ESP H-207

ESP H-207, It has an Ash body with 24 frets and a trasparent finish.(Black in this case), It has the worst stock pickups ever duncan passive piles of ****. (I put a EMG 707 at the brige. It has a bolt on neck but the string through helps sustain if the neck is'nt freted bad or warped like my used guitar.

I play death metal so I like the 7 string. I play out of a Marshall DSL 100 with a 1960a cab but I use a boss metal zone distortion. The guitar sounded like **** with the stock pickups but the 707 made it sound pretty good with the ash body. The neck on this guitar is horible it buzz's all over the place and the neck is warped but this could be the fault of whom I bought it from. Stock sound blows, put pickups in it and it's alright

I don't know how well this was set up from the factory. I could never get this guitar set up nice because of the warped neck. It would be nice if it had a double truss rod for the wider neck. I do like the width of the neck it's not all flat like the ibanez's but not to big like some others. The action on mine is pretty high to keep some of the buzzin' down.

I play this thing live all the time cause I can't afford a new 7 string yet. It holds up and I do like the fit of the guitar. I havn't had problems with any hardware, but the electronics are pretty cheap. Esp or ltd look great but you have to mod em' out to make them what you want.

**** if I no

I've been playing for 16 years and don't know all the tech stuff still so my review may be worthless. If your looking for a 7 string just to have one find this on ebay and it's worth it and if you have the money to put an active pickup in it do it. For what you need to put into it I would find something better if it's going to be your primary peice.

ESP/LTD H-207. Im pretty sure this guitar was made in 2000, and manufactured in Korea. Solid Ash body, 24 Jumbo frets, Tune o' Matic bridge, string through body design for maximum sustain. Birds eye maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 3 way swith, 2 duncan design pickups, Passive electronics, Beautiful red finish. No-name tuners. 7 strings.

For me, a metal player, it is outstanding. I have the tuning in "E standard" but the top string is "B". So you can get really heavy tones, but still can play in standard tuning of you wish. The pickups are a little on the cheap side, but they will do for now, they give a darker tone with fairly good harmonics. The guitar is silent (no humming), And i am using a "line 6 spider 1 2x12" and the sound i get is bad to the bone.

I purchased this guitar used but when i got it, the frets were pretty crappy, the action was nice, but there was gunk, and wierd stuff on them. The finnish was flawless, no scratches visible on the front.

I havent yet gotten to play this guitar at a live performance, so i couldn't tell you.

Haven't had to use this either, which i believe is a good thing.

The guitar is very nice, i didn't used to be a ltd fan. I thought that they put crappy guitars out there, but when i played mine, that opinion vanished. I have played many Ibanez 7 stringers and this one can run neck n neck with a high priced Ibanez. If someone stole it, i probably wouldn't buy another one, i would buy a gun to shoot the person that stole it, and get it back.

Same description as the other posts, mine is forest green (transparent)

Stock pickups are have a very dull (loose) sound. Definitely gonna change to Seymour Duncan JB for the bridge to acheive tighter more articulate notes. Will be changing neck pickup further down the road so leads can be a little glassier. Harmonics are dull even with brand new strings (probably caused by the crappy frets)

ESP LTD's have the worst fret jobs known to mankind. It's definitely no treat setting up a newly purchased guitar over and over again trying to get rid of dead spots and buzzing. I've owned tons of guitars and every ltd I get in my hands has the same problem. I own 3 Ibanez 7 strings and never had to adjust anything with any of them. The electronics suck in these guitars. You basically have to rebuild every ltd you buy (is it really worth the hassle?)

I don't know if I would trust this guitar enough to use it for a show cause it is so disabled. ESP should just put wheelchair logos on the headstocks instead of LTD. For some crazy reason I am going to rebuild this to make it suitable for live play (I must be bored).

They know they sell fancy looking junk, why even bother calling?

I give this guitar a 6, rebuild it with better electronics and get a better fret job and it is a 9.

