ESP Eclipse

This was an Eclipse I CTM Paul Landers sig. Satin black finish, Gotoh hardware in chrome, EMG 60/81, Tune-o-matic, ebony fretboard, jumbo frets...

2007 model made in Japan of course. This is the eclipse I which has 2 tone and 2 volume controls.

Not a bad sound, if this is your thing. I never tried EMGs before, and now I know that I don't like their stale sound one bit. Other like them a lot. I suppose it could be good for jazz as well, because of the tonal characteristics making it good for chords, but this is mainly and only for metal. I play everything, metal included, and need something more dynamic. The ebony board at least brightens the sound a bit. I'm giving it a 7 because of the EMGs...with passives, maybe an 8.

Here's the dealbreaker. This is a good guitar, it is a high mid-range guitar, but do not confuse this with a high-end guitar, it is not. The action, compared to low and mid-range guitars, is good. I thought it was great. Then I bought a PRS. No matter what I did I could never get an action similar to the ones I could effortlessly get with the PRS. So I sold it.

It is very durable, pay attention to the batteries though and it is also a bit of a pain in the ass to remember to have to unplug it everytime you finish playing. I'll never go active again. The finish was the best thing about it, the satin smoothness makes the neck nice and fast. Strap buttons (again after comparison with PRS) are not good enough, you need to get strap locks. But it is overall a good guitar.

I've been playing for over half my life (almost 30 now). Have owned or had in my posession at various times Fenders, a Jackson, G&L (will never own a Gibson, don't like that company, it is a personal thing)...and currently own only 3 PRS. If it had been stolen I wouldnt have bought another but Id have been pissed because I wouldnt have been able to sell it, which is what I ended up doing. I bought this a bit on a whim, I loved the aesthetics...it really is a cool-looking guitar...but I had had very limited experience with EMGs before, and as time went by I started disliking them more and more especially compared to my other stuff.

I liked the finish and styling most. Disliked the sound and playability (as I said, this is relative). And since I play my guitars, not use them for decoration, this one had to go. Maybe I would have given it more time, swapped the pups to BKP or somehting, if I had the passive version (but the passive version doesn't have the satin finish...) Who knows. All I know is that compared to low-midrange guitars, this is good. WHich is normal considering it is priced above them. But this is not a top-level guitar. If you want that, talk to mister P.R. Smith.

There are so many variations of the ESP Eclipse, it can be both fun and frustrating to discuss them. From my research, my Eclipse was made sometime between 1986 and 1999 (that's a pretty big window in my opinion). It is made in Japan, with the circular "ESP Custom Guitars" logo on the rear of the peghead. It's the "older" version of the Eclipse with a 24.75 short scale 22 fret bolt on maple neck with rosewood board, dot markers, neck and headstock binding. The headstock has the ESP "script" logo and the Eclipse model name, black tuners marked "Made in Japan" with "pearl" turners. The body is solid mahogany in a les paul style but with modern contours. The treble horn is severly scooped both front and rear, the heel is scouplted, and the body edges beveled. Two volumes one tone and a 3-way toggle control two EMG active humbuckers (single 9 volt battery housed loose in the rear cavity). A locking original Floyd Rose and a transparent purple finish round out the features. Form fitted ESP hardshell case included.

My music style is rock, from classic to modern. Beatles to Black Flag; Grateful Dead to Green Day. I run a variety of guitars to a Marshall JMC900 100w through a Boss TU2, a Crybaby, a Boss flanger, and sometimes an Ibanez Tubescreamer, Boss OD2 and/or HM2. The sound of my ESP Eclipse is signature EMG + mahogany, which has become a distict modern classic set up heard on many recoridings and stages. EMGs are noiseless, on the bright and sterile side, but that is balanced somewhat by the warmth of mahogany.

This is my 4th ESP guitar, and all of them are excellent quality. I have never found a flaw or had any problems with the construction or components of an ESP. The action on my Eclipse is the lower than any guitar I've ever played. The finish is called transparent purple, but to me it looks almost brown. In fact, when I bought the guitar (ebay) by the photos I thought it was natural mahogany. It doesn't look "purple" to me, it's more like a deep wine colored stain over mahogany.

