1992 ESP Maverick Deluxe

Details

I purchased this one all the way back in 2013 on eBay, complete with its original G&G case and those fancy EMG-X pickups. At the time, I’d been searching for Mavericks nearly every week ever since I picked up the Green Maverick Deluxe, which was my first one.

I was thrilled to have the maple fretboard, and love the way this one plays. At the time I didn’t have many guitars, so this one has a simple screw in trem stopper installed, allowing me to alternate tunings more easily on this. Thanks to the EMG’s, it has a great heavy tone and I can easily switch to Drop-D tunings with this one. That’s not to say it doesn’t excel at other tones, and the neck/middle SA-X pickups really surprised me and I love the sounds I can get from them. They do not have the usual single coil “scratch” though, they are much smoother with a little more output that I love for jazzier tones or for smooth overdriven leads.

The Floyd is ESP stamped and made in Germany by Schaller, and feels just as comfortable and stable as a true OFR. Also, this guitar and case smell the best of any I own - hard to describe but it’s just a great smell that adds a sense of occasion to getting this one out.