SeriesLTD Deluxe

Made in Korea I believe. 24 frets. 2 volume 1 tone. Rosewood fingerboard. Ebony inlays. Mahogany body. Tonepros bridge. Locking tuners. EMG 81 and 60 active pickups. The neck is a lot like a cross between an Ibanez Wizard and a les paul classic neck if you have played one of those. These are pretty simple LP style rockers. UTILIZATION I used to play rhythm in a prog band and we were sponsored by LTD so I went through a bunch of these. First off, they hold up really well. Reliability is killer for this price range. I almost never have a problem with them. The simplicity of this guitar = less possibility for issues. The fret access is really good for a les paul style guitar and these weigh a lot less than a les paul. If you find a les paul heavy then this is what you need. It doesn't quite have the look down, but it gets that vibe. SOUNDS When I had this particular model I played it through a couple of pedals and a Bogner uberschall half stack. That was the first Uberschall not the newer ones. My pedals were just an analog delay for ambient stuff and an overdrive. Nothing fancy. Because I play mostly rhythm I stick with the EMG 81 in the bridge which might be my favorite pickup ever for "chugging". The 60 is more for solos and cleans. I like it a lot but hardly get to use it. My only quip about this guitar is that the body wood and shape aren't really translated to the EMG's which don't carry the tone of the guitar well. That's the pickup's fault though. If you don't like it, get some non active pickups. OVERALL OPINION I think my favorite thing about this guitar and all LTD's is how well they stand up on the road. The playability isn't bad either. If you're a touring guy, these are by far the best bang for the buck. I still have my first one (really banged up) from a 2006 tour. If you want a more "hot rodded" les paul then you can't do better than the Ec1000.

The EC1000 is ESP's jack of all traits Les Paul style guitar. It is made by LTD which is ESP guitars budget line of guitars. These guitars are much cheaper than ESP branded guitars because they are made outside of Japan. This guitar has the typical EC shape. It has a mahogany body which is much thinner than that of a normal Les Paul. The neck is mahogany with set neck construction. The fretboard is very dark rosewood and has 24 jumbo frets. The tuners up top are locking tuners. These newer ESP models have standard nuts instead of the compensated nuts that older models had. The bridge is a tonepros locking tune-o-matic. The pickups are another big difference with this newer model. It has a set of Seymour Duncan pickups. They are generic models but they are Duncans nontheless. The finish is a gold top with a big of a metallic hue. There is a 3 way toggle up top and two volumes with a master tone. UTILIZATION This guitar plays great like most ESP guitars. The EC models give you the shape and look of a typical Les Paul but with the playability of a super strat. THe body being much thinner than a Les Paul is nice and light and balances well. The fretboard has a nice flat radius with jumbo frets. This lets you get a nice low action on the guitar so you can rip up some speedy solos. Being 24 frets but having a 24.75 inch scale means the upper frets can get pretty crowded but the jumbo frets help out with this. I wonder why ESP is not putting Earvana nuts on these guitars any more. I guess it is to save money. The change is not noticable at first but if you have played a guitar with a compensated nut before you will know how good it sounds when you have perfect intonation. The locking tuners and locking bridge are great features. The locking bridge locks down your saddle settings and locks the bridge in place so it can fall off and get off setup. The locking tuners keep you in tune even if you knock the headstock around. SOUNDS The Duncans are a pretty big change from the EMG's most of the EC1000 guitars come with. I would recommend the EMG's over these pickups even if you are not a metal player. These pickups are basic generic Duncans. It is not the JB 59 or Jazz set you find in most Seymour Duncan equipped guitars. These are more basic Alnico magnet Duncans. They do fit the styling of this guitar well though. They have a very vintage voicing to them. They are great for classic rock and blues. They have a nice loose sound that matches up well with classic rock riffs. OVERALL OPINION This guitar is the answer for the people who want a great mid level guitar like the EC1000 but do not play metal and thus so do not find the active EMG pickups useful. This guitar coming with classic sounding Seymour Duncans gives this guitar a tone more suited to blues and classic rock. This matches well with the classy looks you get with this guitar that come from the rosewood fretboard and the gold top finish. If you want a nice mid level ESP guitar that looks more vintage and delivers more vintage tone this is your model.

