SZjammin83
New member
Couldn't sleep last night, and was inspired to play my new EC-1001T CTM this AM as I was admiring it hanging on the wall. Following this little AM mini-sesh, I was inspired, and felt all but obligated to find an outlet to talk about this new guitar. I have officially decided that this guitar kicks ass.
There isn't much at all by way of reviews or info on this guitar and these pickups, other than the little you will find on the ESP and EMG web pages. And of course, all of that is aimed simply at marketing. So I just want to share my experience thus far, and this is the best forum for all things guitar, so I figure anyone can come to SD forum and search this guitar and pickup model and actually find something from an individual who owns and plays them.
First off, I know that this is Les Paul STYLE guitar, and not an actual Gibson Les Paul. However, considering the price point and the "bang for your buck" factor, I can't help but to say that this is by far the best Les Paul type guitar out there at present, without being an actual Gibson Les Paul. Even if one felt they had no use for EMG pickups, and were not even willing to give them a shot, I would say it would still be absolutely worth it to buy this guitar as a platform for any other humbucking pickup combination you could think of. (JB/JAZZ...JB/59.... Invaders...Gibson 57/57plus or pretty much any PAF style pickups)
That being said, I would highly recommend just accepting the fact that this axe comes equipped with everything you need right out of the box, and the EMG 57tw and 66tw pickup set is equally as amazing as the guitar itself. They just sound KILLER. What I have been coming to find from these pickups as I continue to play them, is that, for the 1st time. an active guitar pickup has been engineered so that they do the "EMG thing" (and they do it BETTER than any EMG out there to date), but, with a little help from the volume and tone controls on the guitar, they will also very faithfully create a SOLID passive sounding guitar tone that is in no way "linear", "boxed", "over compressed", or any of the other words or phrases so often used by passive only fanboys to describe the active pickups they seem to so despise. While I am not quite that Right Wing Conservative a member of the passive party, I can say that passives have been my go to for many many years now, and I have had zero interest in buying anything active related, but I got this guitar for a steal on a trade and figured I would just completely swap the electronics and that would be that.... Boy was I WRONG, and I am just grateful that I am not so closed minded as to not even plug in and give these pickups that came in the EC a shot before doing so. THESE PICKUPS ARE THE REAL DEAL.
Whats more... Not only are they kick ass humbuckers... But the "TW" in the model numbers is there to distinguish them from the regular 57/66 set. These TW's can switch (via the push/pull volume pots) from a humbucker to a true single coil. The switching does not simply "tap" the coil, it actually switches from the humbucker to a completely separate third coil. Keep in mind, we are talking about a full thickness mahogany body, mahogany neck, and a maple cap, with a 24.75" scale length, so its NEVER going to sound like a Stratocaster, but, these pickups DO offer a 100% completely usable and distinguishable single coil tone without a doubt. With this guitar, its not just some added gimick for people who want to think they are getting something extra simply because its got some push pull pots, it actually works. Ive got a Gibson Traditional Les Paul that I bought over the Standard model simply because I did NOT want all the extra stuff. In those standards, I feel the electronics compromise the Les Paul tone thats there in order to give you coil split options that aren't useable to begin with, so you would never even use the push/pull pots. These EMG's to my surprise, are the 1st switchable coils I've owned that actually work. The PRS pauls guitar (core model) is the only thing I've played that comes close, and that is a TRULY EXPENSIVE piece of gear, nowhere near the same price point, its going to be literally unobtainable for most guitarists, and the SE model doesn't recreate the feature the same way. These pickups are amazing. While these nor any other humbucker will allow you to have the whole "one guitar to replace them all" thing, the REALITY is that it DOES give you 100% great tones with every availible pickup configuration on the guitar. IT WORKS.
For anyone wondering about these pickups or this guitar, I would say if you have the opportunity to get your hands one either or both, give it a shot, so long as your expectations are realistic (a les paul is never going to sound like a stratocaster and vice versa) this setup will NOT leave you disappointed!
There isn't much at all by way of reviews or info on this guitar and these pickups, other than the little you will find on the ESP and EMG web pages. And of course, all of that is aimed simply at marketing. So I just want to share my experience thus far, and this is the best forum for all things guitar, so I figure anyone can come to SD forum and search this guitar and pickup model and actually find something from an individual who owns and plays them.
First off, I know that this is Les Paul STYLE guitar, and not an actual Gibson Les Paul. However, considering the price point and the "bang for your buck" factor, I can't help but to say that this is by far the best Les Paul type guitar out there at present, without being an actual Gibson Les Paul. Even if one felt they had no use for EMG pickups, and were not even willing to give them a shot, I would say it would still be absolutely worth it to buy this guitar as a platform for any other humbucking pickup combination you could think of. (JB/JAZZ...JB/59.... Invaders...Gibson 57/57plus or pretty much any PAF style pickups)
That being said, I would highly recommend just accepting the fact that this axe comes equipped with everything you need right out of the box, and the EMG 57tw and 66tw pickup set is equally as amazing as the guitar itself. They just sound KILLER. What I have been coming to find from these pickups as I continue to play them, is that, for the 1st time. an active guitar pickup has been engineered so that they do the "EMG thing" (and they do it BETTER than any EMG out there to date), but, with a little help from the volume and tone controls on the guitar, they will also very faithfully create a SOLID passive sounding guitar tone that is in no way "linear", "boxed", "over compressed", or any of the other words or phrases so often used by passive only fanboys to describe the active pickups they seem to so despise. While I am not quite that Right Wing Conservative a member of the passive party, I can say that passives have been my go to for many many years now, and I have had zero interest in buying anything active related, but I got this guitar for a steal on a trade and figured I would just completely swap the electronics and that would be that.... Boy was I WRONG, and I am just grateful that I am not so closed minded as to not even plug in and give these pickups that came in the EC a shot before doing so. THESE PICKUPS ARE THE REAL DEAL.
Whats more... Not only are they kick ass humbuckers... But the "TW" in the model numbers is there to distinguish them from the regular 57/66 set. These TW's can switch (via the push/pull volume pots) from a humbucker to a true single coil. The switching does not simply "tap" the coil, it actually switches from the humbucker to a completely separate third coil. Keep in mind, we are talking about a full thickness mahogany body, mahogany neck, and a maple cap, with a 24.75" scale length, so its NEVER going to sound like a Stratocaster, but, these pickups DO offer a 100% completely usable and distinguishable single coil tone without a doubt. With this guitar, its not just some added gimick for people who want to think they are getting something extra simply because its got some push pull pots, it actually works. Ive got a Gibson Traditional Les Paul that I bought over the Standard model simply because I did NOT want all the extra stuff. In those standards, I feel the electronics compromise the Les Paul tone thats there in order to give you coil split options that aren't useable to begin with, so you would never even use the push/pull pots. These EMG's to my surprise, are the 1st switchable coils I've owned that actually work. The PRS pauls guitar (core model) is the only thing I've played that comes close, and that is a TRULY EXPENSIVE piece of gear, nowhere near the same price point, its going to be literally unobtainable for most guitarists, and the SE model doesn't recreate the feature the same way. These pickups are amazing. While these nor any other humbucker will allow you to have the whole "one guitar to replace them all" thing, the REALITY is that it DOES give you 100% great tones with every availible pickup configuration on the guitar. IT WORKS.
For anyone wondering about these pickups or this guitar, I would say if you have the opportunity to get your hands one either or both, give it a shot, so long as your expectations are realistic (a les paul is never going to sound like a stratocaster and vice versa) this setup will NOT leave you disappointed!