I think ESP makes professional, high quality guitars. I expect the respectable brand name componets like Floyd Rose and EMG to perform well and last a long time. The finish is durable, this guitar has not been babied and has some scratches and dings but I'd say the finish is quite tough. Always use straplocks - I like DiMarzio locking strap systems on all my guitars. never gig without a backup if possible.

never dealt with ESP, never had to

I've been playing guitar more than 25 years and a performing musican more than 30 years. I've owned A LOT of guitars from many brands. In my opinion, ESP are among the best. I've had Fender, Gibson, Jackson, Peavey, Martin, Ovation, Ibanez, Hamer, Aria Pro, Kramer and others I'm sure I'm forgetting, and my ESPs are the ones I play the most and have held on to. I got my Eclipse because I wanted a les paul style guitar, but there were a lot of things about Les Paul guitars I didn't like such as painted necks, hardtails, awkward heels, and Gibson spotty quality. I held off on owning a paul for a long time because I never found one that I liked enough to buy, until I saw this Eclipse. The contoured bolt on heel, maple neck, Floyd Rose, and radical body curves made me fall for this one. If it were a 25.5 scale it would be eveything I'd custom order in this style of guitar.

Features are covered pretty well here already.. mines 2005 made in japan so it has the 2 volume 2 tone with emg 81 bridge and emg 60 neck pickups.. sperzel tuners ..i think its weird that the ltd (cheaper korean model ) gets tone pros bridge and stop bar and you pay more for esp and only get gotoh ?? still it its ok gear but a point is coming off for that.. No battery holder on a factory emg guitar..there goes another point.One big plus however is the cutaway in the back ..so much more comfortable and balanced than a Les Paul style body. The shape of the neck is perfect for me..nice ebony board to.

My music style varies a bit it and this guitar can be more versatile than some people give it credit for.. using a good (VHT) amp and your volume control you can traverse alot off "styles" pretty well for an emg loaded axe.. its made to excel at rock/metal so its excellent for that.. i will be changing the 60 to a 60a or 89 for better imo blues tones but thats just what im after.. this guitar does seem slightly duller/darker than any other emg guitar ive had but it does sound very good overall and still has very good sustain seeing as its thinner and lighter than any paul ive had.

Ok heres were im not overly impressed but keep in mind i bought this second hand.. this guitar has supposed to already had a high fret levelled by the guy who bought it new.. the fret work is "pretty average" and the top frets(say 17 to 22) all need to be shaved down and a complete fret dress done.. also the finish is pretty shabby for the price.. there are small flaws in the binding and flaws in the paint work (mines gloss black so 1 especially is pretty noticable) these are factory and this is not a second.. not good enough for a guitar in this price range! The actual woodwork / hardware install however is pretty good allround.make it 6.5

Im not expecting any problems.. hardware pickups etc all good quality.. finsh is durable ( more so than the vintage black ive heard) .. straplocks fitted. Spare battery kept in the case always... no probs.

dont know...

ok ive been playin for around 20 years and been through heaps of guitars 90% of which have been Les paul style and this shape is excellent ..its for me.. i love the shape full stop.. it feels great..its a number 1 guitar.. if it was stolen i would replace it.. iwill be using these guitars for awhile i think.. and they do have a good name so maybe there just a bit inconsistent.. play before you pay and youve got no probs! great rock/metal axe

Mine is a brand new vintage honey burst Eclipse I ( the one with 4 knobs, just like the Gibson LP )with passive Seymour Duncans (SH4 and JB). As usual for these ESPs it has a push/push poti so you can easily switch to single coil mode. The guitar is completely build from mahagony. Excellent sounding piece of wood, beautifully looking and a perfect finish. This guitar has curves...you won't believe... It looks pretty vintage, but has all those modern features like for example the Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Sperzel locking tuners, push/push function...The guitar came with a very robust ESP original case where the inlet was shaped in Paula Style. Very professionel and safe if you are touring a lot.

My intention was to find a good alternative to my 62 Custom Strat. I wanted to be able to play all this Gary Moore, Peter Green, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Thin Lizzy stuff with a a Les Paul. I needed more drive and a more "warm" tone. So I checked tons of Gibsons and Epiphones and other Paulas. ESP was not on my bill so far, but then I entered Beyer's Musikladen in Bochum, Germany, right before a Joe Bonamassa concert. I immediately fell in love with the looks of my guitar, but looks is not everything. When I plugged it in and played it I heard exactly the sound I had in mind. The sound is warm, bright and well defined -this guitar really lives! It reacts to each change, toggle switch, volume poti, finger style and so on. So you have a huge variety of possibilities.
It has a cool vintage vibe and feel but fits easily all modern and old styles. I play a lot of blues and rock. If I was a metalhead I could get all cool sounds, too from this guitar. Brillant harmonics, no dead spots and the push/push function gives you even strat-like sounds. This is very helpful, if you do not want to change the guitar during a set. I use this option when playing funky stuff.

The factory setting was perfect. My dealer had to adjust the guitar, because I play heavier strings and tune down one half step. After two weeks the neck bend a little, but after a second adjusting, which is very normal if you change the gauge and tuning, everything was 100% again. No tuning problems. You play and it constantly stays in tune.
The neck plays great. Fast licks - no problem. The overall feel was so familiar that I did not even needed time to get used to it. I play pretty high string action - the factory setting was pretty flat ( not my cup of tea ). The neck is medium sized, but it fits my hand very good, as I have smaller hands.

