V
VonBonfire
Well-known member
Got a fair market deal on a used Viper 1000. I sold some blown D-120's to help fund the machine. The plan was for this to be my secondary stage guitar and maybe make some YouTube mod videos for next year. TLDR: it's a nice guitar for under a grand used. Even has a nice HSC. Here's the reverb pic of the guitar:
The fretwork is nice. Action is low and buzz free. No buzzing or fretting out anywhere on the neck. I was worried the jumbo frets were going to be too large cause guys were calling them train tracks but they are smaller than 90's circa Fender medium jumbos which I found ridiculously massive. They are tall but not wide, nothing problematic at all. Thing plays really easy. The Macassar Ebony board is smooth and pretty dark. No tear outs or rough spots on it. The binding is well done. The radius is a little flat for my taste but I quickly adjusted to it and now it feels like home. The tuners are nice n smooth and the thing arrived in tune and stays in tune very well. The guitar is about 8lbs with just a hint of neck dive but nothing extreme. I think I'll be able to dial that out.
@NowYou'rePlayingWithPower it's definitely a very thin veneer top. Looking at the edge with a flashlight and analyzing the contours makes it pretty obvious cause it would've required an inch thick top then milled down to the final contours if it were real. A close look at the ESP USA viper shows that one to have a genuine solid maple top. I guess that's the extra 4500 bucks, lol
The resonance of this particular axe is amazing, it's like a Parker Fly. Very powerful in the bass and in the treble with the supplied strings. Not quite LP sustain but still very good. More top end bite than a Paul. I've never had a 24 fret guitar before, it's nice! Also, sometime back someone here told me ESP/LTD's "thin U" shape wasn't that thin. It's thin, but not stupid like a slim taper! Really nice considering the width of the board and it's flat radius. It's ideal. This thing even has a volute and is three piece so it should have great stability.
What I really don't like: body mounted humbuckers. I'm real particular about the adjustment of pickups and this arrangement is garbage. I have some rings on order and will get that sorted out soon. The Sentient neck pup seems nice, possibly a keeper, but the Pegasus seems kind of flat. The verdict is still out though until I get the rings because I generally keep my pickups very low and then raise the pole pieces. I couldn't get them low enough. I'm not really buying the claim these are a hot rod 59/JB set. They are different. I use light gauge flatwounds which I think will temper some of the monster low end thump and trebly zing of this guitar. It's a powerful beast.
The plan Is for pickup rings, probably a bridge pickup swap, a pickguard cause the finish seems to scratch much easier than my Edwards, and maybe a rewire of the controls into concentric vol/tone-vol/tone so I can work it like a four knob arrangement without having to drill holes. Any other suggestions or feedback I'm all ears. I think I found a guitar that will actually make a nice stage #2, especially for slow blues tunes and things like that.
Thanks for reading, be blessed!
The fretwork is nice. Action is low and buzz free. No buzzing or fretting out anywhere on the neck. I was worried the jumbo frets were going to be too large cause guys were calling them train tracks but they are smaller than 90's circa Fender medium jumbos which I found ridiculously massive. They are tall but not wide, nothing problematic at all. Thing plays really easy. The Macassar Ebony board is smooth and pretty dark. No tear outs or rough spots on it. The binding is well done. The radius is a little flat for my taste but I quickly adjusted to it and now it feels like home. The tuners are nice n smooth and the thing arrived in tune and stays in tune very well. The guitar is about 8lbs with just a hint of neck dive but nothing extreme. I think I'll be able to dial that out.
@NowYou'rePlayingWithPower it's definitely a very thin veneer top. Looking at the edge with a flashlight and analyzing the contours makes it pretty obvious cause it would've required an inch thick top then milled down to the final contours if it were real. A close look at the ESP USA viper shows that one to have a genuine solid maple top. I guess that's the extra 4500 bucks, lol
The resonance of this particular axe is amazing, it's like a Parker Fly. Very powerful in the bass and in the treble with the supplied strings. Not quite LP sustain but still very good. More top end bite than a Paul. I've never had a 24 fret guitar before, it's nice! Also, sometime back someone here told me ESP/LTD's "thin U" shape wasn't that thin. It's thin, but not stupid like a slim taper! Really nice considering the width of the board and it's flat radius. It's ideal. This thing even has a volute and is three piece so it should have great stability.
What I really don't like: body mounted humbuckers. I'm real particular about the adjustment of pickups and this arrangement is garbage. I have some rings on order and will get that sorted out soon. The Sentient neck pup seems nice, possibly a keeper, but the Pegasus seems kind of flat. The verdict is still out though until I get the rings because I generally keep my pickups very low and then raise the pole pieces. I couldn't get them low enough. I'm not really buying the claim these are a hot rod 59/JB set. They are different. I use light gauge flatwounds which I think will temper some of the monster low end thump and trebly zing of this guitar. It's a powerful beast.
The plan Is for pickup rings, probably a bridge pickup swap, a pickguard cause the finish seems to scratch much easier than my Edwards, and maybe a rewire of the controls into concentric vol/tone-vol/tone so I can work it like a four knob arrangement without having to drill holes. Any other suggestions or feedback I'm all ears. I think I found a guitar that will actually make a nice stage #2, especially for slow blues tunes and things like that.
Thanks for reading, be blessed!
