NGD - LTD Viper 256P

[Rhysyrhys]

Hi all, seagulling in again as I seem to do at the moment.

Behold, new shit, I got a ESP LTD SG copy and its good. Got it with a Catalinbread Giygas fuzz pedal for 390 intergalactic space doubloons.

<review>

ESP LTD quality control is good. These guitars always play great, and have hot pickups in them. That's usually my complaint, it's pretty hard to get nuance out of these guitars because they come with 1000000K pickups despite the pretty flawless playability.

It's an SG copy with P-90s in, the fella replaced the originals (gottem in a bag too, fkn score) with some Tonerider P-90s. It sounds pretty cool, barky and up in your shit, like a good SG should. He also put locking tuners in, and I do love the secondhand market where clear upgrades actually make your instrument sell for less. He put it up for 400 about 3-4 months ago, it was all the way in Glendora so I wasn't interested cos thats like 2hr drive, but then he dropped the price to 300 and put a Giygas up for 105, so I said 390 to cover gas and voila, more gearrrrrr.

Here's some photos next to the Yamaha I bought last year. I took a picture of the frets especially because I wanted to talk about how these guitars could be seen as pretty similar axes, and that you might be like "well no Rhys, one has P-90s two knobs, the other one is LP-style HB with four knobs"; the Viper is definitely a P90s SG and the Yamaha SG500 is a Les Paul... kinda... maybe?

What I noticed more than sound between these two guitars is the Jumbo frets on this guitar are like train tracks v. whatever they slugged into Yamaha necks and you can really feel it. I thought I liked a nice jumbo fret but in this instance I'd really like to get this Viper's fretboard more rolled and the big frets are just kinda... ok. The old Yamaha plays nicer, those big frets are weird tbth. What also throws me about this guitar is that it doesn't SG neck dive because the body is big. Like its a big SG, with some girth and I really dig it. What that does though, is just make it the same as the Yamaha which is trying to be like somewhere between a SG and a Les Paul from the 80s era.

I now have a P90 guitar, but I think it's been one of the more interesting evenings of messing around with guitars because these two guitars are so fucking similar but also not, and their own take on a classic.

I do not need a new guitar, I think probably at this point we can collective say that we don't need a new guitar... here are photos:

</review>

[Bacchus]

Very nice! Quite a collection of pretty, red, not quite SGs. As someone who always liked the look of SGs but could never get on with how flimsy they feel, these both look great.

[plopswagon]

That ain’t a Viper!


This a Viper!

► Show Spoiler

But seriously, looks great.

[sunshiner]

Nice axe! I've been dreaming of an SG Special since the time when the only source of information on vintage guitars was shitty crude web sites with crappy photos and pages from old Gibson catalogues.

[Rhysyrhys]

Very nice! Quite a collection of pretty, red, not quite SGs. As someone who always liked the look of SGs but could never get on with how flimsy they feel, these both look great.

My problem with Gibsons is that they will not fix the neck snap problem. I have a Les Paul that is just retired and in a loft somewhere in England because the neck snapped like 4 times throughout it's active period with me in a band - I wasn't throwing it against walls or being a dumbass, all my other guitars from that time that didn't burn in the fire are still holding out strong.

Like it fell forward off of a stand because a train went by and it landed on carpet and the headstock snapped forward, absolutely gutting because that was another 250 quid thrown at the bloody thing. Ever since my early 20s I realized that guitar and I were in an abusive relationship where it would just tap me up for money when something eventually went wrong, so I got it in a good state, cased it up and gave it to my dad to look after.

24.75 scale models that use headstock angle to provide string tension need a fucking volute. Say it with me, people.

What sucks though is not really a lot of companies make SG style guitars, there's ESP and Reverend, Guild when they can be bothered to run the Polara, Vintage and some other store brand stuff and thats the job lot, so I've never really had my gear itch scratched in the SG persuasion. I had a big fucking thing for the Hagstrom F series and subsequent Pat Smear siggy, but just never got around to buying one and they don't ever come up second hand.

Literally one boutique SG brand I've found after years of being a gear simp are Clydesdale Guitars out of Nashville, but they are all like a fucking gorillion dollars.

[Rhysyrhys]

That ain’t a Viper!


This a Viper!

► Show Spoiler

But seriously, looks great.

Yo that guitar is fucking sick, wtf. Why are all Ovation electric guitars so fucking nice and they don't make them any more?!!

[NickD]

24.75 scale models that use headstock angle to provide string tension need a fucking volute. Say it with me, people.

Volutes don't really do anything TBH, except possibly move the break elsewhere.

I'm tempting fate here, but I've been playing Epiphones and Gibsons since '89 and I've never had a headstock break. My pal's SG has been knocked off its stand at least twice by rowdy punters and not suffered any damage. Obviously the design means it's much more likely to break than a Fender, but its by no means a fait accompli.

[NickS]

Back in 1981 my late friend, recording engineer and producer Martin Rex, was sent by 3M to the USA to be trained on maintaining their new digital studio recorders. He brought back an SG; the neck snapped in transit. He had it fixed and it snapped again when knocked off a floor stand. He had it fixed again and I believe he sold it.

[plopswagon]

Pete Townsend famously loved them because he could break them with his bare hands.

[Rhysyrhys]

24.75 scale models that use headstock angle to provide string tension need a fucking volute. Say it with me, people.

Volutes don't really do anything TBH, except possibly move the break elsewhere.

I'm tempting fate here, but I've been playing Epiphones and Gibsons since '89 and I've never had a headstock break. My pal's SG has been knocked off its stand at least twice by rowdy punters and not suffered any damage. Obviously the design means it's much more likely to break than a Fender, but its by no means a fait accompli.

Damn dog I'm taking this shit directly to heart no taksies backsies

[Rhysyrhys]

24.75 scale models that use headstock angle to provide string tension need a fucking volute. Say it with me, people.

Volutes don't really do anything TBH, except possibly move the break elsewhere.

I'm tempting fate here, but I've been playing Epiphones and Gibsons since '89 and I've never had a headstock break. My pal's SG has been knocked off its stand at least twice by rowdy punters and not suffered any damage. Obviously the design means it's much more likely to break than a Fender, but its by no means a fait accompli.

Damn dog I'm taking this shit directly to heart no taksies backsies

I also disagree. But thats what bbnet forums are for right?

The headstocks go, there are forums based on this, so I'll see your anecdotal evidence and trade you literally millions of internet nerds who feel like I do.

Strongly fight weakly held beliefs etc. I won't buy a Gibson ever again.

[Rhysyrhys]

Supposed to one post lmao, drunk posting

[Rhysyrhys]

Jesus, Nick, my apologies lol. No one needs to read my drunken garbage.

I rarely drink any more and I was so hammered that re-reading this I totally remember, but didn't until I navigated here. I got a new job and went drinking with my french friend who gave me wine which was and is my kryptonite. When your friend and the sommelier are communicating in a language that you don't speak, its probably likely that you are about to eventually get quite drunk

I do stand by drunk Rhys here, I do really think that volutes work, I have had 5-6 set necks of the SG/Paul variety and none of them have been any trouble. I think I'm extra stung because the Les Paul was like my 600GBP that I saved up during sixth form, and then 50GBP (sorry yank keyb has no pound symbol ) per A I got at GCSE, I was elated and then it was a complete cunt to me for 6 years.

[NickD]

No need to apologise Rhys, where would Shortscale be without drunk posting.