Well built and solid as a rock! You can depend on this guitar, because it will stand any situation.

I have dealt with ESP before as I also have a Custom Mirage made in 1993. The contact was always very kind.

But this is long ago, so I can not judge how it is today.

I have been playing for 15 years and for my requirements this is "THE" guitar besides my strat. I mean it is a perfect addition and gives me a new variety in sounds. I have no reason to go and look for another Les Paul. It contains everything I wanted from a Les Paul. It looks also great. Since 1999 I have been playing line 6 Flextones and with my new Flextone III it results in a nice mixture. I would say that at least I took one further step to my holy grail of sound with this guitar. The value you get for this money is fantastic. You can truly feel that this guitar is not a Paula copy. The features and quality demonstrate that there is a very logical concept behind this inmstrument. It is a lot of fun to play this guitar and if it were stolen I would definitely buy one again.

Quilt top, basicwlly a Les Paul copy.

The pichups sound like total mud. I heard that most people change these but I am so unsatisfied with the guitar that I'm not going to bother changing them.

Inlays are done very poorly. I can feel them on the higher frets.
I have messed with the action and adjustments for a while and still can't get it to play well.

I wouldn't trust it. I don't feel comfortable witht this guitar. I think that it's built for a beginner.

haven't dealt with them.

20 year of guitar playing, two PRS, Victoria amp multi Vintage Strats. I wish that I had played this guitar more before my send back period was up. I will be placing this on ebay today. I have tried ESP back in the 80's and they made great guitars. I feel that the company may be slipping these days. I went to my local shop and played a few more ESP or LTD whatever they call themselves now and all of them felt like beginner guitars.

It's a 1997 Eclipse "standard" MIJ
22 frets
Solid ONE PIECE (sweet) Mahogany body
Bolt-on Quartersawn Maple neck with rosewood FB, abalone fret markers
Two Humbucks, two volumes, one tone
Gotoh Hardware
Thin, fast neck

I changed the stock pickups for JB/59 combo, and I love the tone. The stock pu's are really nice though, but they're too vintage sounding for metal.

I played it straight thru a Mesa Single Rec, a Line6 Spider, or a Peavey Classic 50. And this guitar does it all really well.

I got it used and it's kind of beat up, so I can't really vouch for the factory finish. But the guitar is built like a brick ****house! It stays intune really well, and the binding really made the neck ultra smooth.

This is my main guitar, I used and abused it, it really could take a beating.

I would never gig without a backup.

Never dealt.

What can I tell you? It's my main guitar, love how it sounds, love how it plays. And I got it really cheap.

This is a follow up review, so please refer to my original(Thomas LeSaux) review for features, sound, etc

After a few months using this guitar onstage, my GF bought me a new ESP Eclipse II standard (sweet girl, I <3 U Melissa!,review coming soon), so I decided to retire the old eclipse, it is pretty beat up because I "wrestle" with my guitars. After a few weeks inside the case, I decided to restore my guitar to original specs. So I contacted the Tech support thru e-mail abd then by phone. Boy was they helpful!

They fill me in on the original specs, exact wiring specs, the type of paints they used, etc. They were very friendly. And I could tell that they are really passionate about their job.

The reason I gave them 9 instead of ten is that they don't sell ESP parts, that kinda sucked! But they made it up by telling you the aftermarket parts that could substitute them. They even went as far as suggesting what kind of pickups would sound like the original ESPs.

For those of you who need anykind of help with your ESP I would strongly suggest you contacting them, they really heled alot!

It's a 2000 made in Japan. Has 24 jumbo frets laminated top with two vol and a tone knob. Has double active EMG-81's neck and bridge which are amazingly clean and loud. Rosewood neck and mahogany body (or maple, I'm not sure). See through purple finish, very pretty. Wood grains are not very visible without direct lighting. Les Paul shape body, tune-o-matic. Neck is not very fat and not very thin... just fits perfectly.

It's been made for rock. It's very clean and very loud with rich sound, built for soloing but fits rhythm just fine. I'll be happier to have EMG-85 in neck and I'll have it in a few months.
I'm using a 40W Crate now (remember I live in a townhome). Loud enough for my place and a Digitech RPx400. I love the setup.
Guitar is very responsive and very unforgiving speacially if you play clean, any unwanted string touch is noticable. I absolulety love it even though I miss the right strings.

