ESP Eclipse II

It's the snow white Eclipse II, which is apparently rare to find hanging on the wall of a guitar store. It was ordered Dec. 2007 and delivered April 2008. It came with the active EMGs, and I had those gently removed and replaced with the Seymour Duncan JB and '59 pickups that ESP puts in the aged honey burst version of this guitar. At the same time I had a coil splitter installed. Otherwise, you can find the features on the ESP website. The tuners are not very smooth and don't feel consistent one to another. The case is nothing special, which is perfect, since I don't need to worry about it taking some abuse and getting marred. I'll give a 9 here since it didn't come with the precise features I wanted but was easily modified.

This guitar sounds great. I was planning to replace the EMGs when I made the order. When the guitar came in I liked the EMGs more than I thought I would, but they just don't sound musical enough...kinda screechy. I play a pretty wide range of music, from sweet, gentle clean sounds to raucously dirty. For me, that combination of Seymour JB and '59 is better for the entire range. The Seymours are still pretty hot and are more versatile. I don't miss the EMGs at all. I can't say that I know the wood and guitar construction make a big difference, but the only thing ugly about the sound of this guitar is the clams I'm hitting day after day.

Others have said their ESP was perfect out of the box. Mine needed a set up, which seems reasonable, especially for an instrument sent all the way from Japan. Initially, the store set the action extremely low, and while it was nice to know that was possible, I needed it a little higher. The fit and finish look and feel great; there are no flaws that I can see. This is a smooth guitar with a fast neck and great playability. It seems like it's easier to play than my other guitars, some of which cost quite a bit more, and I find myself favoring the Eclipse over a more expensive Gibson and Gretsch.

I bought a "pretty" guitar. It has a snow white body and neck. It is light-weight, and it feels a little delicate. Is it durable? I don't know: I'm babying it. I'm sure it will withstand live playing even if it does acquire a few battle scars. I bet you could gig without a backup, since a string change shouldn't take too long with the locking tuners. I'll give this an 9 since I'm just not quite sure.

No idea. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt without pretending they're perfect.

I've been playing about 5 years. I started with Fender guitars (a Strat and a Tele) and then added a Gretsch and a Gibson 335 (in addition to my acoustics). I've got a Mesa Lone Star Special and a variety of pedals. If I parted company with this guitar I'm not sure I'd get another one. The Les Paul is still the real deal, but from what I can tell you'd probably have to get a custom shop edition costing twice as much as the Eclipse to get a guitar that plays and sounds as nice as the Eclipse. I'd have to take a long hard look at a Les Paul, but most of the ones I've handled have felt pretty clunky and awkward compared to the Eclipse. If practicality won out I probably would get another Eclipse. This is a very comfortable, very playable guitar. It looks better than a Les Paul. It's also very versatile; I can use it in place of the Fender or the Gibson (or the Gretsch).

2007 ESP Eclipse II Standard Series made in Japan
22 fret mahoghany neck with an ebony fretboard
Maple top on a mahoghany body in a snow white finish (absolutely stunning)
features 2 volume controls and one tone control (good ol sue happy gibson)
this has the EMG 81/60 set that honestly i didn't think i was going to like all too much as i used to have a sg set up with an 85/60 combo and didn't think it could get much better. well this sounds amazing just the way it it. great for rock, metal, punk, just about anything as long as you know how to ride a volume knob (or in my case volume pedal.
it's got a solid finish that is absolutely stunning
everything else is pretty standard stuff from the rest of the reviews

I play second guitar in the Punk/Rock/Metal band Mongrel (mongrelband.com) so we cover quite a bit of sounds and this pulls it all off effortlessly. I currently play it through a two channel mesa dual rectifier with a marshall 1960av cab. very few pedals so really not going to bother as i barely use the ones i've got. it's not a noisy guitar as it's practically brand new. If you like the emg tone it's amazing. i know some people really can't get used to it but it works fine for me with everything i do (you can get a clean tone real easy if you know how to work a volume knob). it's got a great full sound that sustains for days. no real complaints here

