ESP LTD Viper-301

2002 model. Replaced by the 400 series with active pickups, and slightly better tuning machines. You all know the stats on this one. Bone stock with the passive EMG's

White with black hardware.

I play all styles of music. It covers them quite well. Very flexable guitar. The EMG passives provide good tone coupled with the mahogany body, both pickups together gets a nice P90 vibe, almost tele like. The response is quite clear, and reproduces what you do very well. It is capable of very heavy tones with the right amp and/or pedals. I was surprised in that when I play in blues gigs, the guitar works very well although it raises some eyebrows. Very spanky.

I can't comment about how the action was originally. I bought this one used and some drop tuned knuckle dragging idiot had it strung with absurdly heavy strings and the truss rod was not adjusted properly, so the neck was a mess. I took it to a luthier and had the upper part of the neck planed and refretted. Now it is one of the best guitars I have ever owned.

The only gripe I have is that the tuning machines could be better.

The finish originally was flawless. Beautiful milky white. This one was used and beaten up, so I drop filled the dents and then used automotive refinishing compounds to buff it back to almost new condition. She's a beauty!

It is quite durable, the finish is very tough because it had been dropped on the output jack and dented the wood a bit, but the finish just showed minor cracking around the edge of the metal jackplate, but didn't pop off and flake like other guitars I've owned in the past. I changed the strap buttons to schallers, and the 301's came with the button on the horn already, so there is no neck dive like other vipers. I have been using this as my main guitar now and it is pretty much bullet proof. I may change out the tuners for ones with a bit better ratio, but all in all, not bad!

NA

I have been playing 30 years and my first electric guitar was an SG, and this one felt very familiar to me the moment I picked it up. If Gibson had ever considered upgrading the SG, this is the guitar that they would have come up with. It is superior in every way to the SG, and it is better quality than their SG standard for much less money!

I kid you not that I can take this guitar to any gig (yes I play metal as well)Do you think you need actives? Need more power? use a boost pedal in the front end of the amp. Voila. That way you don't have to worry about batteries in your guitar as well as your stompies, and then you have a guitar suitable for many styles.

I would buy another one in a heartbeat, but would like to try one of their ESP viper standard series, but the finishes are limited, Matte black or camo... yuck. I could have their custom shop do one for me, but it would take a second mortgage on the farm to afford it.

2003 ESP LTD Viper 301

The black finish is exactly that, a black finish. This is a double cutaway body, very VERY similar to the SG, but original in its own way. TOM bridge, works fine. Non-locking ESP tuners, which work great for stock tuners. The neck to me is perfect for metal, thin enough to move quickly but thick enough to not over slide. Rosewood fb with flag inlays, not bad for 420! Made in Korea, and dont care where it is made as long as it plays like this. 24 frets with one tone and one vol and a 3way. 2 EMG HZ pickups set into a heavy mahogany body. Overall, 420 bucks for a set neck sg with emgs and a mahogany body, wtf are you thinking, get it!

The HZ's match what I expected this guitar to do. Decent distortion, in between 81 85's and sh2 sh4 duncans. Dropped into C tuning, this guitar has great distortion actually. Cuts right through and picks up the mids better than any "Metal" guitar I have ever played. I play Progressive Metal like Mastodon,Opeth, or whatever. I also try to play every thing else, and this guitar has the sound to do it. The HZ's pickup some weird noises like my strap buttons and channel switching from the T.V. But other than that, it is actually pretty good with noise. I am using a Traynor ycv802x12 with a wah and boss ns-2. Favorite thing about the guitar is the low end metal "chugg" I get, this guitar makes me want to play metal.

Guitar was set up buy the guys at shop, and action was low, very low. The guitar was perfect in every aspect of the finish. Inlays are just amazing, the ivory binding makes the guitar look "elegant", and the black finish is just that, black. The only problem that you might have with the guitars is the strap button on the back of the guitar, and not the horn. I just dont like the feel of that digging in your stomach.

Guitar seems rock solid, except for the neck. Every day you see an SG on ebay with a broken neck. These guitars are different in many ways, but I am afraid of the fragility of the neck. WATCH OUT! Otherwise no need for backups, this guitar is ROCK SOLID.

No problem

I have been playing for 4 years and have owned fenders, jacksons, epiphones, other ESP's, and now 2 more, This one and a PRS SE Custom, go see the review!. Only one amp, or at least that matters, my Traynor. This guitar I will keep forever, this is the true meaning of guitar, rock soild metal destructor BLACK AS NIGHT weapon looking guitar! All ESP's are good, but this one you could fall in love with.

I owned an ESP 301 Viper, saved up to buy a real Gibson SG, then sold that to buy back a Viper. There is no comparison. I like heavy guitars that have some meat to them. The Viper is just that. The SG feels like cardboard and plays like poo. The Viper neck absolutley kills the Gibson.

