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ESP
Eclipse II Standard Guitar Reviewer: Phil Para Distributor: Central Musical Instruments |
I have been given a beautiful looking guitar to review this month — an ESP Eclipse II Standard. It has a mahogany body with a quilted maple top and the colour; black cherry. The guitar is Les Paul shaped with some slightly different contours that enhance the look.
The set neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard that has 22 jumbo frets, which are precisely tapered and seated very neatly into the white binding.
Adding more to the aesthetics of the guitar are the immaculate inlays which are pearloid flags with ESP etched into the 12th fret. The neck has a great feel and access to the 22nd fret is easy due to a well contoured cutaway.
The black headstock with thin white binding retains the ESP flag shaped logo. It has three sperzel locking tuners a side which I found to keep the guitar in tune very well. The nut is cut well and although I would prefer to see a graphite nut this one didn’t seem to create any hookups. The truss rod adjustment cover which is in the headstock is also black.
The Eclipse II Standard has dual, EMG 81 Humbuckers that make the guitar active. It has a Tunamatic bridge with a stop tailpiece, 2 volume controls, 2 tone controls and a three way toggle switch. All hardware is black.
A glance inside the electronics cavity revealed very neat wiring which is foam covered creating a snug fit for the also foam covered battery.
I played this guitar through quite a range of different amps and effects and found it very enjoyable to play. The pickups are noiseless and the harmonics are very smooth and consistent.
Firstly, I played the guitar through a 100w JMP Marshall Head and Quadbox loaded with Celestions and a TS9 Tubescreamer and then I gave it a workout through an old Fender Twin Reverb with a variety of other effects pedals including a Fuzzface distortion and a Dunlop Rotovibe. In each instance I found it easily produced rich and deep tonal qualities. In fact general playability was also excellent
I believe it is a good choice for ESP to have selected EMG 81s as they have a high output of 1.25 RMS and are very reliable and efficient. The bridge pickup literally screams with heaps of sustain when playing single note solos and by backing off the volume control the tone cleans up very nicely. I find the EMGs to be very controllable. This is one important factor that makes the Eclipse II such a diverse instrument. I think this guitar would suit most guitarists and translate a very broad range of styles. EMG pickups have always been favourable with me and I already use them in several different applications, I have them in an old Maton that I use for slide guitar, also in an Ibanez and for Strats that I have used as both rhythm and lead guitars.
The neck pickup produces a really nice, fat rhythm tone that was still articulate. I played a variety of styles in this position, and was impressed by the versatility of the guitar. I enjoyed the fact that as the pickups are matched the output levels don’t diminish making it easy if you choose to play solos with the front pickup as well and all points in between.
With the toggle switch in the middle position; engaging both pickups, I was really happy with the warm throaty tones that the guitar produced. I think this is an ideal setting for rhythm.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the guitar seems somewhat lighter than a Les Paul and has a nice balance. The colour, finishes and contours of the body give it a stylized look and the overall workmanship is of a high standard. These things combined with its excellent playability make it stand out as a truly professional instrument.
The retail price of $3595 may be a little high for some but you are getting a very high quality guitar which will endure as well as those guitars in the higher end of the Les Paul market.
QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
BANG-F0R-YOUR-BUCK
OVERALL
