i just couldn't resist this....... an ESP/Ltd EC100QM

Keira-WitherKay

i was happily in marshall music picking up something i ordered.....with no plans on even looking at guitars ,,... and i saw this just hanging there.......... and when i asked re the price it became an impulse buy ......... sure i got an awesome discount from retail so i couldn;t walk away from this......... and i tried it out and loved the neck .......... and the look .... that quilted maple finish is mindblowing and on such an affordable guitar

BUT BEFORE YOU START THINKING I'M GETTING INTO METAL ... stop right there ......... i actually bought this guitar for another reason ................. to chop it up ................

the thing is i been shopping in the last months for a travel guitar and was on the verge of ordering a lapstick travel guitar ( which was my favourite but while corresponding with phil neal the luthier who makes em i discovered the fretboard was too cramped in the upper frets........ and i want it for my fingerstyle playing )
so i was looking for a guitar with a great neck to convert into a travel guitar ...and this LTD was it ...... i will remove the brige pup ( cos i want it for jazzy clean tones) and will chop the body down to a greatly reduced size.and if i get my way i will relocate the tuners to the body of the guitar ala "traveller" guitars.... and obviously it's a fairly weighty guitar now..but i have plans to reduce the weight and bulk ..... well i won't do this but someone will be doing the work...... ?

but this guitar is truly amazing for the money ........ and it's uber playable... big frets and low action ...and the entire neck (24 frets) has the same action all the way down...so super flat .... thats what sold me.......

at the moment it looks like this ( see photo ) but in a few months it will fit into my suitcase when i travel ?

below are ths specs

EC-100QM

* Bolt-On Construction
* 24.75" Scale
* Basswood Body
* Quilted Maple Top
* Maple Neck
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* 42mm Standard Nut
* Thin U Neck Contour
* 24 XJ Frets
* Chrome Hardware
(Black Nickel for STBLK & STBC)
* ESP Tuners
* TOM Bridge & Tailpiece
* ESP LH-150 (B & N) p.u.

btw took it onstage yesterday and played a set with it here at sun city (doing jazz ) and it was way cool ,great feel and the neck pup i lowered way down to reduce the output and then it sounded decidedly jazzy just using the neck pup with the tone rolled almost 90% off

this is the LTD copy of a PRS if i'm not mistaken but it feels and sounds ( not the looks) more like a copy of a les paul studio .....to me anyway but then i guess the PRS is basically a copy of a gibson style single cut so all one family at end of the day

aja

For inspiration

Jack-Flash-Jr

☹

?

singemonkey

The Eclipse isn't really a copy of anything per se. It's its own thing. Sounds like a good option. ESP seems to maintain great quality throughout its various product lines. A friend of mine has one of those Ltd. Eclipses and I was surprised by how nicely done it was. Surely one of the best beginner options for the metallically inclined.

AlanRatcliffe

Ummm... congrats on your new ritual sacrifice. ?

I don't know how much of the body you will be able to cut away, thanks to the jack socket positioning and control cavity. But if all else fails, you can fit neck inserts so you can remove the neck for travel - that's the nice thing about any bolt-on.

I still think the Steinberger "cricket bat" makes the best travel guitar. Indestructible, small and pretty ergonomic.

Converting a normal neck can be difficult - you will probably need to reshape the neck profile to suit the headpiece (and they do need a zero fret BTW). Why not just get an ABM-Mueller bridge and headpiece (about EUR150) and have a travel guitar made? Also take a look at their single bridge tuners (EUR210 for a set + EUR 50 for the headpiece), which work out a lot lighter than a full single-piece bridge assembly (plus you can stagger them if you want).

Here are details on the ABM bridge and headpiece (ABM's site is sketchy on the details):
http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/2008/06/abm-headless-bridge-detail.html

And here's a pic of the single-bridges:

If the pic doesn't show up, try this link:
http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/Mats-Erikson/ABM-Headless-Bridge-CloseUp.jpg

Keira-WitherKay

here's what i want to do with the tuners ......... a system like they do on the ultralight traveller guitars

i woulda just bought a traveller electric they cheap under $300 however the pickup is in the bridge position and they don't do one with a humbucker in the neck position .....so i need to build my own .well have one built to my specs.......

so either i will get someone to rout out the body of the Ltd .........and cut it to shape.or if someone can just build a small body from scratch and bolt on the neck .......

