ESP E-II Horizon Electric Guitar with Floyd Rose Reindeer Blue

First, Nick at Guitar Center in Florence, KY, was huge in helping me get this guitar now rather than wait a couple more months. My hat's off to you, Nick! The guitar shipped from Kansas City on that day and I picked it up 2 days later at the store. Nice! Second, I've had a '78 Gibson Les Paul Custom since I bought it new in October, 1978, and it's much different from this ESP E-II Horizon I just purchased. I've spent some time now with the ESP and I love it! I still have some things to adjust to, one being the 24 frets versus the 22 on the Les Paul and the easy access to the higher frets. It's and adjustment in knowing where you are on the fret board. The Gibson let's you know where you are by the neck "semi-obstruction", the part of the neck that connects to the body where it gets thicker. The ESP guitar doesn't have this anywhere near the 17th or 19th frets, so you might not sense where you are on the fret board until you've played it for some time. I love the tonality of this ESP guitar. It's just different from my Les Paul, but it's not a twangy tinny Stratocaster. I like it's "sensitive" side. But, it keeps a sweet, rich tone. I've noticed that it also has fantastic sustain, something I didn't expect. With a Les Paul, because it's such a heavy, solid guitar, it has great sustain. But, I suspect that by the quality of the construction of the neck and body, it's enhances the sustain of this instrument. The fret board may be a little thinner than my Les Paul and it feels very easy to move around fret board. I haven't played around with the Floyd Rose tremolo much, but I have already noticed that it stays in tune remarkably well. The locking nut for the strings works really great. All-in-all, I love the guitar and I'm thrilled with how Guitar Center got it to me!

For the most part this is a nice guitar, it sounds good and plays fairly well. I did encounter a problem with mine, when doing pull offs on the high E string the string would consistently roll off the fretboard. I have several guitars including a Les Paul custom and a PRS custom 24, I don't have this problem with these guitars. I took it to my local guitar center and had a setup done on two separate occasions, they could not fix the problem. Traded it in for an Ibanez JS2450, problem solved. (9 gauge strings on both the ESP and the Ibanez).

I am using it in both a cover and original band.

Looks amazing to me and everyone else who has seen and commented on it. The polished ebony fretboard and tall, wide frets make for the smoothest fretboard I have ever played on any guitar, very nice. The arched top makes for easy access to the strings, also very agreeable. Weight is similar to a Strat, build quality and finish is excellent. Fret access is unimpeded all the way to 24, very playable. Sustain is very good. Pick ups delivery great tonal quality within the range typical for humbuckers. Down sides, neck was bowed backward, easy enough fix via the bi-flex truss rod. The tone pot was loose, had to dismantle and tighten nut, no big deal. One of the Gotoh tuners is not altogether right, as if a gear tooth is missing, although with the locking nut this is a nuisance rather than a playability issue. Would have benefited greatly from a coil split. I will need this for certain single-coil tones I prefer so I will have to do it myself if I want a guitar that can cover a full range of styles, and this will void the warranty, so that is big downer for me. The volume and tone knobs act like linear rather than audio pots, yielding very little effect on tonal quality/distortion roll-off except within a very narrow range at the wrong end of the dial, as in about the 1 out of 10 position. I think for this price range these important tone and playability details should have been given more consideration. Nonetheless, this is all fixable without a great deal of trouble or expense. One thing that I am mildly disappointed with that can not be fixed is the neck profile. It is advertised as "thin u" and so I was expecting a neck similar to an LTD M-100FM I own. It turned out to be more like a traditional C, similar to a Les Paul and thicker than my Strat necks. I almost took it back over this, but then I spent some time playing it and the fretboard won me over. Overall I am happy with it. With splits and my preferred pots it will be a fantastic general purpose guitar.

Been playing for 15 years or so with various guitars, currently a Gibson Les Paul classic and a Schecter Hellraiser. This ESP is by far the best playing, best looking, and has the nicest finish/attention to detail than either of the other guitars I own. The reindeer blue finish is more of a royal blue compared to the photos in natural light and in fluorescent lighting looks more purple, along with the quilt top it is a stunner for sure. The "binding" is actually just a border of non colored maple from the top and contrasts nicely. The neck is thinner, flatter and slightly wider than my Gibson with the 60's neck. Topped with glass smooth polished ebony with smooth and rounded edges on the frets. Played awesome right from the box, no buzz and intonation set right. The stock Duncans cover a wide variety of genres so a change of pickups could be in order if you want something more specific sounding. Nice locking tuners and included strap locks round out a great package. One note however, this current model no longer has coil tapping like the previous model, my only small ding against it. This guitar has now made me an ESP fan for life and would gladly buy anything else that comes from the Japanese factory. If you are on the fence about it, do yourself a favor and get it, this is a keeper for sure.