ESP LTD F-200

2003 Korean made "Forest" series F-200 with EMG HZ passive humbuckers, three-way toggle switch, volume control, decibel boost knob (not sure if it's the same as the "afterburner" but seems quite similar), licensed Floyd and all black hardware.
The rosewood neck features their arrowhead inlays. While my neck's rosewood is extremely dark/almost ebony in appearance, I've never been a fan of the arrowhead inlays. A guitar of this style would look so much better with side dot inlays like it's Japanese made cousin. Still...I absolutely love this guitar and it's tone just as it is. So few guitars can actually boast that these days, especially at this price range. The body style is so unique and definitely stands out. Mine is gloss black and the finish is in fantastic condition. I would LOVE it if ESP/LTD would make the Japanese counterpart available to the public here in the states. I have seen these in stained walnut and they were absolutely stunning.
The neck joint is very similar to the Ibanez all-access joint. For a bolt on guitar it's surprisingly resonant and tone-wise it FAR surpasses the Indonesian made F-250's neck-through construction.
Having played each incarnation of the F Series (stateside anyhow), this has been my personal favorite.

My setup is pretty simple since I don't gig. I have been playing this through my Roland Micro-Cube (for all you bedroom shredders, if you haven't checked the Cube out, you really should). I play mostly metal and heavier rock, but I have been able to squeeze out some great Dick Dale/surfer tones as well as some very clean Rothery (Marillion) tones. While much of this can be attributed to the folks at Roland/Boss, the guitar just plain sings. To pigeon-hole this as a "metal only" guitar is a waste. There is definitely potential here. I even like to kick out some blues licks on her.
Now, for those of you who have already pegged this to be a metal guitar, it does do that..and does it well. On a "rectifier" setting with a dash of delay and chorus, this black beast is absolutely venomous. That said, like previous reviews here, I'm going to take a few points for it's lack of tone control. While the "afterburner" is a nifty little thing, it's pointless for those of us that do not gig. Even moreso because there are pedals and rack effects that can do the same job without over distorting the tone. I'm going to look into having a tone pot installed. As far as the pickup quality is concerned, I prefer these EMG HZ (1 & 2 I think) as opposed to the H4s. The exposed pole pieces seem to add clarity to the tone.

Since I bought this used, it would be hard to determine the factory set up. I've bought an ESP/LTD new in the past and the set up was pretty sub-par. Most guitars need to be tweaked when arriving fresh from the factory distributor anyhow. With a minor adjustment in the intonation and string height, this baby was ready to rip in about five or ten minutes.
I'm not sure how much the previous owner babied her, but the finish still looks fantastic and the frets have a long life ahead of them.

As I stated previously, I don't play out. I will, however, say that this is a solid axe that I would have every confidence in if playing live. As anyone would tell you, don't play live with a Floyd equipped guitar without an adequate backup.
The guitar is well balanced and the strap buttons hold her well. The radical curves make it comfortable when playing sitting or standing.

No comment since I bought this used...

I've played many various ESP/LTD models (MH 300, H 200, F 207, F 250) and this has been my favorite thus far. The F-250 is garbage, hence I returned it a mere 3 days after getting it new. Of all the F series models I've played, this is my absolute favorite. Don't judge it by it's gothic appearance. It really is a well rounded instrument that is suitable for any playing situation (although I'm pretty sure it would get some odd looks at the church social). It's definitely among the best that the LTD series has ever had to offer.

You better shred if you get a guitar that looks like this. Serious metal/hard rock look to this model, and the 24 jumbo frets (rosewood w/ mother of pearl insets) allow for plenty of room to play. Feels great for those of you with large hands. Only two knobs, one volume and the other a "boost" to give you some extra kick (I am assuming you would tweak it up to be heard during solos, but I play through a mixer and find this knob pretty useless). There is a Les Paul-style three way toggle for pickup control, but that is it, so I had to knock off some points for the lack of tone control. I am quite happy with the Floyd-Rose "licensed" locking tremolo. IMO it is not worth having a tremolo unless it can be repeatedly used while staying in tune. I played 3 straight hours of Eddie Van Halen while abusing the tremolo and the thing stayed in tune beautifully. Dual EMG humbuckers are middle of the road as far as price range, but so far so good.

Very quiet; no random buzz or hum. It fits great with my style of music (heavy metal/hard rock) and the sustain is quite good for a bolt-on neck. The one gripe I have is that the sound overall is not as bright as I would like, except for on the far toggle setting, which again relates to the lack of tone control mentioned above, but that can be overcome by tweaking up the high end eq on my amp. A little trouble finding some of the odd harmonics as well (namely the fourth fret natural harmonics that Satriani and Eddie use in a lot of their tremolo dives)

The shop I got the guitar from also repairs and maintains guitars, so they might have tweaked any action issues before putting it out for sale. I know that when I picked it up and plugged it in, it felt like I hardly had to touch the strings in order to make the guitar sing. It gave me some serious confidence in my playing almost immediately. The guitar looks fantastic and I haven't felt or seen anything out of place on the guitar.