I've purchased it used, but when I put on the new sets of 0.09 strings I noticed that the action is very low, so low that you can't virtually see the gap between high E string and the fretboard. No buzz except on higher frets of low E string that I took care of it with tune-o-matic bridge.
Pickups are very close to strings (EMG recommended). It had no flaws whatsoever when I got it. Previous owner had taken great care of the guitar (his review is here too).
Came with modified pickup wiring, the way that you could not switch to neck pickup alone. Either bridge or both pickups. Had to rewire it but it wasn't a bid deal.

This guitar stays tune. Took it a few days to adopt to my house temp/humidity. Guitar is my hobby so I don't know if you ever want to risk going on stage without a backup. I won't if I ever decide to do it no matter what guitar I play. It'll be excellent enough for years to come. It's a well built rock machine. Strap buttons are real solid and tight. Very dependable guitar.

Dunno yet.

I've been playing Jazz for 5 years. Been on the road for 7 years, now I'm back at playing. Wanted to freshly start with a good guitar and I think that I was right picking this axe.
I reviewed my options before I bought this guitar for two months. Now I have no regrets. I'd buy ESP again no matter what. I love the sound and action, but I wish wood grains were a little more obvious on the body.

1999 Japanese (original) ESP
22 Frets
Mahogany Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard
Two Volume, One Tone, One Neck/Bridge pu switch
Dark Maroon finish
EMG PUs not exactly sure whether Two 81s or 81/85, later changed to Alnicos (Gibson)
Tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece
ESP hardware (stamped Made in Japan)

Basically all you need

Played with Ibanez solidstate 100 watts head & Hot rodded JCM 800, straight up with no FXs except reverb.

With EMG PUs:
Very tight, clean sound, metallica-esque tight bottom end, boosted mids and soaring, soaring high. Absolutely, unbelieveably noiseless. Definately the pu for lead guitarist, which I'm not.

With Alnicos:
I don't know what the name of the Gibson PUs, it was taken off an SG with a snapped neck, but my guitar tech said it sounded like Alnicos. The reason why I change th PUs is that My lead gutarist is a "shredder" kinda guy using EMG 81s, when I use the EMGs with him, the band sounded too brittle. So I decided to get PUs with warmer, fatter/bassier sound so he (lead) can really cut thru the mix.

There is a reason god created Mahogany trees, it's to be played with humbucker pickups. It sounded like a dream, power chords are more ...um.. powerful, harmonics shines, effortless pinch harmonics.


Anyway, you can't go wrong with both choice.
EMG: Lead playing, scooped mids, noiseless, clear highs
passive: Warm, full, rhythm sound

I have a guitar tech set up my guitar, so I can't really tell

ROCK SOLIDDD!!!
Dropped it numerous time, never went out of tune, intonation didn't change at all

I never gig w/o backup

Never called ESP, I think they're in Japan, so the phone bill should be up the roof.

Great solid guitar, I heard ESP has discontinued this model and replace it with a ridiculously priced ESP custom/standard. If you see it anywhere grab it!! Or give me an e-mail so I can get a backup guitar.

It's a 1999/2000 Japanese ESP (FYI, ESP is a japanese company, so it's not a "cheaper" model i.e. korean epiphone).
22 jumbo frets
Les Paul Special style Mahogany body, thin/fast maple neck, rosewood fingerboard
Deep "transparent" Wine Red, abalone inlay, chrome hardware
standart Japanese tuners
Stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge
Bolt On neck
Comes standard with two EMG 81s, later switch the neck with 85
Two Vol pots, one tone, three way switch
Nothing special, but you can tell that it is put together very carefully (expected of ESPs)

ESP is well known to cater to the Metal/Hard Rock and this guitar complies to that.
Really, really good when heavily overdriven, and I'm not saying some muddy, bassy crap that other pick-up can produce when some nu-metal kid turn up the bass and kill the treble. I'm talking about clear harmonics, full bright lead even with full distortion.
AND NO NOISE, NO NOISE AT ALL.
Downside: A bit too sterile when played clean, the active pre-amp really killed all the hums/noise.
My Solution: Use a good stomp box in the loop (BOSS DS-1 or whatever you use) and turn the distortion level all the way down. That should give more "meat" for the clean tone.

Action was low and no buzz. The pickups are very close to the string (EMG's suggestion).

Finish is very dark/deep, you have to be really close to the guitar to see the wood grain. The guitar was quite scratched up when I recieved it. I had a professional luthier to sand down the finish and reapply a clear coat. Now it looks like a "faded" Gibson SG. The paint was very thick and strong.

Very, very tough. Dropped it once when I was playing at a dive bar once and some a**hole was spilling (more like spraying) his drink to the stage. Just need some cleaning and it's ready to go.

I would never gig without a backup (that's a stupid question), but this is definetely a gig ready guitar outta the box.

Never dealt

I have owned and played about 12-13 guitars at this point and the last 7 was an ESP and I think this will be my main guitar.

