Eclipse vs Ec-1000 ?

[kev]

Hey gents,

I am slowly giving in to one of these guitars, so I thought I'd see what the owners think about them on the one and only place to trust for metal on the net.

My main question it seems, does the build quality of the ESP really warrant it and why the fuck doesnt it have 24 frets like the LTD lol?

It has to be the black one with gold hardware Chances of testing both out in a shop at the same time, pretty much zero I expect.

 

[JeffTD]

I'd go for the ESP - way WAY more consistent build quality and the cuts of wood you're going to get will be better, too. I've had an Edwards LPC and an EC1K, and neither were on par with my M-I NTB or M-II. Very different guitars so it's hard to compare directly, but the attention to detail, fretwork, and resonance of the guitars was way better on both of the ESP's.

 

[Jaymz]

I've got the EC-1000 which is a killer guitar but ive heard the Eclipse is all round better sounding so id go for that!

Gotta agree with you on the fret difference Kev! :\

 

[Scott Horner]

I've got the vintage black EC-1000 and I love it. I've actually played on an Eclipse and preferred my LTD over the ESP but a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that I spend hours perfecting my setup for my playing style. Another reason I never went for the ESP is the fact that it didn't have 24 frets for whatever fucking reason. Either way you go, you'll get a bad ass guitar.

 

[JeffTD]

I used to be all for 24 frets, but on those guitars the pickups being squished together looks like crap IMO, and the neck pickup tone suffers.

 

[amarshism]

I have one. I like it. But not that much more than my army of 1000deluxes. Especially considering the dramatic price jump. Is it just me or has the quality of the 1000 series dropped dramatically in the last couple of years? Probably to help justify the price difference a bit more.

 

[Fragle]

ltd has better high fret access due to the 24 frets, but the esp owns the ltd in every other respect.
i demo'ed the ec-1000, eclipse, and full thickness versions of both, side by side. the ec1000 is a great guitar for the money, but the esp sounds and plays better, period.
the full thickness also sounds better than the regular one, but the tradeoff is once again high fret access.
soundwise the eclipse FT is hard to beat. the ec1000 is a great guitar though. if you got the cash, go esp, if not, ltd will be sufficient.

 

[egan.]

I'll just echo what others have said: there is a significant build quality advantage to the ESPs.

 

[gixxsta04]

My friends EC1000 lives in my studio and I can tell you the build quality is very good. I can't imagine the Eclipse being $800 better. That being said, I have never played the ESP so feel free to ignore my opinion. I do know that $800 can upgrade other things in your chain that could affect your sound much more than a slightly better build quality. You could buy a nice used amp with that kind of money!

 

[kev]

Just a quick post to say thanks for all your input guys, always appreciated. Im gonna try and get my ass down to town on Saturday to test some out.

 

[kev]

Well well well, went into town today and low and behold they had a 22 fret EC-1000 there and an Eclipse VB 22 fret (i guess this wasnt the full thickness version). The guy at the store was a legend, set me up in a sound proof booth with a 6505 combo for a good 45 minutes.

Did some serious A/B'ing, the downer was that the esp had pretty old strings, but I liked the feel of both of the guitars. Its amazing how different they were to each other though. The esp was much thinner bodied, not to mention lighter and had a more playable neck. Overall build quality a lot better- more plush, definitely the guitar to pick if this is your main axe. I'd say its sound was more rounded, although its difficult to compare accurately due to the string age. The LTD was much more bitey, more Les Paul esque chunk I thought, quite heavy and not such a nice heal making hi fret access a little more of an issue. It had more tone, but maybe this was a body thickness or fresh string issue.

Access shouldnt be so bad on the 24 fret neck of the ec 1000 vb though. I didnt like either guitar particularly for lead playing, but im a sucker for ibanez in that department I think the action on the ec 1000 was set a bit lower, which gave me a bit of a harder time on string bends.

I love playing open chords and picking on gibson type guitars, really nice and tight which is why I need to get one. Im swaying towards the ec 1000 vb definitely

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

I got the EC-II, and let me tell you, it's not a EC-1000. Honestly, pretty much on this guitar is amazing, it suits my playing style perfectly...I just love it, you know, like a wife, or a child...

That said, you have to love the shorter scale, and thus living with the fact that it may be less suitable for drop tunings. For my part, I play pretty much everything in E standard, so no big deal, but you got to consider this seriously, plus that it's not really a shredder's dream. But tone and playability are just flawless on these guitars as far as I'm concerned, and it'll always get the job done great.

Cheers

I used to be all for 22 frets, but on those guitars the pickups being squished together looks like crap IMO, and the neck pickup tone suffers.

Jeff, just sayin' that I pretty much play 95% of the time on the neck pick up (EMG 60) on this thing, even metal. For shallowy tone like for funk things, I'll use both pickups combined to have a bit more snap, but all in all, it's virtually always on the neck pickup

 

[JeffTD]

Jeff, just sayin' that I pretty much play 95% of the time on the neck pick up (EMG 60) on this thing, even metal. For shallowy tone like for funk things, I'll use both pickups combined to have a bit more snap, but all in all, it's virtually always on the neck pickup

Sorry, meant to say 24 frets - the 24 frets would be what squishes the pickups together.

 

[Jaymz]

Interesting finds Kev, thanks for sharing!

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

Sorry, meant to say 24 frets - the 24 frets would be what squishes the pickups together.

Yeah, I get what you were trying to say, the neck pick up placement is obviously altered by the shorter scale and the fretboard's length for sure

 

[kev]

Found somewhere selling the Ec 1000 VB for £676 new rather than the £850 our local shop wanted... trigger going to be pulled today methinks!

 

[kev]

Whittled down the local shop to £710 Guitar number 14 is on its way lol

 

[jipchen]

lol, 14 guitars ain't enough huh Congrats and lots of fun with the new guitar!