ESP Stephen Carpenter 7 SC607B

I've had this guitar for about 2 months now, I felt I'd let my initial euphoria subside and then post a more level-headed review later, so here I am. I am motivated to write about this guitar, mainly because of how surprisingly excellent it is. I feel the need to get the word out. When I ordered my Rico Jr, I knew it would be world-class, I had dealt with Bernie Rico before and I liked his work. So it was like "wow this is amazing, but... well no shit". But with this ESP/LTD guitar, I really bought this as an experiment and it has been one of the most satisfying experiences I've had with guitars because it flat out is incredible.

Features: Neck-thru maple with maple wings. Arch top. 27" scale. 24 frets on a dark rosewood board. White binding on the neck & headstock. Tone Pros bridge. EMG 81-7 pickups. 1 Vol 1 Tone 3 way PU selector.

Playability: This is really where this guitar stands out. I was expecting a rather girthy neck...

That sounds like a damn nice guitar. I'd love to try it one day.

ehh there is enough here I will make a new post.

How does the mid-pick-up compare to a more typical neck-pick-up?

Ray

It's not nearly as warm or juicy. It's cool for clean or for some weird split sounds. If you're looking for creamy leads, its okay but its not as nice as in the neck.

Mhh, 4,5/5 might be a bit over the top for this guitar, methinks, so here´s an alternative review (LTD SC607b, black version). (plz excuse my English)

Features are described above

Playability: I´d give it a 4/5, the neck-through construction makes it really easy to go onto the highest frets. Some people might complain the neck is too thick, but I´m a dedicated Jackson player, so I´m used to thicker necks.
The Baritone scale ain´t a problem for soloing on the higher frets (in fact I have big fingers and hands, so it´s even easier for me), on the lower frets you better do some stretching practise Rhytm playing will work out fine, nothing special. The knobs are well placed, so there won´t be any non-wanted turn-offs of the volume or sth like that


Sound: This guitar originally comes with EMGs, though mine (I bought it used) had a SD Invader in the neck position. The sound was totally muddy and untransparent, so I put the invader into neck position and inserted a SD JB into the bridge. Sound now is pretty rich, a bit bassy, but also with enough mids and treble to cut through the mix. Palm muting on the low B doesn´t sound too good though, as it´s pretty undefined. Acoustic sound is allright, pretty clear and full, but hence the SD ;-)
Since I dunno how it would sound with the EMGs, I give a neutral 3/5 here.


Features: 2/5
Ok, here´s the first letdown. The bridge that comes with it is a shabby die-cast piece of shit that makes the guitar sound cheap right away. This light Metal has very negative effects on the sustain and overall sound, also two (!) of the tiny screws instantly broke when I set up the octaves. So got a replacement bridge made of heavier stainless steel, way better now.
Also, the radius of the original bridge does NOT AT ALL fit to the fretboard radius. The result is that the middle strings create uncredible buzz when you try to keep the strings as close as possible to the fretboard. Definetely no good job done here. As said, replacement bridge is absolutely necessary (though hard to find).

I also had to replace the volume pot, cause it scratched and I like linear volume raising way more.

The paint job is simple, but I don´t need any extravagant colours on my guitar, so I don´t care. The finish ain´t the best I´ve seen, has scratched from my fingernail (!) already after playing the thing a year or so (jupp, my finger rests below the pickup when I´m soloing). Considering my Jacksons doesn´t have that at all, I´d say that the gloss paint simply ain´t the best quality (same with my LTD M-207, there it´s much worse, the whole area beneath the pickups has lost it´s gloss after about 1,5 years, and heck, I really take care of my guitars normally)


Reliability: 3/5
Doesn´t stay in tune for even a day (especially the B-string). I haven´t brought it onto the road yet, so I can´t really comment on reliability. What I can say is that the bridge ain´t too reliable, as mentioned above And that some Jumbofrets would help a lot (I´m pretty sure I´ll have to refret this thing in -3 years)


Overall: 3/5
I mainly bought this guitar, cuz it was the only 7-string Baritone available here. Now if I ever find a 7-string Baritone from a different company here (exept the crappy lo-price SChecters), this one goes for sale. It´s OK for what it is, but it could be improved a lot (like with a Floyd

" Sound: Well, it has EMG 81-7s. As most of you may know, I'm not an EMG fan. These don't sound too bad though. They have a lot more bass and low mids than I thought. I'm starting to theorize that the 81-7 and 81 are not identical. It seems like the 81-7 has something special going on for the low B string, it sounds different than when I had 81 equipped 6'ers tuned down to B. There is plenty of attack, sustain, clarity, etc. It's not my favorite tone in the world, but it actually sounds really good through certain amps. With the ENGL & VHT? Sounds excellent. Through the Mesa? Not so much, the 707 sounds much better with the Mesa than this. I like the way this guitar sounds, but I still may swap out the EMGs for Duncans or DiMarzios sometime soon anyways."




You are correct when it comes to the 81-7, it does have something special going on. It has a lot more bass and low mids than the regular 81. For srying out loud, i have it in the NECK of my 1077 and it gives me better cleans than the 707 and the 60-7, not to mention the output matches PERFECTLY with the 707 in the bridge. Rock on, im actually thinkin of grabbing one of these in the future now.

Go for Bareknuckle pickups! Get the Warpigs man! Thundering brutality and clarity all in one package!

Noob alert! Prepare for a deluge of old threads getting bumped!

fucking sweet guitars bro