Definitley beefier sounding than an SG, but I can pull off Angus with confidence. The Viper actually has sustain, the SG uggh. Who can play those things? 125 pounders are who.

The tuners and EMG's were replaced for Sperzels and Seymour Duncans. That's personal preference though. Some people may like EMG's. I'm confident these are the same people who put the distortion knob on thier Digitech to 11 as well.

I love the Viper!! The price is unreal too for a guitar this nice.

Dunno

Can't go wrong. Price is so cheap and they play nicer than the SG's they are copy'ing. I may get a real ESP Viper just to be cool. But the LTD version is just as nice I'm sure. Speaking from owning other ESP products vs. their LTD line. I can't tell the difference. Best cheapest guitar around. Schecters are nice too for the money. Maybe it's cuz ESP and Schecter come from the same factory eh?

Set Neck, stop tailpiece, dual emg hz humbucker SG Clone. 24 jumbo frets, flag inlays, ivoryish neck binding. Set neck this cheap is worthy of a 10 in this catagory.

I play Metal and if you bought this guitar you probably do too. Well I got this used so I wasnt blessed with the sound of the EMG HZ's, instead someone put a McCarty PRS bridge pickup in it. That pickup sucked ass for this guitar way too muddy no balls. This was through a Ampeg Vh140-c head with a Marshall 1960 lead cab, a real high end ballsy brutal halfstack!!!

So I usually only use the bridge pickup anyway I decided to throw in a EMG 81( my pickup of choice ) wired as a single volume striaght to the jack. The sound is so pure EMG 81 it was great. Harmonics and very articulate, just the way it should be.

So its not the guitars fault in sound if the pickups are cheesy, because with the right pickup it can sound just the way you want it too.

Almost everything was great, but here was the problem. WTF is up with the strap button placement. Your screwed if you use real strap lock systems like dunlop or what I use schaller. The Dunlop would be prone to get disconnected and the Schaller sticks out a little to far so it jabs you. Plus it made the neck drop a little to the ground, I hate that!!

I fixed this buy putting the strap button on the tip of the top horn, so like a strat. Way better, more comfort, straplock friendly and it wasnt neck heavy anymore! Plus it kinda hugs you like strat.

This is a great mahogany wood guitar and with the right care it will work for anyone. The strap button placement sucks ass though.

This is a heavy well built guitar and it dosnt feel cheap at all. LTD ESP exceeds my expectations of a Korean made guitar.

Love the site!!! www.espguitars.com

I play metal and have done so for 11 years. Gone through dozens of guitars and this ones a keeper. I also own a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a Gibson Gothic Explorer and soon a Gibson Flying V. This Viper I actually perfer over an Gibson SG because is does feel more solid in the neck joint. Looks more metal too. I can also beat the shit out of it and not feel so bad either.

KOREAN MADE. NOT SURE OF YEAR.. LOOKS LIKE A LATER RUN BECAUSE IT HAS SAME LOGO AS MY VIPER 400. GO TO THE WEBSIGHT FOR DETAILS. SMOOTH NECK DECENT SIZE FRETS. YANKED OUT THE EMG H-Z'S (AWFUL SOUNDING) REPLACED WITH DIMARZIO TONE ZONES

WITH THE PICKUP CHANGE, IT SUITS MY STYLE (C.O.C. , ZAKK , SABBATH, HENDRIX ECT.RUN THROUGH A SMALL STONE, A SMALL CLONE, A BOSS OCTAVE, A RM RED LION WAH A ZW 44 OD A IBANEZ TS9 AND A BOSS DD6 DELAY. ALL INTO TWO 1980 MARSHALL JMP 2203 100 WATT HEADS W 2 4X12 MARSHALL COPYS LOADED W MESA BOOGIE SPEAKERS. NOISY BUT WHO GIVES A DAMN. I GET ALOT OF DIFFENT SOUNDS W THIS SET UP. NO COMPLAINTS, JUST THE STOCK P.U.'S WERE WEAK

SET UP WAS NOT TO MY LIKING BUT 30 MINUTES W A SCREWDRIVER AND AN ALLEN WRENCH AND SHE WAS GOOD TO GO. DOES HAVE SOME SLIGHT BUZZ ONA FRET OR 2 BUT I LIKE MY ACTION LOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

WILL WITHSTAND LIVE PLAYING. HARDWARE OK, THOUGH ILL HAVE IT RUSTED OUT FAST CAUSE I PLAY SO MUCH ITS DEPENDABLE BUT I ALWAYS HAVE A BACK UP. I USE THIS ONE FOR MY C SHARP TUNED STUFF

NEVER ANY DEALINGS BUT IVE HEARD ESP ARE DICKS ABOUT WARRANTY, BUT I BOUGHT MINE USED, SO NOT AN ISSUE HERE

BEEN PLAYING ABOUT 15 YEARS. IF IT WERE STOLEN, ID REPLACE IT. LOVE VIPERS.

