LTD LP-Shaped Guitars

Mahogany body Mahogany neck 24-3/4" set neck Thin U neck contour Rosewood fretboard (ebony on vintage black) Abalone flags plus the model name at the 12th fret 42mm standard nut 24 extra jumbo frets TonePros locking Tune-o-matic bridge Genuine EMG 81/60 pickups (Seymour Duncan JB/59 set on amber sunburst model) ESP locking tuners Black hardware (gold on black and vintage black, chrome on amber sunburst) UTILIZATION This is a great guitar. ESP has been making high quality guitars since the 1980s, and with their LTD line, they can offer more affordable versions of their high-end axes to the general public. This Eclipse Deluxe EC-1000 is a wonderful instrument - it is like a streamlined, more aggressive Les Paul. It is the Italian sportscar equivalent of the Gibson Les Paul - very sleek, very fast. The 24 frets are a must have for modern metal and shred styles, and the TonePros locking bridge and locking tuners add a higher level of sustain. Interestingly, this guitar is offered in EMG or Seymour Duncan pickups - I am reviewing the amber sunburst, so my guitar has the Duncans. SOUNDS Another Seymour Duncan JB/59 setup, another perfect 10. There is a reason that when many electric guitar manufacturers decide to use step-up pickups in their guitars, they decide on these exact pickups - because they're great! The JB and 59 combination is one that I have written about extensively on here, and it never gets old or tired. The attack is crisp, yet not too hot. The single notes soothe with their vintage warmth, and the dynamic range is excellent. One could play literally any style on this instrument. OVERALL OPINION What more can I say? This guitar is packed with attention to detail, and is sure to impress both vintage hounds and modern shredders alike, along with anyone else that might stumble onto it. The feature set is outstanding for the price, and the guitar is extremely easy to play. The sound is out of this world! I would recommend this highly to any guitarist to try out!

ESP is a guitar company is based out of Japan which now has a sub guitar line named LTD. These guitars are little bit cheaper versions of the ESP instruments so you're going to find a difference in the weight balance and feel as well as the price. However many of these guitars feel basically the exact same as any other ESP guitar and a lot of Gibson Les Paul's I've played. UTILIZATION Features Set 3-piece mahogany neck 24-3/4" scale Rosewood fingerboard Earvana compensated nut Flag inlays with model name at 12th fret 24 XJ frets Mahogany body EMG-81/60 active humbuckers (Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (B) & Jazz (N) pickups on sunburst model) Grover tuners Black hardware Tune-o-matic-style bridge with stop tailpiece One tone and 2 volume controls with toggle on upper bout White binding on neck and headstock SOUNDS This guitar is basically a copy of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It looks exactly like a Gibson Les Paul it feels exactly like a Gibson Les Paul and it sounds exactly like a Les Paul. You will find that this guitar is made out of mahogany wood in the body and in the neck and it also comes with a nice set of EMG pick ups. This is going to be a very metal sounding type pick up that will give you a load of distortion and a high gain sound. This is a great sounding guitar and it's really going to give the metal players exactly what they need a budgeted price. The tone that you would get from this instrument is basically going to be exactly what you would find it any other Gibson Les Paul instrument. It's got some very good and medium to high gain amplifier setting but won't find its natural niche in a clean tone setting. So if you're playing anything from pop metal and you can feel very comfortable with his guitar. If you're running in front of a clean amplifier they will give you a decent clean especially with the hackneys pick ups but it certainly won't be that polished sparkly tone for you find out of a Fender guitar. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are pretty well-built guitars in the sound extremely well to boot. This particular model has been discontinued for a while but LTD does make some decent sounding guitars that are the newer models.