2000 24 jumbo frets three way selector ash body 7strings

It sounds pretty good for my musical taste, I mean you do not buy a seven string to play some alternative rock you buy it for metal and that is what I play
this guitar also sounds clean I use a boss effects processor and a little 15w preamp and it sounds great

Great setup the only problem was that I got if off of ebay and the guy had never played it. When I got it the strings were rusted and it was very dusty, but after I went and put knew strings on and ploished it up it looked like a brand new guitar.

the hardware seems very good. the strap buttons are very solid and I can depend on it without a backup. In another review someone said that the finish would come off quickly but I haven't had any of those problems.

Never dealt with them like I said got it off of ebay.

I have only been playing about a year but I know a good guitar when I play one. this one is great for handling any sound you want. If you play metal or hard rock you cannot go wrong.

All the same as above ^

I play in a melodic hardcore band that is used to using 6 strings tuned to drop-C. Well I had this puupy laying around and realized that I needed to use it to its full potential and it hasn't let me down!!!

The sound is so amazing for those deep breakdowns and respondes to every pinch harmonic I throw at it! The factory pick-ups are a little lacking but not in any way that substantionaly effect the overall meanness of this axe!!

I've played with a wide range of makes and models of both 6 and 7 strings and I my mind is set on this guitar!! The action is so sweet and just fits so nicely!! Its got the carved out body that fits my pleasently plump figure!!

Its the nice see-through green with a natural wood coloured outline

Like I said Melodic Hardcore! This thing gets thrown around like no-bodies business, and let me tell you it hasnt let me down yet!!! Wow this thing is built like a rock but is as light as a feather!!

havent had to use them

If you are looking for a good-strong 7string then look no further!! I use a Hughes and Kettner Warp 7 and although I wish I had a 5150 or of course a mesa it stills rocks!! Its such a shame that ESP doesnt make these any more!!

If it were stolen I would definitley track down the punk who stole it and let him know who's the boss!!

(7-string) 2001, Made in Korea, 24 XJ frets, 1-volume, 1-tone, 3-way selector, H/H - 2-Duncan Design Humbuckers, passive electronics, Ash body, See-thru black , Strat-style w/Arch-top, Tune-O-Matic/String-thru body, Deluxe LTD tuners, black hardware, Bolt-on Maple neck, rosewood fretboard w/ block inlays at top, white binding on the neck and headstock, and a **free cable**

This guitar suits my musical style (Death/Thrash Metal) perfectly. I'm playing it through a Vox Cambridge 15w (tube preamp) and at the volumes this amp can handle it has a great sound (can't afford Mesa). I'm not using any effects and this guitar still gets a pretty good crunch for the rythms and has a nice well-rounded sound for the leads. Great sustain. I was very leery of the Duncan Design pick-ups, but they actually suprised me. I'm still thinking of slapping either a Seymour Duncan Invader 7 or an EMG 707 which are both special order products through Guitar Center :(

As with any new guitar I believe you have to set it up to your own personal preferences. I lowered the bridge a little, raised the bridge pickup, lowered the neck pickup. The darn thing was almost in tune when I received it (via UPS). I went over this guitar with a fine tooth comb. I've been playin' for about 15 yrs. and this is my first brand-new guitar. I couldn't find one thing wrong with it. Now the see-thru black finish is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Depending on lighting and distance, the color of the wood can go from solid black to a medium gray w/ a hint of purple sometimes... When I first pulled this guitar out of the box the width of the neck looked overwhelming, but is remarkably easy to play. After almost a week of playing this thing I have become used to the extra string up top. The back of the neck is not lacquered and is sanded VERY smooth and is very fast.

This guitar looks and feels very solid and durable. I would feel comfortable using this guitar without a backup. Since it doesn't have a floyd rose, it wouldn't take very long to slap another string on there...

Lifetime Warranty. This is a very solid guitar and I doubt that I will ever have to use this...

