With its uniquely-styled offset cutaway body and top-of-the-line appointments, ESP’s USA Viper, handcrafted at the company’s Southern California facility, is one of its most luxurious and high-performance electric guitars.
So we couldn’t wait to get one of these beauties in the hands of Tech Editor Paul Riario to see what it could do when cranked through a Marshall half-stack. To no one’s surprise, the Viper didn’t disappoint.
Whether playing clean, shimmering arpeggios, distorted chords and riffs or high-gain, sustain-filled leads, the Viper is, Paul says, “a real stunner.” And it looks great, to boot, with Paul’s example boasting a highly figured flame maple top (quilted is also available) in an elegant see-through purple finish. “It’s beautiful all around,” he notes.
Other features include a mahogany body with a set-through neck and a 24 3/4-inch scale. The neck itself is a three-piece mahogany design with a Thin U profile and a two-way adjustable truss rod with carbon fiber reinforcements for strength and stability, and it’s topped with a bound ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl Split Flag inlays and 22 extra jumbo Jescar stainless steel frets.
It’s a neck-and-fingerboard combination that is “really comfortable,” Paul says. “Just fluid the whole way from first fret to the last.”
Pickups, meanwhile, are a pair of Seymour Duncan active humbuckers controlled by single volume and tone knobs and a three-way selector switch. A cool feature here, Paul points out, is the metal enclosure on the back of the guitar’s body that houses the battery for the active pickups. “Just a simple pull allows you to access and change the battery,” he says.
The Viper is topped off with Sperzel Trim-Lok tuners, a TonePros Locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, Dunlop locking strap buttons and gold hardware. And it comes fitted in a high-quality ESP USA form-fitting hardshell case.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
“"The quality on this guitar is unlike anything I've seen – it's impeccable," Paul says. And, he adds, “As far as craftsmanship being top of the line and the set up, this guitar actually plays itself.”
What more could you ask for in a premium instrument?
For more information on the USA Viper, head to ESP.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
“Captures the very essence of British rock ’n’ roll”: The Masquerader Standard makes one of cult UK builder Shergold’s most distinctive guitars significantly more affordable
“An enhanced version of the classic”: Gibson has put an all-new spin on its traditional Les Paul Studio – and it was created in response to requests from players