a question at alan and any other peeps knowledgable on trussrods........ ... i been speaking to phil neal from lapstick guitars and his travel guitar is like a normal neck with a capo on 5th fret so he has shortened the neck and his guitars are tiny .......but unfortunately too short for me ........ but he gave me the idea........ of shortening the neck to say start on 3rd fret only BUT my question is..can a truss rod be removed and a shorter one reinserted or is there any other way to shorten the neck with the truss rod still inserted and could it somehow be shortened ( the existing trussrod) and still function

my idea at buying this Ltd was to basically in one buy get a great neck and all the parts i would need....... except a few

then over the next months i will convert this guitar as time allows ....and the idea;s come in . shortening the neck would be in my mind the most difficult but it's something that if it's too hectic a job i can leave it as it is .. but it would be cool to shorten the guitar by 2 frets......... and according to all reports the guitar will function correctly intonation wise cos it's simply like placing a capo on the 2nd fret ..... this is the headache .

but all the rest of the mods will be easy cos i can refer to peoples previous work like in how the tuners are setup on the traveller guitars........

anyway this guitar will be my hobby project for a while to come........

AlanRatcliffe

I've never liked the tuning system on the Travellers - it screams "tuning issues!" to me. I've heard some folk have replaced it with the single ABMs.

As far as pickups go, if the body clearance is high enough, you could easily mount a floating jazz pickup like the Lindy Fralin Jazz:

Or the Benedetto S6:

While the Benedetto is designed for mounting to the pickguard, they can also be fixed to the body surface with a bit o wranglin'. Bartolini do a similar pickup that mounts on the end of the fingerboard 1/2" thick though). Dan Armstrong make quite a few different models, including a very skinny (8.5mm) model called the 2-D which is humbucking (most jazz pickups are actually single-coils, BTW).

Chopping the neck is a bit tricky - it's hard to cut the neck with the trussrod in place and it's even harder to cut the trussrod and cut a new thread while it's in the neck. So probably removing fingerboard and frets is the best way to go - and the luthier charges start rapidly mounting to the point where you might as well have had one built from scratch.

BTW - also speak to Murray Kuun up in your end of the world - he's been working on travel electrics (as well as a lot of Teuffel inspired instruments) and is open to custom building.

Bob-Dubery

I remember when I first started talking to Mervyn Davis about a Smoothtalker guitar. At the time my main concern was having a guitar with a "Manzer Wedge". Mervyn told me that to build a guitar like that didn't make much difference to the pricing because it didn't make much difference to the work he had to do. He added that to get an already built guitar modified would be an expensive exercise.

Same when I spoke to British luthier Nick Benjamin about his "scoop". Building it into a new guitar would cost something, but not that much as a proportion of the cost of building the instrument. Adding it to an existing guitar - much more expensive.

I suspect you're going to find the same here. The cost of cutting that guitar down, relocating the controls, adding the "body end" tuners and thus the nut and the zero fret required at the other end etc etc .... it would probably have cost less to buy a travel guitar built as a travel guitar from the word go.

Wizard

In the building industry architects charge a higher rate for renovations than they do for new houses ...

Isis

Don't post a pic of the Wangcaster............don't post a pic of the Wangcaster........don't post a pic of the Wangcaster......

Seventhson

Sorry :'(

I blame rock and roll ???

Keira-WitherKay

Seventhson wrote:

Sorry people of this decent forum but I had to ?

actually seventhson YOU DID NOT have to post that ........ thats neither amusing or relevant to this thread which is re a travel guitar ......... in fact it's quite disgusting ........ and it does not even qualify as a travel guitar so has no relevance other than the toilet humour which is not appreciated ....... a little respect next time please ... i started this thread to get some solid advice on a project i have in mind......

guidothepimmp

out of curiosity.. does a travel guitar mean that it has a built in speaker or not necessarily.. Im struggling to picture how one would fit a speaker o there..

Also, if its just compact and size, how would hacking 3/5ths of the body affect things like tone and sustain etc... or am I missing the point here, this is just about travelling wit a fiddle and tone etc are secondary?

Would love to hear a guit as was pictured above (errr... the picture Keira posted that resembled a Steinberger) just to see how different it would sound compared to full bodied fiddle.. :-\

Keira-WitherKay

guidothepimmp wrote: out of curiosity.. does a travel guitar mean that it has a built in speaker or not necessarily.. Im struggling to picture how one would fit a speaker o there..