Got it used so really can't say much about factory specs. does need a small truss rod tweak but as well climate change does that.
no real flaws that i can notice. everything seems to be meticulously crafted.

so far so good. i use dimarzio strap locks.
only issue is i broke the pick up selector on the first gig i had it. I'm quite abusive so i don't think it's any fault of the guitar.

i don't buy unreliable gear because with the band i'm in, if i did, it wouldn't be around more than a week.

always always always bring a back up. the guitar might be indestructible but your strings aren't

haven't dealt with em.

my other main guitar is a 72 tele thinline reissue. and it's barely seen much play since i bought this.
i take care of my stuff and look after it quite well so i hope my guitar isn't ever stolen so lets leave out that question.

just a great guitar.

This is a 2007 ESP Eclipse II, made in Japan. Mine has a dark red quilt maple top.

Features:

-There are 2 volume knobs and 1 master tone.
-The pickups are: EMG81 in the bridge and EMG60 in the neck. These are active pickups.
-The body is made of mahogany with a quilt maple top. There is a white binding on the neck and body.
-The neck is also mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard and white flag inlays
-22 Jumbo frets
-Thin U neck shape
-Fixed tune-o-matic style bridge from gotoh
-Sperzel locking tuners
-Black hardware

It has everything you'd expect. However I'd prefer Grover tuners over the Sperzel, and a 2nd tone knob would be nice (but Gibson sued them so it's okay).

My biggest complaint though is no battery box... this is rather lame as you have to unscrew the control panel to replace the battery. They should have thought of that.

This guitar sounds great! It suits my style very well (metal).
I use it with my Line 6 Spider II as well as my Marshall JCM 2000 TSL60. One is a cheap amp, the other is rather expensive. It sounds great through both (obviously much better through the Marshall). The EMGs really benefit from a tube amp.

The sound is really full, even when you play it unplugged. Once you plug it in, it has a nice thick sound do it (despite being thinner than a Les Paul). The notes are clear. Rythm sounds good, lead sounds good... EVERYTHING sounds good.

The EMG 81 sounds good for distortion, and the 60 sounds really nice for playing clean. My only complaint is that when using the EMG 60 for lead playing, you have to tone down the volume a bit, as the sound is almost too thick. Better too thick than not thick enough though, as a little volume adjustment easily fixes this.

For playing metal, this is easily the nicest sounding guitar I've heard.

The guitar was set up perfectly. The action was just right (real low but no buzzing). The pickups were set as close as possible to the strings but without making contact (like EMG recommends).

The bridge was routed properly and the top looked nice.. nothing was wrong with it.

So I might have just had bad luck with mine because the first day I got it, I managed to chip off a little paint off the headstock... whats funny is that a solid piece of paint (no wood, just paint) came off. I glued it back on and you can't really tell.

The paint seems a little cheap, but I may just be an idiot for smacking it against the wall. I haven't had any other problems with it since I got it.

Besides the finish everything is rock solid. Great guitar!

Haven't used/needed them

I've been playing for 5-6 years now. I own a few other guitars.. Fernandes Ravelle Elite, ESP LTD Alexi-600, Schecter Synyster Custom, Fender 50's reissue strat...

I play this guitar through a Marshall TSL60 mostly, but also through my Line 6 SPider II 112. When using the Marshall, I play the guitar straight into the head (no effects) or through a TubeScreamer (used as a boost). This is hands down the best sounding metal guitar I've ever played. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy one again.

I think that this guitar is an excellent value as it can be had for under $1200 yet has most of the features of a real custom shop ESP. If you go on eBay, you can find them even cheaper.

If your budget is more in the $500-$600 range, I would recommend a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser guitar... however if you can pony up the $800-$1200, this guitar is TOTALLY worth it.

2006 model I think, haven't really looked into it too much. Vintage Honeyburst satin finish, EMG 81/60 combination, Chrome hardware, 2 volumes 1 tone, 3 way toggle - your basic Les Paul-alike pretty much, except a thinner much more comfortable body and lovely Extra Jumbo frets. All mahogany, set neck, 22 frets, Rosewood fretboard.

