Chocklit_Thunda wrote: http://m.gumtree.co.za/an-ibanez-that-even-scares-superman/v?adId=528442886

Not a fail at all! Total win ? ? ? (just didn't know where else to put it)

Arjun Menon wrote: Re the stickiness, Graphtech have the below product...

CostaFonix wrote: A tot of Tequila (or similar medicine) just before you start,,,,only if you're over 18!!! :goodtimes:
Talk to your audience between songs, loosen up, laugh at your mistakes, and just try and have as much fun as possible while you're playing.
Oh and before you even get on that stage, make sure you rehearse your stuff as well as possible leading up to the gig, you want to focus on giving a great performance as opposed to trying to figure out which note is next,,,
Ensure that all your equipment is functioning properly (nothing worse than a dodgy cable messing up your sound), and if you have old rusty strings on the guitar replace them a couple of days before the gig.
So what I'm saying is a lot of stress is caused by the above interfering with your playing which in turn contributes to sticky hands, armpits and a bunch of other things ?
Just for the record, i've been gigging for probably around 35 years (on and off) and I still get nervous, in fact most professional superstars do as well, ?
and as the rest of the dudes say, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

Ghost93 wrote: On the other end guitars that will carry the esp name will come out of custom shop only in future. This could either make the esp more valuable as you wont get guits with the esp naming except for the second hand market?

If, in future, the name is only used for top quality (and for most, unattainable) guitars. The older, production line instruments under the same name will benefit. The danger lies in them letting the ESP brand dwindle and die, at which point they become another Hamer - some great guitars that few have heard of.

But I guess as you said, esp is not well known locally - yet ?

How long will it take them then? ? They've been around since the mid - '80s and had had their heyday alongside brands like Jackson and Hamer. They had an excellent rep from the start, but I think maybe they put too many eggs in the Superstrat basket, where they, like everyone else, are now up against Ibanez (and still Jackson, who have the might of the big F behind them). The ground they had on Fender in the '80s (when they, Tokai and Fernandes were building better Strats than Fender) has now gone and now Fender has their house in order, ESP will never make that back. Plus on the high end they are up against the same competition Fender CS is - Suhr, Pensa and the like.

Also just battling to understand why the company would do something like this.

Like many, they are struggling to find a place in the market now that higher end stuff does not move as well and the midrange is so hotly contested and being targeted by the bigger companies (both high and low end). I would guess they have done better with the LTD range in recent years than they have with the ESPs, and they are refocusing on the area that is making them the most money.

Cleric wrote: So what you're saying is that if I want an Eclipse II with ESP on the head-stock I better buy one in the next year and a half? Any excuse for a new axe!

ZarK wrote: Stop worrying... ? You've got two ESP's... ? Fantastic guitars. Based on first-hand experience, I rate them higher than many of the better known high-end brands.