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Hatsubai « Not that good »
Published on 05/27/11 at 19:27The ESP LTD M50 is one of the beginner models that LTD offers in their lineup. It's meant for people who are just beginning playing guitar and can't afford one of the more expensive models. The guitar features a basswood body with a bolt on maple neck and rosewood fretboard, dot inlays with a square inlay on the 12th fret, 22 jumbo frets, a vintage style tremolo bridge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
I'm not a huge fan of the 50 and 100 series that LTD offers simply because of the low quality woods and time they put into every guitar. The neck joints are usually pretty sloppy, so the binding between the neck and body tend to be loose. This hinders tone. The fretwork is haggard in that the ends are usually either sharp or barely beveled, and the frets aren't really crowned. There's also an issue with finishes in that they're sometimes sloppy and you can see drip marks. The biggest thing would be how level the frets are in that you can sometimes get some high and low frets which prevent how low you can lower the action.
SOUNDS
These guitars generally sound pretty dull. The stock humbuckers in these absolutely suck, too. They sound dull and muddy no matter what you EQ the amp at. Even if you replace the pickups, the wood itself tends to not resonate like the higher quality LTD guitars, and this is the biggest issue with the line. The woods themselves just aren't that high quality, and you're rolling the dice every time you buy one of these before you go out and play it.
OVERALL OPINION
I don't recommend getting one of these at all. If you're looking for a cheaper guitar, look at the LTD M1000 and buy used. You should be able to pick it up for about $500ish, and it'll be a way better guitar in terms of fit, finish and tone. It'll also have better pickups, a better bridge and better fretwork to go along with the slightly bigger price. Don't be afraid to buy used.
UTILIZATION
I'm not a huge fan of the 50 and 100 series that LTD offers simply because of the low quality woods and time they put into every guitar. The neck joints are usually pretty sloppy, so the binding between the neck and body tend to be loose. This hinders tone. The fretwork is haggard in that the ends are usually either sharp or barely beveled, and the frets aren't really crowned. There's also an issue with finishes in that they're sometimes sloppy and you can see drip marks. The biggest thing would be how level the frets are in that you can sometimes get some high and low frets which prevent how low you can lower the action.
SOUNDS
These guitars generally sound pretty dull. The stock humbuckers in these absolutely suck, too. They sound dull and muddy no matter what you EQ the amp at. Even if you replace the pickups, the wood itself tends to not resonate like the higher quality LTD guitars, and this is the biggest issue with the line. The woods themselves just aren't that high quality, and you're rolling the dice every time you buy one of these before you go out and play it.
OVERALL OPINION
I don't recommend getting one of these at all. If you're looking for a cheaper guitar, look at the LTD M1000 and buy used. You should be able to pick it up for about $500ish, and it'll be a way better guitar in terms of fit, finish and tone. It'll also have better pickups, a better bridge and better fretwork to go along with the slightly bigger price. Don't be afraid to buy used.