Can not decide on new guitar.

[WLJMTG]

I am struggling.

I'm purchasing another guitar but really can not decide what to get.
I like "basic" guitars but want something a bit more special than run of the mill stuff.
specs that I want to have are:

Neck through
Reverse Headstock
string through or hardtail as a second option
superstrat body
25.5"
6 string.

I'm definitely fancying a nice flame or burl maple top
ala PRS & ESP style.
now, this is where I struggle. I can find guitars with 90% of the specs but never all on one guitar
almost like a sliding scale..can have option A and lose spec B or take C and keep A but lose B

budget isn't an issue here - I have £6,000 or $7,500 USD for a guitar.
obviously if i don't have to spend it all, awesome..
I'm trying to avoid a custom shop build for the moment if I can
though I have emailed a well known British custom shop for a quote just in case its my only option

guitars that have taken my fancy at the moment:

ESP Horizon II NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/16980-esp-horizon-ii-nt-blk

Ibanez J.custom RG8570Z
https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/rg8570z_00_03.html

PRS Private stock Custom 24
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/prod...sary-custom-24-charcoal-burst-pattern-regular

ESP E-II Horizon NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/17200-e-ii-horizon-nt-ii-stblksb

ESP E-II M-II NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/20995-e-ii-m-ii-nt

Ibanez Prestige RGR5221
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/rgr5221_00_01.html

with pretty much all of these guitars , getting a hands on with them before purchase will be near impossible due to the pandemic and the fact that most retailers wont stock them and simply order when purchased.

Anybody have any experience with the guitars above?

as a side note:
ESP custom shop is a possibility
but begrudge paying likely twice the price for what would be only a minorly adjusted "off the shelf" guitar. unless anybody has experience with this that suggests otherwise?
though I think a custom ESP may be my holy grail.

thanks all,
hopefully some outside opinions will help me see the woods through the trees

 

[Carl Kolchak]

I am struggling.

I'm purchasing another guitar but really can not decide what to get.
I like "basic" guitars but want something a bit more special than run of the mill stuff.
specs that I want to have are:

Neck through
Reverse Headstock
string through or hardtail as a second option
superstrat body
25.5"
6 string.

I'm definitely fancying a nice flame or burl maple top
ala PRS & ESP style.
now, this is where I struggle. I can find guitars with 90% of the specs but never all on one guitar
almost like a sliding scale..can have option A and lose spec B or take C and keep A but lose B

budget isn't an issue here - I have £6,000 or $7,500 USD for a guitar.
obviously if i don't have to spend it all, awesome..
I'm trying to avoid a custom shop build for the moment if I can
though I have emailed a well known British custom shop for a quote just in case its my only option

guitars that have taken my fancy at the moment:

ESP Horizon II NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/16980-esp-horizon-ii-nt-blk

Ibanez J.custom RG8570Z
https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/rg8570z_00_03.html

PRS Private stock Custom 24
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/prod...sary-custom-24-charcoal-burst-pattern-regular

ESP E-II Horizon NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/17200-e-ii-horizon-nt-ii-stblksb

ESP E-II M-II NT
https://www.espguitars.com/products/20995-e-ii-m-ii-nt

Ibanez Prestige RGR5221
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/rgr5221_00_01.html

with pretty much all of these guitars , getting a hands on with them before purchase will be near impossible due to the pandemic and the fact that most retailers wont stock them and simply order when purchased.

Anybody have any experience with the guitars above?

as a side note:
ESP custom shop is a possibility
but begrudge paying likely twice the price for what would be only a minorly adjusted "off the shelf" guitar. unless anybody has experience with this that suggests otherwise?
though I think a custom ESP may be my holy grail.

thanks all,
hopefully some outside opinions will help me see the woods through the trees

BCR?

 

[mbardu]

With that kind of dough, just try a Kiesel to your specs. It's going to cost way less than your budget, be the fastest "built to your specs" guitars you can get, and tick all your boxes easily (it will match 100%) with a lot of additional choices on top (your bridge, configuration and pickups, electronics, color/finish, headstock shape, wood combinations etc).

Best case scenario, you love the guitar and saved a lot of money- worst case scenario, return it or sell it for a small loss.
Definitely will take way less risk, time and $$$ than a regular Custom shop or small builder; yet you still have so many combinations possible.

PS: are you set on neck-through or not? Because it's what you list in your specs, yet you mention Ibanez and PRS Custom 24 which are bolt-on/set-neck. Same for the other specs too.

 

[budda]

No solars match up?

 

[efiltsohg]

Horizons rule

 

[Bdtunn]

I picked up an RG5320 a little while ago and it is a unreal machine! So my vote is something in that line

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

The ESP E-II M-II NT meets all of your spec list. Not only that, but it has great specs and looks awesome!

Considering your budget though, getting an ESP Horizon (non E-II) would be an amazing instrument to get, that, or the PRS Private Stock CU24! Both would be super high quality instruments even though they don't check everything on your list.

I think the question is, are you looking for a high quality instrument with xyz specs, or do you want a 'super high quality' instrument that only gives you xy specs?

If you are more interested in just filling a spec-list getting the ESP E-II M-II NT gets you a relatively high quality instrument with all the specs you want exactly.