The EC-1000 is a Korean make guitar, but don't let that discourage you. It is made with quality in mind. The guitar has a nice set neck and a beautiful amberburst finish with a flamed maple top. It sports some nice passive seymour duncan pickups (JB/'59 combo) opposed to the EMGs in most of the other EC-1000's. The locking tuners on my particular model are Spertzel, but I believe they have ESP locking tuners now. Both kinds work very nice and keep the guitar tuned well. It has 24 frets and two volume controls and one tone control. The body, neck and headstock are wrapped in a nice creme binding and it really makes this guitar aesthetically pleasing. The abalone inlays around the neck, headstock and as the fret markers finish this guitar up and make it one marvelous looking guitar. UTILIZATION This guitar is pretty versatile. Not quite as heavy as a less paul, so it's real nice to play standing up. The 24 frets are easily accessible with the cut-away. I've never had any problems there. The pick configuration and the two volumes make this guitar very easily set for different sounds. It's a very comfortable and great sounding instrument. SOUNDS I've used this guitar in many amps. My 5150, Fender Blues Deville, Mesa Dual Rectifiers, Marshall JVM2000s, etc. It's a wonderful guitar for any genre and sounds fantastic through the many amps I have played it through. The '59 in the neck is great for leads and the JB in the bridge makes a really versatile rhythm pickup. I like the neck pick up for cleans, it's very full and fat sounding. Keeps my Blues Deville from being so bright and sometimes harsh. Great sounding guitar. OVERALL OPINION I've owned a few EC-1000's and a few Gibson Les Paul's (Classic 1960 R.I., and a couple studios) and I always liked the feel of this particular guitar the most. Feels great, I love the neck and it is really well built. This is my primary gigging guitar and I would be devastated if something were to happen to it. I would recommend one to anyone looking for a good les paul-shaped, dual humbucker guitar.

