Talk to me about the ESP M-II

[MrDan666]

Im probably going to have some cash for a new guitar soon and i have always loved the look and the spec of the ESP M-II..

So who here plays/owns or has tried one? Hows the neck shape compared to say.. a Jackson Soloist or something similar? and also how do they sound?

 

[OUTLAW1969]

I have owned two of them over the years. Honestly, I did not like the necks on them, but alot of people do. They sounded, played, and looked decent , just not my cup of tea.

I love the new Charvel San Dimas Strathead Reissues, and alot of people despise them. Everybody has their own opinions.....

If you can find a used one at a store nearby, or someone that has one that you could borrow, do yourself a favor and play it for about an hour, before buying one of your own.

Good luck.

 

[mrp5150]

I had an M-II Deluxe, it was alright but nothing special IMO. Sounded thin to me. I liked the neck just fine though, but that means nothing when it sounds so average.

 

[MrDan666]

I have owned two of them over the years. Honestly, I did not like the necks on them, but alot of people do. They sounded, played, and looked decent , just not my cup of tea.

I love the new Charvel San Dimas Strathead Reissues, and alot of people despise them. Everybody has their own opinions.....

If you can find a used one at a store nearby, or someone that has one that you could borrow, do yourself a favor and play it for about an hour, before buying one of your own.

Good luck.

Il definitly try to test one out if i can find somewhere local that has them in stock!

Thanks for the info man!

 

[MrDan666]

I had an M-II Deluxe, it was alright but nothing special IMO. Sounded thin to me. I liked the neck just fine though, but that means nothing when it sounds so average.

Hey Mark, am i right in thinking the Deluxe has a Hum in the bridge and a single in the neck?

The M-II standard is the model i have been quite interested in, its an Alder body with Maple neck/fretboard and 2 humbuckers. Looks pretty cool..

 

[Robotechnology]

Both of these guitars are mine... the guitar on the right is an M-II Deluxe that happens to be H-H with a maple fingerboard. Now it's called the M-II Standard (available only in black in the US market). Neck shape is thicker than a Soloist but, comfortable. Tone is usually excellent but, there is always a bad seed here and there by every manufacturer (except Tom Anderson!). Ask HGainiac & Gainfreak what they thought about the pictured metallic blue example. They both played it extensively.

 

[mrp5150]

I had an M-II Deluxe, it was alright but nothing special IMO. Sounded thin to me. I liked the neck just fine though, but that means nothing when it sounds so average.

Hey Mark, am i right in thinking the Deluxe has a Hum in the bridge and a single in the neck?

The M-II standard is the model i have been quite interested in, its an Alder body with Maple neck/fretboard and 2 humbuckers. Looks pretty cool..

Yeah, mine had a JB in the bridge and a Lil' 59 in the neck. The single in the neck is the only difference though. Alder body, maple neck and board, black finish.

 

[MrDan666]

Very cool Ivan, thanks for the info!! I'll PM Ralph and see what his thoughts about it are too

I found a couple places online in the US that sell them for like $900 or so.. in the UK theyre £999. Thats like $2000 lol.. crazy!

 

[MrDan666]

Yeah, mine had a JB in the bridge and a Lil' 59 in the neck. The single in the neck is the only difference though. Alder body, maple neck and board, black finish.

Ahh i see! cool, i thought they had an Ash body or something.. dont know where i got that from!

Id definitly like to try one out to see if i like it.. like Ivan said, sometimes theres good sounding guitars and sometimes theres just average sounding ones!

 

[Robotechnology]

ESP Mirages are usually ash... I have one of those too. Excellent guitar as well! My M-II has a Tone Zone in the neck and an X2N in the bridge I adjusted the pickup heights nicely so you can play thru a clean channel with no issues as well as the heavy stuff

 

[MrDan666]

ESP Mirages are usually ash... I have one of those too. Excellent guitar as well! My M-II has a Tone Zone in the neck and an X2N in the bridge I adjusted the pickup heights nicely so you can play thru a clean channel with no issues as well as the heavy stuff

I bet that sounds great!!! Have you tried the M-II with the rosewood board too? If so, which did you prefer maple or rosewood?

 

[deluxemeat]

i've owned a few japanese mII dlx's and customs.
the deluxes are nice. i preferred the ash ones over the alder.
btw mIIs were available in either ash or alder.

the thin u shaped necks are annoyingly thin to me.
the sound is quite thin.

the custom mII had a fat u shaped maple neck, ebony board and maple body.
neck thru constr.
the thing was heavy and bright.

i found the best bridge p/u in the ash mII deluxes are the parallel axis distortions.

 

[theNoseBleedKid]

Search on Japanese used stoores for second hand ones, you'll probably find one pretty cheap in good nick, maybe not the GREATEST colors though.

 

[Digital Jams]

Make sure you know the radius because some MIIs have really large necks. Due to ESP getting owned trying to up prices new they can be had for around $1200 which is not bad.

With every maker there will be dogs but ESP makes a good guitar.

 

[MrDan666]

Make sure you know the radius because some MIIs have really large necks. Due to ESP getting owned trying to up prices new they can be had for around $1200 which is not bad.

With every maker there will be dogs but ESP makes a good guitar.

Good point Scott! Il have to just go try some out, and then i can see what i think