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tjon901 « Mid Level LTD EC with passive pickups »
Published on 06/24/11 at 21:45The 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.
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.