The ESP Guitar Company

My experience is that the carves are all very similar. I have a Custom Shop Eclipse and the top is very similar to my Standard Series Eclipses. I haven't had an LTD EC in a while, but I don't remember it having any less of a "dish" or a flatter/rounder top than the others.

Thanks man. I've been thinking about getting an Eclipse, but there's so many simple points here and there that just make even the top end stuff less attractive. The E-II (it took me a while to warm to that label) Eclipses still have that stupid block inlay at 12th. The ESP USA models seem to lean towards clown puke finishes, etc. I think FWIW, an LTD EC-1000 is the happy medium, however they don't come in full thickness. Seriously....without spending mid-high four figures for a Japanese custom ESP I doubt I can find the model that ticks all the boxes.

Unfortunately there aren't large quantities of instruments to A/B here without me travelling a bit, so basic research on what to/not to expect helps. Cheers!

I'm probably going to unsub from this thread since this entire forum seems infested with spambots. Seriously....who's actually administrating this site and does it have a moderation team? I've never had anywhere near this level of spam in 15yrs running ProjectGuitar.com; does ESP not value having a tidy and clean-running forum as part of its brand outreach? I think you pretty much carry the weight of the entire forum, Pushead

Carl, I love Projectguitar! I've learned a LOT of stuff from there.

I believe the current runs of EC-1000T models are all Full Thickness guitars. There are also traditional finishes available on the ESP USA stuff. Their Eclipses are chambered to reduce weight, but from what I've read, it's no more intrusive than the old 9 hole weight relief on the Gibsons.

Excellent info, thank you! I can't believe that I missed this: https://www.espguitars.com/products/21014-ec-1000t

Full-thickness indeed, excellent. Three controls are perfect as well, as I always wire the tone pot to the neck independently of the bridge. Plus....no dumb block marker at 12th! How weird that the higher-end stuff has these yet the LTDs don't. I'm sold, fantastic. I've wanted to add a LP style guitar to my collection for some time whether it be an ESP or a vintage 80s Aria Pro II PE-R60. My absolute ideal has always been something a little far out of my reach unless I just go ahead and build it myself....except I'm just not ThatFinishingGuy, or at least not one who can do a perfect vintage honeyburst with that exquisite marginally-green tint that develops from that very few vintage LPs. The ESP Eclipse and the Aria Pro II PE are perfect examples of how that fuddy old LP has just needed to be evolved in the right ways.

I know the LTD will not 100% hit the mark in terms of how the finishes look or the highest-end Japanese-made ESPs just are. That said, I can't really put down the high dollar (Euros) on getting a Japanese ESP custom to my specs right now.

ProjectGuitar.com has been around for a long long time now, and it's a privilege to continue maintaining and developing a resource that people take so much from. I've got a bunch of articles in the pipeline that need attention....but the sun's out! We're 20yrs old in September, and we really need to get around to figuring out how to mark that occasion.

If you look at the 2003 guitar of the month for February, you'll find my project guitar.

Well, why am I not surprised that it was an Explorer? 

Jeez, this forum is antiquated....it looks like the entire ESP site is built around one single monolithic system....

Eh, we like the guitars we like.

I suspect having a forum here at all is is more to appease the people who were here 9 years ago. ESP redid their whole website based around a CMS and they didn't bother licensing a true forum software, they're just using whatever features the CMS allows them to use to have a quasi-forum.

I just refurbed my 97/98 LTD EXP-200 which is another story entirely....especially as it does not have a serial and from what I see it has aspects of the early and late runs. I've owned it since 2000 and know it's genuine. Anyway.

So it would seem that the forum is a legacy feature that ESP are neither willing to simply kill off because of the residual legacy content/userbase, nor willing to transform into a modern active community? That's a shame either way. The former seems to be leaving a poorly-supported and spam-ridden forum that absolutely detracts from the brand image and value of the excellent info otherwise within it, whilst the latter shows a lack of will to produce a loyal customer community through direct engagement and interaction. Unfortunately, social media decimated the traditional forum format in favour of poorer information that has little temporal value leaving readers scrabbling for the latest information rather than value in a body of it. Forums are definitely the "long game" in comparison to social media, which is showing signs of not being fit for purpose. Again, a totally different discussion.

Meh, who am I anyway....just another idealist!

I think that the legacy data requirements of ProjectGuitar is somewhere in the region of 47GB as I write this, which costs comparatively little to maintain (eg. not penny-hobby, not a full-time wage) as it is set up as it needs to be, with defined user conduct bounds and a low-maintenance profile. Anybody with even the most modest of experience in structuring/administrating larger-scale websites should be able to manage this. I am left wondering if the legacy forum data is locked into a poorly-maintained database format that the admin guys are unsure or unwilling to extricate into a modern usable system? Essentially, still shovelling peat into the back of something that should really be treated like an AMG?

It's not clear as to what the corporate will of ESP's online strategising is, and part of me feels like I should be raising this discussion with them formally even though I expect that it will be just another unyielding corporate wall. This could be done so much better than this, and also so much better than competitors.

I completely agree with your assessment of the situation. We need more people like you who are willing to speak out and take action.