If it was stolen I would definetely get another ESP.

See through wine red laminated Les Paul style body. Unless close-up or in good light, you can't see the wood grain. Don't know if it is American made ir Japanese. It's not an LTD. Chrome (nickel) hardware. Pearl tuners say Made in Japan. 24 frets neck with binding. Tune o matic stop tailpiece. 2 EMG 81's. 3 knobs: 1 volume and 2 tone.

I like to play metal, and the guitar sounds terrific. Not as amazing clean as distorted. No noise or hum at all. Only downside for me is that they sound so good, so tight that I sometimes miss the rawer sound of coil pickups.

I LOVE the way it plays. Some guitars just fit. I play this one better than any others I've owned. Had to raise the action a bit to get rid of fret buzz around the 5th fret. That was only on the low E though. Was originally set REALLY low. Still low, with fast easy playing. I love the look of it. No problems I can see. The binding on neck and headstock (not on body) looks sharp. The white ESP logo and pearl tuners set it off well.

The finish is thick and aint goin anywhere without some serious sanding or chemicals. IF I was a gigger (I just play for the love of it at home, like I have for the last 15 years) I would trust this guitar more than any other I've owned. Could be that it's just because its the only one I've owned that doesn't have a tremolo to put the strings out of whack, but it's solid. Drop down to D, back to E - no problems.

Never dealt with them. Strange, since I have 3 ESPs. I guess thats a testament to the company in itself.

Been playing for 16 years or so. I have a Yamaha accoustic. ESP M2 I took apart repainted and upgraded (Duncan Hotrails and Bill Lawrence L500). An LTD I put together with different eBay purchases (Duncan 59 and BL L500 - the Nuno setup - sounds GREAT). A Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet. Used to have a Kramer Focus 1000. Looking to get a Les Paul Standard. If I lost it (and that would be hard since it never leaves the house.... I do though) I would definitly look to replace it with another Eclipse or even their Viper which seems to be all the same, but with a killer looking SG-type body. I am a player who likes a fat distortion sound, and is not a speedster on the fretboard. I.E.-no more tremolos for me. I try add spice to the playing with bending and vibrato. When I play my other guitars I never use the bar anyway, so why not use something that keeps its tune better, and not deal with allen wrenches. The best part about it is that I got it off eBay, and to buy a guitar you've never touched that turns out to be just right was a stroke of good luck.

Born In 2000. Made in Japan. 22 frets, controls LP 2 vol, 2 tone and 3 way switch h/h passive humbuckers. beautiful mahogany body bolt maple neck bound rosewood fret board with medium frets. Tune o matic bridge. 24 3/4" neck scale slim taper kind of feel. Gotoh tuners.

This guitar when I first bought it kida pissed me off. Let me just say the esp pickupsreally were terrible. They were muddy in the bottom and harsh in the highs. I replaced the picups 6 diffrent times till I found somthing that worked. EMG's( I hated emg's but hey they worked)After that it totally kicked ass. Tight low end punchy mids cutting highs. This guitar loves high gain situations and sustains like a violin. I play it through A triaxis and 2:90. Clean tones in the bridge position are honky and percussive, the neck sounds hollow almost jazzy. I totally recomend emgs because one set of emgs sounds like another, duncans and dimarzios even if they are the same model can sound dramatically diffrent. This guitar sounded weak when I first bought but after the pickup swap it slayed ass and has become my main guitar.

The factory set up was good almost too low no buzz or dead spots. It was set up with 9's which is cool if you tune to e. I use 10-52's so I had it set up and intonated to play in c. Fret work was great required no finishing or filing. It came with a see through green finish on its 2 pc. mahogany body, great looking wood no ugly spots and quite heavy.it has a beefytune o mattic bridge which i replaced the stock saddles with the graphite ones, no more busted a strings!

I ve toured and beat this guitar to hell,it loves it. This guitar stays in tune and is not really climate sensitive, cold hot humid no problems.(did i mention I hate gibsons for this fact).I put dunlop sraplocks on it because I like to catch air off the drum riser and launch off monitors when I play live.They havent sripped out the body yet. I always have backup guitars,( black esp eclipse, and dark cherry esp viper) but rarley have technical diffuclties.change your damn strings!!

Esp sucks as far as customer support goes. Need a part.Fogeddaboudit!! I tred to get a new set of esp tuners because I broke one off at a show(damn side fill!!) I could not get anybody to sell them to me..I put some grovers on it and actuallyliked them better than the gotohs...

