ESP EC-400

I Bought the see through black cherry model which was made in korea with a tune-o-matic bridge. neck length is 24 3/4" with mahagony neck and 24 frets. Has legendary 81/60 active emg pickups in it.Standard features and i got everything i expected out of it.Nothing more, nothing less

I use it with a Peavey 5150 and marshall cab (in flames) and it can get a bit noisy but i mute the high pitch squeals with my right hand when im not playing it. Pretty much a standard hardcore/metal guitar with the 81, but can get pretty mellow and rich with the 60 pickup switched on.

The action was pretty good from the factory, i didnt really need to adjust it at all.everything seemed to be in order from the manufacturer and ive had no problems (had it for a year) since i had it.

Ive played a couple live shows and it has held up magnificantly. theres a couple scrapes on it but nothing too bad and i replaced the strap buttons with schaller strap locks.I can definately depend on this guitar but it always good to have a backup just in case!

Never used their customer service..

Ive been playing for almost 3 years now and this is a pretty sweet guitar, especially for the price. If i lost it or it was stolen i would go for another esp definately, their quality is great.

It's pretty basic guitar. I love that there is a separate little battery compartment for the EMGs. It's got what I need. As long as a guitar sounds good and feels right that's all that matters to me.

I play all types of music. I music for film and television. I needed a guitar with a stop tailpiece for heavy down tuned metal. The EMGs are quiet and sound aggressive. I played it through a Peavey Classic 50 with a Wylde Overdrive and it sounded great. It sounded amazing through my Scott Ian Black 13 pedal. I sounds as good as some of the higher end ESPs and Jacksons that I have owned. Again, I bought is specifically for a certain sound so I can't comment on versatility. I have a large collection of guitars for all the sounds needed for what I do.

I got the brown sunburst. It looks nice. I am not much for cosmetics; more performance. Everything was set up perfectly. This guitar plays incredibly well. I plays better than the Gibson Les Paul Standard I used to have. It even feels better than the custom strat I had built. I can't believe this guitar is so inexpensive.

I have only had this for two days. It feels pretty sturdy. I can't really comment on this. The tuners do feel nice a smooth and it seems to stay in tune well. I tried my hardest to knock it out of tune.

Cannot say. Never had to deal with them.

I think that this guitar is a great deal for the price. I originally was torn between the ESP EC-50 and the ESP LTD Truckster. I took the EC 50 home and loved how it felt. I was gonna load it with EMGs someday. Then I thought about it and figured EMGs cost $200. The EC 400 was only $300 more and it had a better neck and mahogany body. I returned it and got the EC 400. (it sounded just as good as the Truckster) I have been playing for over 25 years. I have had Jacksons, Gibsons, Fenders, ESPS, and Ibanez. I love this guitar. My guage for electric guitars is my first good electric; an Ibanez semi hollow 335 copy. The neck is awesome. The ESP feels as good as the Ibanez. It feels like home. If it were stolen, I would get another one in a second.

Mine is a 2005 model withemg 81/60 pickups with 24 frets, 2 volume 1 tone knobs.The body is mahogany wood and gives it a noce warm feel. the tuners keep it in tune well . The neck is great,fast and smooth. One problem is that this guitar scratches and marks extremely easy.

For metal this guitar is pretty good. The bridge pickup is good for distortion and the neck pup is good for cleans. This guitar isnt noisy at all.

From the factory the action is set really low, and after a while it will begin to buzz but can easily be fixed. The nut was poorly glued and was barely holding on when i got it.

This guitar is built solid.The hardware is good. the finish is well, ok. like i said it marks easy. i would definatly gig without it but i always gig with a back up because anything that can go wrong will.

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ive had this guitar for about 8 months and it sounds great. if it were stolen or lost i would buy an EC 1000 instead because of locking tuners and a nicer paint job.

This review is to ACTUALLY set the record straight, as Paul incorrectly did. The 2005 model has the 81/60 set. Pre-2005, it was dual 81's.

The sound was a little thin, and I somewhat regret getting something with active pickups. It was definitely not a bad sound, but just not really suitable for more mellow music.

Actually came from the factory pretty damn well set up. I was quite surprised. Not a problem with mine.

It only left the house once, but it seems very durable. Very solid guitar. Again, never had a problem with mine at all.

Never dealt with the company.

Overall, great guitar. However, I sold it a few months ago and now have the EC-400AT with the JB/59 set on it's way to my house.

made in 2004 in Korea, 24 frets, two volume one tone controls, active EMG 81/60 pickup set, mahogany body&neck, grover tuners, earvana nut. no tremolo, no separated tone controls.. but i don't need them, anyway.

