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tjon901 « Discontinued simple shred ESP »
Published on 08/10/11 at 12:08ESP seems to have a ton of models like this. This is a pretty simple design which now seems discontinued. This is the ESP LTD M-400. It is a LTD version of a M series ESP. This guitar has set-through construction which ESP use to push a lot. Its like a set neck but with the neck set deeper into the guitar so its like half way to a neck through design. It has a super strat shape which is now a standard shape in the guitar world. It has an alder body with a maple neck. The fretboard is rosewood and has 24 jumbo frets with the ESP Arrowhead inlays. The neck and the headstock are fully bound in white. It has a licensed Floyd Rose bridge and locking nut. The electronics are a set of EMG 81's Kirk Hammett style. There is a tone and volume with a 3 way switch.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays well like just about every other mid to high level ESP guitar. It is based off of the classic ESP MII. With the LTD ESP guitars I wouldnt recommend anything below a 400 series. Below that and you are getting into some guitars that are pretty poor in their quality. The 400s have a great balance of performance and price. The neck on this guitar is nice and thin and has a pretty flat radius. This with the jumbo frets mean you can really slam the action down. The Licensed Floyd Rose isnt great. With anything other than the perfect setup on the springs it will go out of tune if you get crazy with it.
SOUNDS
ESP puts EMG's in a lot of their guitars and this makes the guitars super values. You can get a 400 dollar ESP guitars with a 200 dollar set of EMG's and its not just them putting 200 dollar pickups in a 100 dollar guitar its like getting 200 dollar pickups in a 400 dollar guitar. The dual 81 set is not my favorite set but it is better than what you get in any Ibanez costing up to 3x as much. I like half of this pickups set. There is nothing wrong with an 81 in the bright position. It is a super bright pickup. It is tight and gritty and has the perfect metal tone. It doesnt get muddy and all your riffs come through perfectly. The 81 in the neck I do not like. It does not have the right voicing for a neck pickup. It has too much high end in its sound. It is not smooth at all in the neck position. It actually sounds pretty harsh. I would swap this with a smoother 85 in the neck position.
OVERALL OPINION
These pop up every now and again. There are current models that are pretty much the same as this but with a different pickup set. ESP doesnt put the dual 81s in many guitars anymore unless its a Hetfield Signature. The current MH-1000 is a very similar guitar but with a more comfortable arched top design. It is a more refined version of this guitar and it also comes with an 85 in the neck like I recommend. If you can get a good deal on one of these used go for it but there are plenty of new guitars that fall in the same category with similar or better specs.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays well like just about every other mid to high level ESP guitar. It is based off of the classic ESP MII. With the LTD ESP guitars I wouldnt recommend anything below a 400 series. Below that and you are getting into some guitars that are pretty poor in their quality. The 400s have a great balance of performance and price. The neck on this guitar is nice and thin and has a pretty flat radius. This with the jumbo frets mean you can really slam the action down. The Licensed Floyd Rose isnt great. With anything other than the perfect setup on the springs it will go out of tune if you get crazy with it.
SOUNDS
ESP puts EMG's in a lot of their guitars and this makes the guitars super values. You can get a 400 dollar ESP guitars with a 200 dollar set of EMG's and its not just them putting 200 dollar pickups in a 100 dollar guitar its like getting 200 dollar pickups in a 400 dollar guitar. The dual 81 set is not my favorite set but it is better than what you get in any Ibanez costing up to 3x as much. I like half of this pickups set. There is nothing wrong with an 81 in the bright position. It is a super bright pickup. It is tight and gritty and has the perfect metal tone. It doesnt get muddy and all your riffs come through perfectly. The 81 in the neck I do not like. It does not have the right voicing for a neck pickup. It has too much high end in its sound. It is not smooth at all in the neck position. It actually sounds pretty harsh. I would swap this with a smoother 85 in the neck position.
OVERALL OPINION
These pop up every now and again. There are current models that are pretty much the same as this but with a different pickup set. ESP doesnt put the dual 81s in many guitars anymore unless its a Hetfield Signature. The current MH-1000 is a very similar guitar but with a more comfortable arched top design. It is a more refined version of this guitar and it also comes with an 85 in the neck like I recommend. If you can get a good deal on one of these used go for it but there are plenty of new guitars that fall in the same category with similar or better specs.