As I mentioned above, I wailed on this guitar for 3 hours and it was still in near-perfect tune. The finish is gloss black, and after a few months of being on the store rack with a bunch of people grabbing and gawking, the finish was still mint. No problems with the strap holders and no sign of any hardware issues.

Not any issues and I can't remember the warranty length, but yes, there is a warranty.

Between guitar and bass I have been playing for 16 years. I did some research before buying and decided to look for an ESP 200 since the price appeared to be very good the quality of guitar that was offered. I would definitely get this guitar again if I had the same amount of money.
Favorite thing: Locking tremolo
Least favorite: No tone knobs
Compared to a lot of other guitars, the upper frets are very accessible. The 24 frets also give you extra room to play with when compared to some other brand names.

Played it at Sam Ash various times. Go to ESPguitars.com to find this stuff out.

This isn't a blues guitar. Hell it's not even really a rock guitar. It was made for one thing: metal. And it performs this job surprisingly well. It offers a thick, punchy tone, and can probably hold together in drop tuned situations.

Here's my little schpeel about ESP... they're alright guitars. They offer a good tone right out of the box. If you play metal, these are some guitars to look for. But thats it. They're alright. Not superb. Not great. Not even good. Just alright. I have played an entire Sam Ash wall of ESP's, and they all felt the same: cheap. There is nothing really standoutworthy about ESP guitars. They just feel like they're thrown apart. Playable, yet they don't really make you wanna. I much prefer Jacksons over ESP's anyday of the week. Much better quality, much better feel, way more fun to play. But this is my opinion, it doesn't dictate everyone elses.

Alright sound for metal, cheesy feel. Nuff said.

just a follow up of my review that i did a few years ago. i've done a bit of modding to it, and heres my experiences...

the bridge wore out, it stopped holding my low E string all together. i switched the whole bridge for an original floyd (none of this licensed shite), the new bridge has lasted much better. i also half blocked it (stops me bending up) and fitted an EVH D-Tuna to it, so now i can switch quickly to drop D and standard E without unclamping :)

i also switched the pickups, the EMG-HZs were kinda boring sounding (once the honeymoon period was over). i put an EMG-60 in the neck, an EMG-81 in the bridge, removed the afterburner, and put in independant volume control for each pickup. the sound is a lot better now, the 60 gives me a much nicer clean and melodic lead (and a thick distortion), and the 81 gives me a great distortion, wanky lead sound and harmonics (of all varieties). a highly recommended upgrade :) now remember kiddies, you also need to switch your pots from 250k down to 25k for your active pickups.

i switched the tuners for locking ones (sperzils), and now i dont bother clamping the nut. it works brilliantly, and no need to do this unclamping if a string slips. also makes restringing a lot quicker :)

this is a slightly stranger mod :p the battery was located in the electronics cavaty, and you had to unscrew the cover to replace it. i didnt like this, so i cut a hole in the cover and fitted a battery box in it, thus meaning i dont need to unscrew to switch batteries anymore. a highly recommended upgrade if you gig lots, because i have had my battery run out mid-song and its much easier to flick a switch and replace the battery than to sit and unscrew the bloody thing.

email me if you want to see photos of these upgrades or for more info if thou wish it

ESP LTD F-200...very nice. Black in color. One volume knob, three way selector switch. EMG HZ Pickups. Basswood body, nice sturdy neck. This guitar looks wicked. If Batman played guitar, he would have one of these. Very gothic looking. Floyd Rose licensed bridge, generic tuners, but with the locking mechanism, you don't really need them to be Grovers or Shallers. Only reason this guitar gets a 9 in this feature is because of the bolt-on neck. If it had a neck-through or a set neck, it would get a 10.

I mostly play heavier music like Tool or Deftones. I am using it with a Crate Stealth tube half stack and a Boss GT-6. The pickups are nice and bold. Great for leads and rhythms both. The pickups could be more quiet, but use a noize gate and you will be alright. It gets a 9 here because of the lack of sustain from the bolt-on neck. The newer F-250's have the set neck, but I got a great deal on this one, so I will deal with it.

I got this guitar used, and it was set up great. Nice smooth low action.

This guitar is perfect for playing out. It is very sturdy. The finish still looks good considering its a few years old. It had Shaller strap locks installed when I got it...if you don't have these get some. I don't use anything on stage without backup. I always have one of my other guitars on standby in case I break a string.

never had to talk to them.