I play post hardcore/melodic death metal, and it suits my style perfectly. magogany body and neck gives the right tone and active pickups deliver it greatly to my amp. i use it with sansamp PSA-1 preamp and custom made tube power amp, no other effects. Maybe bridge pickup sounds a bit thin, but i can fix it using sansamp versatility. generally, i like the tone this guitar gives (mostly because of puickups). but it hasn't it's own, special character. but who cares actually:)

action is good, i have no complaints. i have set it quite low, with very little fret buzz. earvana nut lets to obtain accurate sound on every fret.

have played serval gigs with it and practiced a lot during almost year since i own it, no problems yet. once during gig accidentally crashed headstock against bass guitar's headsock, but the only result was that guitar was out of tune and a little finish damadge.

haven't dealed with them...

if this guitar was stolen or lost i would buy it again for such price, if i had a chance. alternative would be some other good les paul type guitar, but i would definately install emg pickups on it! i like that this guitar isn't too heavy and is comfortable to play...

You know all the features... the one i tried was the black one..
it has pretty much all you need,would of liked a trem but i have plenty with trems also as with all esp's i would of like a hard or soft case.

the sound was ok but it was nowhere near as good as my F-200,F-400FM Or my KH-202,or my brilliant new EX-400BD,
i found the clean was the best thign with this but even that wasent worth the money,also the Distortion wasnt anywhere near wortht he money or as good as the other esp's it was realy twangy and had no fatness....

I found the intonation wasnt brilliant, and nut needed some work.

havent had any problems,but i know esp's electronics are a pain after time "from experience"

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An ok guitar should only cost about 200 or 300 pounds though

alright, i wanna set the record straight with the pickups. the BRIDGE pickups is an emg-81. not both. the neck pickup is a emg-60. koreon made (even tho u cant tell), 24 frets, mahogany body, set thru mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 2 volume controls, 1 tone control, 3 way pickup switch. It does exactly wat the guitar portion of ur setup should: it PICKS UP the vibrations perfectly.

basically, dont play this guitar clean. it just doesnt work. the guitar has no soul. it just wants to b turned up and have the sh*t distorted out of it. the pickups rnt muddy at all and with the right overdrive/distortion this thing screams. but anything softer than slipknot just sounds annoying. cheapy almost.

perfect. ive never played a guitar that played this well. the necks paper thin but doesnt get tiring and thanx to the deep cutaway (which is rather aesthetically displeasing) u can reach all 24 frets which i might add were filed down perfectly. the only thing wrong is that the string height wasnt set at the factory. but big deal, i was the first to touch it out of the box. wat do u expect?

i havent had it long enough to say just how durable this thing is but id gig with it without a backup.

havent had any problems.

this guitar is great for really heavy stuff and i bought this guitar with the intent of forming a metal band. but now im starting to accept that only the very talented make it in the music industry and i just want a guitar that i can sit down with and play my troubles away. its great when ur girlfriend cheated on u and u wanna kick the shit out of something so u plug ur guitar in. but other than that its pretty useless. i just wish id taken more time to sit down and play with it before i commited to wat i call "the beast"

Regular stuff for a les paul style guitar. Two volumes and one tone pot, tonepros locking tune-o-matic bridge. EMG 81's, grover tuners, 24 XJ frets, rosewood fretboard, mahogany body. Recessed cut away for easier access to higher frets. its and 8 because it doesn't have loads of features, but who would want loads of features on the guitar anyways! This has what it needs to be completely versitile.

The mahogany body gives a nice rich sound, which is complemented by the EMG 81's. The 81's are great pickups, yes they are active, yes they do sound a bit thin in the bridge position on clean, but just switch to the middle or neck postion for that, you'll get more variety of sound that way anyways. the great thing about EMGs is they pick up more of the sound out of your guitar, not louder, but a braoder spectrum, it picks up the lows that passive pickups don't get as well as the higher frequencies. This way you can adjust the knobs on you amp to get a greater tonal variety all in all. These pickups also bring out the characteristics of your amp way more then any other pickups i have heard. you can really hear every little tweak of a know, and tottally change the sound of your amp, making it sound like things you never thought possible with passive pickups. Also the 81 remain clear with distorion and at high levels, so you can hear everything you are playing. This is good if you are a good player, but if you can't sound the notes you play, the distortion won't cover it up on these pickups. This is a very good sounding guitar in my opinion. I also have an American fender strat with an invader in the bridge, and a SG with a Duncan JB. This guitar is differnt then both of these, and thast what i love about it.

