NGD - Old school purple inside

[Lagtastic]

I have been on the lookout for an ESP M-II Deluxe 92-96 with a swamp ash body and a maple board for quite some time. I snagged this one off the bay recently and decided to get it playing like a new guitar. Here are some basic specs on the guitar, they are a bit different than the modern M-II Standards:

1995 M-II Deluxe. Neck and body date to Oct and Nov
Swamp Ash body (there was a Koa run 95-96)
Maple neck and board– 16” radius
Deeper contouring on the belly cut, also neck joint set slightly differently than the M-II Standard
Very thin flat D neck shape – 18mm at 3rd fret, 19mm at 12th fret



















She arrived looking like she was used and abused, then abandoned somewhere in that condition for years. Covered in DNA & grime, back of the neck was stained really bad, big cracks in finish, etc. I basically replaced everything but the wood, inlays, and cavity covers.


-New Tru Oil / Wax finish on the neck
-Dunlop 6100 fretwire
-Switchcraft output jack & pickup selector switch
-CTS 500K with new knob
-Moved the volume knob out of my way
-Gotoh mini tuners & Dunlop strap locks
-Routed for a full size humbucker in the neck position & additional space in the tremolo cavity for the big block.
-Dimarzio X2N / Tonezone
-Schaller SRT-2 Floyd Rose trem/saddles/nut
-Tremolo modified with better studs & bushings, brass claw, 42mm brass big block w/ stainless screws, HD noiseless springs, & titanium saddle inserts (all from www.floydupgrades.com)

[DjentDjentlalala]

awesome!

[gunshow86de]

Congrats!

Now, you know what do.......

[Lagtastic]

Originally Posted by gunshow86de

Now, you know what do.......

Seriously

I can do a fair amount of Romeo stuff, but most of it is kinda sloppy and certainly not Sea of Lies. The man is an absolute beast. His hands are tiny but super stretchy.

[groverj3]

That is awesome! Maple = win

[Tom 1.0]

Incredible find, awesome looking guitar.

[TemjinStrife]

I saw that and immediately thought "Romeo."

[Exit Existence]

Nice! Where did you get that plug for where the volume pot was? I need one of those.

[fortisursus]

I seriously love the ESP mirage series. My M-II completely blew away my old USA Soloist. And purple + maple = awesomeness.

[yellowv]

Looks great. First thing I thought when I saw it was MJR.

[Lagtastic]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by Exit Existence

Nice! Where did you get that plug for where the volume pot was? I need one of those.

Sorry I'm not sure. I didn't do the work, but reading my post again I probably should have said that.

[Don Vito]

"Sweet Micheal Romeo guitar!....."

[JamesM]

Incredible.

[mphsc]

nice score.

[Kwampis]

Fantastic! Why do they not use that awesome purple way more?

[phrygian12]

Making my ESP G.A.S. dangerously high.

[Rayaus]

Usually I can't say I like purple guitars, but with a maple fretboard like that it really looks great!

[Tranquilliser]

Do want.
Oh man.
that is ....ing perfect, no shit.

[theo]

How much did the titanium saddle inserts cost? I seem to remember Floyd upgrades charging a shit ton for the titanium stuff

[Lagtastic]

Originally Posted by kennedyblake

"Sweet Micheal Romeo guitar!....."

Thanks man. You can pull some sweet Damnation Game - Odyssey tones out of this thing. It's a MJR tribute guitar (obviously). I've always loved his tone from the early years. If I ever find a white M-II Deluxe in swamp ash with a rosewood board, I'll recreate his guitar from V - Odyssey.

Originally Posted by theo

How much did the titanium saddle inserts cost? I seem to remember Floyd upgrades charging a shit ton for the titanium stuff

$40 US for the titanium saddle inserts. I've put these in a few guitars now. I like to tighten just a bit more than I really should, and I'm sick of breaking the saddle inserts every couple years or so in my main guitars. I spent entirely too much money getting this thing customized, but it turned out exactly the way I wanted and I'm very pleased with it.

The titanium saddles themselves are what is expensive, at $795 US. I don't think I'll ever go that route. They do last forever, but you would have to think that titanium saddles will sound much different than stainless steel. It's tough dropping $800 without knowing what it is going to sound like. That being said, the brass claw, brass big block(with the larger stainless screws), noiseless springs, and titanium saddles are great, and I highly recommend upgrading your favorite floyd style guitar. So much more clarity and more sustain. You can get those 4 upgrades together for ~ $130 US depending on what size big block you buy.

[feilong29]

My favorite M-II finish! Nice snag!

[groverj3]

Originally Posted by Lagtastic

Thanks man. You can pull some sweet Damnation Game - Odyssey tones out of this thing. It's a MJR tribute guitar (obviously). I've always loved his tone from the early years. If I ever find a white M-II Deluxe in swamp ash with a rosewood board, I'll recreate his guitar from V - Odyssey.



$40 US for the titanium saddle inserts. I've put these in a few guitars now. I like to tighten just a bit more than I really should, and I'm sick of breaking the saddle inserts every couple years or so in my main guitars. I spent entirely too much money getting this thing customized, but it turned out exactly the way I wanted and I'm very pleased with it.

The titanium saddles themselves are what is expensive, at $795 US. I don't think I'll ever go that route. They do last forever, but you would have to think that titanium saddles will sound much different than stainless steel. It's tough dropping $800 without knowing what it is going to sound like. That being said, the brass claw, brass big block(with the larger stainless screws), noiseless springs, and titanium saddles are great, and I highly recommend upgrading your favorite floyd style guitar. So much more clarity and more sustain. You can get those 4 upgrades together for ~ $130 US depending on what size big block you buy.

I have their stainless steel intonation screws that go into the baseplate. I broke the head partially off one of the soft black ones that came with one guitar. The stainless steel hardware is a big upgrade in terms of metal quality. If I ever break anything else then I'll definitely go with the stainless steel replacement parts.

[theo]

Originally Posted by Lagtastic

$40 US for the titanium saddle inserts. I've put these in a few guitars now. I like to tighten just a bit more than I really should, and I'm sick of breaking the saddle inserts every couple years or so in my main guitars. I spent entirely too much money getting this thing customized, but it turned out exactly the way I wanted and I'm very pleased with it.

The titanium saddles themselves are what is expensive, at $795 US. I don't think I'll ever go that route. They do last forever, but you would have to think that titanium saddles will sound much different than stainless steel. It's tough dropping $800 without knowing what it is going to sound like. That being said, the brass claw, brass big block(with the larger stainless screws), noiseless springs, and titanium saddles are great, and I highly recommend upgrading your favorite floyd style guitar. So much more clarity and more sustain. You can get those 4 upgrades together for ~ $130 US depending on what size big block you buy.

I've put a brass block, noiseless springs, brass trem blocker and brass springclaw in my Ibby rg1550m. They were worth the upgrade.
Couple that with the cl/lf pups and the thing is a beast.

I also looked into the titanium but saw the price and just threw that idea straight out of the window.

[shitsøn]

Awesome!