I've been playing for 15 yrs. I have mostly played Charvels and still own one. Now that I have this guitar the Charvel will probably spend most of it's time in it's case... I would definitely buy this guitar again if it were lost or stolen and if I could find one. It's just too bad that ESP-LTD decided to quit building these guitars. I love the dept of the 7th string. If I were to buy another 7-string I'd probably get one with a Khaler tremelo.

I got this guitar during a scratch-and-dent clearance sale at MARS. It had a bit of a scratch below the bridge, but I was able to buff it out.

The Duncan Designs had a nice growly sound to them, but they only had the one sound and between the neck and bridge positions, they did not sound much different. Also, I had to back off the guitar volume to about 3 whenever I wanted them to clean up.

I dropped in a pair of Dimarzio Evolutions (with push-pull coil splitters), and now this guitar is my main axe. It is very responsive to picking and even with the guitar volume on 10, I can get clean and dirty sounds depending on how hard I pick. In single coil mode, the sound is a bit thin to be played on its own, but with the rest of the band, it cuts through nicely.

This guitar probably sat in a store for two years before I bought it. The switch had a short and was very cheap. When I upgraded the pickups, I also replaced the switch and rewired it.

As I said, the scratch buffed right out. The action was as good as could be expected for a guitar that had just sat around ignored.

After a little attention, this guitar is fabulous; once in tune, always in tune. The neck is fast, all frets are reachable (I can even reach the 24th fret on the low B string with my middle finger if I ever have to), and the volume and tone knobs are well positioned.

The original electronics were crap and needed replacement. The wood parts, though, are excellently crafted. Everything fits tight and should last for a couple decades at least. The serial number was printed on a strip of paper that fell off about 2 weeks after I bought it.

I have been playing for 27 years. I also own a Strat and a Martin 12-string and I play through a Marshall. I play everything between 60s bubblegum to numetal. Since buying the H-207, I have been seriously considering a clean amp like a Fender. The cleaner the amp, the sweeter this guitar sings. I have never played anything like it, and to think that I only bought it to play metal on.

By now, this guitar should be in the clearance racks and on the used market. If you find one, check it out. The sound spectrum available in this guitar is awesome.

2001, Made in korea, 24 Jumbo frets,1 volume and 1 tone switch w/ a 3 way selector, Duncan designed pickups,transperant black, tune-o-matic, with a cable.I like the fact that this guitar had 24 frets cus i wanted to play solos that can get the highest possible pitch(even though i can just whammy the thing).it only had one tone switch which i thought was bad cuz i like to screw aroundwith 2 switches and mix the tones nicely but it wasn't too much of a problem.i really didnt like the 5 way selector on my old guitar because it broke very easily and wasnt worth crud. The pickups i had no prblems with whatsoever. I like the finish cuz it describes basically what your gonna hear (deep dark whaling distortion). and the cable was ok, but it really didnt mean much.

This guitar suited my style perfectly. I like to play stuff that sounds like Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Korn(even though i dont like their music, just their sound), and Megadeth mixed in a big jar of sound. I use it with my Peavey Basic40 amp basically for practicing and through a peavey head with a 1000(i think) watt cabinet for performances, and my Digitech RP2000 effects processor.its noisy in the way i like it. it gives me a nice bassy tone and rich full sound that ive always wanted, with a variety of sounds and nice distortions.I have virually no dislikes with this guitar - its very good.

The action was really good. everything is in place and setup nicely. it had no flaws that i can tell because it sounds great and doesnt have any buzzes unless you make it buzz by like not pushing down hard enough or something. I was surprised because since it was mailed I expected it to be all messed up by the time it got to my house, but it was in mint condition.

in live playing this thing is great.the hardware seems like it will with stand anything. The finish is nice and doesnt seem to going to wear off any time soon, unless its gets chipped off, but i doubt that will happen. The strap buttons are perfectly in place which is good for me because on my last guitar they were coming off VERY easily, but this one seems to be nicely placed. I would depend on this guitar like if it were a life saver. Id use it several hundred times over in gigs without backup.

