LTD EC-400 [2004-2006]

I believe this guitar was made outside of the USA, but I'm not sure where...24 3/4 scale, set neck mahogany, EMG-81 active set, 2 volume, tone, 3-way toggle, Black Hardware+ Earvana compensated nut & Grover tuners, Tune-o-matic w/stop tailpiece bridge, and 24 XJ frets.



UTILIZATION

This guitar resides in the family of Les Paul clones, so while access is not as free flowing as some other sleeker type shredders, the access to the top frets is better than a Gibson due to the increase a slick cutout. Super easy to get a nice sound; the stock EMGs are the high quality 81 active set, as opposed to the lower quality versions offered on other axes at this price point.

SOUNDS

I used this guitar with Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Orange, and Peavey amps. My favorite tones were hi gain sounds tuned to drop C#, but I used standard E tunings on cleaner settings with excellent results. the intonation is infinitely better than a Gibson LP, meaning this guitar was my go to axe for many live shows, especially on tunes where I played big 6 string chords. The LP I had was so out of intonation it was virtually unplayable for clean sounds; this ESP flourished. I could shred 25-50% better on this axe too; the guitar really had many of the great characteristics of a Gibson LP but had a few improvements in areas that LPs are notorious for (intonation, tuning, shredability).
This guitar could easily cover a wide range of genres, but I personally played a lot of modern hard rock and the guitar delivered in spades.


OVERALL OPINION

There are many things to love about this guitar: clarity, consistency, stability, ease of shred, diverse tones...in comparison to my Gibson Gothic LP, the Gibson sound was a bit thicker and meatier, but the difference was not huge. The positives of the ESP were discussed and are overwhelmingly impressive. This comparison is direct, couple in the fact that this guitar was 1/3 of the price and the choice is a no brainer. I should also note that I tried about 10 Gibson Gothics before I found one that I liked; every ESP ec400 I played would have been a good choice, meaning that the quality of control was much better for ESP. Sadly, I flipped this axe when I was in a money crunch, but I would buy another one in a heartbeat of I had the chance.

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.

The EC400 line of guitars is the mid level guitar in the EC series. The EC400 is one step below the EC1000. The EC1000 has a lot more flashy parts and whatnot but the EC400 pretty much has the same features but the quality is slightly lower overall. The EC400 is a simpler design overall. The abalone binding is all gone. The neck has just simple creme binding and the body is not bound. It has a mahogany body and neck with EMG pickups. It has Seymour Duncan pickups just like the higher priced models. It has a Duncan Custom in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck this is the same as what the EC1000 has. It has a tune-o-matic bridge and grover tuners. It has the compensated nut that helps with intonation. Each pickup has a volume knob and there is a master tone knob with a 3 way toggle pickup selector.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is a stripped down EC1000 with less of the needless features. There is no ugly abalone binding. The guitar feels pretty much the same for the most part but the frets are not finished as well. This guitar is in more need of a set up than the 1000 is. It has jumbo frets like the EC1000 but the finishing on them is not as good. It does not have the tonepros locking bridge so your bridge may fall off when you are changing strings. It has the compensated nut so the intonation is better all the way up the neck than most guitars. Most people wont notice this but if you play many chords all the way up the neck you will notice that they sound better. With a setup this guitar can play as good or better than the 1000.

SOUNDS

With the more lax quality on these guitars it is important that you play one first. The way guitar factories work is that the better pieces of woods get picked first for the higher end guitars and the rest go towards the lower end guitar. So with this middle of the range guitar you are more likely to get a bad piece of wood than a good one. The Seymour Duncan pickups are high quality and let you get a versatile sound. The can be used for just about any type of music. The Jazz in the neck is smooth like its name implies. It is great for creamy solos or Jazz vamps. The Custom in the bridge is nice and crunchy with good clarity. If these pickups are not heavy enough for you there is always the ec400 that comes with EMG's stock.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar is bascially an EC1000 without the frills. This is an EC1000 with the shine taken off of it. It still has the most important features of the high end models. It has the compensated nut and the tonepros bridge. It also still has the after market Seymour Duncan pickups. It has everything you need for it to sound good. The only thing you are losing out on is the fit and finish. This guitar once properly setup will be just as good as any EC1000 for hundreds of dollars less.

The EC400 is more my style guitar than the EC1000 is but the quality is not as consistent on this lower end model. LTD is ESP guitars budget line. ESP branded guitars are made in Japan while LTD branded guitars are made in factories around the world. They have many of the same features and shapes just the quality is not as good overall compared to the made in Japan ESP guitars. The EC400 is a simpler design overall. The abalone binding is all gone. The neck has just simple creme binding and the body is not bound. It has a mahogany body and neck with EMG pickups. It has EMG pickups just like the higher priced models. The 81 in the bridge and 60 in the neck is the same as what the EC1000 has. It has a tune-o-matic bridge and grover tuners. It has the compensated nut that helps with intonation. Each pickup has a volume knob and there is a master tone knob with a 3 way toggle pickup selector.

UTILIZATION

This guitar has less features that I dont like than the EC1000 has. There is not ugly abalone binding. The guitar feels pretty much the same for the most part but the frets are not finished as well. This guitar is in more need of a set up than the 1000 is. It has jumbo frets like the EC1000 but the finishing on them is not as good. It does not have the tonepros locking bridge so your bridge may fall off when you are changing strings. It has the compensated nut so the intonation is better all the way up the neck than most guitars. Most people wont notice this but if you play many chords all the way up the neck you will notice that they sound better. With a setup this guitar can play better than the 1000.

SOUNDS

With the more lax quality on these guitars it is important that you play one first. The way guitar factories work is that the better pieces of woods get picked first for the higher end guitars and the rest go towards the lower end guitar. So with this middle of the range guitar you are more likely to get a bad piece of wood than a good one. The EMG pickups can help with this as they are known to make any guitar sound good. The EMG provide a great sound for metal and great bite. The 81 in the bridge provides great high end sound for metal and this provides great clarity. The pickup gives you a clear sound with even the most gain or the lowest tunings. The 60 in the neck is pretty much built for clean tones. The lead neck tone isnt that great. If you are going to play high gain leads on the neck pickup I would recommend the 85.

OVERALL OPINION

The EC400 is a more stripped down version of the EC1000. The guitar has less frills but has the same basic features as the EC1000. It has the EMG pickups and the special nut. Both of these are very important to the sound. There are not many 400 dollar guitars that come with real active EMG pickups. This set up pickups costs about 150 dollars. To get these features the rest of the guitar has to be simplified and cut back. A good EC400 will sound just as good as a EC1000 but you are more likely to get a bad EC400 than you are with an EC1000.