ESP EC-1000

Satin sunburst style finish, 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers, 2 volumes, 1 tone, locking tuners, TOM bridge, set neck, rosewood fretboard, 2007, 24 frets.
The volumes are inconvenient. There should be 1 volume and 2 tones, more like a strat.

The sound is excellent. You can play some serious metal on this or some screamin' blues. The pickups could be a little hotter like the higher end model (EMG's in that one) Of course most stock pickups are never as good as factory pickups.

I purchased this guitar used. Everything is where its supposed to be.

Very durable. However, I have a slight issue with some of the strings getting knocked out of tune even with the locking tuners. I dont know why guitars dont just come with straplocks!!!

Purchased used.

Ive had it for 6 months. For the $1,000 it sells for new in the store, this guitar is definitely not worth it. It should be a neck thru guitar and the strings should go thru the body. I'm more of a fan of locking tremolo's, but for a TOM guitar, this guitar seems to have gone high end on some aspects and then low end on others. Its too much of a copy of a Les Paul which is my opinion is overrated and overpriced. For $1,000 go get yourself a good Ibanez. This guitar should be priced around $500 new. I traded a $200 guitar for it, and its probably worth $200, to me.

I bought my Snow White 2007 ESP EC-1000 LTD about a year ago. It comes with 24XJ frets, EMG 81 (Active) and a EMG 60 in the bridge. It has two volume knobs a one tone. My favorite feature is the Sperzel locking tuners. My guitar can take about a week of playing before it goes out of tune. Its got a very light mohagany body that is awesome for playing shows and carrying around.

This guitar is built for metal. I can get some of the craziest pinch harmonics and the palm mutes could slay a walrus. (haha) But what i love most is even though this guitar is great for metal, it is one of the most versital guitars i've ever played. I actually perfer the clean sound on this guitar over playing an acoustic. It has a beautiful tone on the EMG-60 thats perfect for blues.

The set-up when i first bought it was almost perfect. I had to raise the strings a bit because there was a minor buzz on the E string. but other than that it plays great. The one thing i dont like about the action is that its already so low that if you tune it to drop C or anything lower the buzz gets really bad. But if you play in standard or drop D then you shouldnt have any problems. The guitar had very few flaws when i bought it.

I would replace the screws in the strap buttons as soon as you get the guitar. They will come out eventually. This is my main guitar i use, and i can say that it is a perfect live guitar. It is very dependable except for the strap buttons.

Never had to deal with them. (which is a good thing)

When i wanted to buy a new guitar i was going to go with either the Gibson Les Paul or this one. After playing both at the store i found the ESP a much better buy for the money. If i were to lose this guitar, i would definatley buy another one as soon as i got the money. I'd say the only thing better is the Eclipse II Custom...and it's not better by much.

This is about as solid set of features as you're ever going to find on a factory made guitar. The best feature in my opinion is the locking tuners. The next best feature is how light this instrument is, although I think that comes with a few trade-offs that I will explain further below.

I actually prefer the EMG 81/85 combo over the 81/60 combo on this guitar but still it has a pretty wide sonic palate. The sound is VERY bass heavy, due to the lightness of the body. This is not necessarily bad but you will definitely need to make amp adjustments when switching to/from other guitars.

Its a pretty instrument although I wish I would have held out and gotten the matte black finish instead of the gloss that I have. The matte was out of stock when I went to purchase mine and I couldn't wait. The binding and inlays are not quite hand-made quality but certainly not bad and don't look cheap at all. Action is fantastic, frets are finished smoothly and evenly.