I haven't had a single problem with this guitar so I have no idea what the company would be like.

Ive been playing for about 2 years but somehow got incredibly good at it really fast(luck I guess), and if you dont believe me ask anyone at my school who is the best here and they will say me. If this guitar were stolen, Id buy a new one, but only if I couldnt find my old one. I love basically everything about the guitar and how it is setup and everything.I dont hate anything about it, because I'd maybe dislike something(like the 1 tone switch) but it would not bother me at all.My favorite feature is of course the 7th string.I compared it to some 7 string Ibanezs and from the looks of it this thing would have creamed them to oblivion. The only thing I wish it had was a tremolo, but my effects processor could do that for me. If you want a 7 string this is THE guitar you should buy, and it's not too expensive either.

2001 ESP H-207 Black. Made in Korea. 24 frets. One volume switch one tone switch and 3 way selector. 2 SD Humbuckers. Tune-O-Matic.

Fits my musical style perfectly! I play mostly NU-metal and old metal and almost everything else. This guitar can handle almost anything. Sound rich and full! No dislikes as of yet.

This guitar was set up almost perfectly. Action is perfect and plays great. the frets are nice and thin but need to be warn in a little. No Flaws that I cab see at this time.

My friend has the same guitar. I seen him drop it about 3 time while jamming and at a show. this guitar can take a beating and still rock. I guess my friend needs a better strap. Other than that the guitar seems very solid.

Never Contacted

I've been playing for 11 years and this is one if the best 7 strings that I've played. I Have 2 Ibanez 7s that don't hold a candle to this ESP.
If It were stolen I would hunt down the thief and kill him. Then go buy another H-207.

2000 / Japanese / 24 Frets / 7 String / 3 way selector / Volume & Tone
2 Duncan Designed Humbuckers Neck and Bridge Position. Body is a cross between a Strat and an Ibanez 7 string with scalloped perimeter

I tend to use this guitar for the big Mesa Boogie type sound. It goddam kicks butt. The defintion I get from this guitar in the lows to mids far exceeds any other 7 String I have played. The Harmonics achieved with this guitar are simply incredible? a consistant and controlled level of tone. My only problem with this is the Duncan Designed Pickups
they are not as complete sounding as the Seymours

This was passable. The action was fine but sadly I found that the intonation was a bit out. I also have a problem with the bridge saddles
they chew into my strings I have since replaced them with teflon saddles

I found that, live, this guitar once again far exceeds other seven strings I have played. You do have to watch the tuning a little bit but no more than any other guitar.

This is the best thing, regardless of its faults, that I ever had in my life? True Love (except that I would except an offer from PRS!)

24 frets, interesting offset rectangle inlays, Duncan Design pickups, Ash body w/ bolt on Maple neck. GORGEOUS see-thru-aqua finish with natural wood binding and white neck binding. 1 vol & 1 tone w/ a 3 way switch. Tune-O-Matic with the stings thru the body. ESP case (made by TKL).

If it wasn't for a problem that will be outlined later, I would have rated it an 7. It sounds good... unplugged it's vibrant--plugged it sustains well. Sounds as good or better than every 7 string that costs less than $600. I have yet to change the pickups on any of the other guitars I own but, this one might have been the first candidate for it. Not because the pickups sound like garbage (they don't) but, because there isn't as large of a difference in tonality between the neck and bridge pickups as there is on all my other guitars. Weird.

Okay now for the grip: I bought this guitar as a scratch & dent model from American Musical Supply (a discount of $120 was applied). I was expecting some sort of blemish(s) that I could live with for the $120 savings and that was that. When it arrived the blemishes were definitely something I could live with UNTIL!! Lo and behold at the tune-o-matic, the bass side post was a little to snug (cracked the finish ever so slightly) and the treble side post was not properly seated (it still had an 1/8" to go into the body). This is unacceptable in a name brand guitar. As a result of this, the bass side sounded fine but, the high B & E strings had an slight additional odd resonance that messed with the tone a bit. Let me stress, I am not talking about the finish but, the stuctural integrity of the guitar. I just couldn't believe that the person who inspected this guitar at ESP and signed his name on the warrantee care didn't stop this guitar from shipping. The nut wasn't perfectly filed either. A word to the wise, inspect all Made in Korea guitars well because evidently the Manufacturers reps don't. I have played and inspected another H-207 (see-thru-black) that didn't have the bridge or nut problem. I set up all guitars to suit my style so I don't really care about how they come 'cause I change it anyway. The TKL made ESP case also leaves a little to be desired (just doesn't feel as sturdy as other $109 retail priced cases).