Also, if its just compact and size, how would hacking 3/5ths of the body affect things like tone and sustain etc... or am I missing the point here, this is just about travelling wit a fiddle and tone etc are secondary?

Would love to hear a guit as was pictured above (errr... the picture Keira posted that resembled a Steinberger) just to see how different it would sound compared to full bodied fiddle.. :-\

NO a speaker is NOT a requirement . there's plenty of light weight battery powered amps for that purpose...... but the idea of a travel guitar is for it to literally fit into your luggage (suitcase) or back pack rather than carry another guitar case..or in my case i would carry a guitar case with a nylon classical n it and have the electric in my luggage cos airlines do allow a guitar and often do not even count it as weight deducted from your limit ....... but some do.but they are getting strict of ony allowing your main bag one carry on bag and maybe a guitar case.but 2x guitar cases would mean paying extra baggage........

so a travel guitar is for convenience of having an instrument that fits inside you luggage ...... when you fly ...... so size and weight are important

there are lots of travel guitar demo's on you tube........ the reality for me is i personally don't like the travellers tone. it's too harsh ..... but i fancied it for the way the tuners work.....

the guitar i love the most but it's too small size wise for me as in i tried it but fingers couldn't play up to the 10th fret is the "lapstick"

check the amazing video below comparing it to a gibson 175 jazz guitar ..........

also check mike stern get some wicked tones out of it

G-Man

Wow, I never would have guessed that you could get that kind of sound out of such a small little guitar, awesome.

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote:
Seventhson wrote:

Sorry people of this decent forum but I had to ?
actually seventhson YOU DID NOT have to post that ........ thats neither amusing or relevant to this thread which is re a travel guitar ......... in fact it's quite disgusting ........ and it does not even qualify as a travel guitar so has no relevance other than the toilet humour which is not appreciated ....... a little respect next time please ... i started this thread to get some solid advice on a project i have in mind......

+1. That's revolting.

Keira-WitherKay

G-Man wrote: Wow, I never would have guessed that you could get that kind of sound out of such a small little guitar, awesome.

yes . i am fast becoming a believer that if the pickup and neck is correct the body makes little difference........ in these days of modern electronics that get great tone out of what i call "stick" guitars......

and yes i seek a jazz tone where too much sustain is actually a PROBLEM in a guitar the best jazz tone is a sound that plays round and warm but does not sustain forever like acoustic guitars do cos too much sustain it will muddy the tone of the bass lines and the fast continious jazz style of playing solo lines ... so endless sustain is NOT a requirement for my personal needs so maybe NOT having a body actually helps achieve the tone i want

but i also heard some great rock tones( with sustain) too outa travel guitars

anyway just listen to the demo's of the lapstick in a previous post and some others i posted below and you should agree with me it's very possible to get great tone outa NO BODY

jazz tone

latin tone

rock tone

and last but not least the amazing tuck andress with a travel guitar listen to the harmonics beautiful version of this song not unlike tommy emmaneuls harmonics version

right so enough evidence these are NOT toys but serious instruments ? and yes travel guitars are NOT for everybody but specifically aimed at people who travel by air a lot ( if you travel any other way it's not needed) or busk ....or in my case when i gig already have one guitar with me in a case (the classical) but also want the electric for some jazz tones but don't wanna carry a 2nd full size guitar in a case..

Jack-Flash-Jr

Hmmm... I'd go as far as to say (again) that the guitar itself (pups, neck, everything) have little to do with tone, sound. Playability yes... but electrics, the magic is in the amp...

Seventhson

Just want to say I am sorry for that pic.

I deleted and will have abit more tak next time :'(

Did not mean to offend anyone.

Keira-WitherKay

Jack Flash Jr wrote: Hmmm... I'd go as far as to say (again) that the guitar itself (pups, neck, everything) have little to do with tone, sound. Playability yes... but electrics, the magic is in the amp...

yeah i think you have a fabulous point there jack flash ......

and i practise what you preach ? cos i have a battery amp 40W (the one i do roving guitar shows with...... i posted video of it a few months back ) but i recently bought the korg pandora 4d (mini fx unit that clips on a guitar strap to use for my mobile gigs......also battery powered and gives me modeling and a descent reverb and some EQ and that small battery amp sounds a million times better with the pandora than without which really just gives it a preamp but the sound different in tone is incredible......

so i guess a travel guitar into a mini battery powered fx unit/modeler and then to a battery amp is the "way to go" .when you "on the go " ?