Everyone knows the EC-1000 ESP model. It is their primary single cut guitar. It is like a mix of a single cut design with a super strat design. Some people wanted ESP to make a single cut that has a more traditional feel in the body. This is that guitar. The EC-1000 CTM. The CTM model has a more traditionally shaped body. While the normal EC-1000 has a lot of bevels in the body the CTM has a traditional Gibson style body with just the carved top. The body is double bound as well like a Les Paul Custom. The cutaway isnt as big and it only has 22 frets as well. The guitar has a mahogany body. The set in neck is mahogany as well with the 24.75 inch scale. The fretboard is ebony with 22 jumbo frets. The hardware is all gold with ESP locking tuners up top and a Tonepros locking bridge down at the bottom. It has the traditional pickup setup for an EC1000 with an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. The controls are 2 volumes and a master tone with a 3 way switch on the upper bout. UTILIZATION Every mid to high end ESP guitar plays well. This is an LTD model so it isnt made in Japan but it is made to pretty much the same specs with the same hardware. This guitar comes from the factory with all the upgrades I would do to a singlecut guitar. The ESP locking tuners do the job and hold tuning well. The Tonepros locking bridge makes changing strings and working on the guitar easy because the bridge doesnt fall off every time you have the strings off. The locking bridge also increases sustain a bit. Since the pickups in this guitar are active they include a battery compartment. This is nice but the compartment uses screws to open it. If you have to unscrew the compartment you are not saving any time from just having the battery in the control cavity. I dont know why some ESP's have screw in compartments and some have flip out compartments. The flip out compartments make more sense to me. SOUNDS This is a metal guitar so it is armed as such. The pickups in this guitar are full of metal pickups. They are so metal that they need batteries to operate. The 81 gives you great high end crunch and clarity even in the lowest of tunings. With the 81 harmonics pop right out and you get a nice searing high end tone. This high end is what keeps the sound nice and clear. The 60 in the neck is a pretty much neck only pickup. It is not super high output and is best used for clean tones. You can get good bluesy low gain tones as well with the neck pickup 60. If you want a more organic and passive like tone from the pickups you can do the 18v mod which has you running the pickups on 2 batteries instead of one. This gives the pickups more headroom and a more organic tone overall. OVERALL OPINION If you are looking to get into a more modern style Singlecut guitar but dont like all the bevels in the body and whatnot this is the guitar for you. it has a traditional style body construction that gives you the same feel as your old school singel cut but combines that feel with the modern neck and playability of a modern guitar. With the locking tuners and locking bridge it has all the mods you should do anyway from the factory so it is pretty much ready to gig right out of the box. This ESP is great if you are looking for a guitar with a thick body and thick tone with upgraded hardware and modern playability.

This is a Korean made, 24.74" scale guitar. Its a Les Paul style guitar. It has master tone and volume and a 3 position switch. The stock pickups are an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 60 in the neck. It features a mahogany body and neck with an Ebony fretboard. The stock hardware is really nice. The tuners are actual Grovers which is a nice touch. The bridge is tune-o-matic with a string-thru setup. This was a limited edition guitar, so there are no fret markers besides the model number at the twelfth fret. The finish is satin black, which is gorgeous. The neck is the ESP thin u, which at this point is my favorite neck of all time. Its the perfect thickness and shape for me, and the neck feels a little wider than my friends EC1000, which I like. The satin finish feels amazing. It also has 24 jumbo frets. UTILIZATION There is a cut away on the back to allow for easier upper fret access, but when it comes down to it this has a traditional style Les Paul neck joint, so there are some limitations to the upper fret access. But if you play Les Pauls you know to expect this, and its not bad at all. My EC500 has a really nice weight to it and resonates beautifully. Its awesome. It also is really balanced. This guitar plays like a dream. The neck is really stable, I've only had to tweak the setup once in the 10 months I've owned it. My action is set silly low and there is no buzz across the entire neck. SOUNDS The stock pickups are EMGs, which personally I don't like, but a lot of people do. The sound great for pretty much anything, and really shine with high gain settings. The EMG60 is one of the 2 EMGs I actually really like. Great, liquid lead tone, and really nice cleans. Its great. Since I mostly hate EMGs I pulled them out and dropped passive pickups in it. I've had the same set of pickups in 3 different guitars and they sound best in this one. I love it. OVERALL OPINION This guitar was well worth the money I paid for it and if you can find one I seriously recommend picking it up. My EC500 plays and sound better than most the high end guitars I've put it up against. Its an amazing instrument. Since they're rare, my EC500 is the only one I've ever played, but I've owned LTDs from the same year as these and they've all been great instruments. Seems like it was a good year for LTDs. So overall, this is an amazing guitar with a unique style and an amazing neck. Seriously, I don't a reason you shouldn't buy one.

