ESP/LTD Viper and other SG style guitars...

[Joeytpg]

show me yours... I think this shape is growing in me.

besides the neck dive thing which I've read it's fixed by moving the strap buttom to the top horn like a regular strat, what other quirks do they have? care to share some professional touring bands that use them? I can't seem to find many Vipers/SGs in live action on Youtube.

 

[ConcreteVampire]

get a fat neck Gibson SG... you will not regret it...

 

[RJF]

The only picture I've got, right hand side, Hetfield sig "the grynch." The only thing I don't like about SGs is that the bodies are small. Feels awkward for a guy like me that is 6'4" and grew up playing big bodied explorers.

Second is an Epi Tony Iommi sig SG, it's long gone though.

 

[Enjolras56]

One of my fave players Phil X (look him up if you dont know about him) used to use LTD Vipers extensively, but recently switched to the similarly styled Yamaha SG 1820. I believe they're in process of building him a siggy. From what I understand, Yamaha were more willing to work with him on building the guitar with a fatter neck. The Yamaha plays like a well balanced LP.

I've recorded with my singer's Viper with an ebony fingerboard. Very bright, cutting guitar.Kinda took some getting used to a guitar whose body is thinner than the neck!

 

[severinsteel]

I just snagged an ESP Viper last week! Here is the thread with YouTube vid:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=107332


Great guitar; it has crazy good sustain. Mine isn't bright but very well balanced; more like an LP
in terms of tone.

 

[GuitarGoat]

Here are mine:

Gibson All American I that I added a single coil in the neck position.

Gibson SG Special Faded that I refinished and changed the pickups and a lot of the hardware.

Get an SG!

 

[Skrapmetal]

I love the look of the SG, but something about them (the Gibson ones, anyway) doesn't feel/sound right for me.

 

[glassjaw7]

Vipers were all the rage in the early 2000s. I had a black LTD Viper 301 that I loved. Put white EMGs (81 & 60 alnico) in it and it looked sick!
Then I was at a show playing it without straplocks and I dropped it twice. Second time messed up the neck and it was never the same, even after several professional adjustments.

I'd still love to own a silverburst SG.

 

[Joeytpg]

yeah I'm a bit more interested in the ESP/LTD Viper than the Gibson SGs I'm looking to replace my Edwards Explorer with one. I don't play much metal anymore but I like to keep a metal/hard rock oriented guitar around and the Explorer ain't doing it for me any more.

I don't like super strats as metal guitars and don't want a Les Paul body............the Vipers look mean.

any famous dudes playing Vipers so I can check out some youtube vids?

 

[Mudder]

I love my SG. Mine is a Samick Artist Series, essentially a hand picked Epiphone SG, and it's a player. I upgraded pickups and pots, but now it just rocks. I have a strap button at the heel which helps with neck droop, but I needed a longer strap so it hangs right. Great guitar, like an LP with a little more snap, tone-wise.

 

[Shask]

There are a lot of Vipers being used in metal. I am trying to think of some, but Crowbar, Chimaira, Kittie, and Soil are the only ones coming to mind.

I have a Viper 401. It is a pretty nice guitar. I may or may not keep it, but it is a solid playing and sounding guitar.

 

[Steinmetzify]

any famous dudes playing Vipers so I can check out some youtube vids?

Kirk from Down and Crowbar......been playing Vipers for years. Not the best vid, but it's in there. Buddy of mine has an ESP Viper in Camo I've been trying to get at for a while.

Good luck in your search, man!

 

[glassjaw7]

Max from Sepultura/Soulfly used to play one (his old ESP sig). Now he plays some hideous looking model...

Chino from Deftones
Dude from Machinehead
Tons of others that I can't think of right now.

The Vipers were definitely a fad guitar. They're still used, obviously but not nearly as much in the spotlight as 7-10 years ago. At this point, I'd much rather have many other guitars as a "metal" guitar, mostly due to the odd balance (Vipers are neck-heavy, at least mine was due to the strap button placement) and I hate 24 3/4" scale for metal. Although, they do make a baritone-scale Viper...

 

[nwright]

I play Vipers, and I'm pretty much to the point of being obsessed with them. I do not like SG's at all, yet I find the Viper visually appealling.

IMO it's a little bit of a mistake to compare the Viper to the SG. While the shapes are similar, the body thickness is not. the extra thickness and heft of the Viper puts it more into LP territory IMO.

I don't find them to be neck heavy at all, but I use Kepur straps and they stay put. I prefer the strap button on the back of the upper horn myself.

I have 2 LTD 301's and a Max Cavalera LTD signature and 3 late 90's ESP Vipers. The ESP's are all bolt-ons, which I prefer, and have a little bit different sound. A little more attack and snap, but are also more resonant and sustain a little better than my LTD's. I'm a fanboy of late 90's ESP's in general, as their standard bolt-ons IMO are killer for the price. My Vipers are solid 1 piece mahogany bodies with 1 piece maple necks for the most part (the little "wings" on the headstock are seperate glued pieces).

I'm a fatass, and the body fits me a little more comfortably than a lot of other guitars. Superstrats and SG's look like toys, as do most singlecut shapes. the extra width of the Viper at the horns and the stockier body look better and the playability for me is spot on.

here's some vids of mine in action:

4:35

 

[nwright]

Also, the most notable Viper users for me:

Max Cavalera customs/sig models
Ahrue Luster - formerly Machine Head, been with Ill Nino for a while now - he has some cool custom versions
Kirk Windstein
Matt Devries - Chimaira (or soon to be ex-Chimaira) customs and sig models
Chino - Deftones
One or both of the dudes from Skinlab play/played a Viper
Mikey Doling - ex-Soulfly - if you can find some vids on YT from his days in Soulfly, he had some cool customs
One of the dudes from Atreyu plays a few custom Vipers
Charlie Bellmore from Kingdom of Sorrow has a sweet custom natural mahogany Viper made by John Gaudesi (sp?) back in the final days of ESP's LA Custom Shop. Gaudesi is with Yamaha last I heard.

 

[155]

nice nwright! I love me some vipers too, my #1...

 

[D-Rock]

A white Viper 301 is my #1. Made in Korea (much better than the Indonesian ones now) Heavy and thick sounding too. Not bright, not dark just right. Very well balanced, strap button on the tip of the top horn (stock). Almost all of my videos are with that guitar.

 

[155]

btw must have mod ..move the strap button to horn wayyy better balance easy to do just go easy and slow...also nwright what is the foam behind the nut for?/

 

[nwright]

btw must have mod ..move the strap button to horn wayyy better balance easy to do just go easy and slow...also nwright what is the foam behind the nut for?/

to kill behind the nut string noise. I find it's pretty much universal that the strings behind the nut on a 3x3 headstock ring out a little bit too much for my taste. We play a lot of palm muted staccato riffs and I like to keep them tight. Putting the foam under the strings keeps them quiet.

Kinda the same idea when people put foam or tape on trem springs to keep them from making noise.

 

[snowdog]

Are those Tony Iommi pickups in this ? and if so, how do you like them ?