Here's where I have a problem with this instrument. I've owned this guitar for about 2 years and while I'm still using it for frequent live gigs, it has a pretty bad history of durability related issues. ISSUE 1 (when the guitar was about 3 months old)- While playing a live 4 song audition the rear strap button completely ripped out of the body of the guitar. I was only playing 4 songs so I had taken a chance and not tuned my backup guitar. Since there was limited time to complete this audition we had to carry on with just one guitar and in turn did not get the gig. ISSUE 2 (app 4 months in) The front strap button rips out of the body just as the other had. I suspect the reason is a combination of the low density wood used and a small diameter screw that holds the pegs in. I've since replaced both with some big *** screws and haven't had any problems. ISSUE 3- Pickup selector switch loose. I have to constantly tighten the nut around the pickup switch because it gets loose and spins which could easily disconnect the wiring inside. ISSUE 4- The bridge piece no longer holds the low E string securely in place. For some reason the bridge has been allowing my low E string to slip completely out of the groove which obviously throws you massively out of tune. I'm using Ernie Ball Slinky strings (.46 gauge low string) so it's not a matter of using too large of a diameter of a string.
I will not ever again use this guitar without a backup.

I probably should have tried to get in touch with someone about the strap pegs at least but I didn't so I can't provide an opinion.

Sounds and looks pretty good but doesn't give me the reliability I'd expect from an $800 guitar. Oddly, my other gigging guitar is the less expensive LTD Viper-500 which has had exactly zero issues. Just goes to show you that any factory can turn out a range of quality across a total run of a product.
If it were stolen I would not be happy but I think I would buy something else. I would probably spring for the real deal ESP Eclipse II or try to find a reasonably priced Les Paul on eBay

This is a 2006 EC-1000 VHB, which has the satin finish and a Duncan 59 at the neck and JB at the bridge. 24 jumbo, well-dressed frets, which I love, SOLID maple top with mahogany neck and body (both made of multiple pieces of wood). I really like the feel of the satin finish. The pros say that it helps the tone, and I'm sure they're right. But, I won't sit here and say that I can actually hear the difference. I purchased this for the features, which include Sperzel locking tuners and a TonePros locking bridge and tail, not to mention my favorite pickup combo of all time. The Earvana nut is first-rate as well, and well-seated. The neck is pretty slim. If you like fat necks, not for you! As for the feel, it's more of a rough, natural grain feel, which I really like. I hate the super-slick satin finishes (see: new Fenders), as I like to have a bit of traction. Either that, or super thick poly, for the stickiness. Anyway, I like it a lot. Didn't come with a case, but most of us have one of those lying around somewhere.

PROBLEMS: First, I don't know what's up with the tuners. I don't know if they're second run, an inferior design, or what, but I don't like them at all. I really doubt these are made in Germany. They're not smooth at all, and tuning is a very awkward procedure, even for fine adjustments. Please not that this problem is not unique to my guitar. Since I purchased this one, I've played several others of this same line, and ALL of them had this problem. Also, I think that the TP bridge and tail are not actually TPs, but some Korean proprietary equivalent. They do the job, but I don't think that these are the parts that you're dropping mad cash on as an aftermarket part. But for these issues, I'd give it a 10. But, I'm taking off a point for each.

LOADED with features for a guitar in this range, but they should be of higher quality.

This guitar sounds almost as good as my PRS, and it has much better sustain. I can't believe that a Korean guitar with a multi-piece neck and body can have more sustain than a very well made, one-piece neck and body PRS. Of course, the TonePros bridge and tail certainly help that cause. You probably know what a 59 and JB sound like, and I can say that this guitar is a nice delivery vehicle for those tones. I can't tell you how happy I am with the sound on clean and OD. I hate giving 10's, but I have to give one here, especially when you look at the price tag.

FINISH: Here's the trouble in paradise. The finish is terrible. First, the way they do the color for the binding doesn't make any sense. It looks like they took a white or cream binding, then sprayed an orange goop over top of it to make it look old. The goop ran onto the fretboard, which I had to scrape off. Plus, they don't cover the entire white binding, leaving the neck binding looking white if you look straight on, and the rest a weird-looking orange (think spray tan). Also, the body finish ran over onto the binding, making an already weird looking situation even worse. The finish itself isn't a nice honeyburst (as I know it), but more a muted, kind of ugly orange. To me, it looks much different, and worse, in person than on the photos on various websites. Also, and this drives me CRAZY, the bookmatching wasn't even close. I've never worked in a guitar factory. I'm not a luthier. But, I don't understand how this seemingly simple operation gets screwed up so badly by almost every manufactuer at almost every price point. It seems so simple to me. But, this one wasn't even close.