* Set-Neck Construction * 24.75" Scale * Mahogany Body * Mahogany Neck * Rosewood Fingerboard * 42mm Standard Nut * Thin U Neck Contour * 24 XJ Frets * Gold Hardware * ESP Locking Tuners * Tonepros Locking TOM Bridge & Tailpiece * EMG 81 (B) / 60 (N) Active p.u. * Finish: BLK * 3-Way Toggle * Bridge Volume * Neck Volume * Master Tone UTILIZATION Great guitar, period. When it first came out I knew I wanted it, even with the nasty abalone binding all over and the hideous model number at the 12th fret, i still wanted it. It is, and I dare to say, the most ergonomic LP shape I have ever played. Compare it to every other LP shape guitar on the market, you will not get one as comfortable as this one. Yes even the PRS ones are quite good but this just out does it with all the contours, the thinner overall body and the light weight! Not only does this LP shape guitar have 24 frets, but it's got just enough of a neck contour to play up there! And the stock EMGs are a great starting point for a great sounding guitar. Players used to have to modify guitars to fit them and now they come stock on almost all of ESP's line, how convenient! SOUNDS Great sounds with the stock EMGs. If metallica, slayer and zakk wylde can use the same pickup sets for years without troubles and still sound great then you know the pickups are worth while. EMGs have been around since the early 90s and have taken off and have now become something of a bipolar pickup, people either love it or hate it. The active thing is the hit or miss part as well. It's difficult to properly judge something like this because we, especially as guitarists are so resistant to change, we are so conservative when it comes to new innovations that are completely unique from what we're used to. Only a few of us are actually willing to go out and experiment and accept that the world today is not going to be the same as it was before. How does this all apply to the tone of the guitar? It's a completely modern twist of a classic. ANd that's how one should take it as, nothing else. And considering the guitar in that manner, it is excellent. The 81 is thick, raunchy distortion with easy harmonics, plenty of overtones and sustain. Great! Cleans are ok, can dirt up with hard strumming, a tad thin though. While the cleans are also quite good on the neck pickup. The 60 being one of the cleanest pickups I've heard with such an acoustic quality to it! Sounds good distorted too, thick and smooth but not muddy! OVERALL OPINION A great guitar, period. Comfortable, shreddable and looks great. Minus the abalone and the logo at the 12th fret it would be a perfect guitar for me and I would've kept it for more years than I already had. I never had a problem with it aside from such and played many shows with such a beast, it has always sounded great! ESP is a company not to be messed with, they know what they're doing and they know how to make high quality products at affordable prices! Sounds great, plays great. That's all that matters.

Being left handed it is always tough to find a good deal on a guitar. Most guitars that come out you have no options on color and they carry the typical lefty mark up on them. This is one of the better lefty guitars you can get and the price is pretty good. This guitar is the lefty version of the LTD EC 1000. With this guitar you can get lefty versions in two different colors. You can get them in silverburst or you can get them in Vintage black like this model. They both have the same specs with those colors and the specs are better than some other EC 1000. These guitars have the thin single cut EC shape. The body is mahogany and so is the set neck. The fretboard is ebony which is something you do not get with all EC-1000s. Up top you get locking tuners with an Earvana compensated nut. The bridge is a locking tone pros unit. The pickups are a set of active EMG pickups. There is an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. There is a volume knob for each pickup with a master tone control. UTILIZATION With ESP's EC guitars you get the playability of a super strat with the classic shape of a Les Paul. The guitar is light like a super strat as well due to its thinner body. The jumbo frets and flat radius fretboard let you get a nice easy action. The Earvana compensated nut helps correct intonation up and down the neck so your notes sound more in tune with each other. The locking tuners and locking bridge should be standard on every guitar. The locking bridge prevents the saddles from falling off when you are changing strings. This can mess up your intonation. Locking tuners prevent your guitar from going out of tune accidentally like if your headstock was to hit something. The active EMG pickups need a batty and ESP was nice enough to give you a separate easy to access compartment for them so you can change the battery out with out opening up the guitar. There are EMG equipped Gibsons that do not have this basic feature. SOUNDS The 81 and 60 set is a set that is used in many ESP guitars. This set gives you the best of high end crunch with the 81 and the 60 gives you great clean and bluesy tones. The 81 in the bridge is razor sharp. The pickup has a nice high end gain sound that really shreds. The high end gain sound keeps your riffs from getting muddy and it has a super thick and crunchy sound. The 60 in the neck has slightly less output but this gives it a more organic clean tone. The 60 puts out a great bluesy tone as well. The pickups are both active so you can easily mod them more even better tone. Doing the 18v mod means you run the pickups on 2 batteries instead of one. This gives you a tone with more headroom and this gives you a more organic tone overall. OVERALL OPINION It was nice of ESP to put out a lefty version with top level equipment without charging any extra for it. That is rare amongst guitar companies. With most guitars that come in lefty they are either bottom of the barrel beginner junk or super expensive to where you are getting ripped off for what you are getting. This guitar is sold as roughtly the same price as the right handed one and the righty version was a good deal already. This guitar comes with everything you need for a gig ready guitar. It has aftermarket pickups with locking tuners and a locking bridge. You do not need much more to have a great rocking guitar.