I returned it for a refund so I didn't have it long enough to really tell how it would stand up but, I will say this: the 3 way switch is really chintzy and probably will have needed to be replaced sometime in the future.

I didn't bother calling or complaining to ESP because www.americanmusical.com doesn't give any hassles for returns.

I've been playing 12 years. I own PRS, Heartfield, Ovation, Yamaha, Jackson, and Carvin guitars. I play through a Carvin Quad X-4 tube preamp with a digitech processor in the effects loop into a Carvin MosFet power amp through two Carvin 2X12 cabs. I also play through a Zoom GFX-707 into the power amp in of my Fender Deluxe 85. If the tune-o-matic bridge was installed right at the factory, I'd be to busy playing the H-207 instead of writing about it.

Year 2000, USA-made ESP LTD H-207 with 2-piece maple neck w/24 fret rosewood fretboard. This guitar is wired with passive Duncan Designed Humbuckers (neck and bridge) with controls for tone and volume (controls both pickups). The body is arched top, solid ash with a transparent green finish (which looks beautiful) and is very lightweight. The body style is somewhat of a straightened-out strat, very easy to play. There is a creme binding on the neck and head stock and natural wood grain binding on the body. I believe this has Gotoh tuners, but I'm not sure. 24 extra jumbo frets and a really wide neck finish this guitar off nicely. Came with perfect action, low enough to play as fast as you need yet the strings retain nice chunk and tightness in sound.

This is definitely a metal/hard rock guitar. I play in a modern metal (sevendust, machine head) style band and this guitar fits right in with the mix. I play this thru a Marshall Valvestate 100 watt head thru a Mesa 4x12 recto cab and this setup gives me the sound I've been looking for ever since I began playing. Nice tight, percussive low end, growling mids (on dist) and singing highs make this a very versatile guitar. I've gotten some awesome clean tones as well as blistering distortion from this guitar, which ranks it very high in the sound department (versatility is a must and this guitar provides). My only gripe about this instrument is the pickups have a little too much high frequency response for me, but a slight adjustment on my amp fixed that problem. This guitar has almost no noise thru my amp at any volume (besides for some feedback which I can stop by just turning down the volume knob on the guitar). This guitar has been everything I needed it to be: bright yet ballsy tone, excellent frequency response in every sense (hi, mid, low), can go from the sweetest clean tone to the most brutal distortion you've ever heard, and no problems with intonation or action. Definitely worth trying out if you're gonna be looking at 7 strings. My bandmate plays an Ibanez RG 7 string thru a triple rectifier and my setup sounds just as good (better in my opinion) but for a much lower overal price tag.

The action came perfect on this guitar, low enough to be extremely fast, yet tight enough to chunk the hell outta any riff. The pickups are awesome beside a little too much high end response, but that can be fixed with EQ. Everything on this guitar lived up to ESP's tradition of quality in instruments. I found no flaws in any construction aspect of this guitar, I'm very happy with it.

This guitar is THE live 7 string guitar. It stays in tune thru the heaviest sets and hasn't warped on me yet and it's been thru a lot of different climate changes. The hardware on this guitar is excellent. The tuners do not slip at all, very sturdy bridge and nut placement, strap pins stay in place, and the neck stays super smooth even after those long sets in hot rooms when sweat is everywhere. The finish seems durable and thick, I can not picture it wearing away any time soon. I would definitely be secure with playing this guitar at a gig with no backup.