The finish is flawless on mine, it sa black see thru cherry. Nice finish on the neck, not slippery and not sticky, just right! Very nice frets on this thing > Very slippery and somewhat large (extra jumbo) but not too big surprisingly. The earvana nut seems a bit weird to me, but i guess its a good thing? The tuners stay in tune well and tune easily. its a good guitar, coming from Korea.

This guitar although lighter then a les paul (Gibson or epiphone) still sounds very nice and is just better on your back (PRS guitars are very light and sound extremly good). Light doesn't mean cheap crappy wood, it means better wood, and a comfortable shoulder and back. This is a very durable guitar, the finish doesn't dent easily, and all the parts are good quality and strong.

I've never dealt with them, and don't plan on it.

I have been playing more then about 5 year straight and have 3 other guitars, a marshall valestate (AVT 50) half stack (with a the 1960 cab not the avt one). This guitar is amazing, easy to play, and brings out the best in my equipment. Enough said, try one out, i think you just might like it, if not try out the archtop, then you will like that.

If you want to know the features for this guitar, just go to ESPguitars.com. XJ frets on the rosewood neck is soooo nice, i love that thing.

The active 81s are always good for hard rock/metal...very nice pickups! Just as people describe them...loud n with lots of sustain. With a good amp, those pickups kick ass. Compare to Seymour Duncans, they wouldnt be as versatile...but if you play hard rock and metal they r perfect!

The color on mine was the see-thru black cherry...awesome color, very nice n shiny. The action is very nice! Just perfect when I got it. Not one flaw i found on it.

Good enough for live playing? definitely! That guitar looks like its gonna last me for a long time.

Nope, i havent...I doubt I will need it anytime soon.

Alright, all ESP guitars Ive played so far are very well made, even the lower prices LTDs...So I wasnt surprised at all at the condition of this very well made EC400. I LOVE that guitar..I just got another one, a black one...Totally worth the money. My fav things on that guitar are probably the nice neck, frets, the 81s, the finish, the controls...well pretty much everything lol...For that price range, I havent found anything thats as good. If you have the money and into playing hardrock/metal and still doubting if you should get this or not...I say go for it, you wont be disappointed:)

This model I bought new 2004(559.99). Made in Korea (says it on back of headstock). 24 xj frets.Mahogony body.Neck thru body design i think thats what ya call it. Two emg81's. Active setup. I got mine all black but it comes in some other gay ass cherry finish shit. Eclipse ( les paul style)body. Tune-O-matic bridge. That other guy said Gotoh tuners but if ya look on the back of the damn headstock thier Grover. The neck I would say is medium size(whatever that means). Personally it fits my hands well. Not thin like a fender but not thick like gibson.It fit, nuff said. It came with a baterry thank God (though it was a cheap kind and an allon wrench thats useless).

The reason I bought this thing and I will admit it is I want to play like hammet. So that means metal. Not just metal, fuckin metallica. So I looked at the guitars he played (and the signature series too)but I did not want anyone elses name on my damn guitar. I noticed hammet's old old guitar.It was a les paul type with a spider emblem on it and i thought it was awesome. Then I noticed other esp shit. I dont really like some of thier other models but this had everything. I love active setup and I wanted that too. Thats why in brief why I chose this. The sound from this giant(its huge)is great. Those 81's are taring the paint of the walls. The huge ass mahogany body creates in my opinion some serios tone for the money I payed for it. If you point emg 81's at any feedback youre gonna hear a little noise. The variety I guess is okay . I play blues sometimes too.(SRV)

When I got this thing in the mail I found it in good shape.Nuff' said.
Pickups are adjusted fine.No flaws. Koreans are gettin good man.
This is a very fast guitar!!! This is probobly the fastest thing you will touch in this price range. But what is fast really? If youre fast than youll be fast. This is quick. One thing I noticed though is that its sensitive(very).Probobly because of the 81's but that can be a good thing in my situation. Screw yours. For thrashin and speed riffs this is the shit. Easy playing and very smooth.

Its new what can i say. It seems like its all here to stay. Ive bang it into shit a few times but I dont plan on beating the crap out this thing.

I hope to never use them but if I need repairs Ill just go to samash up the road. They'll fix it if I cant.

Ive been playing off and on for years but now I really want to fuckin play man. If it were stolen id go lookin for the bastard. Yeah id by it again or save up and buy an ec-1000. I dislike the lack of a whammy ya know, I really misss those things. I used to have one on my old kramer. I was also looking at a fender cyclone hh but I feel that I maid a better decision. If your into any music with crunch this guitar will provide you with that, sustain ,and tone.