Talk to me about Lynch ESPes

[jwoods986]

I'm really wanting a Lynch model and have pretty much narrowed it down to 3 - Kami I, M1 tiger, or a Skulls & Snakes. I'm looking for pros/cons/opinions of the 3 models. From reading specs and looking at pics, I've come up with this so far:
1. I know the kami I is supposed to be really heavy (in lbs.) and it looks like the neck joint is much thicker than the other two, but it is a classic.
2. I LOVE the tiger paint scheme and maple necks, but it does only have one hum. These also have maple bodies, so are they as heavy as the Kami I's?
3. I hadn't really considered the S & S until yesterday when I played a MII at a store (which I think the S & S has the same body shape) and thought about the Lynch model being alder, it should be a lot lighter than maple. Plus, it is a killer graphic/inlays.

Talk me into one of these.........

[sonicsamurai]

no discussion. M1 tiger. it's the most truly Lynch guitar, the one he's always played and recorded with for nearly like 25 years now.


personally i've always been a bit of a fan of the purple sunburst tiger, but ESP does the headstock wrong, for some reason they only do the correct non reversed unpainted headstock in japan....


if ur talking weight, the m1 is a maple strat body, the kami is a les paul thickmess maple strat body. slightly heavier than mahogany, but weight never bothers me, actually generally my guitars are fairly heavy.

[mudkicker]

Just remember baseball bat necks. All of them. Personally I would get one of the older ones if you can.

I have a 90/91 S&S, that is an amazing player. The first S&S's have a clear coat failure. Everyone of the early ones have stress cracks in the clear coat. Mine is no exception. I have babied it since it was new. It still cracked. If you look you can see the crack running from the low e side of the trem recess to the top of the body.

[sonicsamurai]

i thought some of them were thin necks? are heard in one of his vids george or an ESP guy said his necks were like the thinnest they did.. or maybe thats a new thing?

[Superfly]

Yeah my Kamikaze I was not thick at all. I wouldn't exactly call them wizard thin either. One of the most comortable necks i ever felt. They are HEAVY though. LPs have nothing on the Kami

[Rsmacker]

Well there you go, reason enough to get yer mitts on whatever you fancy and actually try before you buy!
I really fancied a Kamikaze a few years ago, I went and tried a couple out and went home with the money still in my pocket, pretty deflated. They felt like playing a coffee table. Still, I'd have been a lot more pissed off if I'd have shed the cash without trying one out.

[Soap]

I'm a proud owner of a Kami 1.

Graphic = Butt ugly

Its a maple body = heavy...thats was never an issue with me.
I got a strap that had alittle more padding.

Neck = Wide neck...1 3/4 at the nut...for me...the neck fits my hand nicely.

Frets = Huge jumbos

Fretboard = Ebony...I love ebony boards, nuff said.

Humbucker = Screamin Demon...heres the deal with this pickup.

On maple bodies its pretty trebly, nearing the piercing point of annoying.
With that said, its not a big deal to adjust my settings to remove some of the high trebly tone that the SD produces when combined with a maple body.
The SD is much more tolerable and actually in opinion sounds much better in an alder body. In an alder body, you may lose a touch of sustain, whereas the maple is noted for great sustain. Even so, the loss isn't enough to cry and whine over.
Believe me and imo, a SD is great in alder it really sings.
In a maple body I'd go with a Duncan Distortion, these make a nice combo.

The one thing that most have problem with and never can seem to overcome.
The SD isn't a forgiving pickup.
Meaning, it doesn't mask ones sloppy playing.
It pickups every little finger and hand movement.
This is where people forget, this is where Lynch's style of playing comes to mind immediately. Lynch is far from sloppy. So, the sloppy player immediately despises the guitar. The SD will force the player that accepts the challenge to clean up his or her playing, ultimately it will make them a better player. I admit, it took me awhile to get use to the pickup. The SD pickup isn't for everbody especially if in a maple body.

The playability:
The ebony fretboard which I love with a good fret job (leveling, cleaning and polishing) its an experience that changed my opinion about ebony boards. I'll never go with anything else, ebony board it is. Its just not the "slick" feeling most speak of when referring to ebony boards, but for me, it was more comfort and ease of playing.
It felt right to me. I like ebony boards and did before owning a Kami.

As stated earlier, the width of the neck is somewhat wide.
As with anything, it all depends on who you talk to.
Some hate and despise wide necks and some love them.
Myself, the kami was my first experience with a wider neck and I liked it, actually alot.
Why? I have big hands for one and struggled then (before getting a Kami) with smaller necks. My fingers got/get in the way with smaller necks. The wider necks, it least to me, the string distance was just enough a part that it help my string noise issue with my playing/fret hand. It just felt more natural to me.

Conclude:
The Kami's have a god awful butt ugly graphic.
Aside from that, great made and playing guitars, very versatile which the neck pickup adds to that aspect.
If, I was gonna get a lynch guitar today, I'd go with the skulls and snake ESP model with a ebony board, this would make it a custom shop job.
Anyways, because of the SD and alder body combo and the graphic is more tolerable.
If you don't change the pickup, the Kami can take a while getting use to with the maple body and SD combo. After a couple of years, I removed the stock neck pickup and put a duck bucker in, and love it.

[toejam]

Just remember baseball bat necks. All of them. Personally I would get one of the older ones if you can.

I have a 90/91 S&S, that is an amazing player. The first S&S's have a clear coat failure. Everyone of the early ones have stress cracks in the clear coat. Mine is no exception. I have babied it since it was new. It still cracked. If you look you can see the crack running from the low e side of the trem recess to the top of the body.

Aren't the graphics on these decals or dot-matrix prints or something under the clear?

[Soap]

Aren't the graphics on these decals or dot-matrix prints or something under the clear?

Yes, with a thick clear over the top.

[Razor]

I have a Skulls and Snakes I aquired from fellow member Big D. Neck profile on mine is pretty close to the Charvel Model series, certainly not "baseball bat" at all. Very comfortable to play. My favorite is the Skulls and Snakes with the M1 Bengal being a close second. I'm fortunate that mine hasn't had the notorious clear coat finish problems they're famous for.

[mudkicker]

Razor, is that the original neck on yours? From what I remember the S&S's with the strat style headstock only came with the offset fret markers, and black headstock.

[skorb]

well didn't Lynch's have the natural hs?
and no way he played offset dots on his, ever. I've been a Lynch fan for 25 years, no offset dots in all that time.

Razor - that is a very nice one bro. wow!

I love all the GL guitars.

so the offset dots were a cheaper version made for the lower end market I think?

[Razor]

I believe Markus is the original owner, and I think it was ordered with this neck on it. Since the classifieds have been redone, his original classifieds thread on it won't pull up for me. It is a ESP woodburn neck.

[Razor]

Skorb, I'm pretty sure the real early ones had the offset dots and the black strat headstock. Only later did they go to the reverse headstock and the skull inlays with the brighter/more colorful graphic.

[skorb]

yes I understand what you're saying about the production guitars, but Lynch never played one like that, his was identical to yours.