I played a LTD version a couple of weeks ago. My GAS for it was huge but unfortunatly it just felt horrid. I'm sure the ESP versions are way better though, problem is they cost SO much more.
I've got a £200 Jackson that feels and plays WAY better than that LTD so don't buy one until you've played it I'd say.
I played one in 1988 Ben and I liked it! Very different from the Ibanez 550 I had at the time but still cool. I always loved them. Damn expensive, though.
PS: I sent you a PM earlier, maybe you didn't see it yet.
I'd like to get my hands on a real ESP Kami but I know even if it does live up to my expectations feel wise I'll be put off by the price.
I just can't seem to get past the early 90's/ 80's 2nd hand guitatrs that are out there at the moment. They seem to be way better value for money than the majority of stuff from 2000 onwards.
I bagged a made in USA Washburn for £125 this week and I know it will p*ss all over the new £200 Jackson I bought recently (although in saying that it's a great little "new" guitar for the money).
My search continues. Anything that is not nailed down in my house has potential to be put on the bay and swopped for more guitars at the moment. I find myself spending whole days at work just thinking about stuff I could sell
I purchased my first Kami thru a guy here at Jemsite.
I have owned several Kami's. They are wonderful guitars. I loved the jumbo Frets and the Original Floyds. The only thing I didnt care for was the Seymour Duncan SD pickup's. I had them changed to Dimarzio Evolutions. With the guitar being very heavy and with the EVO pickup, it was one of the best sounding guitars I have ever owned.
I also loved the push/pull pickup selector and not having a tone knob.
But If you are using pedals to modify your sound then you wont need the tone anyway.
The Kami faces some of the same cracking issues as other guitars which is the neck pocket. The body doesnt crack, only the paint and cover.
Michblanch, yeah that thing is stupid heavy! It's maple bodied, right? In terms of tone it's a killer! You shouldn't have sold it! You already know that, though.
Ben -- cheers for the reply. I assume you read my reply too. I agree about some of those old guitars. I only wish I'd picked them up when I had the chance, especially some of the Tokai's. They're worth loads now. You could barely give them away in the 80's!
I was about to buy one online, but everyone told me that if you don't have really large hands the guitar is a bitch to play with the long scale and 22 frets.
That is just rubbish!!! people just talk nonsense!!! :x the best way to find out is for you to play one! Do you always believe what everyone else says...?!? :roll:
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
Construction / Scale
Body
Neck / Fingerboard
Nut Type / Width
Neck Shape
Inlays
Frets
Binding
Hardware
Tuners
Bridge / Tailpiece
Pickups
Electronics Bolt-On / 25.5"
Maple
Maple / Ebony
FR Locking / 45mm
GL Original
Dots
22 XJ
None
Black
Gotoh
Floyd Rose
Seymour Duncan "Screamin'Demon" (B) & ESP SS-120 (N)
1 Volume w/ Push-Pull P.U. Select
Yeah! I've been playing Tears of Sahara a lot recently. Tooth and Nail was fun track to play but I never nailed the solo. The Hunter was one of my fave GL riffs, and Mr. Scary is just BADASS. Fun indeed. What happened to the arm, if you don't mind me asking?
Bad practice habits, and playing with irritated forearm, wrist and hand muscles
scalated to a bad injury :x which has left me unable to play for almost a month now, thanks God it's getting better but SLOWLY...
Getting back to the GL topic the Hunter is actually one of my all time faves, I have heard a lot of guys trying to play the riffs and the solo and they just can't nail it!!! same goes for tooth and nail that one is a TOUGH one but practice can tame any beast, I learnt both the live and the studio version, another one of my faves is MR scary LIVE with the extended guitar solo intro that one is a SUPER TOUGH to play, Paris is burning is another good one with that guitar solo intro! (in reality I love playing ALL Dokken tunes can't you tell? :wink: ) One of these days when I go to the UK I've got to get together with all my Jemsite mates to Jam and we'll star with some Saxon
Oh no! Thanks for the reminder. I was once asked to join Saxon! Needless to say, ummm, I said I was busy.
But man, sorry to hear about your arm, that's harsh. I once screwed up my tendons in my left hand through playing a certain song with an old band. The chords were huge and stretchy, and it hurt! I don't think it was anything serious but it made me a bit miserable for quite a while.
I tell you what's quite hard to suss out (for me anyway) -- the end part of the solo to It's Not Love. Not sure if you have a problem with that bit too but it used to bug me. Haven't heard it for about 300 years, though. I could probably do it now.
What do you think to Warren DeMartini, btw? I always thought he wanted to sound like Lynch.
Oh no! Thanks for the reminder. I was once asked to join Saxon! Needless to say, ummm, I said I was busy.
But man, sorry to hear about your arm, that's harsh. I once screwed up my tendons in my left hand through playing a certain song with an old band. The chords were huge and stretchy, and it hurt! I don't think it was anything serious but it made me a bit miserable for quite a while.
I tell you what's quite hard to suss out (for me anyway) -- the end part of the solo to It's Not Love. Not sure if you have a problem with that bit too but it used to bug me. Haven't heard it for about 300 years, though. I could probably do it now.
What do you think to Warren DeMartini, btw? I always thought he wanted to sound like Lynch.
Yeah that last part on it's not love after the pedal lick is knida tricky because you really have to do a wild strech tapping 9H10H14 tap on the 17th P14P10 on the G string then 9H10H14 tap on the 17th P14P10 on the D string and finally tap on the 12 fret on the A string to finish the solo in Am.
I forgot about Warren!!! well I feel he is a great player in his own right and although the style is similar to GL I could tell you that Warren has his own thing going, I guess they sound kind of similar because they were both coming up at the same time. I believe RATT and Dokken are 2 of the best 80'S bands!!!
I was about to buy one online, but everyone told me that if you don't have really large hands the guitar is a bitch to play with the long scale and 22 frets.
Someone (or everyone, in your case) definitely got it twisted, for sure. Why a 25.5" scale guitar with 22 frets would be hard to play... I have no idea. And anyway, I didn't have no problem when I tried the Kamikaze 1, though admittedly that was 19 years ago, I remember enjoying it. I love 'em. Too pricy for what they are though.
Now check this out guys this is a 20th anniversary model done right!!!
GEORGE LYNCH GL-20 (Click photo to enlarge)
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S F I N I S H E S
Construction / Scale
Body
Neck / Fingerboard
Nut Type / Width
Neck Shape
Inlays
Frets
Binding
Hardware
Tuners
Bridge / Tailpiece
Pickups
Electronics Bolt-On / 25.5”
Maple
Maple / Ebony
FR Locking / 45mm
GL Original
Mirror Bombs w/ Mother Of Pearl Bomber
22 XJ
None
Black
Gotoh
Floyd Rose
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (B) & Screamin’ Demon Jr. (N)
1 Volume w/ Push-Pull P.U. Select,1 Kill Switch Kamikaze Graphic
w/ Mother Of Pearl Kanji & Bombs
Noooo! That's just WEIRD --me and my girlfriend were saying only yesterday how it'd be cool if it had bomb inlays. And look! That's freaked me out man.
I always wanted to get a Kami from the custom shop with bomb inlays and 24 frets, I hate the dots they are too bland!!!! did you check out the bomber plane inlay!!! unreal!!!!
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