LTD EC-401FM

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.