2010 Edwards by ESP E-LP-98LTC Custom Black Beauty, Ebony Nitro Lacquer w/ USA Seymour Duncans, Japan

Up for sale, a 2010 Edwards by ESP model E-LP-98LTC “Black Beauty” in 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original padded gigbag and hangtags. A discontinued instrument produced in Japan by ESP under the Edwards banner, this guitar is a faithful iteration of the LP Custom Black Beauty platform with a genuine ebony fretboard, mahogany body, carved maple cap, a nitro lacquer Ebony finish, and all-gold hardware.The guitar is loaded with its stock pair of USA-made Seymour Duncan humbuckers, with an SH-1 PAF in the neck position and SH-4 at the bridge. The SH-1 PAF neck pickup was designed in the spirit of the original PAF, with sweet singing sustain, wound to deliver full-sounding chords and midrange-forward attack. The SH-4 JB bridge pickup is Duncan's original hot-rodded humbucker. The low end is full and powerful, the highs are crisp and detailed, and there’s an upper-midrange bump that adds crunch and chunk to heavy chords that translates to a singing, vocal-like quality when playing single notes or solos. This Edwards weighs 8lbs 2oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and spot-on intonation.The mahogany neck has a substantial '50s-style C-shaped profile carve, just shy of “baseball bat” heft, with full, inviting shoulders in every register and optimal heft, measuring .875” deep at the 1st fret and 1.005” at the 12th. The bound slab ebony fretboard adds to the articulation and glassy note attack of the guitar, featuring pearloid block inlay and flawless medium jumbo fretwire (ostensibly leveled and crowned in the guitar's lifetime). This Edwards plays cleanly up the straight neck with a responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. In line with traditional Gibson spec, the scale length is 24 3/4” and the bone nut measures 1 11/16” in width. The headstock sports an "open book" shape framed by multi-ply binding, featuring gold Gotoh tuning machines with metal tulip buttons that turn smoothly and hold pitch as they should.The electronics function as intended, with the factory-installed Seymour Duncan humbuckers wired to a three-way pickup selector toggle and full-size pots, with individual Volume and Tone knobs for each pickup. Gold-plated hardware includes the ABR-1 bridge and corresponding stopbar, with just a faint dusting of patina on the bridge and pickup covers. Plastics include the original pickguard and the quartet of witch hat knobs.The nitro lacquer gloss Ebony finish is framed by ambered multi-ply cream binding, and cosmetic wear includes buckle worming extending across the back, a scant few tiny dings on the body perimeter, and a handful of faint finish scratches in the clear coat on the body as a whole. The neck profile retains its smooth gloss.The original ESP-branded padded gigbag is included, along with the hangtags.