I've been playing for 14 years and own5 ESP's Gibson 91 LP standard and a 76 sg. If The above esp was stolen Id be screwed because they dont make them anymore, I'd be on ebay looking for a replacement. I love this guitar because IT STAYS IN TUNE!! Even when you throw a beatin on it.. Ive been a esp nut because all my favorite players were playing them and they had bad ass tone. I ordered this guitar from my buddy at mars because I wanted an esp wthout a floyd.At the time I had an MII delux and a horizon both had floyds. I eventually bought another eclipse and a viper the offset sg body. Its a real shame they do not make theses guitars anymore they totally kick ass and didnt cost 2 grand. LTD esp's are not real esp's, the same company that makes schecter diamond series makes Ltd's...Damn you Sammick!You can get real esp's through the custom shop but at around $3,500 you better have some KY handy..

This is the original "The Eclipse" Telecaster style body, not todays Les Paul style Eclipse.

1980's I believe, made in Japan back when ESP was great. 24 fret one peice killing machine. Carved top Tele body with 2 emg 81's, 1 volume, 1 tone, ESP Floyd Rose Trem. Rosewood fretboard, Jumbo frets.

This is my only guitar with EMG's, the 81's are very nice and well rounded, makes me play better since mistakes are more noticable. Very bright, I play through a Mesa Boogie DC-5 head and Genz Benz G-flex 2x12

Beautiful guitar, Lowest action I've ever seen or played and no buzzing

Guitar is over 10 years old and still great to mint condition

ESP sucks, no help, no info, especially on the older model guitars

I own alot, these early ESP from 80's are jackpots, half the price of guitars today and far, far better.

This is a beautiful 97' made in japan Esp eclipse standard.
It came with 2 esp humbuckers. The neck one was a coil tap.
I replaced them with an emg 89 in the neck and 81 in the bridge (no i'm not a metallica fan).
It has maple neck with a rosewood fretboard
mahogany body, see-thru purple finish
mother of pearl tuners, inlay, and esp logo
24 jumbo frets
2 volume and 1 tone contol
this guitars versatility is amazing

I love this guitar. If it got stolen i'd cry for weeks and then buy another one. I've never played a guitar that i like more than this.
The stock pickups are great, but they don't do the guitar justice.
The stock bridge humbucker is a little too mellow for me so i put an emg 81 in it. It sounds absolutly amazing now. I play alot of swedish metal ala in flames (old and new), dark tranquillity, etc. and alot of older american and euro thrash like old slayer, old metallica, old anthrax, accept, death, possessd, destruction, etc. This guitar can posses the heaviest metal tone, but then switch to the neck pup and you got a fat les paul sound suitable for rock/blues stuff. The stock neck pick up is great. when you pull the coil tap and make it a single coil, you can get the greatest clean tones. bright, crisp, clear cleans. Turn down the tone knob a bit, and you get a nice dark, fat jazzy tone. Then i put and emg 89 in, and it made the same tones, but better!
all and all, this guitar is extremely versital and can be used for any style you want.

Absolutly amazing playability.
When ever i strap mine on, its like the guitar was built for me. It had to have been! the serial number is my birthdate!
the body is contoured so nicly. It makes the guitar so comfortable to play.
Its like the feeling you get when you haven't seen your girlfriend in like a week, and you finally see her and give her a big hug and feel so happy that shes back in your arms. IT FEELS THAT GOOD EVERYTIME YOU PICK IT UP!!!

it takes a pretty hard whack on something to scratch most esp finishes. This one is no exception. Rock solid.

i've never tried contacting esp for anything.

This is the best guitar ever IMO.

`99 ESP MIJ Eclipse in wonderful see-thru-purple. I always wanted a real ESP since I can think - dammit, f**king Jaymz! this is not a crappy LTD version - and since ESP builds only LTD by now (and overrated Custom Shop ESP), this honey should be somewhen rare.
Has everything a guitar should have. No f***ing floyd rose trem, it sux anyway. Stop tailpiece. Killer tone. Wonderful action. nice weight, compared to Gibson LP's. Bound neck (rulez!) & head, chrome hardware. gotoh tunerz, suit perfectly. simply: a perfect guitar.

killer. period.

action on this "axe" ist the best I have ever played, or seen. It suits my style perfectly. Even the E-string tuned down to C makes absolutely no trouble, even with .10's! No joke!
PU's are awesome - the only problem is the chrome cover, which _always_ makes trouble nat higain & volume, no matter what guitar (who invented that s**t anyway?). so, I think of taking them down or maybe change to schaller golden '50 - the very best pickup (for the money).
finish is more than awesome. I think the body is made of mahogany (one piece! or perfectly matched two, but it's indistinguishable anyway), since the f**zfrom ESP have taken all information an Standard models from their website.