Pretty Basic features. Tone Dial and Volume Dial, 3-way Switch.
Dual Humbuckers. 24 Jumbo frets. Not too many bells and whistles here.

I like to play a variety of rock - Hard rock, metal, punk, jazz, ska, blues, you name it i play it. This guitar did a great job conforming to the different styles that I play. Throw on the Neck pickup for thick bluesy sounds, both for thick metal licks, and bridge for thinner, treble rich sounds for ska and punk. This guitar is best suited for metal though, imo.

I ran this guitar through a Peavy Studio Pro 212 65watt and it rocked. Even at high volumes, this guitar showed no signs of wear in sound. Rich throughout no matter what volume or setting.

The action on this guitar was perfect when i got it. There was no buzz on any frets whatsoever. The finish was flawless too, very shiny and very beautiful coloring. The only things that really bugged me about this guitar was the fact that the neck was coated with the gloss, which made it slower to play than say a guitar with a smooth wooden neck. If your hands start to get moist at all, your gonna find yourself getting hung up. Also, I thought this guitar was a bit heavy..both the body and the neck. If you hold this guitar while standing up and let go (with the strap on, obviously), the neck is just gonna slide down, parallel to the floor. So while you are playing, you actually have to hold it up at the same time...you get used to it though.

This guitar held up like a tank, it weighs a ton, what do you expect? Very hard to scratch the finish, strap buttons never came loose, and stays in tune forever. I would definately bring this thing onstage even if i didnt have a backup.

**Storytime**
Unfortunately, this thing did suffer a fall in its lifetime. (hey it happens).

I was riding on my bike to my lesson one day, with my guitar strapped on my back in a cheap fender bag with plastic fasteners. I had ridden to lessons like 10 times before. The first time I was all scared and whatnot, but after a while, everythign was cool and in never had a problem. On this particular time, however, one of the fasteners broke, and the guitar hit the concrete going about 15mph., landing on the tip of the head, and falling flat on the underside of the body, easily hard enough to crack and cheap ass guitars neck off. Well, after I was finished pissing my pants I picked it up and opened it up. Nothing broken, nothing dented, everythingn seemed in shape. I finsihed my way to my lesson and checked it out. The only thing that happened was that it got knocked out of tune, and a little piece of gloss, no more than 1/8 of an inch in diameter chipped off. I tuned it up and was ready to go. Same great sound, same great quality...nothing was wrong with it at all. I was absolutely astounded.

Never dealt with it

Been playing for 5 years now, and this is one of the better guitars I owned. Its simple, but it gets the job done. Like I said, it is a bit heavy, which would make me steer away from it if i were to buy it again. Overall though, an excellent guitar, dont pass it up if you get a good deal.

pretty barebone guitar, one volume, one tuner, three way switch, dual humbuckers.

The sound is unique, it wont sound like a Les Paul, wont sound like a Strat, especially with the EMZ-HZ's. Ive come very close to replacing the pickups, or at least one of them, only because at times I want a certain sound and at other times I want another sound. But for soloing, this guitar has the best sound out there. The notes ring so crisp, bright, and loud that after connecting with the guitar over a solo you will not want it to sound like anything else.

It isnt to full of a tone like a Les Paul, but isnt as thin as single coil strats. This will cut through anything while still maintaning a great rhythm guitar.

For metal, I dont care, I dont like metal, I dont like heavy distortion. This guitar does great from clean to a blues crunch, to me all metal sounds the same, and this guitar is capable of doing metal.

This guitar has become the standard for which I compare other guitars. Fast neck, well placed pickups, fretboard has the best feel of any Ive played. You get used to a guitar, and Im used to my LTD.

For the price, what you get is cheaper pickups, non locking tuners, one volume/one tone. What you wouldnt expect is how solid the guitar is built. Much more durable then any Les Paul by far. All hardware is Black, and Black hardware is the hardest to find. I got the sunburst finish, I do not like painted guitars. This guitar is one of the sweetest looking SG's out there. Just the fact there is no pickguard is a huge plus for looks. Keep it polished and the finish will be in good shape.

Some people dont like how heavy it is, but I think its perfect. I sometimes think metal heads are lacking in experience sometimes. Pick up a Les Paul and all the bottom weight sucks big time. The head is heavy giving a well distributed feel on a strap.

This thing can fall off of a roof gig and still be in good shape.

no idea

The pickups are cheap, no locking tuners, and one volume one tone nob. Thats why its a cheap guitar. Unlike other cheap guitars with crappy fretboards, cheap wood, and bad construction with a good set of pickups, this comes as a huge shock. This feels like a $2000 guitar, after playing so many other guitars again I dont want to give this up. Soloing is such a dream on it.