I have had no reason to deal with the company, everythings superb. I think ESP has a lifetime warranty on all instruments, so if any problems occur out of nowhere, they're covered.

I have been playing for 5 years but am very good at playing. I've played many different guitars, everything from low grade Strats to 12-string psychodelic SGs. I own an Epiphone SG which has given many years of happiness depsite it's very low price tag ($300). I also own a Hohner acoustic guitar, a Crate Gx-1200 stack, Marshall valvestate head, Mesa 4x12 Recto cab, and other misc merchandise. I would definitely buy this guitar again if it were stolen or missing and couldn't be recovered. I love the thick yet super fast neck on this guitar, but it may be a little too thick for the smaller guys (I've got big hands and this guitar is very comfortable to play). This guitar was in some competition with all the other brands of 7 strings, but I found this one beat them all when it comes down to feel and sound. I tried Ibanez, Scheter, and Jackson (nightmare, don't buy the 7 strings they make) and this reigned supreme, lol. My only request would be to have independent volume and tone for each pickup but thats a very small flaw, the pros HEAVILY outweigh the few cons this guitar posseses. If you want to get a 7 string to jam on, I highly recommend this guitar for anyone serious about having a heavy-ass sound.

Hey folks, I've already reviewed this guitar but want to add some updates I've since learned:
I found a GREAT place to buy Seymour Duncan upgrades (over the stock "duncan designed" which are functional but mediocre).
Go see www.gtrheaven.com in Tennesse, and not to be confused with www.guitarheaven.com in California which only deals in vintage gear.
The folks at gtrheaven were EXCELLENT! and they have an online-purchase website so you can order everything there; but the best thing for me was they had better information on what was available for 7-string humbuckers than even the manufacturers did.
I think their prices were good too, all 7-string Seymour Duncan humbuckers except one is $69, the Invader is $79.
If you're very picky about pickup tone then you MUST get the Seymour Duncan sample CD. They have 3 CDs but if you're only interested in humbuckers just get that one, you can find it on SD's website. This CD helped me a lot in deciding what to get, there's too many pickups to choose from and their descriptions sometimes sound too similar; hearing each pickup made all the difference in the world.
What I got:
I wanted the typical very-hard-rock sound in the bridge, like Staind or something, I got the Invader there. It's perfect! it looks really nasty too, it's all black with 2 rows of 7 big nasty looking allen-bolts instead of the usual 7 chrome-color screws only on one bobbin.
Its tone to me sounds a lot like the Gibson 500T; a very good high-output hardrock pickup. It allows pinch harmonics with ease, sounds great for solos and certainly sounds perfect for Metallica-esque low-end crunching. On the SD CD I could tell the Invader had more low-end than probably any other humbucker by SD.
In this axe I also wanted to be able to get some semi-clean sounds and a more classic-rock overdrive sound so I got the '59 in the neck. For me this one is also perfect; way better sounding than the stock one, pretty easy to still get pinch-harmonics in the middle and even the rhythm toggle position (think of Stevie Ray Vaughn kind of sound).
To me this combo (Invader & '59) is perfect, but if you're more of a Kornhead...or Kornmunky, ...just don't be a Kornholer, then I'd probably suggest getting the Invader in the neck also. Sometimes it's nice to have serious low-end and crunch in the middle and neck toggle positions so if I owned 2 7-string guitars I'd probably put 2 Invaders in one of them and have this Invader/'59 combo in the other.
A little note on buying strings: No need to search for sets of 7 strings, you can buy strings of 1 guage in bulk pretty cheap at musicansfriend or other places, and specify whatever guage you want. So I just get my usual Ernie Balls and then buy the 7th lowB string in bulk. I'm not sure yet what guage I'll get, I think the stock lowB is a .52 or .54, and I plan to put ErnieBall Powerslinky's on this axe which has a .52 lowE, so I'll probably want a pretty hefty lowB and NOTE: you'll want to file out the nut to accommodate this or else end up cracking your nut (ouch!!).
I hope this info helps; I think if you get any of the new 7-string guitars out (ESP, Schecter, Ibanez) and upgrade to better pickups you'll be pretty happy.

