ESP EC2005 30th Anniversary

Basic features, though they suit my aesthetic preference - square head, satin black paint, no fret dots (side markers only) custom 12th inlay, black everything, EMG-81/60, 24 frets, ebony fingerboard, mahogany body/neck.

This guitar suits metal, first and foremost, in its stock config. Far cheaper, more comfortable and more attractive than the Hetfield Truckster series, this guitar is near identical in every practical way. The sound is great - if you like EMG pickups. if you don't, the mahogany body and ebony fingerboard (along with the set-neck and arched top) will take any good pickups and make them better. I currently have a set of Gibson HB-R/HB-L pickups in there and it sounds better than any Gibson i've heard (and is much lighter too). No matter what pickups you use, however, the sound will be quite bright as mahogany is a very hard wood. Great for solos, but rhythm can get a little chimey, so either use the tone control or don't change your strings for a few years. Overall, the sound is incredibly flexible, yet comes setup very well for anything suited to EMG pickups.

Superb! I realy couldn't believe it was an LTD when i saw her. the setup is absolutely incredible and is absolutely flawless (even more so than my fender custom shop strat). although i agree with the general consensus regarding cheaper guitars like LTD and Epiphone (geez, epiphone quality control is horrendous), this LTD is better constructed than any ESP i've seen, and it's easy to see the quality at first glance.

The guitar itself is very solid without being heavy, and very, very well put together. This should last a very long time before repairs are needed. However, the paint, being satin, tends to wear away a little faster than usual, and chip a little easier. no big deal (in fact, it makes it look really very cool) though you'll notice the back of the neck gets shiny from your hand polishing it while you're playing, and the upper edge where your forearm rests will wear through after a few months. Again, no big deal but it's worth mentioning. For this, it gets marked down a little. Of course, you couldn't really have cool-looking satin paint without giving up some of the advantages of hard gloss. the rest of the guitar more than makes up for this one problem.

I try not to deal with anyone, really.

Absolutely fantastic. Although my other guitars are "better" and far, far more expensive (Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded with Duncan Antiquity pickups, 60th Anniversary Strat USA, Fender Custom Shop '56 Strat Relic), this guitar is almost as comfortable to play as a USA strat, sounds way, way better than any modern Gibson, takes pickups very well, stays in tune the best of any guitar i've owned, is rather light and comes stock with EMGs (if you like that sort of thing). There are other EC model LTDs available which are very similar to this (though not anniversary) and are also very, very good. I would definitely consider buying one of those if i ever lost this one. In either case, i will always have fond memories of just how nice this guitar really is.

05 Model. Volume/Tone/Switch, EMGs

I have several Gibsons and ESPs. This thing has become my new love. The sound of the EMGs will blow your mind, if you've never played through them before. I run this through a Boss GT8 or straight into my Marshall JCM 2000 100 watter, or Genz Benz Eldiablo, and this is a metal monster. Now we know why Zakk rips out all the other pickups in everything and uses EMGs.

Fit and finsh was good, I have a problem with some of the LTD guitars, where the finish is crap at certain points, like both of my Mustaines, V and Axxion. This one had a few flaws, but I can't complain for the money. It was setup by a tech prior to shipping, so it came in sounding nice and playing nice.

I think you can basically drag these behind your car, and then back on stage to play with no problems, they are tough guitars built for road use.

Never dealt with them.

30 years playing, I like this guitar. I use it everyday in my little studio, and it suits me just fine. Needs a bit longer scaled neck, but overall she's a monster.

Construction: set neck
Scale: 24.75
Body: Mahogany
Neck/Fretboard: 3-piece mahogany/ebony
Inlays: Anniversary
Pickups: EMG 81/60 active
Electronics: 2 Volume & 1 tone w/3-way toggle switch
Hardware: Black
Tuners: Grover w/Earvana compensated nut
Bridge: tune-o-matic w/string-thru-body
Frets: 24 XJ

I play anything from heavy metal to hardcore to grind. I bought it because I wanted a set neck sound with some loud as hell pickups.
I run this thing out of a crate 30 watt and it sounds quite nice with the lows and highs up.

I can't say that the EMG-60 was the best choice for this guitar, but since it was intended for rythm I guess it's a practical setup. The EMG-60 sounds really bass heavy and can only be described as a rythm pickup. The EMG-81 is what I keep it on most of the time. This pickup really cuts through. There's so much phenomenol gain on this thing that I don't see how anybody could complain.

I can't say much for the clean channel performance, but you should know that this guitar was not made to be played on anything other than a distortion setting. But I have played it on clean and it actually sounds pretty good.

The overall sound is very bright and full. This guitar isn't for everyone, but if you play this sort of music I would highly recommend you look into this guitar.

The factory settings were very nice. The pickups were a fair way apart from the strings and the action was near perfect. I later changed to a bigger guage and had it set up by a professional. However, I soon learned that you'd have to be an idiot to not know how to fix anything that's wrong with this guitar. The bridge is INCREDIBLY easy to lower or raise and you should never have any buzzing going on with this guitar. It's totally user friendly.

The guitar came new and everything was in perfect working order. I have had it for a few months now and I have kept very good care of her.
It looks more or less as good as it did the day I got.

This is the category where this guitar really shines. THIS THING WILL TAKE A BEATING! If you constantly change tunings like I do, you know that kind of thing can have a long lasting effect on your neck. It can bow over time. NOT THIS GUITAR! I have changed from standard to drop C at least 200 times since I got it and I haven't even had to adjust the truss rod yet. I swear if I was going on a big tour, I would not hesitate to make this my primary guitar. That's how reliable it is.