there is no guitar build to withstand live playing without any problems. I play for 10 years now, and as far as I can tell, you should _never_ gig without a backup. maybe it's only a string that breakes, and everybody knows that winding up a new string is quite awkward on a stage - not to mention the time you spend on that. also, never use the normal strap buttons, if you intend to jump on the stage or do some other "performance". believe me, strap locks are worth every buck you spend on them.
However, this guitar _will_ withstand a lot - equipped with strap locks, of course. countless (light) drops - the finish doesn't have not one dent! the head is similar to gibsons (i.e. bent slightly to the back), so don't be surprised if the head breaks off someday after dropping the guitar down.

well. it's a guitar. why should I expect support from a guitar maker from US or even Japan if I live in Germany?
Anyways, what for? "Excuse me, sir, my guitar neck broke. what should I do? Do I still have some warranty?" - this is stupid. You buy a guitar for playing. You play it. And no guitar is perfectly set up when bought. Either you know how to setup your guitar or you die (or you pay hell-lot-a-money for a guitar technician).

well made website - but the LTD guitars, which are only presented, suck-a-lot. the forum sux 2, thousands of pop-ups are annoying. I get the feeling ESP/LTD guitars are only used by some nu-metal suckerz (except ron wood, ok), who endorse LTD guitars. that's ridiculous.

If one comes across you way, stay away! It's mine! It's my killer!

OK, me stupido. I own a bunch of other guitars & amps, I play a lot of styles. This one suits rock. nothing else to say.

this is a 22 fret guitar with bolt on neck and transparent red finish. At first sight, I thought the guitar to be a tad bit boring looking even though it has a snazy transparent finish. The finish itself is not super high gloss (I can see my pores from the other side of the room) type of finish and it's not the most impressive trans color I've seen. The tansparency is so subtle you have to look twice. the laquer coating is smooth, thick and clean. it will probably last a very long time. My first impression of the guitar reminded me of my first experience with a Gibson SG. The guitar has some weight to it, it's not a super light strat guitar. I'm thinking it's more along the lines of a studio instrument.. It has lots of smooth contours and curves and the metal plate on the back of the guitar which sets the neck is curved and angled to help your hands as you attempt to access the higher regions of the neck. Thats the first time i've seen this.. and it does help a lot. the freboard has binding on the edges which is rare these days for a guitar that it less than $1000. The mother of pearl inlays are perfect. there is none of that ugly filler around the edges which makes up for badly drilled holes. Overall, the guitar is very well designed and engineered and fits into the professional catagory. It came set up and ready to go right out of the box, which is a big plus. My only experince with a high quality instrument was the Ibanez JEM 555 that I purchased a few years back. I paid around $800 for it and it only came in white at the time and the price didn't include a case. With all the hype at the time, I was unhappy from day one. I paid only $300 (including case) for the ESP and got a hell of a deal. It's a professional instrument with a great feel and tone. I'm very happy with it overall.. my feeling is that I'll keep it for a long time. The guitar also came with a les paul style three way pick up selector and it has two humbuckers and a good quality tune-o-matic bridge.

I like everything from Pink Floyd to Rammstein and everything inbetween. I'll experiment with everything from electronica to blues. I find this guitar to lend itself to many styles. I'm not using the guitar live or for gigs.. instead it's being incoporated into my studio style of playing. I pump it through a Line 6 Pod and I'm able to get some very good professional tones. Some people complain that the pickups are not hot enough and don't drive the tone very well.. this may be true, but it's hard for me to say, since I've never really played any kind of thrash metal or grunge.. (though I kidna like it). This isn't really the guitar to do that kind of stuff anway.. I'd probably buy a cheap used strat style guitar full of dings and scratches and drop in some good pickups to do stuff like that. Grunge doesn't require much quality it seems, only talent. this guitar is quality and with the right talent, you can explore many avenues.

the action came from the factory set up very well. a little fret buzz on the upper E string, but it has a tune-o-matic bridge which works.. so it's no prob to raise it a little. The truss rod was set up correctly (right out of the box) and the intonation is fine. The bridge pickup was a little high, but it was easly lowered a little bit. The fretwire on the neck was all set right and correct. Intonation is really good all the way up the neck. the finish contained a couple of tiny little flaws which have not bothered me much. Overall, the instrument is very well made and is a worthwhile instrument. Over the years, I've come to realize that instruments either "have" it or they "dont". this is an instrument which has it. It's musical and you can feel creative with it. The guitar came with a free hardshell flight case which is really super nice. So nice, that I'd want to put it into a box before I took it on an airline. hehe. It's a nice contoured fit and one of the nicest cases I've ever owned. One thing about guitars that I require is proper spacing between the strings. I have small hands and some guitars are just too much for me to handle. I've tended to keep to dinky instruments to help my playing. This guitar is well suited to anyone who had small to medium sized hands. I'm very comfortable with my ability to move from place to place around the neck.

