ESP EXP-250

I got this guitar between 2000 and 2001.It has 22 frets, 2 Duncan designed humbuckers and two control knobs-tone & volume. It has passive electronics. I'm not sure of the wood used, but I know it's a cheaper type considering how much the guitar cost brand new(around $500.) It has a very deep black finish and very durable. I'm very rough with my guitars and the only blemishes thats on there are minor scratches and lots of sweaty fingerprints and handprints. It has a stop tailpiece bridge and non-locking tuners.I also own a 1977 Gibson Explorer and a 2000 Gibson Gothic Explorer, so when I saw this ESP EXP I had to buy it to add to my collection. I'm a fan of Explorer and "Explorer type" guitars(Hamer,Kramer, etc.)

It's a great sounding guitar for the price. Great tone and sustain, it can't compare to a Gibson but it still sounds excellent. The Duncan designed pickups has a very nice crunch if you set your amp's bass and treble all the way up and the mid-range really low, almost to zero. I plug into a Laney HC combo amp with two 12" speakers in combination with a Digitech RP50 guitar processor. Together I get that Max Cavallera/Sepultura crunch. The only thing I dislike about this guitar is the bolt-on neck, but thats just my preference. This is an excellent guitar for this class and price.

The action was a bit high when I first got it, but I adjusted it fairly easy and fast. The pickup height was perfect at the neck and bridge pickup just needed to be adjusted a little(it was too low). I got this guitar in perfect condition. It was brand new, so the paint finish was great, the hardwares were tight, the tuning pegs were good, the fretwires were ok, it wasn't perfect but it was good enough for me.

This guitar will definitely withstand live playing. It's pretty durable. It definitely has quite a few coats of paint because I banged mine up so much and I still don't see any of the bare wood. Unless you pour lighter fluid on this guitar and burn it like some acid -induced hippie from Woodstock, this guitar should be able to withstand a few gigs. I trust it enough to use it without a backup. The strap buttons are wide and secure, but I always recommend strap-locks, you just never know...

never needed customer support.

I've been playing for about 20 years. I also own two Gibson Explorers,an SG standard, an Ovation, a Fernandes Strat,a Fender Strat and an 80's era Kramer. I wish I would've asked for a free guitar case when i bought this guitar, I can't find a fitted case for it and it doesn't fit in a Gibson Explorer case. If this guitar got stolen I would definitely buy it again, this time with a case.My favorite feature of this guitar is the switch, it's located near the knobs unlike the Gibsons. I never compared this to other guitars. I walked into the store, saw it hanging there, took it down and paid for it. I like explorers so I bought it without even plugging it in first.

Although everybody calls this guitar an ESP, it's actually made by LTD, the "cheapo" ESP sub-company. I think these sub-companies (Epiphone, Squire, etc) are simply a way for the major companies to make money indirectly by selling instruments that sound almost as good as the original but without the extra paying-for-the-brand-sticker added. This said, the guitar was made in Korea (of course!) with Mahogany for everything and super jumbo frets. Bridge is tune-o-matic, a sturdy thing. Humbucker pick-ups are "Duncan Designed," whatever that may mean, and are controlled via a 3-way switch and one tone, one vol. knob.
The reason my guitar was so cheap is that I brought it from the "Blemished" section of Musician's Friend. It had, as I expected it to, been chipped in the rear spike and the bottom front one (you all know this an explorer type body, right?). I took it to the shop and the guy told me he would charge $$$ to fix it, so I simply put some paint over it. It's glossy black, but beware! If you stare at it too hard, you'll get a mark on it. I have never encountered a guitar that picks up grime like this. I have to wipe it every time I play because I hate to see the marks, but you can never really get rid of them. I guess it's the price to pay for such a good looking guitar (because it does look beautiful!).
Bottom line: features are simple, workable. No flashy Floyd Rose (didn't want one) or anything else, just the bare minimum. For me, this is good, the less there is, the least likely you are to have problems. The strap buttons are the fattest I've ever seen, very wide and sturdy (more abot this later).

I play mostly Doom Metal, but also some lyrical clean stuff, so I needed something versatile. The distortion on the bridge pick-up is much better than I expected from a stock pick-up while the neck one sounds very sweet. My other guitar (for the past 6 years) is an Aria Pro-II, the single coil in the neck cannot match the humbucker on the EX, while the DiMarzio I put in the bridge doesn't sound that much better than the stock on the EX. There is one difference though: the noise. When I first got the EX-250 I was away from home and played it through my Boss BR8 digital multitrack. The recordings sounded very good and I was very pleased. However, when I finally got home this Summer and plugged the guitar into my Marshall, I found out just how noisy the pick-ups were. As soon as I have the money I will put in some ESP or something similar. Until then I can put up with a bit of noise (it's not as if they sound like a radio or anything!). I like the slim neck and fat frets, I'm very comfortable playing on this fret board, although I find it's not wide enough at the nut for my pudgy fingers. On the whole, the sound is damn good for a stock guitar that was so cheap. When I install the new pickups, I expect it to get a 9.

Action was good, didn't touch it. Threw out the window the strings it came with (the standard procedure) and put in some 10's. Everything was well adjusted and in place, no problems. Paint is good, if a bit TOO glossy and frets are all well trimmed and at same height. Didn't move pick-up height either.
The BIG glitch: I put a strap, hung the guitar on my shoulder... and it took a nose dive! I don't understand this, you would think that somebody at the factory, or the guy who designed it would try the damn thing on before sending it into production, wouldn't you? I cannot believe that anybody likes playing guitar that way. It was impossible for me to play it standing up, I play at a 40-45 degree angle and couldn't play properly 'cos I had to worry about keeping the neck in position. Another guy in these reviews said that moving the rear strap pin UP a couple of inches would help, it probably would. What I did, though, was move the front pin to a different position. I put it in between the two front screws that bolt the neck to the body (I took it to a luthier) and now it's much more comfortable, I can actually play it standing up and it will hold fairly well at 45 degrees. If you buy the guitar from a shop, try it on before dishing out the money and tell them to change it or you won't buy it, that way you'll save yourself some dough.
If I had this in mind, I would only give it an 8.

When I get round to it, I plan to play live and I think the guitar will stand it. The only thing that bothers me is that sometimes I hear these creaking noises and I don't know where they come from. I've tried to forcefully move the neck but this doesn't seem to produce any sound so I simply have no idea where they might originate. If anybody has the same problem and knows how to solve it, please e-mail. It just happens every now and then, but it drives me nuts not to know what it is!
I have to say that it doesn't seem as sturdy as my old Aria, but then again, the Aria does have one thick body and neck. The EX is much slimer.
Bottom line: I think I have guitar for a while.

Never delt with them.

OK, so maybe the guitar doesn't really deserve a 9. But considering what I paid for it, it delivers a 9. I wouldn't buy it for $500 though, it wouldn't be worth it. I wasn't planning on buying a new guitar just yet although I did have in mind getting one with double humbuckers and tune-o-matic bridge, so when I saw this offer I just couldn't resist it. I had always liked the explorer shape and, yes, I learnt to play guitar with Metallica, so I thought it was probably a message from above ;-) When it gets the knew pick-ups, it will deserve the 9.