LTD EC guitars are very popular and for a good reason. You get a ton of nice features for the money when you get one of these. They are made outside of Japan so the price is cheaper but they are made to the same exact specs as the Japanese model so you are just saving money. I like the features on the white model best of all the finishes. On the white model you get a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck. The fretboard is ebony which is what makes it special. The ebony fretboard has 24 jumbo frets. The whole guitar is bound with this thick abalone binding. It doesnt stand out as much on this white model but on other models it looks pretty gaudy. Up top you get locking tuners and an Earvana compensated nut. The bridge is a tonepros locking unit which is great. The pickups are pretty standard for ESP as they are active EMG pickups an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. The controls are simple with two volumes and a master tone with a 3 way switch up top. UTILIZATION The ebony fretboard is the icing on the cake with this guitar. This guitar already feels really nice to play. The body is nice and thin and has a nice belly cut to it. The jumbo frets on the ebony fretboard make it so your fingers glide over the strings. The Earvana compensated nut gives you truer intonation up and down the neck so your notes ring together in tune. Locking bridge and locking tuners lock everything down. The locking bridge stops the saddles from falling out and ruining your intonation. Upper fret access is pretty good with the larger EC cutaway on this guitar. SOUNDS The 81 and 60 set gives you good distortion tones and good clean tones. The 81 in the bridge is a metal icon and is used in all sorts of metal. The 81 gives a great high end cut to the sound. The high end cut gives your notes clarity when you are riffing away or playing fast. The pickup still has decent bottom end as well. It has kind of a scooped sound. The 60 in the neck is your clean or bluesy tone go-to. The pickup has less output than the 81 but this lets you get really nice clean tones. If you are looking to play high gain leads in the neck position I suggest you try the 85 in there instead. The 85 is like the 81 but with a smoother top end and more bottom end. This gives you a smoother lead tone in the neck position. It is also good in the bridge position but many people do not use it there. In the bridge position it will make any guitar sound huge but is a bit muddier than the 81. OVERALL OPINION The EC1000 is going to be a future classic. It is just a perfectly conceived and executed mid level metal guitar. It has all the features you would want and features you would not expect on a guitar so reasonably priced. You arent going to find EMG's and locking bridge and tuners on any Gibson even if you pay 5x as much as this guitar. With this guitar you do not have to replace anything to make this guitar gig worthy. A lot of guitars you may have to change out the bridge or the pickup and some guitar makers make their guitar like this. Instead of giving you a good end product they give you a mediocre product because they know you will finish it off. With ESP you get a fully finished product that is ready to play straight out of the box. There is nothing on this guitar that needs to be tossed everything works well together to accomplish your goal.