I got this off music 123, the left handed version, which cost $850 (about £500, which when considered is less than half the price of a right handed one in the u.k! worth a trip to the u.s just to save the money, plus its impossible to get a left handed one over here) this thing is definetly worth the trip! originally, i was looking for something with a whammy bar, a strat or ibanez rg1570, but then i saw this thing and just had to get it, whammy or no whammy. its looks amazing, brilliant colour and finish, mines the red one, the bodies butifully contoured, like a les paul, but not as heavy, and i havent even mentioned the EMGs, which gives it amazing zakk wylde like tone, a Tonepros bridge, which keeps it perfectly in tune, or sperzel tuners, which make re-stringing so easy and takes no time at all. it also has 24 frets rather than 22, and a great fast neck. the only improvements which would be nice would be if instead of two EMG81s, they put an 85 or 60 in to give more variation. i changed my bridge one to a 60, a much deeper tonal pickup when distorted, and gives the guitar a much better clean sound, which isnt too hot with the 81s. and due to the clever people at EMG no souldering is required. all you need to connect one conector to another. they could mabee change the inlays to just normal white, but im just nitpicking qualitys top notch, mahogany body is solid as a rock. not easily dented like my epi SG, and set neck gives it a nice solid feel also this thing is the shit! if you like your heavy tonal sound of the likes of zakk and dime ( riff in peace brother dime), this is for you. even if you dont you need to check this out, as there is a semour duncan option availible (right handers only i think?) the best next thing to a les paul and for less than half the price. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar from GuitarZar's in Salt Lake City, Utah. I paid about 800.00 for it. I was looking for a guitar with EMG 81's and picked it up. This guitar has a great sound when plugged into any amp. I've tried it on a tube amp and solid state. The glossy black paint job looks incredible and the emg 81's give it the sound that you'd want to go on stage with. the emg actives are 2 to 3 times as loud and powerful as any passive pickup, and they don't mud out in high distortion and fast playing. The neck and fingerboard are extremely smooth, almost as if you were playing a silk guitar. The only thing I don't like is I've always played les pauls and copys, so I'm used to 2 tone and 2 volume. This guitar has 1 tone and 1 volume. Besides that, I can't think of anything. it's very light, in my opinion a light guitar means that it won't last if you throw it across stage, but then again, who in their right mind is going to throw their guitar across stage without a backup? Overall a fabulous guitar. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got a great deal on this baby at the Mars Music going out of business sale. Yeah, I miss Mars, but hey I only paid $550 for this $1000 guitar. I was looking to buy myself a Christmas present, and this looked like the perfect guitar for me. This guitar has it all, EMG 81 active pickups, neck-thru body design, an ORIGINAL Floyd Rose tremelo, (not one of those imitations) and abalone inlays along the neck. This guitar's distorted sound is the best I've ever heard. The color and the quality is just perfect for anything, especially if you're playing metal. Some people take out the neck EMG 81 and replace it with an 85, but I like it just like this. It also has jumbo frets, which I personally like but others may not. The clean sound on this guitar isn't as well as some people might like. The EMG 81s gice it a sort of processed sound, but is still really good. It's sustain isn't as good as it could be because of the Floyd Rose, but the neck-thru design somewhat makes up for that. Yes, this is still and ESP LTD, and is still Korean made. However, I think it seems to be just as good quality as any American or Japanese guitar. The action was perfect for me when I received it. The finish is plain black, but it's the best black you'd ever see. I use it every once in a while for a mirror when I need one. This guitar is a great guitar, especially for my style. It has the best pickups you can buy, the best bridge you can buy, and for me the best neck you can buy. However, if your style doesn't use distorted sounds a lot, or if you never use a tremelo on your guitar, this guitar isn't for you. You should only buy this guitar if you're going to use the Floyd Rose. Otherwise, it's just a hassle, and you might want to try looking at an ESP H-1000 or an EC-1000. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

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!

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.

Set-thru neck 25.5" scale Mahogany body Quilted maple top (See-Thru Blue and See-Thru Black) Maple neck Rosewood fingerboard Locking nut for tremolo system 42mm neck width Thin U neck contour 24 Extra Jumbo frets Powdercoated black nickel hardware Grover high-quality tuners Floyd Rose 1000 Series bridge EMG-81(bridge)/EMG-85 (neck) Active humbucker pickups 1 volume, 1 tone, 3-way switch UTILIZATION The MH series is a decent shred/metal axe. It looks fantastic, has good pickups for the genre, and has a locking tremolo system. However, the neck is reeealllly chunky depthwise, but the string spacing is small and cramped. The neck isn't really comfortable for me to play, to be honest. The tremolo also seems a bit on the stiff side, as far as how easily it operates in dives and pulls. It's not an expensive guitar, but I have seen better quality hardware on guitars in this price range. SOUNDS The guitar does sound good, especially for the target demographic. Most people buying this guitar will be using it to play a lot of metal, shred, maybe some fusion, and that's probably about it. The EMG pickups will do very well for this type of thing, so that's a plus. The 81 is bright, bold, cutting, and aggressive, but with a ton of clarity, and the 85 is warm, solid, and buttery smooth. The set-thru construction increases the sustain of the notes, and that helps give the tone a nice bloom. OVERALL OPINION All in all, this is a good guitar. It's just not for me - that's purely for the reasons of hand comfort. Also, I tend to like more versatile instruments, and this guitar was built basically just for heavy metal. If the styling is right for you, and the neck is comfortable, then this is probably a guitar you should check out at some point. ESP's LTD line is pretty good quality for the price range. I don't like the tremolo's feel, but maybe you will.

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.

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.