EDWARDS E-UT-100SL 27" Baritone

[amonb]

Shoot me if there has been a thread about these before, but when I searched I found zip.

These look really interesting to me... the shape looks new to me and they are pretty basic which is a refreshing change. And they are Edwards... I own two of their guitars and can vouch for the exceedingly high quality of their gear.

ESP | EDWARDS | E-UT-100SL

What do you think? Has anyone played one yet?

 

[celticelk]

Rebirth of the Ultratone? I like the shape....

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

The Ultratone is fairly old. I believe mid-late '90s old. Was designed by George Lynch of all people. They used to be available in the US, but they've been only available in the Asian market for a few years now.

EDIT: Yup. Mid-90's. Earliest catalog I know of that shows it is the '95 one.

 

[slayest]

Edwards is geneally close to but a little inferior to ESP standard seres. Used to be made in Japan but now in China.

 

[amonb]

Edwards is geneally close to but a little inferior to ESP standard seres. Used to be made in Japan but now in China.

People like to trot that line out but my two Edwards appear to be every bit as good as my old ESP Eclipse... The Eclipse just had a prettier top. I didn't realise Edwards manufacturing had moved though.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I don't think that the rumors of Edwards moving to China have ever been confirmed, to my knowledge.

 

[Corrosion]

Intriguing. Dunno anything about the company. They are close to par with esp?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

They're a sub-brand of ESP Japan, much like LTD Elite is for ESP USA.

 

[vilk]

The Edwards I saw at the shop a few days ago are all MIJ... there's no way they could sell a made in china guitar for that much money. I think. ESP Japan has a level below Edwards called Grass Roots which is their foreign made guitars brand, and those are in Indonesia, so it wouldn't really make sense to move Edwards to China when they are already making Grass Roots in indo. Why would they need two different budget labels?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Doesn't stop Dingwall, (formerly) Suhr, Lakland and I believe Zon from selling imported models for $1000 - $2000. Then again, those are boutique brands that watch those guitars and factories like a hawk, although I have heard complaints about Lakland imports.

If they do like the above brands do and keep the QC very tight and do setups in the main factory, I can see the Edwards being quality guitars, even if MiC.

 

[slayest]

It's not a rumor any more. I already saw Edwards with "Made in China" stickers on the back of the headstock about 2 years ago.

When I said that their quality is a little inferior to ESP standard, I meant the quality in average. Surely there can be good ones and bad ones, as they don't hand-select the wood for this class of guitars. Actually I own an old Grassroots 7-string (still made in Korea at that time) which I brought simply because the price is good. But it turns out that it sounds better than most LTD bolt-on 7-string.

I don't think that the rumors of Edwards moving to China have ever been confirmed, to my knowledge.

 

[lucasreis]

This is awesome.

I feel like an idiot because I never heard of Edwards before, nor did I hear about Italia guitars. That Japanese ESP site is incredible, so much goodness!!

 

[Syriel]

Edwards is geneally close to but a little inferior to ESP standard seres. Used to be made in Japan but now in China.

No, they're still MIJ, atleast for the most part. I've heard some basic cutting / procedures are done in Korea / China to keep the cost down, but the majority of the assembly and quality control is all Japan.

Also, they're not made by the ESP shop, they're OEM by another Japanese shop, Combat Guitars ( IIRC ).