Sperzel locking tuners are a great addition, a nice cherry on top of what is already a fantastic guitar. I bought mine second hand for a stonking great deal in really good condition. Needed a setup but that was due to the previous owner, not the guitar itself. Came with ESP moulded hardcase, owners manual and Truss rod adjustment tool, everything you need, really.

I've always liked the stuff ESP put out, but it was only when I started to really like EMG pickups that I became a full ESP disciple.

As my first all mahogany set neck LP style guitar this was a refreshing new experience. Before getting this I had been very much an Alder body, bolt on maple neck superstrat-with-whammy person. I was after a more rhythm playing guitar, and after seeing this Eclipse at a stupid price I had to go for it.

The sound is what you'd generally expect with the woods used - full, fat, rich and singing. The EMG's are as expected too - lush PAF-esque clean and blues tones from the 60, screaming high gain from the 81. A lot of people regard the 81 as "thin" sounding, but in an all mahogany axe like this it complements it perfectly. I stuck an 18v mod into thi guitar as I do with all my EMG guitars, and I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS MOD. The expanded headroom works wonders for the 60, very nice clean sounds.

I've yet to try an 85 in the bridge, but right now I'm hapy with it. Its very dark sounding compared to what I was used to, but as its currently my main guitar I've eq'd my rig around it, and I have the fat tone that I just love.

This is the main reason I play ESP guitars - I know that I'm getting a pro quality instrument with very few flaws. Setup from the previous owner was terrible - I had lots of fret buzz and it wouldn't stay in tune, but after an intense session I managed to sort it out and now I love picking it up, strapping it on and enjoying the feeling of having such a wonderfully crafted instrument under my fingers.

The flame top is gorgeous, especially with the satin finish.

As I just said, wearing this guitar gives me a feeling of confidence. Its nice playing a guitar and not worrying about something going wrong with it. I always bring a backup, but I've yet to really need it. Utterly dependant.

I doubt I'll need it.

I've been playing about 6 years now, gone through a lot of Ibanez and a couple of Epiphone guitars before this one. I mainly got it because it was a steal at the price, but I haven't once regretted the decision. Its now an integral part of my sound, and I love how my playing has changed whilst owning it - playing superstrats tends to force me into "Vai wannabe mode", which always gets boring quickly.

Only thing I wish it had...I dunno. A graphite nut would be nice, but I've had no gripes with the current nut after a bit of lubrication. Its great because I've always wanted a Les-Paul style guitar, but never liked Gibson LP's because they're the heaviest, most uncomfortable (and overpriced!) things I've ever played. This guitar is remarkably light, and the bellycut is a godsend as I like my guitars higher up than most.

Honeyburst, 4 knobs. Japan made Les Paul style (lighter, body not fat). Mahogany body n rosewood fretboard. Sperzel Locking tuners. Nice ESP case. S.Duncans pups JB/59, single coil push/pull knob.
Flawless finish, and nice binding. the color, the natural sound, very playable neck.

My music syle: almost everything. so can't relly on just one kind of guitar.
This one is awesome sounding on distorted to clean. the pickups respond very nicely to way you eq the amp, including the appropiate ammount level of pre n power tubes.
you can sound strato like (single coil feature). it's not really a strato, but it's important cause you have another tone to play.
y play mostry tube amps. JCM 900, JCM 2000, Bassman 67, Bandmaster 68, n JC-120..... So imagine the pallette of sounds y can get.
Can metal-rock easily n go to jazz or super clean tones

came with a buzzi set up, soonly fixed.
tuning problem, had to change tuners. Installed Kluson Vintage deluxe. Problem sold, now holds heavy bending without detuning.
Level of pickups i choose it my self, so here i don't consider a flaw.
Finish is flawless, with a perfect binding. Electronics are perfect.

