ESP LTD Viper - 1000 Black Electric Guitar Kit - Includes: Gig Bag, Strap, Stand, Tuner, 10 Feet Cable and Pick Sampler

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Price: $819.32 $799.00   

Product Feature

• Mahogany Set-Neck Construction with Thin U Neck Contour
• 24.75" Scale Length with 42mm standard nut
• Ebony Fingerboard with Black Nickel Hardware and ESP Locking tuners
• Tonepros Locking TOM Bridge & Tailpiece / EMG 81/85 Active Pickups
• Includes: ChromaCast Gig Bag, ChromaCast Guitar Strap, ChromaCast Guitar Stand, ChromaCast Pro Series 10ft Cable, ChromaCast Tuner & ChromaCast/GoDpsMusic Pick Sampler

Product Description

The ESP LTD Viper 1000 takes you to the next level. This beauty is ready to shred right out of the box. Featuring a contoured mahogany body with sleek beveled edges, this Viper is built for speed and for comfort. The body is finished in a classic black for a look that's as metal as it gets. The set-through mahogany neck has been shaped in to an extra thin U-shape for high velocity soloing and sports a bound ebony fingerboard with 24 extra-jumbo frets that will facilitate effortless string bending.

ESP LTD Viper - 1000 Black Electric Guitar Kit - Includes: Gig Bag, Strap, Stand, Tuner, 10 Feet Cable and Pick Sampler Review

This is a review of a guitar that was purchased with a kit, so I'll review the guitar first and then make some brief notes about the kit. In the interest of full-disclosure, I purchased the kit only because it was at a price that was significantly less than the guitar by itself.

The Guitar - (ESP/LTD Viper-1000 with EMG active pickups):

Several years back, I had the opportunity to try an ESP/Edwards PM-108VP, a special issue version of the ESP/Edwards VP-90D. It was a beautiful, well-playing guitar, and I paid particular attention since it was a Japanese-market version of the ESP VP, but at only about one-third of the price. If I'd had the foresight to know what would happen to the value of the US Dollar in the time since, and if I'd known that Edwards would cease production of the VP, I would have purchased it on the spot.

Jump ahead, and a near ringer to the ESP/Edwards VP-90D's construction appears in the American market as the "LTD Viper-1000." Specifically, it's a Korean-built, set neck, 24-fret, mahogany body and neck version of the Japanese-made ESP VP (ESP currently bolts-on a maple neck and builds it in Japan for another $2,500). I eventually bought one, with the only significant variation being that I decided to go with an EMG 81/85 active pickup version, figuring that I could swap them out easily enough if they weren't to my liking.

Ironically, the EMG pickups are one of the ESP/LTD Viper-1000's better features. They crank out the power, and it's nice to have volume and tone knobs on the guitar that really work. And somewhat surprisingly, I've even been able to get the sweet and deep clean sound I loved from the Edwards version with the addition of just a little chorus and delay. Power-chords or bar-chords up the neck also produce a good sound.

But past that, the ESP/LTD Viper-1000 retains little of what I liked so much about the ESP/Edwards. My first critical observation is some occasional, 1st-fret buzzing of open strings, which seems to indicate that the nut is cut too deeply for the fret height. I'm also not particularly fond of the super large frets that are the current trend. On the ESP/LTD Viper-1000, I think this combined with the nut has also required some sacrifice to mid-neck string action.

Drop-tuning, even by a semi-tone, also isn't viable as the fret-buzz becomes immediately evident on wound, open strings. And while the action is nice up toward the head, I feel it's overly easy to throw-off the tuning by holding a string in a little too deeply behind a fret. This makes it difficult to get to that sweet-spot in the tuning where all of the open chords sound right.

The ESP/LTD Viper also retains my single complaint about the ESP/Edwards version, its being neck-heavy. This isn't due to the construction of the guitar, and it's a problem that is actually rather easily resolved. It's simply due to the placement of the neck-end strap button, which is located on the back of the guitar body rather than up on the end of the cutout horn (where ESP puts it). Some people don't seem to care about this, but I find it a nuisance and will definitely move the button at some point.

As far as I can tell, the build quality appears good. The set neck joint appears very solid. Neck transition to the body is smooth, although the body suddenly adds about the thickness of an old bolt-plate where the neck enters. Nothing feels either loose or cheesy. The all-black finish on mine is thick and smooth, but not mirror-like or otherwise particularly impressive.

The hardware is functional (a positive). The Tonepros Locking Bridge and Tailpiece won't fall off if you like changing all of your strings at once (I don't), and they look nice in black nickel. LTD's locking tuners also seem to work just fine.

Despite the gripes, I've decided to keep the guitar since it was a bargain, and because I love its sound. But at some point, I'll have the local luthier take a look at it and see what he thinks about the nut, frets and the occasional buzz. And if he thinks it's worth it, I'll have some work done.

So while the guitar seems well-built and has a beautiful sound, an occasional buzz along with a somewhat funky action detract from my overall impression. As an out-of-the-box review, I'll round a 3.5 up to a 4.

The Kit (I looked at these as a "whatever," but I'll make some quick notes.):

Picks: The bunch that were included varied in thickness. I'm not particularly brand conscious, but I like harder plastic, mid-weight picks. So I sorted those out and ended up with about 7 or 8 new dust-makers.

Strap: It's an adjustable length of 2" black webbing with holes for strap buttons. I'm sure I can find some use for it in the garage.

Stand: It's a lightweight, neck-less floor-stand suitable for either an electric or an acoustic. I took it to work so that my old, cracked Franciscan doesn't have to lean against the wall anymore.

Tuner: A little clip-on, it's convenient and it works. I think the app on my phone might be a little more precise. Since I already have several tuners, it's also with the Franciscan.

Gig-Bag: The surprise. Not only does the guitar fit into it (snugly), but I might consider using it some time. Personally, I prefer to transport a nice guitar in a hard-case. But that can be a good trick on a motorcycle.

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