Something wrong with my guitar? Chorus like effect?

Question

I've been playing guitar for over one year now, and have gotten pretty good. I have always played an epiphone les paul standard that cost me around 500 bucks, and it has been great. Awesome all-around guitar. The other day, I purchased a ESP LTD M-400 off of craigslist, with the intention of using it as my main guitar, and selling the Epiphone. However, there seems to be a problem with the ESP.

Whenever I play a note, say the 13th fret of the B string, the note played seems to resonate through all the other strings, causing an almost chorus like effect. It's not only that fret/string combination. It's anything on the highest 3 strings, lower than 10 frets. Sometimes I don't notice it at all, but it does annoy the c**p out of me. Is there something wrong with the guitar?

I thought maybe it was the effects pedal/amp I was using, but I don't notice anything like the same effect on my epiphone. Might it be the pickups fault? Too sensative? Using EMG 81 Active Set Pickups.

TY IA

Answer 1

maybe the strings?  

Answer 2

Two possibilities that I can think of-

First, check your amp. Is reverb up? A lot of times, you have to complete re-dial your amp settings for different guitar because of the difference in tones that different guitars can produce. Try turning down reverb if you have it on.

Also, it could very well be the pick-ups. If memory serves me well, the Epi  Les Paul pick-ups ain't active. Now, active pick-ups catch a LOT more sound than passives do, and can be very finicky. I don't think the 81s are doing this, but it is possible that that is the problem. Some players who use active pick-ups on guitars where the strings run into the little holes instead of the standard bridge find that they have to tape the backs of the strings because active pickups can be so sensitive.

If I were you, I'd do this. Go into the local guitar center and pretend to be looking to buy a guitar. Find one with EMG 81s (shouldn't be hard) and plug it into an amp similar to yours with similar settings. See if it does the same thing. It could just be you don't like the unique sound that the 81 Actives make. However, if the test guitar sounds better than yours, something could be wrong with the guitar. You'd have to take it to a tech, but maybe the truss rod is bent or something, causing the strings to vibrate too much against the fretboard and create that sound with your pickups.

Good luck.