The tuners should not be a problem in this price-range guitars, so lowers my rating. With the new tuners this axe is really perfect, it's a no detail player for gigging or recording

very reliable for live playing. Always change my strap buttons for safety

I live far away from a costumer support

14 years playing. Own various guitars, Fende Strato, G&L LEgacy n ASAT, Gib Les Paul n Flying V.
Its a nice, and roun sounding guitar. covers lots of sound between a lighter Les Paul n something "single-coil" sound

Would buy it again if stolen.

I own the Vintage Black model. This guitar is a real pro model. You can tell when you play it unplugged. Very solid and the ebony fretboard plays smooth and quick.

I play in a cover band so it does the job for sure. I keep wondering what it would sound like if it had a good set of passive pickups like duncans or something, as the EMG's although are great, they have a very distinguished sound.

The only flaw in workmanship I found was a wee bit of space between inlays and wood on neck on some frets. This was of coarse filled with glue so you do not feel them.

Seems like a workhorse. I have used it 6 months now and it looks as good today as it did when I bought it.

I have been playing over 25 yrs. This is my best guitar to date. The best Les Paul I ever owned was a Studio, and this guitar is better IMO. I was never one to spend $3000 for a guitar, so when I saw a guitar of this quality for the low price It was a no brainer. I owned the ESP EC-1000 first, and as soon as I tried this model, that one was sold. It was a really good guitar, but surely not as good as this one.

Perfect Finish. I've choosen the honey color - fantastic.
It is the 3 knob US version (European has 4 controlers).
The tone control (3rd knob) I've modified to a push/pull control splitting the Picups (single coil or humbucker). Picups by Seymore Duncan (H/H, S/S), passive. Super allrounder now.

Awesome. Well, I'm playn since 6 Years and after some advantures with various strings and finally I cast away to Adario Chrome 10th. Flatwounded. Ok, is not the super duper rock number - but I love it. And with my Eclipse II it works fine. Through a Zoom g9.2tt directly pluged to the PA, the sound is perfect for all kind of rock, hard'n heavy, clean, vintage and so on. Great sound. With my Fame Duo 2x12 (50W) and a Hughes & Kettner Warp pedal it mutated to the monster what it is.

All fine.

All my ESPs and LTDs have some kind of crashs with some more or less defects especially at the woods. However, I gues its just normal in the head of battle.

This is my guitar! And all the others . . .

THIS IS A REVIEW FOR THE EUROPEAN MODEL (4 knobs)

COLOR : Dark Brown Sunburst
BODY : Mahogany with White Binding / Quilted Maple Top
NECK : Mahogany with White Binding
FINGER BOARD : Rosewood
CONSTRUCTION : Set-neck
SCALE : 24.75"
TUNERS : Sperzel Locking Tuner
BRIDGE : Tune-matic
HARDWARE COLOR : Chrome
FRET : 22 / XJ
NECK PICKUP : EMG81
FRONT PICKUP : EMG81
CONTOROL : 2 Volume , 2 Tone, 3way toggle switch

As you can see, theres a lot of good hardware used in this guitar. It's not the top end, but it's fair for this price.

First of all, I'm playing a lot off styles, except pop, country, trash/death and sorts of that.
At the moment, I'm improving my blues skills. I've searched a guitar that delivers a good rock tone; more the rougher, warmer tone which can be overdrived easily from my H&K tube amp. So to the guitar: Starting with the best one, the neck humbucker is useable for the discribed tone. It's not perfect for it, because it isn't very balanced, I've missed some mids. I've expected this tone more from the bridge pickup. In the middle position, the sound goes more into the treble area. Now it's more balanced, but it doesn't represent the character of the wood the guitar's made off. Considering this, the pickups don't bring out the warmth and the balanced tone of mahagony. Ending with the worst, the bridge pickup is horrible. If you use it with high gain, you get a screaming, trebly tone, if you use it clean, there is some feeling of an "old radio" sound, missing all bass frequences. As I mentioned it, the choice of the pickups was made really bad, because they don't fit to this guitar. Perhaps an 85 in the bridge and an 60A in the neck would do this guitar justice.

