ESP H-500

the H-500 comes with earvana nut, tune-O-Matic bridge with string thru, grover tuners, 5 way unltra switch, and seymour duncan pickups.

the finish is quilted maple with cherry sunburst, and the back is mahogany with stunning red finish.

the 24 fret 'set through' design makes for really easy playability on the high frets. the set through design means that it is an imitation of the esp horizons 'neck through' comstruction, so there is no bulky bits where the neck and body join. the neck is nice and thin, but feels really solid, like a les paul. really nice!

i gave it a 9 because its retail price in australia is 1800, so obviously its no gonna be as good as a PRS or anything, but still one of the nicest guitars ive played.
if it had locking tuners and neck through construction i would give it a 10.

the sound in this guitar is anazing. i play a mix between heavy rock and blues, as well as bits of metal and jazz, and clean stuff. this guitar allows me to play whatever i feel like at the time because it is so versitile.

even though it is a relatively light guitar, it has a nice fat sound due to the string through design.

the seymour duncans give it a punchy, bright tone, and the coil split option makes it one of the most versitile guitars ive played. the 5 way ultra switch makes it really easy to change between sounds and pick ups without having to worry about pushing a button.

action is very low, i have 10's and it handles nicely. finish is beautiful, really eye-catching. im not usually a fan of flamed finishes, but i brought this guitar for its playability and all the hardwhere that's been packed into it.

i give it a seven, because i have had some problems with the neck buzzing a bit, ive had it looked at, the frets are a bit high in some spots so buzzes a bit on certain frets. easily fixed though, jus need to pay about 100 bucks to get it done when i got the time...

but done let this put you off, this is just an unlucky coincidence, most guitars for this price are pretty well made... and i still wouldnt trade this guitar for the standard les paul..

i played this guitar on stage all weekend, all up about four times, 5 songs each time, with nothing but a spare set of strings. obviously it was fine, i didnt smash it around...

it stays it tune, and because it is so versitile, there is never any need to use different guitars.

its had a few knocks, once my sister came and jumped on my bed, and on the way out booted my guitar that was sitting in its stand. as far as i can tell it is ok tho... that happened a while ago so havent noticed anything...
i gave it a nine because it seems strong, but i wouldnt try dropping it..

never dealt with esp, but the place i brought it from service it for me for free. anyone who lives in perth, go to sound centre morley!

im sick of people putting down esp's, saying that they are cheep and only good for metal. this guitar is probaby the least metal guitar i have, and its maple top with cherry sunburst looks pretty sweet... fits right into a metal band or looks great playing a bit of red hot chillie peppers.

i love plain black guitars with white binding, but i couldnt go past this guitar... its jam packed full of great hardwhere, and sounds amazing. im tossing up between a prs and a esp horizon for my next guitar...

2007 or 2008 Korean made thin-line strat style guitar with 24XJ frets, rosewood fingerboard, mahogany body, flame maple top, and maple neck. The electronics include 1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way selector, and Seymour Duncan H/H configuration. Either passive Custom 5/Jazz set, or JB/'59 set. Tune-o-matic bridge and string-thru-body connected to Grover tuners, over a thin U 25.5" neck.

LTD H500 -> Boss SD-1 -> Rocktron Zombie -> Peavey Rockmaster head -> Laney 2x12".

It suits rock and metal quite fine. It could also work for other styles, but I mostly stick to rock and metal stuff with a little blues stuff thrown in for good measure. It doesn't seem to be a noisy guitar, they are Seymour Duncan's. It has a nice powerful sound that sounded perfect for early Metallica [Kill em All, but better tone wise], Megadeth, Slayer, and other groups who use SD's.

With the 5 way switch, you can get much more sounds than metal. While I mostly stick to metal, I did try and see how it'd sound in different situations. Very convincing for just about everything, but I wouldn't use it for the typical Jazz tone.

ESP's action is as low as low can go. The pickups were in a great position to start playing out of the box, and the tuners are so good, they were still in tune after shipping all the way across the country. The bridge and top were properly done. The wood seems of great quality, and the the fretwork is excellent. The finish, hardware, tuning pegs, nut, and controls all seem sturdy and quality.

This guitar should withstand live playing, unless you like to kick the guitar around and smack it against stuff. All of the hardware seems quality. The finish seems good, and the strap buttons solid. I may get a DiMarzio guitar straps for both of my guitars.

ESP is always helpful, and usually get back to you within a week. I will be putting this one under warranty, but for my FX260, I stupidly forgot to send in my registration. I think my reason at the time was it had been more than 10 days since I bought the guitar [however, I bought it online, and shipping took it 10 days or so]. I haven't ever had to have my LTD's repaired. The warranty is a "limited lifetime warranty".

For $430, this is a steal of a guitar. This guitar is totally fast, made for shred, and definitely worth twice as much. I compared this guitar to other guitars in the $350-500 range, and ordered this because it was on closeout, but packed with features. My favorite feature is the craftsmanship and quality build of the guitar, plus all of it's features. The Earvana compensated nut makes quite a difference as well.