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LTD Viper-50
List: $550 (Davis GMC)
This one isn`t exactly a new offering in the market, the series 50 LTDs have been in Davis for quite a while but they were all black, the grey finish you see here is new...
A gripe with the entry-level incarnations of an established brand name (eg: Squier/ Epi/ etc...) is that they don`t quite reflect the quality of the latter. However, i`ve noticed that with the Squier revision in 2002, it seems that other brand names followed suit, everyone went one-up & it`s kinda difficult to find a bad entry level these days, the Samick Greg Benett series is a fine example. Moving on to the LTD Viper-50...
Construction/ Fit/ Finish
The overall fit & finish was superb, no paint blobs detected anywhere, the nut was cut precisely to supplement stable tuning & no fret burrs anywhere on the neck. This guitar was a joy to play, especially this particular one, as it was well set up out of the box; the action will make shred fans smile. The neck profile was also very comfy, a rather chunky D-outline- think Ibanez Wizard neck but with a little more meat. If you aren`t aware, this one sports a gibson scale length- 24.75" & the rear of which is a finished process but remains lacquerless; good news to those of us who dislike a sticky encounter (because your palms sweat easily).
Playability/ Tone
Does the Viper sing as well? Predictably, the lacquerless finish makes this Viper sing real well; it has that little extra midrange clarity that often escapes other entry level bridge humbucking guitar of a similar price-range. However, the default humbuckers were more attuned to drive settings rather than clean tones, but they weren`t lousy clean, definitely not. The neck humbucker impressed me because it manifests single notes very well at high gain settings, with clarity to boot. The bridge unit would typically please intense drive proponents- it screams & growls. Despite proving their worth in isolation, both pickups in concurrent use proved to be a handful midrange-wise. If you are intending to buy this Viper for polite clean tones, you are one very disillusioned would be buyer.
Last say
In addition to avoiding a lawsuit, the offset body design aided balance tremendously, especially when one sits down to play. i`ve nothing bad to say about this guitar except that it`s a little pricey for an entry level. I`m not an LTD fan before I tried the series 50 guitars (the Viper impressed me the most), simply because the LTDs failed to capture the ESP`s elite essence & they feel very synthetic to the touch, but that sentiment ends here. It seems that good things won`t cost you a bomb, this experience certainly made me believe just that. Keep in mind that the Viper is a visual representation of Gibson`s hallowed SG guitars, it sounds nothing like one.
A highly recommended entry level guitar, if you are into intense distortion primarily.