The set-up wasn't bad, but the low E and A strings were humming a bit. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a screwdriver.
Now to the finish: My first impression os this guitar was astonishing. The look is really beautiful and elegant. Because of the 24,75" length, it can be handled very easy, but it narrows a bit the playability in the high frets (there going to be very small!). I've normal to small hands, the neck feels good and "full" (you know what you got).
The bad news: After playing and inspecting the quality, I've discovered that the neck is made poorly. The ESP sign in the 12th fret is already falling out the neck, so you can see the wood behind it! The flags are cut off bad, so there is some space between the flag inlay and the wood, which is filled with glue. Frets are all oxidated (I've purchased it new!). Around the frets, you can see that they used too much glue, because the wood is shine and dark in this areas. All 4 knobs are really poor; they toddle when you turn them and they are made very unsymmetric.
All in all, it's a joke for this money.

Can't judge, because I've used it only 1 hour.

After being shocked about the guitar, I've mailed ESP. They answered 1 day later and said, that I should send the guitar to them (Japan) via UPS, though they know that I'm from Germany!

Worse quality than my 300 Euro, four year old Yamaha Pacifica 312II. Unuseful soundspectrum. I'm playing guitar for 14 years now, and I'm really disappointed from ESP and this guitar. I sent it the shop (Thomann). What a hunk of Junk (sorry for this hard words, but you get what you give).

Made in Japan, 2005/6.
Has 22 frets.. excelent access and finish.
A BEUTIFUL quilted maple top
Has 2 EMG's 81 (active) HH, seperate volume/tone for both.
Mahogany Neck and body.
Has the see-thru black cherry finish
It's a Les Paul shape (other than the shape I think it's more like an SG, thinner body etc.)
Has a Stop tailpiece
Sperzel USA tuners
A thin neck (not ibanez thin though) with extra jumbo frets.
Came with a case

It fitsh almost all styles of course specially metal
I'm running it through a mesa/boogie triple rectifier
not noisy at all

the action was quite low and buzzed alot but that wasn't hard to fix
the pickups were adjusted fine
now flaws at all every little detail was perfect

i think it will hold up well playing live
the hardware looks very promising
the finish i PERFECT
strap buttons were fine but i switched them out for strap locks
i would never gig without a backup

never dealt with them

I have been playing about 20 years
If it were stolen i would defenetly cry, but still try something new
I love everything

This is a 2005 ESP Eclipse in Vintage Black (with aged binding) matte black finish (looks great) made in Japan. Solid Mahogany / Ebony Fretboard (highly polished ebony)Locking Sperzels, very vintage looking. EMG 81/60 active combo-- Gotoh bridge....very fine hardware! all the best! Standard Les Paul shape with a very nice curved back(like it was made to fit me) I had to puchase a hardshell at the time of ordering so they could ship it to me in one. Came with the warranty card and truss rod tool.

I play a hard-rock/metal style (raunchy,30 sec. to mars ..etc...)I play the ESP with a Mesa 3ch Triple Recto. and 4x12 Recto Cab. -->BBE sonic max. -->ISP rackmount decimator-->various floor effects. This is a well made guitar for the price.....the sound coming from this thing is top notch -- up to speed with my 04'Les Paul Custom/custom shop(emg's also) This guitar can growl! very nice clean sounds on the EMG 60 neck p/u very good variety. I have really no dislikes with this guitar, all around a very quality buy

This is where ESP shines, 100% on the fit and finish...right on track with Gibson Custom and PRS---really I own/have owned both brands high end models and ESP is right on thier heels. No flaws from the factory...I am very very concerned with quality ...ESP meets my person high demands. Set-up once again was top notch.

This may sound strange but after playing my Les Paul Custom this ESP feels like a plastic guitar! I will throw some strap locks on and it should be a real player. Very dependable so far.

I ordered this piece in Jan. 05 and recieved it in Nov.05 I lowered the rating because it takes 11 months to get one!

THis is a bang for the buck all the way...try out ESP ...they are top notch.