LTD Elite

ESP is coming up with a new range of LTD called LTD Elite. (In case you don't know, yes, ESP, LTD, Grassroot, Edwards, they are all by ESP.

Notable features are that these LTD Elite are Japanese. The regular LTDs are made in various places; China for most of the non-deluxe models. Deluxe ones, I believe, are Korean. 

And of course, they have a totally new headstock logo.

They won't be officially introduced until January 2013 though. I am interested in the basses. Since bass and workstation are the next on my To-Buy-List.

Angel anyone?

I've been away from guitars for quite a while. So I decided to visit the shops to update myself with 'Guitar-world Singapore'. And I saw this at Davis.

The art is magnificent, no doubt with that. Is it playable? ESP wouldn't make a non-playable guitar. I'm a bit amazed by how the strings are passed through the angel.. But will it be comfortable playing that? That I don't know but I highly doubt so. I'm just sharing my thoughts. These are more for display than to be played. But would you buy a guitar like this for show?

HIZAKI and TERU's ESP

Hizaki and Teru from The Versailles now has their own signature models.

ESP Maiden (Hizaki's model)

ESP Geki-Tetsu (Teru's model)

Previously, before they get these signature models, Hizaki will usually a Horizon-III while Teru used an Antelope. Both are customised though (e.g. Teru's Antelope features a H-H configuration instead of a H-S and the body is swamp-ash instead of alder).
The Maiden looks like a combination of Horizon-III and the Antelope. The unique feature of Maiden is that the frets are scalloped from 12th fret onwards. The body is made of alder, just like his previous Horizon-III. For Geki-Tetsu, it is basically a 'forested' ESP EX (explorer shape). Apart from shape, other specs remains relatively the same. Ash body, same Seymour Duncan pickups, etc...
If you wish to know more about the Versailles, you can always listen to them in Youtube. Some of you may find the way they are dolled up rather weird. Well, that's visual kei for you.

LTD in ESP's clothing

I was talking with a friend (someone who I have sold one of my pedals to). The good man was telling me to be cautious of scam since he had friends who recently got scammed. So he shared with me one of the stories.

There is a certain guy, who was selling an ESP guitar. I'm not sure if he is on Soft or not. However, the ESP he was selling is actually a LTD. Apparently, he sanded the LTD logo on the headstock and then paint it back black. Then, he got an ESP headstock decal (probably from online like eBay) and pasted it. The decal was of some quality that it could fool anyone. But what he couldn't change about Ltd was its 12th fret. ESP guitars do not have their model names on the 12th fret but just a simple 'ESP' or some doesn't even have that.. For Ltd, if it is a Viper-300, it will be written there.

ESP Viper

ESP VP-L-FR-CTM

LTD Viper-300FM

So he was selling an ESP guitar with the model no. on the 12th fret.

However, he eventually managed to sell it to some gullible guy for S$ 3k. According to my friend, that guy didn't know anything much about Ltd or Esp, so the suspicious 12th fret didn't alarm him at all.
Moral of the story? I think we should make some researches on the guitar we wish to buy first. A few things this guy could have done is to go to the net and check the model of that 'ESP' he was buying. Or he could have gone to Davis, which is an authorised dealer for ESP.

(I think there are a bit of grammar mistakes here and there since i wrote this in a rush. Please help me point out if you've spotted one.)

Resemblance

Take a look at these two guitars.

LTD H-1001FR

Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR

Don't the two of them share the same look? Quilted maple top, Abalone binding, EMG 81/85 and they even share a similar headstock! However, H-1001FR has a neck-binding while Hellraiser C-1 doesn't have one.

Many other ESP such as Antelope and Forest GT or Ltd's F-series have the similar look with schecter's signature headstock as well. Why? Remember that Schecter is under ESP despite the fact that they are separate entities. However, that doesn't mean ideas could not be shared, isn't?

Thirty-six!

Anyone out there complaining that 24-frets are too little? Well, ESP Russia has a 36-fret guitar.

Apparently, the neck pickup of this guitar is covered by the excessively long fretboard of the guitar. I assume it be a neck-thru construction. How can a neck like this be bolted-on?

However, my question is, is the additional 12 frets really necessary?
In fact..

Syu's 27-fretted CRYING STAR - REBEL is already high pitch enough for me. So don't you think a note played at the 36th fret will be outrageously high pitched?

Taiwan's METAL

Some people told me: "Taiwanese do not produce metal, heavy metal or death metal musics. They only produce pops."

Well, time to prove them wrong.

Heard of this band? This is a heavy metal band. Origin = Taiwan. Wikipedia shall prove it. Haha. Even though it is spelt as ChthoniC, it is pronounced as 'ThoniC', muting the 'Ch'. Quite an interesting band, especially their lyrics of the songs. But the most interesting thing about this band is......

they've got a hot bassist.. A girl bassist. Her name is Doris Yeh and she is endorsed by ESP. 

Here's their official website

>> Click here for their official website << 

Don't worry for those who can't read Chinese. It's all writen in English

The Misleading Angel

Actually, my band leader brought this topic up on facebook first so I was thinking that it would be good to share it here.

This guitar is known at ESP Flying Angel -Fantasia- (Fantasia is the colour of the guitar). This is an artist series guitar by the way, by T.Takamizawa. The following is the spec:

BODY :Alder
NECK :Hard Maple 3P
FINGERBOARD :Rosewood, 24frets
INLAY :T's Arrow
SCALE :648mm(Long)
NUT :Locknut (42mm/R2)
JOINT :Set-neck
TUNER :GOTOH SG360-07
BRIDGE :Floyd Rose
PICKUPS :(Neck) EMG 81
(Bridge) EMG 81
CONTROL :Toggle PU Selector
COLOR :Fantasia
PRICE :2,415,000yen (Include Tax)
 with HARD CASE

The nett price of 2.4 million yen is around about SGD 38k. This is one of the most expensive guitar i had seen in my life so far for signature guitars. I would rather buy a limited Fender or Gibson, a Taylor guitar, a Marshall or Mesa amp and my whole list of effects I've wanted instead.  

Seriously, it is not worth the money. Cosmetic-wise, it maybe superb to some but some may prefer a much simpler design and body. Moreover, there is no tone and volume controls on the guitar, which I think is a very important factor but the people maybe misled by its look that they neglected the tone.