ACTION: The action is pretty darn good. The giant frets help. There's some buzz on the low E, but it doesn't come through the amp. It's low enough that playing is easy, and it's high enough for easy bends, pull offs, etc. I'm really pleased with this aspect. For that reason, I wish that these 2 issues had their own categories to rate them.

OK, I'm taking the average. FINISH gets a 5, ACTION gets a 9, so the category gets a 7.

Despite the aesthetic problems that my guitar had, and every other guitar in this line that I've seen, it seems very solid. I haven't had the guitar long, so I can't speak to longevity. It's a satin nitro finish, so it's going to show signs of wear more quickly than one encased in poly. For me, that's just fine, as I don't mind a well-worn guitar, so long as playability isn't affected. I would not gig without a backup, just because of broken strings, but that's a personal preference that won't be affected by the quality of this guitar. I won't take off points for the tuners, bridge, and tail again, but they are suspect. Because this category reflects finish degradation over time, I'll take off one for the nitro, even though I personally prefer that as a finish.

N/A

For me, value is everything. I don't mind paying $2000 for a guitar, as long as it's really worth it. It takes more than a name to make a great guitar (see: Gibson). I'm amazed at the overall quality of guitars that have been coming out of S. Korea for the last several years. Other than really strange aesthetic and finishing problems, this is not an exception. I would probably rate the build quality at just below a Korean-made Schecter Exotic (the older, satin finish models), but I would rate the features, especially the pickups, higher. If I had a dealer in my area, and had been able to see the guitar prior to buying it, I'm not sure that I would have bought it. But, this is all a matter of personal taste. However, I'm really happy with the guitar, and I'm glad that I bought it. I think that I will eventually replace the tuners. I would call the company and ask for replacements, but I think that I would get the exact same problems over and over, since I've noticed the same thing on every guitar I've played in this line.

I don't plan on losing the guitar, not sure how that would happen, but I would try to replace it if something happened. That will get increasingly harder, as this model is not made anymore. I would not buy another in this line, as the ridiculous abalone binding on most models is an absolute joke, and I would like like a clown playing one. The vintage black model looks pretty cool, but I don't like a mahogany body without the maple cap, as those get too muddy for me.

Anyway, I hope this review has been of some help. Despite the finish flaws (which were on every guitar I've seen in this line and the EC-400 line which were even worse), I would highly recommend this guitar for those that can look past aesthetic issues which do not affect tone in any way. It plays well, sounds REALLY good, and has a nice, solid feel. Plus, it's a light guitar, unlike the EC-400 line which are heavy like boat anchors, weighing in at 7.5 pounds. If you don't care about the weird finishing quirks, go buy one! For the price, it's tough to beat.

Vintage Black finish (like an ebony les paul custom), les paul shape, tonepros locking tune-o-matic bridge, locking Sprezel tuners I think, Ebony 24 3/4 neck, got a free hard case but that was from shop, Made in Korea 2005 or 2006, 24 frets, solid top, 2 Vol 1 tone and three way switch, 2 Active EMG Humbuckers (81 bridge, 60 Neck), Mahogany body and neck. Gold binding on top, neck and headstock.

For Metal, you couldnt get a better guitar. Looking at it you may think it'll have a thick, bluesy les paul neck, but no. This is a thin neck, and the ebony fretboard is a dream to play on. I use it on a marshall AVT100 but on my friends small roland it still put out some serious crunch. The 81 gives a great metal bright distortion, while the 60 gives a lower output thicker sound perfect for sliding blues solos. This is a les paul to riff and shred with.
People critisize the EMGs for having a poor clean sound, this is true and false. For clean metal passages (a la cemetery gates, master of puppets) their perfect, but if your looking for something that'll bust out indie tunes, looking elsewhere would be your best bet. It doesnt suit the fuzzed up dist of punk either.

