narad
Progressive metal and politics
Living in Japan I come across a lot of weird ESPs, but some things have eluded me for a long time. One of them is the "cyber joint", a hybrid neck joint that ESP was exploring around the late 90s. It's a bolt-on, but the mounting block is a lot deeper into the body, allowing the heel to feel like a set neck. A lot of times when they come up here they're attached to the most boring headstocks or bodies, or wind up at Essex Studios or something asking stupid money. But after a few years on the prowl for one, I saw it attached to this weirdo guitar with some bizarre but high-end specs:
So basically a strat shape, with a top woods all around: really thick maple top, birdseye board, quilt maple headstock veneer. It was actually sold as having a maple body, but it looks like mahogany to me. I like some choices to inset the jack this way as it's both easy to get to and is cool with just the maple slab on top of it, and it's scalloped on the higher frets. After wanting to own something with scallops for a long time, this week wound up with two things with scallops on the higher frets and really enjoy it.
The cyber joint is also one of the better ones. I like how they finished it like it was part of the body, doing the usual ESP finish "V" shape transition, and then putting a matching body veneer over it. So, does it make a difference? Well, it does feel like a set neck or neck through, so comfort-wise it's great. I guess we could go with the usual crowd wisdom that bolt-ons are snappier or brighter than set necks. Obviously I can't A/B really, but I have other ESP strats, and this one does have a lot of snap, and it is bright. In this particular case I don't like the tone with the EMG 81 (I think it's 81/85), it sounds thin and there's not a lot of body, vs my horizons or M1s with the 81. I'd like to swap to something with more body/full sound/depth if anyone has any recommendations. I think I have a dominion around to try.
Anyway, I wound up buying a ton of stuff the past 2 weeks. I basically had my visa temporarily revoked and I can't work, so I'm just lounging around buying stuff, checking out shops, and it's been expensive. So originally I was about to put this up on Reverb, and these photos were for sale photos. But I actually had been wondering what it'd look like with a pickguard, and I have one lying around....
Damn, really makes the burst come alive. Okay, maybe it'll get a pickup swap HS and a (screwless) pickguard. But now I'm running out of stuff to sell...
So basically a strat shape, with a top woods all around: really thick maple top, birdseye board, quilt maple headstock veneer. It was actually sold as having a maple body, but it looks like mahogany to me. I like some choices to inset the jack this way as it's both easy to get to and is cool with just the maple slab on top of it, and it's scalloped on the higher frets. After wanting to own something with scallops for a long time, this week wound up with two things with scallops on the higher frets and really enjoy it.
The cyber joint is also one of the better ones. I like how they finished it like it was part of the body, doing the usual ESP finish "V" shape transition, and then putting a matching body veneer over it. So, does it make a difference? Well, it does feel like a set neck or neck through, so comfort-wise it's great. I guess we could go with the usual crowd wisdom that bolt-ons are snappier or brighter than set necks. Obviously I can't A/B really, but I have other ESP strats, and this one does have a lot of snap, and it is bright. In this particular case I don't like the tone with the EMG 81 (I think it's 81/85), it sounds thin and there's not a lot of body, vs my horizons or M1s with the 81. I'd like to swap to something with more body/full sound/depth if anyone has any recommendations. I think I have a dominion around to try.
Anyway, I wound up buying a ton of stuff the past 2 weeks. I basically had my visa temporarily revoked and I can't work, so I'm just lounging around buying stuff, checking out shops, and it's been expensive. So originally I was about to put this up on Reverb, and these photos were for sale photos. But I actually had been wondering what it'd look like with a pickguard, and I have one lying around....
Damn, really makes the burst come alive. Okay, maybe it'll get a pickup swap HS and a (screwless) pickguard. But now I'm running out of stuff to sell...
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