 

[Avedas]

It seems like you want custom options but don't want to pay custom shop prices since you're not looking for anything over the top. In that case I'd recommend Kiesel.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Cut the neck thru and go Suhr. You won’t regret it.

 

[mbardu]

Cut the neck thru and go Suhr. You won’t regret it.

LMAO this is sooo SSO. OP asks for something specific and the answers are all "no, buy this instead, it's great even if it's not what you asked for".
Just waiting for the eventual "Just get a used prestige".

I mean, most Suhr will be great guitars- I can attest to that- but as far as neck-throughs go, they're not exactly the best

 

[mbardu]

The ESP E-II M-II NT meets all of your spec list. Not only that, but it has great specs and looks awesome!

Considering your budget though, getting an ESP Horizon (non E-II) would be an amazing instrument to get, that, or the PRS Private Stock CU24! Both would be super high quality instruments even though they don't check everything on your list.

I think the question is, are you looking for a high quality instrument with xyz specs, or do you want a 'super high quality' instrument that only gives you xy specs?

If you are more interested in just filling a spec-list getting the ESP E-II M-II NT gets you a relatively high quality instrument with all the specs you want exactly.

Aren't the current E-IIs M-IIs set necks though? With their deep "Set-Thru"?

 

[A-Branger]

at that level of guitar you cant really go wrong with any. just buy the prettiest one to you

and although you wont be abel to try those specific models, you can try an LTD M and H guitars and an Ibanez RG and any PRS. This so you can get the idea of feel for those specific shapes

also, start with the bride, all those guitars are too different in the bridge section. You want floating tremolo or hardtail? that would eliminate couple of guitars. And for the ESPs, you want a TOM or Hipshot? those two got a big difference in feel, and if you are spending that much cash (or even considering a custom) then this is something you should know by now, and it should be one of your spec priorities

go and play some TOMs and some hardtails and tremolos first, define your bridge. Then go and play some LTDs and RGs and PRS, that would help to makeup your mind on the shape (arch top vs flat, arm feel, leg feel, balance, ect). What about neck finish? some people dont mind, but others hate gloss necks (which some of those EPSs have)

also one of those Ibanez is a HSH... is that something you want?
3way vs 5 way blade

there are way too many variables that you cant easily cut off between those guitars. And you dont have to play those specific models in a store in order to feel those specs. Grab ANY guitar with a 5 way blade and compare the feel vs a 3 way switch, then grab a TOM guitar and compare it to a hardtail, grab a guitar with a painted gloss neck vs a satin or natural neck, ect ect

and the finish. You said you want a wood top, yet you show a gloss black guitar. Remember that no matter how great a guitar feels, if you arent happy with the way it looks, you wont pick it up that often, so you would play it less. Get something you like the way it looks too

you got lot of research to do first dude

 

[Adieu]

Wasn't there an old Charvel superstrat like that?

 

[angl2k]

ESP Horizon checks all your item except for the reverse headstock. M-II's with hardtails seem to be very rare, I guess people don't like them very much?

Perhaps check out ESP USA, they have the M-II NTB NT that has all your specs.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Aren't the current E-IIs M-IIs set necks though? With their deep "Set-Thru"?

You are correct. I confused the neck-thru on the E-II Horizon NT with the M-II, lol. Thanks for picking up on that.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

As @angl2k suggested ESP USA should meet your needs. The ESP USA MII NTB NT https://www.espguitars.com/pages/usa-m-ii-ntb-nt is a neck-thru with reverse headstock and string-thru body. This option gives you tons of finish customizations and some pickup customizations too!



Here is a link to the configurator for that model:

https://www.espguitars.com/products/20639-m-ii-ntb-nt/product_designs/new

 

[protest]

ESP USA. A step up from E-II in terms of fancy tops and finishes, but not as expensive as the Custom Shop. They're made to order so you can have one built and choose from their selected options, or pickup one that's already stocked somewhere.

 

[WLJMTG]

ESP Horizon checks all your item except for the reverse headstock. M-II's with hardtails seem to be very rare, I guess people don't like them very much?

Perhaps check out ESP USA, they have the M-II NTB NT that has all your specs.

Thanks so much for this one mate, I had no idea that the USA shop would be as it is.
why oh why cant the Japan shop have the customisation of the USA shop without being full blown custom.
its a great idea and shocked me how much closer to something I wanted that I was able to get.

all I have to do now is figure out how much shipping is going to be to the UK
as its USA shipping only online.

I've completed a Custom shop Japan order form so if anyone knows of a good British ESP dealer , could you pass on their details
as apparently different dealers can get vastly different prices?

so , my plan at the moment is obtain the two quotes
one from the USA shop plus international shipping
and the Japan custom shop
and see what works out the better deal overall.

I've read that ESP aren't holding their value much at present particularly customs
but in all honesty I cant ever see myself selling it. I've never sold any of my previous guitars to be honest
but that does still make me slightly apprehensive haha.

cheers all.

 

[protest]

One thing to point out about ESP USA is that they use 43mm nut widths for the Ms and Horizons instead of the standard 42mm that ESP/LTD use. Not a big deal for most people, but worth pointing out.

 

[Maximal]

Try out a Horizon before you buy it. I had one of the old Esp Japan standard Horizon NT IIs and the neck was absolutely not my thing. Its profile was very round and the fretboard felt narrow. It was really different than the D shape I had on my previous LTD with a D profile.