The EC LTD line has been a mainstay of ESP guitars for many years. It provides solid quality hardware and electronics for a decent price. These are LTD guitars so they are like ESP's Epiphone. They are made outside of Japan but are made to the exact same specs. So this guitar is like 1000 dollars cheaper than the ESP version. You get a lot of value for money with this guitar. On this model you get a mahogany body and a mahogany set neck. The fretboard is made of rosewood but other finishes get an Ebony fretboard for some reason. If they can put it on one why cant they put it on the others? The fretboard has 24 jumbo frets. Up top there are locking tuners and an Earvana compensated nut. Down at the bottom there is a tonepros locking bridge. The electronics are great with an EMG 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. Other finishes get Seymour Duncan pickups. The controls are simple with a set of volume controls and a master tone. Up top there is a 3 way toggle to switch between the pickups. UTILIZATION The playability on these models is great. The EC models look like LP's but play like super strats. The body is thinner than what you would get on most Les Pauls so the weight is a bit less. The jumbo frets and flat radius fretboard let you get a nice easy action. The Earvana compensated nut helps correct intonation up and down the neck so your notes sound more in tune with each other. The locking tuners and locking bridge should be standard on every guitar. The locking bridge prevents the saddles from falling off when you are changing strings. This can mess up your intonation. Locking tuners prevent your guitar from going out of tune accidentally like if your headstock was to hit something. SOUNDS The EMG 81 and 60 is a commonly used set in ESP guitars. It gives you good distortion and good clean sounds. The 81 in the bridge is a serial killer. It has a crazy high end gain but isnt harsh. It very clear and you really hear what you are playing. It does not clean up well but that is what the 60 in the neck is for. The 60 does not have as much output but this makes it better for bluesy leads or clean playing. It has a great clean tone which is something most active pickups do not have. If you are looking for an even more organic tone from the 60 and the 81 you can do the 18v mod to the EMG's. The 18v mod lets the pickups run from two 9v batteries instead of one and this gives you more headroom and a more organic tone overall. OVERALL OPINION I think this model is going to stick around for a long time. It is perfectly priced and has all the features most metal players expect and demand. The locking tuners and locking bridge are something you wont get on a Gibson no matter how much you pay and the EMG pickups are the standard when it comes to metal music. ESP didnt throw in some cheap throwaway pickups for you to swap out on the first day. They give you a ready to rock guitar that can go straight from the box to the Gig.

The EC is one of ESP guitars most popular designs. A lot of artists have based their signature guitars off of the EC design. One of the newer James Hetfield signature guitars was like this. The Truckster is what they call it. It is bascially an EC with swapped out pickups and a crazy paint job. The paint job is like they painted multiple layers of paint and then sanded them down. You can feel the different layers in the paint job. It is pretty cool but it is not much of a relic finish because it is so contrived looking. The guitar has a mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fretboard. The frets are 22 xtra jumbo ESP frets. It has dual EMG pickups with an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck Hetfields traditional setup. It has tone pros locking bridge system also. The pickup selector is down by the rest of the controls and takes the place of one of the tone controls. It still has a useless pickup selector up top. I also wonder why this guitar does not have an Earvana compensated nut. James must not like playing in tune or something. UTILIZATION The playability is alright with this guitar. It has more of a Gibson feel than a normal EC does. There is slightly more radius on the fretboard but not too much. It has really big frets so you can really dig in. You can also get a super low action on the guitar. The useless switch up top is annoying if you are use to Les Pauls or some other EC models. Locking tuners and bridge are great. Every company should be putting these on their guitars. The locking tuners keep you in tune and the locking bridge prevents the bridge from falling off when you change strings. Simple stuff that the big companies refuse to use. SOUNDS This guitar has the typical Hetfield sound. Hetfield has been using the same pickups since the early 90s and so his tone is pretty well known. The 81 and 60 set is well known. Whatever guitar you put them in they will pretty much give you the same tone. EMG pickups are an important part of the Metallica sound. The 81 in the bridge is a classic setup for metal. The 81 gives you great high end crunch and clarity even in the lowest of tunings. With the 81 harmonics pop right out and you get a nice searing high end tone. This high end is what keeps the sound nice and clear. The 60 in the neck is a pretty much neck only pickup. It is not super high output and is best used for clean tones. In the neck position I personally prefer an 85. The 85 has about the same output as the 81 and I think it is better for dirty solos in the neck position than the 60 is. Recently EMG came out with a Hetfield signature set so it will be interesting to see if ESP starts using that in the Hetfield signature guitars. The set is bassically an 81 and a 60 but hot rodded for even more attack. I wouldnt be surprised if ESP just keeps on putting the normal set in his guitars. The difference is not that much but the price difference is pretty big. Plus with the normal set you dont have to use them in just Hetfield signature guitars like you would with the Het Set EMG kit. OVERALL OPINION This guitar is 1800 dollars cheaper than the full ESP version and you get the same exact features. Same pickups same wood same everything. Just because it is built in a different factory means you can save almost 2000 dollars. Any differences you might notice that effect playability are easily fixed in a basic guitar setup. If you are looking for the black finish Truckster this is a way to get it without paying 2500 dollars. You get pretty much the same thing at a much lower price. ESP does this for a lot of their guitars. I have played both ESP and LTD versions and the difference is not worth as much as they charge. Like I said with a good setup both guitars are pretty much equal.