I have been playing for 15 years, and I have blown alot of money on alot of crappy guitars that don't even stand up to this one. This guitar plays better than any Ibanez or Jackson I have owned. For the value, you can't get any better or any cooler than the F series. Get one. You will like it

it has afterburner thing on it that makes it go from clean to dist.
don't use it though. big frets. pretty nice neck doesn't feel to special though. the bottom part of body kind of pinches the leg when you sit. basswood body. very edgey. you play it answers. emg hz h4 pickups. lots of output, punch, bottom end and all that other good stuff. but it also sounds good clean. good contrast. floyd rose does its thing of course. once you get it set up right it doesn't go out of tune easily. its just getting there thats the problem. nothin fancy except for the afterburner. more of a selling gimmcik if you ask me. and the colr was nice. gunmetal blue. they don't use it any more. looks cool. very rrrr. like an axe. fancy inlays. originally bought it because it looked cool. young and dumb.

this guitar is everything i could hope a guitar would sound like. you might not think so but i write my own stuff but whatever i right it sounds the way i want it to. very very aggresive with distortion and sometime clean. but in the contrast it can sound soft which i also like. generally a darker sound than most guitars which is great because those pop princess f*&(ers can kiss it. metal, hard rock, touchy feely stuff its all good here.

everything is fine on it. not a mr flashy want to get laid finish but still doesn't look like a trailer park binge guitar. the action and the fit ar alright in the sense that i really don't care as long as i can play it without it pissing me off.

i play this thing to death. i probably should've broken it by now considering how hard i can play. the only thing that ever broken is one of the wires near the place where you insert the cable but. and for some reason whenever my freind chris touches it something breaks including the thing above. but 99% it my strings which i can use for 6-12months. Elixers gotta love em. the wood is kind of soft. my brother threw a ps2 controller at it in frustraion (i opened up a can of whoop ass) and it dented it pretty deep. usual pick scratches on the bottom and top. yet again nothing special. it just gets the job done

great. had a problem they fixed it due to a lifetime warranty. and somehow i get the sense that they actually care.

been playing for 3 and a half years i've tried gibson,prs,fender, and god knows what else and this was the only guitar where it could go from super aggresive dist to a soft clean with a generally dark tone. every other guitar licks the pipe with their super fancy shiny crap and huge prices even though its a block of wood. its the sound that matters in the end and i've found it and i'll always use this guitar. if it works for you then have fun. if it doesn't then try something until it works. but i found a guitar that i love to use and thats all i care about.

the only features that i actually give a shit about is that it has 24 jumbo frets(easier to bend but little more tuning problems so i've heard but it doesn't bother me) It has a slim neck which i like when i'm chording but not so much fr solo's. It has something called an afterburner which increase the volume by 20 dBa. in other words going from clean to distortion without the pedal. It also has 2 emg hz-4's
which make the guitar kick some ass. The floyd rose is well a floyd rose and if you don't know what that is (like you don't) it's a bridge when setup properly (hint,hint) it won't go out of tune almost at all even when your using the whammy bar all hardcore.

I LOVE IT. almost perfect for whatever i play whether it be metal, rock, or a little blues. i has a nice soft tone which is perfect for distortion and for clean.

everything about the guitar was just fine. nothing special. i had to replace the strings to elixers but that's just almost always a givin

this is pretty much a solid guitar. i had some problems with the wiring but that was probably my fault anyway and since it had a lifetime warranty there wasn't really a problem. I wouldn't use this without a backup because i'm always paranoid but i'm sure you could

great customer support. i had a problem they fixed it

this guitar kicks some sweet ass for the price paid. the sound that i get is something that i would expect from a gibson or a fender but i got it for almost half the price. whatever effects i run it through on my cyber-twin or my pedals the sound comes throgh nice and clear

My ESP F 200 was made in 2001 i believe and in korea, It has 24 extra jumbo frets, 1 volume and no tone but a cool thing called an afterburner it adds 20db of boost to the guitars output. passive emg hz pickups,humbucking, made of basswood which is really light. mine has a gunmetal blue finish which looks a lot better that what the pics on the net show, licensed floyd rose locking tremelo, nice thin neck not too thin or too thick just right

Sound is awsome nice and heavy on distortion but you can get some good clean sounds also. I use Digitech RP 100 pedal with my crate mxr 120 watt amp sounds bad ass!!

set up pretty good action is a lil high but no big deal there pickups where set up fine for my taste anyway

seems like it will withstand live playing altho i havent played with it live yet finish is good everyone says strap locks are a must for live playing so get them for any guitar u own i can depend on it

havent dealt with them but lifetime warranty

ive been playing for about 3 years i own a fender strat but this one is way better i play a lot of heavy music and metallica stuff so this guitar is great!!!if it was stolen id die of sorrow this is such a good guitar everyone that plays hard rock and/or metal needs this guitar

