MusicRadar

More versatile in terms of performance than the Gibson guitar that inspired it.

1 of 4 » View in gallery

• Related News
• Review

During the eighties and nineties, ESP's sell-line was "the only real alternative", a barely disguised statement of intent to illustrate the occasional practice of taking classic designs and reinventing them to suit what it believed were the needs of contemporary players.

The recently resurrected Phoenix body shape doesn't so much suggest the Gibson Firebird as hammer it home - the phoenix is a firebird in Greek mythology - but there are several refinements to the original 1963 Ray Dietrich Gibson design.

"The original Phoenix made its debut in the mid-eighties and it had a pointed headstock, two mini humbuckers and Floyd Rose-type locking tremolo," says ESP Japan's President, Makoto Suzuki.

"It's good to see high-end hardware and fittings that raise stability and performance at this price point."

"It was discontinued in the early nineties and the Phoenix-II was introduced in 2008. I personally love its shape and I'd been thinking about bringing Phoenix back to the market for a while."

Its construction style is similar to that of the Firebird, although the materials differ. Here the neck and central core of the body is comprised of a three-piece spread of maple that runs from the tip of the reverse headstock to the rear strap pin, flanked by mahogany wings.

An obvious nod to its inspiration comes with the two raised edges either side of the pickups, but there are also modest forearm and belly contours to consider, as well as a lower horn that resembles that of an Ibanez Iceman.

Suzuki-san is right about the mini humbuckers, but here the guitar comes loaded with a Seymour Duncan JB/'59 set complete with chrome covers. Unusually the controls consist of two volume pots alongside the customary three-way toggle switch - we'll see if the lack of a tone pot compromises its performance.

It's good to see high-end hardware and fittings that raise stability and performance as high as realistically possible at this price point. The tune-o-matic bridge and stud tailpiece are locking TonePros parts, while a complement of ESP locking tuners adorns the eye-catching headstock.

A low-friction compensated Earvana nut is the icing on the cake and the guitar is perfectly set-up out of the box. As far as playability is concerned, the Phoenix does take a little getting used to when strumming sitting down, simply because the first few frets are that much further away from your body, even with its time-honoured Fender scale length.

Any weirdness dissipates when standing, as the guitar as a whole hangs well and the bound neck, which follows ESP's 'Thin U' contour, is eminently playable. White and black finish options seem like the right choices for rockers, but could we have a two-colour sunburst one as well perhaps?