ESP Eclipse II Review

Sound: 5/5
Playability: 5/5
Construction Quality: 5/5
Finish: 5/5
Overall Value: 5/5

The ESP Eclipse II Standard exemplifies the attention to detail that Japanese instruments have come to be known for. It comes with upscale features like locking tuners and binding on the neck and body.

Depending on the finish it comes with EMG active pickups or Seymour Duncan humbuckers. It has a thinner body and neck than the Gibson Les Paul Studio, making it lighter and more comfortable to play. The neck also feels more modern thanks to the extra jumbo frets.

Other than the lack of a tone control it's as close as you can get to a Les Paul without having his name on the headstock. We could say that it actually has features that are more in line with a Gibson Les Paul Standard.

For more info about this guitar,
-->ESP Standard Series Eclipse II

Sound: 5/5
Playability: 4.5/5
Construction Quality: 4.5/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Overall Value: 5/5

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a scaled down version of the Gibson Les Paul Standard. The body and neck are made of solid mahogany and the top is capped with maple and a pair of humbucking pickups.

The most notable difference between the Standard and the Studio is the binding on the neck and top of the body. This is cosmetic and the quality of your playing should not be affected in any way.

The pickups are the same you find in older Les Paul Standard guitars, the 490R and 498T. Now that Gibson Les Paul Standard guitars come with more vintage sounding pickups this guitar definitely has a sound of its own.

For more info about this guitar,
-->Gibson Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar

Sound: 4/5
Playability: 4/5
Construction Quality: 4/5
Finish: 4/5
Overall Value: 5/5

Gibson recently introduced a couple of Les Paul Studio guitars. One is the Faded Maple Top which offers an almost unchanged Gibson Les Paul Studio with no shiny lacquer.

But my favorite is the Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded. The main cuts are the maple top and the paint of the finish, these are steps in the manufacturing of these guitars that increase the price more than you might think. Maple definitely adds a lot of the character that we associate from the Les Paul sound. Les Paul himself often preferred an all mahogany Les Paul Custom for its darker and richer tonality.

The Burstbucker Pro pickups that come in this guitar sound fantastic and should be no surprise that they are included in much more expensive guitars. A minor difference between the regular Studio and the Faded is that the later comes with a bag and not a case.

For more info about this guitar,
-->Gibson Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar Faded

For lessons about the techniques of players like:

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton

I recommend checking,
-->Playing Through the Blues

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