The guitar is perfect apart froma few scratches on the back (from people in the shop not talking off their zip jackets...) but the front is perfect and is an extremly solid top finish. If your looking for a guitar to shine out during a gig though (e.g if you play glam rock, if any ones does anymore) this may be to subtle a finish for you, but when you get up and look at it, it's breathtaking.

I've played live with it 4 times without fault, only once with a backup (first time). The hardware is solid enough to last many years, no blotching anywhere on it. Strap buttons were a little shakey but a quick tightning their were perfect.

Year warranty, never dealt with customer support.

I've been playing 4 years and own this, a jackson ke3, and a gibson les paul standard from my dad, and a gibson sg special. This guitar stands up to both the gibsons, even more so, packing more punch and more features into a cheaper budget (I bought this guitar for ??712, less than the ??1300 of the LP standard and ??850 of the sg). The Jackson is much more a guitar for pointless note blurring, while this is a machine you can riff on, shred on, and strum on, to all the best effect. If your a metalhead (perhaps a rhythm player breaking out into more lead based guitar work) and don't want to deal with all the flashing lights and bells most metal guitars deliver nowadays (e.g floyd roses etc) then this may be the guitar for you. Blues and punk boys, tho, look elsewhere.

I purchased one of the new for 2007 Snow White EC-1000s.

It has an archtop mahogany body with mother of pearl binding, a locking TonePros bridge and locking Schaller tuners.

It's got a 37.75 scale set mahogany neck with a 42mm nut, 24 extra jumbo frets, mother of pearl binding and inlays and a beautiful Indian rosewood fretboard (which is a rich reddish-purplish wood, not dull like it looks on their website).

It comes with an active EMG 81/60 set up, a 3 way p/u selector, seperate volume knobs and a master tone knob.

Unfortunatly, it also comes with a massive heel on the back of the neck (but that's the price you have to pay for getting a les paul style guitar). The top 2 frets are really tough to play on, but most guitars only have 22 anyway, so I just view those as bonus.

It would be cool if it had seperate tone knobs as well, but I prefer it all the way clockwise (bright) on both pickups so, personally, I don't have a problem with it.

I purchased a guitar with EMGs because I wanted high output, and the EC-1000 delivered!

I play through a Vox AD50VT 2X12. The EMGs drive my amp harder AND clean up better than passives.

I didn't expect it to be as versatile as it is because the volume knobs on active pickups aren't supposed to do much, but they're much more responsive on this guitar than on my passive pickup equipped ones.

The EMG 81 in the bridge sounds great for any level of overdrive and gives a nice bright sound. I usually keep the volume on this one up all the way because it drives my amp so well, and it doesn't clean up as nicely as the neck pickup.

The EMG 60 in the neck sounds awkward by itself when using overdrive, but cleans up very nicely. I usually keep this one between 20 and 40% volume so I can use it for both cleans and taming the 81. It has a thick beefy sound that is warmer and darker than the 81 and has more sustain and less harshness on high notes. I wouldn't swap it for an 85, but it would be an easy switch if you want the ZW set up.

The actives definetly give more feedback, and may require some taming, but overall I feel much more in control of my sound than I did with passives.

My action is at about 1mm. There is a little fret buzz when I strum too hard, but for 1mm it's amazing.

There are a few not-so-good looking spots on the binding, like what looks like a touch-up where the body meets the neck. I also noticed a couple tiny black specs on the side and a shallow ding on the side of the neck, but the instrument I recieved was a returned (and listed as new) item from Musician's Friend. Nothing is very noticeable unless pointed out.