Made in Korea, 2000. 24 frets. Black finish (looks nice, but after two years it has a couple of spots where it needs touching up... it also shows dust really easily in between the pickups). 2 humbuckers - came with a set of EMG-HZs (passive), which are okay for the price of the guitar, but I replaced them with an EMG-81 (active) in the bridge position and an 85 (active) in the neck position - huge improvement. The fingerboard's mahogany. It's pretty flat and fast, I would have preferred ebony, but that's just me. The Floyd Rose bridge/locking nut is nice, but is a pain to set up until you get used to it, and also over time I've had to replace some of the saddles (the inside of them got stripped, probably the crappy Korean parts). The neck's fairly long, making the guitar great for detuning (the strings don't buzz out). The combination of the flatness and length of the neck makes it great for Pantera-style detuned riffing. It has extra-jumbo frets, which are nice for bending, but make chords harder. The lack of any tone knobs, and only one volume knob is my biggest complaint, along with the Floyd Rose wearing out.

This is a great guitar for metal - Pantera-style detuned riffing, and Black Sabbath/Acid Bath/Soilent Green-style sludge sound especially good on it. The pickups that came with it didn't handle leads very well, but were acceptable on rhythm parts. I replaced them with active EMGs. Much less noisy and better sounding. The guitar sounds great distorted, but you really have to work to keep the clean tone from going in the shitter.

The action had to be taken down a bit, but was playable. (No major complaint.) The pickups were adjusted fine, they just weren't good pickups IMO. (No complaint here either). One of the tuning pegs was a bit loose, but it's no big deal to screw it back in. No major complaints.

This guitar is surprisingly durable for a $500 guitar, but the saddles wear out after extended use on the Floyd Rose, and if you really SERIOUSLY try hard, you can make it go out of tune with the Whammy bar. As long as you aren't playing Steve Vai/Joe Satriani stuff, you'll probably be fine. It's fairly dependable, especially for a Korean guitar. The finish is good, and only a bit of it's worn off after two years.

I've never had to deal with them, so I'll just go with everyone else on this one.

I've been playing for 5 years, and in the two years I've had this guitar, it's been the one I've played the most.

I have the 2002 model made in Korea. It has 24 frets. It has a volume control and an EMG afterburner (variable active gain control, adds up to 20dB onto the guitars output). Pickup configuration is 2 humbuckers (neck and bridge). Mine has the new EMG-HZ 4 set on it (dunno what the different betwen the HZ 1 and the HZ 4 set are. apparently the HZ 4 has better harmonics on it or something like that) I cant remember what the wood its made from is, but whatever it is, I like it. Mine is plain black, which is currently covered in finger prints and dust between the pickups (it shows up durt sooo much). Its a strat-style body, but spiker and more gothic (kinda BC Rich and Caparison crossed together). It has a Floyd Rose bridge, which is hell to set up, but fantastic once it is. It has locking nuts (Floyd Rose also I'm presuming). It is a 25 1/2 thingy and the neck is quite flat, fantasic for solos and chords :D. I got a free soft case, hard case, strap, strap locks, cables, and all the other guff that comes with the bridge.

The sound is fantastic. It gives an amazing distortion no matter what it is going through. The clean tone is a bit too bassy for me, but that was sotred out by a small bit of EQ changing. The neck pickup is very warm and soft. The bridge pickup is bright and fantastic for lead parts. The pickups are designed (apparently) to give very nice harmonics, which they do :D There isnt much variety (due to the lack of Tone control), but it gives enough to satisfy any musical genre.

The guitar was fantastic when I got it. Everything was perfect. Even the man in the shop loved it, and he is hard to please. The pickups were set up perfectly. Thats all I can say.

It only ever failed on me once, and that was because I didnt clamp the strings into the bridge properly and they fell out. If you set it up properly, it will never fail. Even when strings break, they can be recovered 4 or 5 times. The finish looks like it will last for a very long time, but may need a few touch-ups after a few million hours of playing. The strap buttons are very solid and can hold the guitar no matter what (but dont hold me to that, it might just be because I have a very ridgid strap). I would put my life in its hands. Although I would gig without a backup, I never actually would, because it could like catch fire or something. Never gig without a backup.

Never ever dealt with the company myself. The shop I bought it from had to though, because they couldn't find a case to fit it (hence why I got a free hard case and soft case) But ESP replied quickly and I wasonly out a case for a few days.

I've been playing for nearly 2 years (although apparently I'm better than I should be after playing for that long). I use a Peavy Bandit 112, a Marshall MG412 cabinet, a Zoom GFX-707 and an Aria MAC50-Q. If it was lost, I would most definitely buy another, because it is a fantastic guitar. I dont like the amount of time it takes to replace strings though, but thats just a characteristic of Floyd Rose bridges. However, it does let me dive down till I can tie knots in the strings. I compaired it to other ESP guitars of similar specs, but I went for this one because of its look (I shall quote my girlfriend "I almost wanna make love to your guitar as much as I wanna make love to you").