I think this guitar will survive. But I've only had it for about a month so it's hard to judge something like that. If it were a studio guitar only, then I'm sure it could be a life long instrument. I'd gig with it without a back up but I'd probably change the strap buttons.. their just those generic ones you find on a japan strat. The finish seems thick and smooth and solid. I'm sure the finish will last a long time.

no experience with customer support.

I've been playing for 15 years off an on. I've played all kinds of guitars and stopped playing electric for a long time to learn classical guitar. I developed a new love <lust.?> for grunge and alternative styles and wanted a versatile guitar that could handle many styles of playing. And also, i wanted a guitar that wasn't too expensive.. for the price, I got everything I wanted and more. It's an excellent piece of craftmanship. If it were stolen I'd like to have a new one. I'm very happy with it overall.

This guitar is a 98'. It is a les paul style guitar. Translucent blue, 24 frets, 2 ESP lh-200 humbuckers with nickel covers, chrome hardware, pearl dot inlays(ESP inlay on the 12th fret), neck and fretboard binding and 2 volume knobs and one tone knob. It is a non tremlo guitar with a 3 way pickup selector switch. The body of the guitar is made of mahogany,bolt-on quartersawn maple neck with rosewood fingerboard with jumbo frets and maple headstock. The tuners are ESP tuners I guess. They are very nice tuners. The wood finish is very easy to polish. Plus, everything else is easy to polish. ESP strap locks. The guitar came with a very very nice case. It was a hardshell case with a "ESP" logo on the front. Inside the case there was a key to lock it and a truss rod wrench. The case is like the nicest I have ever seen for coming with the guitar. I love the features on this guitar. I have only one minor complaint. The strap locks. They are nicely put in but, they are very small in height so when I play standing up it looks like they will let the strap loose. So I plan to put some dunlop strap locks in. Other than that this guitar is awesome! I give this guitar a 9 because it is not perfect but close for the price. oh ya it comes with a lifetime warranty.

The sound of this guitar is very nice. I use this with mesa amps and cabinets. Which give me a nice rich tone. This guitar sounds very nice clean. Neck and bridge give a variety of clean tones. The neck gives a nice bluesy tone and the bridge gives a bright clean sound. Now for the distortion part of the pickups. I was a little disappointed in them. The bridge was not as hot as I expected. Just average tone. I will probably replace the bridge with a Duncan or another hot pickup. The neck pickup was ok. I will probably not replace the neck pickup because I really don't use it that much. So it would be pointless. The guitar defiantly suits my style. I play hard rock. Not like Kiss or any bands like that. But, like metallica and ozzy stuff. I gave this category a 8 because of the pickups. They really disappointed me. Other than that this guitar can rock with the best of them.

This guitar came with nearly perfect settings. The action was the lowest it can be with out any fret buzzing which I love. The guitar was clean and polished nicely. Tuners were not loose or anything, frets were assembled right, the pickups were at the right height, the guitar contained no flaws at all. At first I was worried the action was too low cause the strings sounded a little weird but after playing it a while I figured out it was the new strings. It came with GHS strings( and I know this cause there was a little card that said it.) Everything was great. I give this section a 10 because these were the best factory settings I personally have had.

I can not really comment on this category. I have only had this about 3 weeks. So far everything is as perfect as I got it. The strap locks like i said before are a little small. But its not a big deal. For using this guitar without a back up, I would never use anything without a backup. But, I would probably end up using it the whole gig. Everything seems like it would last.

I can't give a rating for this one either. I have never dealt with them. The only thing is. I live in Pittsburgh. They are in CA. So it would be expensive to call and ask questions for a while. So wish on their webpage they had someone I could e-mail. But oh well. Their webpage is www.espguitars.com

I have been playing this guitar for about 3 weeks and like I said it is as good as it was 3 weeks ago. I own a ibanez rg, a fender strat and epi acoustic. So, this guitar is the best in my arsenal. I have not touched my other 2 electrics since I got this guitar. If this guitar was stolen, and I was going to spend the same amount of money. Yes I would get this again. But, if I was going to spend a couple hundred more. I would probably get a Paul Reed Smith or a Gibson Standard. What I love about this guitar the most is the true rock sound that it can get. There is not much left I don't like about it that I have not mentioned. I tried other guitars like Gibson Les Paul Studio. Thats a very nice guitar but it didn't have the craftsmanship like this one. I also tried out some washburn guitars. Nothing compared to this one. If you looking for a true metal guitar..this is not for you..if your looking for a country guitar..this is not for you..if your looking for a guitar that has a rich rock tone. This is for you. Finaly, for $875 this guitar was a great find and I glad I got it
P.S. feel free to write to me with any questions you have about this guitar.