Superstrat LTD Horizon Custom '87
As the name of the model LTD Horizon Custom '87 suggests, the manufacturer returns with this version to the concept from the second half of the eighties, when Superstrats of the Japanese parent company ESP (Electric Sound Products) began to penetrate the American market en masse, and not only there quickly gained the position of a new benchmark of the given instrument category, which at that time earned well-deserved attention from a wide range of guitarists across different genres. The LTD Horizon Custom '87 pays homage to the now classic ESP version with minimal decorations and great playability.
As with its predecessor, a through neck is used, featuring a slim Extra Thin U profile and glued from three pieces of maple. The body wings are made of the time-tested alder, the upper body surface is shaped similarly to the Les Paul and the left-hand access to the higher positions is facilitated by milling the front edges of both corners.
The fretboard, built from Makasar ebony, features 24 strong XJ jumbo frets and a 42 mm wide locking nut, the larger 350 mm radius allows for smooth string pulling and fast playing, fretboard markers are found only on the white edge binding, giving the fretboard a very subtle feel.
The Seymour Duncan Custom TB-5 passive humbucker with a smaller ceramic magnet and special winding takes its place at the bridge, thanks to which the PAF pickup produces a supremely clear tone with more massive bass, emphasized upper mids and transparent highs. This makes the SD Custom suitable for clean, semi-distorted and high-gain registers, where it adds the punch needed to cut through the band mix.
The TB-5 Custom, with its wider pole spacing, is followed by a Hot Rails Strat SHR-1 ceramic mini-humbucker neck pickup from the same manufacturer, who fitted the pickup with a rail system for optimal coverage of resonating strings and improved response when pulling them in the treble position. The SHR-1 features accentuated mids and slightly downplayed highs, so clean tones have warmth and volume, and distorted solos will have just the right thick, smooth feel.
Controls consist of a three-position lever switch, common volume and tone shutter pots, which incorporate a push/pull switch that unzips the coils of both humbuckers. The strings are anchored in a lockable Floyd Rose double-return tremolo, the company's design mechanics are embedded in the reverse-designed headstock, and all the hardware has been given a black finish.
All three stylish superstrats LTD Horizon Custom '87 in a glossy Pearl White, Candy Apple Red and Black finish have been given a price tag of about 1,600 euros, which is not an exorbitant amount at all considering the components used and the overall quality of workmanship.
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