All these things into position...

Posted by Ray | Posted on 1:33 AM

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Meet the 'family'. Minus the much-prided amp and pedalboard.

Alright, I do not own each and every gear here, the black Les Paul on the left and polka-dotted jazz bass are borrowed items, the latter for learning purposes and the former as part of my promise to my bassist in USJ (Ugly Space Jelly) to carry out a review of the axe.

Chinese New Year break was awesome, put on a few more kilos, but what was truly awesome was the opportunity to try out a couple of gears, this SX Les Paul loaned by aforementioned bassist as well as a vintage (so old, it's older than me) Boss SD-1 pedal acquired through a contest.

This post may contain a large amount of jargon, but it's primarily for the sake of reviewing for my bassist friend what I think is, one of the better electric guitars out there for beginners. Thinking of picking up the instrument? Well, here's one good buy for you right here.

Review
Looks: The eSseX Les Paul copy is much more accurate than those f'ked Chinese fakes floating around eBay and other sales avenues online. Based on Gibson's original Les Paul (the creator, who is also a venerable jazz musician, Mr. Les Paul, passed away last year, RIP), this beast rocks with two humbuckers (that shiny gold bar thing on its body) and a classic cutaway design, much like the original instrument, and even has a mahogany set neck for serious wanking. Nice.

Playability: I play guitar like an old man, so I'm completely used to having my strings awfully high in terms of action (spacing between the strings and the fretboard, the lower the easier to play). This guitar's got crazy low action, a 5 year old would be strong enough to play barre chords on it. Makes me think that I could pull off real fast licks, too.

Tone: Perhaps my numero uno factor in choosing a guitar (I'd compare it to the taste component of a glass of wine), I think this guitar definitely does not disappoint. Sure, it does not sound exactly like the Gibson that it's meant to copy, but a Gibby's worth about RM8-12k around this part of the world. This axe here is more than 10 times less that price tag. Modifying the pickups here would surely improve how it sounds (take note Jawa!)

Extras: Hardware is where the corners are cut at the guitar factory. Terrible tuner heads. Heavy bending will easily detune this guitar, making it very hard to use on stage, unless some work is done (modification again, Mr. Jawa). Same goes for the saddles. Work work.

All in all, a terrific guitar for its price, a couple of mods along the way as a beginner learns the instrument, this will hold its own in the hands of a good guitarist against those posers totting Gibsons on stage. Hah.

And the two clips I posted on that mp3 thingamajiggy at the right hand corner are comparisons between my trusty Blackie Strat and the guitar reviewed here. Please forgive if my playing offends.

-Left Brain-