H-H pickups (duncan design), 3-way toggle, hardtail bridge, strings thru body, neck has binding (good!), tuners might be gotoh? they're very smooth, rosewood fretboard with interesting and good looking fret inlays on the upper side only of the fretboard (I'm so tired of dots), 24frets and very easy access to upper region but I don't really go there much on a 7 yet. Came with nice hardshell case & a little cord which is nice for an additional patch cable.
It has pretty much the exact features I wanted, but my wants were simple so I don't feel right giving it a 10 here, should I?
Anyhow, an important item to me was the toggle, vol, and tone were located in a very good location and I don't accidentally flip the toggle or spin the volume; this was one of the major reasons this beat out a Schecter model that otherwise looks the same and is priced the same (Schec's toggle was in a bad spot).

Sound: the "duncan designed" pickups in this axe do sound surprisingly good, but they do lack a little sustain and output level compared to the Duncans in my Jackson and the Gibson pickups in my LP; so I plan to upgrade the pickups probably to real Seymour Duncans.
I felt the exact same way on an ESP EX-200 I owned which also had "duncan designed"'s in it; good but would benefit from a pickup upgrade.
And that folks is the ONLY thing I plan to change on this axe, everything else I am extremely happy with.
Sounds I'm doing on it: - of course the obligatory low-B and drop-A metal stuff with heavy distortion.
- good medium-overdrive sounds, a prime example is Soundgarden's 4th of July. I've never been told they did that song on a 7string but I swear the 7 works perfectly for that song. Use standard tuning (or maybe down a 1/2 step?) with the low string being a B.
- I've also found a 7 string good for Herman-Munster Goth sounds, the clean side of Goth where you use rockabilly echo and heavy reverb, and try to have as many notes ring open instead of fretted. A 7 is letting me come up with new disonant chords I wouldn't have created on a 6.
Due to the pickups I'll only give it a 9; with real Duncans it'll be a 10.

At a price of only $567 with case from www.americanmusical.com I am completely impressed with the fit and finish of this guitar! I've never bought a new guitar this low and had it feel like it had this much quality and care to put it together properly.
I should note, mine is the "transparent black" color which actually looks slightly purplish. I like this color, and the wood grain on it really looks nice; but if you hate purple you need to be aware of this. They also have made a very good looking transparent dark green but I haven't seen it for sale lately. If I see that for sale at the same price I might get it too!

So far it feels very solid; the guitar feels like a lot better quality than its price reflects. If this got stolen I'd re-buy it without hesitation. No other 7 in this price range felt this good, that I tried in the stores.

I've dealt with ESP on another guitar, and was surprised I got thru their 800 number so quickly. I got good polite advice; I've had no extensive use of their support but the little time I spent with them was all good.

I've been playing a lot of years; I'm no guru but I've owned everything from a cheap Hondo II to Gibson LPs and Jackson Soloists, with everything inbetween along the way; I think I have a good handle on what is a beginner guitar and what is pro-level.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with a Jackson Soloist being a 10 from a player's viewpoint, and anything above a 6 being what I consider professional-level, I grade this ESP H-207 a 7.5 with its stock pickups and it will be an 8.5 when I pop in some real Duncans.
It's a bolt-on neck and I prefer set or thru necks (Soloist, LP) so I can't give it a 9. The Gibson LP would get a 9.5 as a player and a 10 for tone (the Soloist only a 9 for tone).
Now.... not to dog Ibanez, a company I like a lot who has many guitars and basses I like; HOWEVER, before owning this H-207 I briefly owned an RG7621 hardtail 7 string and was extremely unhappy with it, its price was ridiculous considering its poor quality and horrible pickups which quacked like ducks. Sorry, don't mean to offend any 7621 owners, just trying to help out potential buyers.