LTD is ESP guitars budget line of guitars. They are built to the exact same specs but not made in Japan so they are much cheaper. For most people even pros these guitars are good enough for everything you would need. One of these guitars with a good setup can be as good as the esp version which may cost up to 2000 dollars more. This is the EC 401. I was a huge fan of the EC 400 which they have discontinued. This 401 is slightly more expensive than the 400 was but it has much of the same features. This guitar has a mahogany body and mahogany neck with a flamed maple top. The fretboard is rosewood with 24 jumbo frets. Up top there is a set of Grover tuners and an Earvana compensated nut. At the bottom there is a tune-o-matic bridge with a cool nickle finish. The pickups are active EMG's. There is an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck which is a set ESP likes to use. The controls are simple with a volume control for each pickup and a master tone with a 3 way toggle. UTILIZATION Once setup these guitars play great. On these mid level LTD guitars you might need a setup for it to play well but generally they are ready to rock out of the box. The 24.75 scale means the upper frets kind of get crowded and because of the single cut shape some are hard to reach. The neck is thin and fast. The Earvana compensated nut means your intonation all the way up the neck will be slightly better than a normal guitar. The EMG pickups are active so you will need a 9v battery to use them. This guitar is thinner than your normal single cut guitar so it is a bit lighter. The pickup selector is back on the upper horn. It seems with every new generation of EC they move the horn back to the top or back down with the controls. I wish they would make up their mind. SOUNDS This guitar sounds a lot like the old EC guitars with EMG's but the maple top add's a bit of top end crispness to the sound. This guitar was already super clear so now its uber clear. The 81 and 60 is a pretty common setup. The 81 in the bridge is great for riffing and the 60 in the neck is great for cleans. With the 81 harmonics pop right out and you get a nice searing high end tone. This high end is what keeps the sound nice and clear. The 60 in the neck is a pretty much neck only pickup. It is not super high output and is best used for clean tones. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are what they are selling now and they are an okay deal. If you are willing to get a used guitar the old EC 400 can be had for half the price used and has pretty much the same features. You can get EC 400 for less than 400 dollars all day and they have active pickups as well in a mahogany body. If you are looking for a new midlevel LTD guitar this is a good one in the EC shape.

