ESP LTD SC-207 Stephen Carpenter Signature Series 7-String Electric Guitar Black

when i heard that steven carpenter had his own signiture model i got right on it, seeing that it was $400 i figured it would be a good sounding, well made guitar. i was quite wrong. first of all when i pulled it out of the shipping box, i noticed alot of tool marks on the side of the fret board where it looks like they sawed off the rest of the fret. and this was the case on probably the first 10 frets. (from the neck down) also for price the pickups sound TERRIBLE. there muddy as hell and have practically no crunch. the strings do not stay in tune at all, and i have tried many different string sets on this guitar. i belive its due to weak tuner heads/ poorly made bridge saddle. if you are reading this review i would like to say your much better off buying an ibanez 7. they have much better pickups and bridge assembly.

First off I must say that I was searching for months and sampling sevens for the majority of those months. I am FULLY 100% satisfied with this guitar and if you are in the position I was in, sifting through endless reviews that didn't seem helpful at all, please know that your search is over. Though it is a lower-end model don't let that fool you, it is well worth the money. The neck wasn't painted as pictured above but that doesn't mean it doesn't look mean. The guitar itself is beautiful. The neck is thin enough for great playability but not too thin like the Ibanez's. The pup placement was inconvenient at first but I got used to it in a matter of minutes, the pups were quiet which in other reviews I had read said they were "prone to feedback" (I use a randall rx120d head with no pedals). The sustain on this beast is far greater than I had imagined as well. It is VERY light and comfortable to play, especially because of the bridge. I'm not saying it is "better" than it's competitors but for me it was the best choice by-far.

I'm a rhythm guitarist and i bought this guitar primarily to play those thundering, high-gain low power chords that so many rock bands nowadays use. I gotta say this thing sounds great, plays even better and looks wicked. It also stays in tune very well and has a neat pickup setup that allows you to play through high-output and low-output pickups interchangeably, using just the toggle switch. However, i will admit that, due to the action on this guitar being quite low, there is some gnarly fret buzz in several places. Also it is fairly heavy, though not at all enough to be any real problem if you're putting on a live show. Lastly, there is severe feedback when you play it through something like a Marshall at high volume (this can be fixed very easily). I recommend taking this guitar to a shop and getting a set-up, to fix the feedback and raise the action, and then even with the additional payments this guitar will sound, look, and play great for a very affordable price.

Love this guitar. The neck has great action: a nice "feel" and easy playability. It's not that it's "good for the price", it's that it's really good. Didn't need to change any hardware or the electronics (this is good for the price) and the guitar itself was carefully constructed and it's definitely one of my favorites. The rosewood fretboard is perfect, however, the maple neck beneath had faint "bite marks" near the base of the headstock and where fret 7 and 12 were hammered in. Very faint, but still there. I removed a star only because of the nick marks. I was told "no guitar comes out perfect" but that is definitely not true because I've purchased similar price level guitars with no imperfections at all. ESP factories should have better padding on their headstock holders. Nick marks aside, there are no other complaints. Playability is critical to me, as well as sound. I LOVE the pick up positions (it has a middle and a bridge, no neck pick up), and because of the playability I am using it to fingerstyle celtic melodies with a octave and echo effects, so my SC-207 is actually doing solo material like my classical guitar. Black finish is very attractive. Final note re: picture above... the guitar I received has an UNPAINTED maple neck, so it's a blonde neck, not a black neck, even behind the headstock (front of headstock is black).

After many long years of 6 strings, and being asked to cover some Megadeath songs. It was time to move on to 7even strings. You can't beat this ESP for price and precision. Killer out of the box. Fast frets, excellent speed from top to bottom. Worth far more than what there asking. Beautiful in black and worth every penny! You can pay more but you won't get more. 7 heaven!!