Put This New Guitar On My ‘Must Try’ List

Even though my roots are in the shredder ’80s – but guys like EH, Randy Rhoads and George Lynch, not the ‘wanna-bes’ – it’s been a while since I’ve bashed on a Floyd or gotten excited about a guitar from a Japanese guitar company. I guess I’ve mellowed into the vintage scene…dude.

Don’t get me wrong: I really like ESP guitars, and Ibanezes are good but that company likes basswood too much for my taste. And in fairness, I have to say that the major American manufacturers really haven’t produced anything truly new that gets my GAS up, at least none that come to mind right now (well, there is this one PRS…).

But I just learned that ESP has a few new models out, one of which I am going to track down and try out. It’s a Firebird lookalike called the Phoenix-II (I’m sure intentionally derivative), and here’s why I want to try it:

> I dig the Firebird shape and have always wanted one, but didn’t want to fool with the clunkiness of many regular Firebirds. Great tone, but the banjo tuners, knob locations and all that aren’t my thing. Don’t make me fight it!

> ESP makes hotrods. They’re easy to play and, in my experience, can sound really good. Yes, they make some generic-sounding (to my ears) shred stuff for the mass market, but ESP guitars generally are built well, play easily and sound good. I’ve held onto one from ESP’s cheaper line (LTD), and it sounds and plays great every time I take it out.

> Like a real Firebird, the Phoenix-II has a mahogany body – although mahogany these days can mean different things than it used to. Not saying that applies here, but you never know. But the ESP has a maple neck (vs. mahog on the Firebird) and ebony fingerboard (vs. rosewood on the Firebird). Sweet! I’m a big fan of ebony on maple, so  can’t wait to see what this sounds like. And both guitars are neck-through-body.

> A bone nut, real Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh bridge and tail, and Gotoh locking tuners! Take that you plastic-and-Kluson fans.

The differences are a 25.5″ scale vs. 23 3/4″ for the Firebird, which could sound cool, and the standard ESP XJ (extra jumbo) frets, which I personally don’t like but don’t hate either. Worst part for me is the look of the flag inlays, but that’s ESP’s thing so it’s that or nothing.

Here’s what ESP says about the Phoenix-II, followed by the full specs:

“Here’s something you don’t get every day: a new ESP shape. Introducing the Phoenix-II, which is available in both bass and guitar forms. This instrument screams coolness, and is available in two finishes for both the guitar and the bass. You can get the Phoenix-II guitar in black with white pickguard, or white with black pickguard. Despite its classic styling, this is a high performance ESP, with a neck-through-body design, maple neck with ebony fingerboard, 22 XJ frets and Seymour Duncan JB and 59 pickups.”

Phoenix-II
> Neck-Thru-Body
> 25.5” Scale
> Mahogany Body
> Maple Neck
> Ebony Fingerboard
> 42mm Bone Nut
> Thin U Neck Contour
> 22 XJ Frets
> Chrome Hardware
> Gotoh Magnum Lock Tuners
> Gotoh TOM Bridge & Tail
> Seymour Duncan JB (B) / ’59 (N) p.u.

I dig it. It looks vintage-modern – or modern-vintage. I like the ESP headstock, I like that it’s reversed. The guitars have a Paul Stanely-ish feel to me, in a good way, like the classic Iceman (I still own one!).

Very cool, ESP. Let’s hope it plays and sounds as good as it looks.

(It’s been so long, I don’t even know where my nearest ESP dealer is. Luckily there’s a link in the menu at the espguitars.com homepage.)

Category: ESP, Firebird