LTD is the more affordable line offered by ESP. They are like Epiphone is to Gibson. While all ESP labeled guitars are made in Japan the LTD labeled guitars are made in other places. The quality on most of the LTD guitars is still very nice. The EC1000 is the top of the line model in the EC series by LTD. The EC line is a line of single cut Les Paul style guitars from LTD and ESP. They come in many different finishes. This example has a limited run Silverburst style finish for 2010. The back parts are not as big as on a normal Silverburst but it is ESP's take on the rare old finish. The guitar has a mahogany body and neck with a 24.75 Les Paul scale with 24 jumbo frets. It has a ebony fretboard and the wood they got for it is very nice so it is a nice dark. It has large creme binding and inlays. It has the Earvana compensated nut that helps with intonation. It has EMG pickups with an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. It has a black tonepros bridge setup. UTILIZATION The neck is nice and thin for a Les Paul style guitar. With 24 frets on the shorter scale the higher frets are a little hard to play but the jumbo frets help with this. I am not a big fan of the binding they put on some models. The abalone binding stands out too much. The abalone binding is pretty gaudy and it gets flawed very easily. I am glad they kept it simple for this guitar and it really fits the special finish. The earvana net helps with intonation a bit but a guitar with straight frets can never be intonated perfectly across the entire neck. The tonepros bridge is great I wish more guitar companies but these bridges on their guitars. The bride is locked in so it doesnt fall off when you are changing strings. SOUNDS With the EMG pickups this guitar is a metal machine. EMG's are some of the best active high output pickups you can get for metal. Since they are active they need a 9v battery to work. The 81 in the bridge is a classic setup for metal. The 81 gives you great high end crunch and clarity even in the lowest of tunings. With the 81 harmonics pop right out and you get a nice searing high end tone. This high end is what keeps the sound nice and clear. The 60 in the neck is a pretty much neck only pickup. It is not super high output and is best used for clean tones. In the neck position I personally prefer an 85. The 85 has about the same output as the 81 and I think it is better for dirty solos in the neck position than the 60 is. If you want more tone from the EMG pickups you can do the 18v mod. With the 18v mod you run the pickups on two batteries instead of one so you get more headroom and a more organic tone overall. OVERALL OPINION This is a top of the line LTD guitar. The quality on this isnt far from what you get on a full blooded ESP. The EMG pickups and tonepros locking bridge mean you do not have to upgrade these parts. The guitar already comes with these upgrades. The compensated nut helps with intonation but the binding is a little over the top. I wonder why some finishes come with ebony fretboards and some dont. If they can put it on some why not the rest of them. If you are looking for a more metal oriented Les Paul style guitar the EC1000 is a good choice.

This guitar is the exactly the same as the normal EC1000 model except it has a Floyd Rose. This guitar is only available in one finish it seems in contrast to the many finishes you can get the EC1000 in. The only finish you can get this guitar in is a transparent black finish. It has EMG pickups like most of the EC1000 models. It has an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. It has a thin mahogany body and neck with a flamed maple top. It has a dark rosewood fretboard with 24 jumbo frets on a 24.75 scale. It has large abalone binding all the way around the body, neck and headstock with abalone inlays. It has a locking nut for the Floyd Rose instead of the compensated nut that the hard tail model has. It has a volume knob for each pickup and a master tone knob. It has a 3 way toggle pickup selector on the upper horn and the cutaway is nice and deep. UTILIZATION With the locking nut for the Floyd Rose instead of the compensated nut the intonation will not be as perfect all the way up the neck as it is on the hard tail model but most people will not notice this. The Floyd Rose and locking nut provide great tuning stability. With the Floyd Rose it is more difficult to change tunings as you will have to adjust the spring tension so consider this when buying a guitar with a locking tremolo. The rosewood fretboard is nice but I would have preferred ebony. I do not like the binding and inlays. Abalone is pretty gaudy and they laid it on thick with this guitar. It is also easy to get flaws in Abalone so make sure you check around. The neck is pretty thin for a guitar like this so it is easy to play. The jumbo frets mean you can get a nice low action all the way up the neck and it helps with playability on the upper frets with the 24.75 scale. The pickups are active so remember you need a battery to operate them. SOUNDS EMG can make most any guitar sound good. With the EMG this guitar is great for metal. The EMG provide a crisp even tone at all times. The 81 is a classic bridge pickup for metal. It provides great crunch and clarity. The 81 in the bridge is pretty bright and searing. This means it will retain clarity through even the thickest gain and lowest tunings. The 60 in the neck is all right but I prefer the 85 in the neck position. The 60 is good for clean tones in the neck position. If you want to play high gain leads in the neck position I recommend using the 85 in that position. The 85 will give you a fatter sound. With EMG pickups you can do the 18v mod. With this mod your pickups are powered by two 9v batteries and it will give you more headroom and a more natural sound overall. Standard EMG pickups can sound kind of sterile. OVERALL OPINION Some people I know wont play a guitar unless it has a tremolo. I guess ESP didnt want these weirdos to feel left out of the EC series. This EC1000 is for them and has a great locking tremolo system. Every other part of the guitar is pretty much the same and this is good because the EC1000 was already a great guitar. If you want a metal single cut guitar with EMG's and a locking tremolo system this is one of the few guitars out that that has all that.