LTD MH-1000NT [2004-2016]

The ESP LTD MH-1000NT is one of their arch top shred style guitars. Unlike a lot of their models this guitar comes with passive pickups instead of active EMG's. Some people may prefer the more traditional and more versatile passive tones to the ones you would get with active pickups. This guitar has all the high end playability of a high end ESP guitar but with a more traditional tone that the passive pickups provide. This guitar has mahogany body with a neck through maple neck. The mahogany body has a nice quilted top on it. The neck has a rosewood fretboard with 24 jumbo frets. Up top you get a 6 inline headstock with ESP locking tuners and the bridge is a locking Tonepros unit. The pickups in this guitar are a great example of passive pickups. They are one of the most popular sets out on the market. It is a set of Seymour Duncans. The JB/59 setup with a JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. The controls are no nonsense with a master volume and master tone with a 3 way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar has great playability due to its high end construction. With the neck through design that means there is no neck joint heel to get in your way when you are playing up in the high frets. The fretboard has a nice flat radius and this combined with Jumbo frets means that you can get a nice low action on the strings for easy playability and string bending. The hardtail design keeps away the tremolo headaches and lets you change strings and tunings easily. The tuning is rock solid as well with the hardtail and the locking tuner setup. This model comes with an Earvana compensated nut that improves intonation up the neck a bit.

SOUNDS

The JB/59 set is a familiar set if you have been in the guitar industry for a while. it is one of the most popular setups for Seymour Duncan pickups. The JB in the bridge was designed for Jeff Beck. He pretty much told them to make the perfect pickup and they got pretty close. This pickup is great for just about every type of music. Even heavier music. The low end is pretty tight but it can also do great classic rock tones. The 59 in the neck is an old school PAF clone. It is great for lead playing and has a good vowelly quality to it. Both of these pickups respond well to the wood of the guitar. In this guitar with the mahogany body with the maple neck through neck you get a thick sound but with the clarity that the neck through neck provides and these tones are picked up well from the pickups.

OVERALL OPINION

Not all ESP guitars are for metal but the majority of them are. A guitar like this is more on the metal side but it can also do other things thanks to its great passive pickups. This guitar looks metal from the outside but it is the full package. The passive pickups in this guitar let you have a whole range of tones but the playability is all there like what you expect on a modern metal guitar. If you are use to the epic playability of a modern guitar but want versatile tones this guitar is a good option and gives you pretty much the best of both worlds.