I would give this guitar a perfect 10 for durability, except that the pot of my bridge volume knob came loose just a couple months after purchasing it. I hadn't even taken it out of my room yet. It was an easy fix that I could do myself at least. I don't know what it has been through before it got to me, but nevertheless I'd like the pots to be rock solid.

There is a "limited lifetime warranty of one year" so either they're assuming the guitar/player will only last a year, or the warranty sucks and they have poor English. Either way I got a kick out of it.

They'll take their time to respond if they feel you are worthy of a response and if you make any modification of the guitar or take it to a non-ESP dealer to have anything done to it they won't talk to you.

They also want their warranty card in within 10 days of purchase with the reciept and if anything does go wrong you have to pay for shipping if they deem you worthy of sending it to them - and them alone - so they can take their time fixing it themselves.

If it were stolen I would definetly replace it.

I know people with some really expensive gear (Gibsons, PRSs, Mesas, Marshalls) but my ESP EC-1000 and Vox AD50VT 2X12 can hold their own easily in terms of tone and looks.

I am very happy with my purchases and have made plenty of fellow players both jealous and annoyed. Jealous because it looks and sounds so good and I paid so much less than they did, and annoyed because they're tired of me ranting about it.

the finish on mine was mind blowing. i have the see through black cherry finish and the flamed maple on the mahogany body really pops. it looks sooo sexy! but yet still bad ass enough to fight your mom! this beast will truly take NOTHING from NO-ONE! this is a no-nonsense, rocking machine!

the sound as we all know on this beast is out of control sweeeettt!!!!!! i don't kave to tell you all about the best pickups EVER MADE right!?...EMGs BABY!!!! they withstand ANY tone or sound you want and so much more. if you want to know what it sounds like, PLAY ONE!!! picture what kind of guitar the angels in heaven might have...that's this.

the action is tighter, smoother than ANY Gibsin i've ever played, and im not just saying that to be bias. my freind has the black one for like 2 years now and i always told him how nice it was.. so i saved up, bought my own and now i see the light.

you want to talk about reliability...this rock of a guitar can take the most seriouse of beatings and laugh in your face! i'm willing to bet that it can double as a car jack..it's that strong.(don't try that of course....you might hurt your car's feelings)no backups needed here. if you WANT to swap this thing out for a different axe..it better be like a PRS custom 22 or something, cause that's about the only thing worth putting this diamond down.

never used it.

ive been playing for almost 10 years now and i own 4 ESPs and 5 other guitars. this is by far the best one. although i must say, for those of you out there that love SG's, go out and play the ESP viper 400 with actives...you'll change your mind about how a real SG should shred! i have it in vintage sunburst..simply rediculous..awesome axe. but anyways, the ec1000 is the LAST guitar you'll ever need. yes i said it..it is.

24 Fret
Mahoghany body/neck
Flag abalone inlays
Sperzel locking tuners
2 volume/1 tone
3 way selector (you really only need a two way since the 81 and 60 are so different)
Jumbo frets
Quilted maple top is beautiful
EMG 81-60 setup. (Same as Hetfield, highly recommended for all styles of metal, only if you plan on having cleans, otherwise get 81/81 or 81/85).
Make sure to get an esp hardshell case, got mine off ebay for 60$. (110$ value).
I bought this guitar used, it was only like a year old at the time.
9 on features since its missing a tone knob for each pickup.

I play this guitar through a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+. The guitar is clearly a metal style guitar as mine came with EMG81/60. The 81 presents more attack than the standard pickup, the distortion comes out much nicer than normal. The Emg60 has one of the nicest tones I have ever heard, and I have this pickup setup in several of my guitars. So overall, go to the store and try this through a powerful tube amp, I played my Ec-1000 in comparison to the Eclipse customs. In my opinion, mine sounded better and played nicer. Ltd guitars are not pieces of junk, unless you get the low affordable models. The deluxe series is truly amazing and very affordable.

