came stock with an ebony board. What i was trying to suggest is that most ebony, if its a cheap quality, probably comes lighter in color to the factory, and then they dye it a bit to obtain a more desirable color. With the op's situation, MAYBE whoever installed and matainenced the board on his eclipse was supposed to dye it a bit and slacked. never know.
Buncha picky losers om this thread :lol
I'm not a picky lose-... well, I'm not picky.
I'd just like to know in advance weather or not I'm getting sweet black ebony (that is what most guitarists think of when we see it specified as ebony) or some cheaper ebony that has to be dyed darker and STILL isn't as dark as what we anticipate it to be. I still love my guitar but in the back of my head I will always want it to be black ebony. The ebony on my EC-1000T/CTM is only slightly darker than my EC-401VF's rosewood. Either it started off lighter than rosewood or the dye is really weak. I think it's pretty damn reasonable wanting to know this type of info when you are purchasing a guitar.
I just bought one two days ago.....Since i work in a guitar store and are a premier dealer, i get to try out all the latest stuff, LOVE and have owned many of the EC-1000's, this one, I love the heavier weight and thickness like my LP custom....Honestly, it's GREAT nice thick sound, i seen some postings , people not liking the 22 frets but ....that IS what I love about it too, very very worth the money and that white with gold hardwear is way cool...beautiful looking as well as playing!!! I totally think it's great,. You know, I love my LP Custom, always will be a LP guy but since i got it, have not touched the custom....they DO feel really similliar in my honest opinion...hope this helps!!