All the hardware seems to be top quality. I would expect that from ESP.

The finish is one of those black satin types that demands to be polished almost every day. It's a very good finish none the less.

The strap buttons that came with this guitar were some of the best i've seen. They were a perfect size. However, I prefer straplocks so I had to take them out and install my own.

I had dealt with the company for a short time. I thought my guitar was having neck warp issues but they confirmed that the technician who told me that was out of his mind. So I went on with my day happy.

I would recommend this if you play metal or any other aggresive music. It also helps to have a tube amp because it will sound better through that.

great and reliable guitar.

I described the sound in features. Overall, Amazing.

2005 made in korea. 24 XJ frets and a very nice solid top finish with minimal gloss and it almost never needs polishing. It has 1 volume, 1 tone, and a 3 way pickup selector for the EMG 60 and 81 (perhaps the best pickup combination ever). I play thrash metal like Megadeth and Slayer, and this guitar delivers like the stork. Putting the pickup selector in the middle gives me a versatile clean sound that, when I play on my Randall RH200SC, it sounds like Metallica's guitars in songs like Fade To Black and One. On overdrive, I simply switch to the bridge (81) and I have incredible attack and tone that gives me perfect tapping solos and treble bitten riffs. The neck on this guitar feels alot like a B.C. Rich Bich Classic, only with more speed and a rosewood fingerboard to match. Mahogany wood neck and body make for a tank of a guitar that can really take punishment. The inlays are really cool looking, and so is the headstock. The body just looks like your average Les Paul, only with a black satin finish. The nut is an Earvana and will probably never need replacing. The tuners are grover locking, which is also a plus. This guitar has EVERYTHING except for a tremolo bar, but I am investing for a Kahler tremolo bar to install (Kahler's do not require cutting into the guitar like most tremolo bars). The only thing I could ask for is a cooler body, but it was the best guitar i could find for $500 used. It goes perfect with my Randall RH200SC, Peavey 412MS cabinet and boss ns-2 noise supressor. You should check out these other products if you want an extremely loud, very affordable, heavy metal sound. All of my equipment only costed me $1100 and now i have gig ready eqipment.

2005 30th Anniversary LTD Eclipse, made in Korea. Solid mahogany with a mahogany neck... 24 frets, 24 3/4" scale, ebony fretboard, Grover tuners, Earvana nut, EMG 81/60 actives, tune-o-matic, string-thru, satin black finish, the works. Control layout is a bit weird for a Les Paul shaped axe -- one volume, one tone, 3-way toggle in between the controls on the treble side -- but I love it. It's my belief that all guitars should come with Straploks installed, but I installed them myself.

I'm running this with a BOSS GT-3 and a Peavey Ultra 120, with the Peavey's preamp in the pedal's loop, using the amp's distortion and the modeled cleans from the pedal. I don't like the cleans of the amp, but this is not a review of the amp. I play in a metal band called Gray Halo and we are very diverse, playing clean stuff to borderline nu-metal to borderline death metal... really, we've managed to mix nu-metal with that Swedish harmony guitar sound. Anyway, this axe sounds amazing. It's almost as if this guitar was made for my style -- it's nice and quiet, the EMG 81 in the bridge is perfect for dead notes as well as intricate riffage, and the EMG 60 in the neck handles smooth leads and cleans amazingly. Everything sounds rich and full of harmonics. Not a fan of the 81's clean sounds though, a bit sterile. But I really don't like bridge pickup cleans in general anyway.

Set up for 10-46 at the factory, got it set up for 10-52 when I got it. Everything's perfect except for a flaw in the finish about the size of the tip of a needle right above the neck pickup ring. The XJ frets combined with low action and no buzz after the set up makes playing effortlessly.

Strap buttons seemed decently sized, but I installed straploks because I don't trust factory strap buttons, ever. I'm finishing up a CD with the band and we're out a bass player for now, so I haven't gigged it yet, but I know it'll hold up. We've gigged lower-end ESP's before and never had any problems. The finish seems solid, but in the future I might become weary about the aforementioned finish flaw above the neck pickup.

Limited lifetime warranty from ESP, and a year of free setups from the store I bought it fore, aptly named The Music Store, Inc. The guys at the store are the nicest people I've ever dealt with and since I've found them it is doubtful I will ever buy a guitar locally from anyone else.

I'm 18 now, been playing guitar since I was nine. I own several guitars -- Ibanez SZ520QM, Jackson DXMG, ESP LTD M-107, Epiphone Demon, Art & Lutherie Wild Cherry CW, Takamine G116, Ibanez RG350DX, and a cheap-ass, beat-to-shit Weltron or some shit like that classical from the 60's -- and a Peavey Renown 212 (my big-ass practice amp) and my main amp, my Ultra 120 coupled with a 412MS, as well as my BOSS GT-3. No regrets for this guitar -- it's amazing. If it was stolen, I'd find the guy who took it and jam his fingers in the tube sockets of my Ultra... heh. I compared it to an ESP Viper 30th Anniversary edition which sounded thin in comparison, and the 81 in the neck of that guitar sounded like shit to be honest. I was going to spend the money on a plane ticket to see my girlfriend in Georgia but she left me for someone else a few hours before I bought it... go figure. Guitars last longer than women anyway, and they don't say "no." Money well spent.