Guitar was set up great. The finish is amazing (See thru-black cherry). The inlays I also found to look, ancient like, which is very sweet. Every one of these guitars looks different, based on the piece off wood they stained. The Sperzel locking tuners are really good at keeping in tune while you play, though every time I travel my guitar ends up 1/4 step up. Which isn't bad after being driven around town. The only flaw I can think of, is the binding on the neck. It could have been a thicker coat of white. Other than that, A+ gorgeous guitar.

This guitar has withstood live playing. The hardware still feels great. I have never used stock strap button, "always put locking ones on day of purchase." Backup? please. Other than a string breaking you need no other backup. I have several guitars and I use them primarily to show them off. This guitar plays through 5 hour practices almost every night. String change once a week. The guitar has recieved some minor dents and dings. I still give it a 10 because its still 5 pds lighter than a gibson les paul. It's also more metal than one. (Emgs).

I have never had to deal with them. I have called them one time to date my guitar, and they were friendly on the phone. I give them no rating because I havn't had a problem after 5 years of owning this guitar.

I have been playing 7 years. I own 2 other LTDs and an RGX. The only real problem about this guitar is the 23-24 fret reach, it's tuff. It can be done with practice but I would still prefer it to be closer. But since the ESP version of it only has 22 frets, I will just consider these extra 2 a bonus. This guitar easily compares to guitars that cost triple its price. If it were stolen, someone would be dying. I love the 81 on distortion, and the 60 on clean really draws attention. I only wish ESP made versions of this with an original floyd rose. I also have a M-350 with emg81/60, and a V-350 with emg 81/60. These guitars are all mahoghany, set neck or neck through, and play/sound GREAT. The neck on this EC is perfect, not to think, not oversized, I recommend trying this guitar before making your purchase on any thing else. For the money, this is the best out there.

earvana locking nuts, 24 frets, mahogany, emg 81/60 (2003 model), 2 volumes 1 tone, everyones favorite in my collection.
Only flaw, could use another tone knob, but it makes up for it in its performance. oh and its seethrublackcherry.

I play 80's metallica sounding stuff, megadeth, ect. this is definently the guitar for you if you like distortion, the pickups are made for it. if your aiming for a bluesier guitar, get the sunburst finish with the seymour duncans. the sounds is supperb, great for palm muting, cutting solos, the emg 81 really pushes it from beginer to pro. for under 1000$ best metal guitar out there.

the neck has such a great feel to it, everything works great, i have not had any noise problems with volume/tone knobs.

this guitar will withstand live playing. it holds its tune rather well, i occasionlly have to retune the G string though.
This guitar will last a lifetime if you take care of it.

Have not had to deal with them. So I guess thats a good thing.

I play this through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, and soon to be later today, a Legacy Cab, with those three things, I'll probably be set for life.

This is an UPDATE to another review of mine below. That was for the sunburst model with the Duncan JB/59 pickups. I did Duncan's "Spin-A-Split" mod so I can have single coil tones on the axe. I liked it so much that I was going to buy the black EC-1000 with EMG's and swap those out for Duncans.

I didn't do it! When I got the black one, I like the active EMG's so much that I decided to keep them in there. They are AWESOME! I didn't think I'd feel that way, because though I play rock/metal all week long, I make my money on the weekends by playing country/rock. Well, the EMG's sound pretty dang good at country as well. There's just something about active pickups that brings them to life. Kind of like a tube amp having a quality that digital/analog doesn't. Speaking of that, I bought a Hughes & Kettner Triamp last summer and the EC-1000's sound even better through that than my Line 6 Duoverb.

The black EC-1000 is every bit as top notch as the sunburst, if not better. I don't like the fact that black shows scratches more easily than sunburst, but that's life. This guitar is PUUUURTY! And the action is every bit as awesome as the pair of PRS's I used to own.

So far so good. Both ESP's survived a summer of heavy gigging without a hickup.

Still never had to deal with them. Hope I don't.