ESP LTD Mirage Deluxe '87 Rainbow Crackle VS Ironbird VS Strandberg Metal 6 NX / Your Gear Sucks #5 

Hey man, thanks for watching. It sounds to me like you have an awesome collection. I would imagine your mirage is probably better than mine. Mine honestly continues to have issues with fret buzz. However, the tone of that guitar is really great. As for the Strandburg that you mentioned, I actually sold it last week. I also have a Stamberg eight string of that same guitar, but the six string I sold it because honestly I just really didn’t like the tone of the instrument. Over the last two weeks I’ve been playing my Carvins, and my solar, the most. I sold a few guitars and gained a few guitars over the last few months. Anyway, I would love to play one of the earlier mirages like the one you have. Thanks for your comment.

@@Yourguitarchannelsucks I don't know if my MII is better or worse than anything. I know its an original ESP made in Japan, which people put a lot of stock in. When I bought it, I just knew it was cooler than my yellow Rhoads I had at the time and sounded amazing when I played Slayer. lol The action on it is stupidly low (recent fret level and re-crowning). I do imagine it is very similar to your Mirage though. Its a beautiful guitar by the way. If you are ever in the Boston area, I'm here, come jam on my guitars. Of all my guitars my favorites to play from a feel perspective are the MII and the SLAYER guitar. A close 3rd is the X series Soloist. Xiphos, has an amazing neck feel, but half the time I want to replace that DiMarzio with just about anything Seymour Duncan. :) The Solar is nice, super light and the pickups sound amazing, but its currently tuned to C# and I honestly don't know anything in C#. Maybe one Suffocation tune. The Rhoads, I've done a lot of work to. It arrived damaged, someone dropped the poorly padded box on the points and I needed to do some paint repair. The neck feel was horrible, turns out Jackson was extra generous with their sealant and paint on the neck, so I scraped all that off and sanded it. Sealed it with Danish Oil. On top of it, it had Blackouts, which were OK, but a good hot passive pickup will do me just fine. I didn't need all that. I'm much happier with the guitar now. I wanted to get rid of the dumb multiple volume knobs anyway. Simple guy. I'm not going to use the tone knob. Just give me a single volume knob and my selector switch and call it a day.

@@thrashnbash314 Thanks for the offer, I would love to and if you’re ever near lower Alabama you’re welcome to check mine out as well. I would make a comment about the DiMarzio Deactivator in your Xiphos; First I have not played the Xiphos but I have had those pickups in a few guitars that had a Mahogany Neck through body construction with a Mahogany body wings ( Ebony fingerboard) in a 7 string configuration with a string through body fixed bridge (25.5” scale standard tuning.) In this configuration I honestly really loved those pickups. However, I have used a lot of different Dimarzios over years and my impression of them has been that they tend to prefer some guitars more than others. Is your Xiphos a Maple neck- through? I know that several Xiphos models are neck through body.

@@Yourguitarchannelsucks Well, my oldest will be heading to college in the next 2yrs so who knows where that'll take her and eventually me. lol So you never know, may take you up on that! The Xiphos I honestly don't know much about its body and neck. I know the neck is incredibly comfortable and fast, even though its painted. It is neck through. It's an X700 from 2010'ish time frame. When I got it the top wing had a bad chip and I needed to do some bondo repair, sand, prime and paint. I got sloppy with my painting and now I have to sand and repaint the body. There is orange peel there and it looks like ass. It's OK though. I'm thinking the front of this guitar is going to be black and purple crackle when I'm done. Hopefully it comes out as good as I want it to.

I absolutely agree. I wish he was more known. He was just so far ahead of his time, that it made him somewhat obscure. The guy is a top tier shred genius!

Thank you! I appreciate the support! I figured it sucked but I’m glad someone likes it.🤘

I still have this guitar and I really love the tone of it and I love the paint job. However, I’m considering getting it pleked because I still have various set up issues with buzzing etc., but I love the sound and look so much that I’m about positive I’m going to get mine pleked in the very near future. If you do buy one of these guitars; - my advice is to make sure you have a great return policy because I have recently purchased 3 guitars from esp Ltd and each one has had some inconsistency’s with the frets and 2 have had some wiring issues. Anyway, this is still one of my favorite guitars so I plan on making it perfect soon. So just make sure you check your frets and do a full inspection when and if you buy one. Quality Control is-not what it once was. And i agree they need more wild colors! 🤘 thanks for the comment

Thank you for watching. In this video I was plugged into my Line 6 HX Stomp, I was using the, “ Angl Meteor”, I also used my Jhs Haunting Mids pedal. The guitar had 9’s on it and was tuned to E standard. The guitar sounds great plugged into my other amps as well. The pickup combination and wood of this instrument is very good. What are you plugging yours into?

I’m a huge fan of Macabre. That would actually be a great idea. Maybe Vampire of Dweezil Dorf. ( can’t remember how to spell that) I will have to put them on my list because that would be fun.

@@Yourguitarchannelsucks that would be killer!

Thanks.

Thanks man, I really appreciate it! It’s a song I’m currently trying to write. If I finish it maybe I will make a playthrough video with tablature across the bottom.

As for the cushion, I did a search for a guitar support cushion and I think I found it at amazon. I love it and use it all the time. As for the haunting mids, I own 2 of them. I have one on my Laney board as well. The haunting mids allows me to pick a specific Mid frequency and then either boost it or cut it. It’s one of my favorite pedals. It sounds good in every amp I plug it into. You can use it in the effects loop or in front of the amp in conjunction with other pedals and it rules!

Hailz Mario, It took me 5 months to reach happiness with that guitar. The cat seems content but is becoming co-dependent. Oh, don’t worry I’m already sad about other things and my hand shapes a very ,” C!”

@@Yourguitarchannelsucks Touché