P.S. everybody should have a set of 11's, any less really can make sound quality suffer. I dont care how easy 8 or 9's are to bend, they break and sound weak.

2003 ESP Viper 301, I won't bother putting the specs because they've been put up so many times before. I'm only giving this an 8 because I don't feel it has much to it at all. Could do with an active EQ circuit of some sort.

I play metal mostly, but this guitar sounds brilliant for all styles. Compared with my super-strat, this is much better for bluesy tones due to the chunky body it has. Some people moan about the clean tones you get from EMG's, but I think the Viper sounds great clean through either pickup, although I personally prefer single coils for a clean tone (Seymour Duncan stacked in particular).
The pickups sound great as well, very little buzz (only noticable once you go to about 7 on gain) and great for harmonics. Even though the EMGs are passive, they're extremely high output and allow for very good volume swells. Overall, this guitar sounds ace, but EMG 81's would be even better.

This is where I feel the Viper very much falls down. The painted neck never helps the action of the neck. I also feel the neck is too big and rounded as well as having big frets. I greatly feel that my dirt cheap Slammer has a much faster action due to a flatter fretboard, thinner neck and lower frets. The factory set up wasn't brilliant either, the pickups are not completely horizontal and the pickup screws came slightly rusty. Finally, the nut on the guitar doesn't seem to have been well set up, could probably do with being filed down a bit more. (This is all assuming the previous owner didn't make any changes)
On the plus side, the stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic are easy to work with. Both are easily adjustable and inntonation set-up didn't take me too long.

Like most ESP, I feel this guitar is very solid. I haven't had any problems with it yet and all of the connections appear to be rock solid. I would definately be able to use it on a gig without a backup, as it keeps tuning very well and string breakages are very unlikely with a stop tailpiece.

I haven't had to deal with the company as I haven't had any problems with the guitar.

I've only been playing for 2 years and also own a Slammer super-strat (don't know the model). I run my guitars through a Marshall MG30, a Dan Electro distortion pedal and a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby wah. If this guitar was stolen, I'd be very annoyed, as it sounds like a gem. However, if I had the money back I'd probably buy a Jackson super-strat, but that is only because I like to play shred and find the neck and action on Jacksons very comfortable.

n/a Many people have written the specifications below.. so I wont' add to it since the guitar is standard and doesn't change within the current models.

The reason i write the review today is that a lot of people buy this guitar with the hope of getting a nice neck-thru instrument that will match the performance of the Gibson SG, but for much less money. I would say that this is true in some ways, but I highly recommend that before you buy this guitar online without first seeing one in person that you run to the local guitar shop and take a peek at it. The thing about this guitar that bothers me is that the scale of the body seems to be unusually large. My first impression was "wow" this thing is a monster.. I was reminded of how electric guitars look when you're a kid and they just seem too big to use. It just has a very large body.. I'm 5 feet 7 inches tall and I couldn't see myself using this guitar on stage.. it seems made for people who are at least 6 feet and 160 or more pounds.. it's too much mass for me. I'm really used to the fender strat which just sort of hugs you and is light and slim.. this thing is just a whole lot of guitar if you ask me. i would however recommend it for anyone who only plays at home or needs a pro sounding studio instrument or is very large. Another weird feature I should mention is the very hard edged contours which run through the body design.. these contours don't show up that much when you just see the pictures in a catalog or online website. But these are some very heavy duty design features that you will either like or hate. People often say you can use this guitar for all sorts of music, but these body contours really spell out "heavy metal".. they countour right into the two horns and have a rather sinister gothic qualit about them. The pickups also seem to be for metal music and give a slightly colder sharper harder sound than the gibson sg. So be aware of that also! One other feature you should be aware off is that it's not very comfortable to hold this guitar and play while you stand.. it doesn't snug up against you like you'd expect.. you feel as though you're always working to manage the instrument.. it works well though when you're sitting of course.. plus one last fault would be that the guitar is top heavy.. it will take a dive the instant you let it go.. this isn't made any better by the placement of the strap button placed right on the end of the horn.. some people are taking it off and screwing it into he back of the guitar.. combine that with it's heavy weight and it's not the best instrument for anyone who has a lively stage act.. But just remember, you may not see these as faults. And as far as playability the guitar is very good.. it has really good intonation all the way up the neck.. fast neck too. as far as I can see, the good points don't outweigh the bad ones. Ergonomically the guitar is just really bad.. so check it out at a local guitar shop before you invest in it sight unseen. I wish ESP would refine the guitar down a little and fix the overall weirdness of the instrument. I now own the Gibson SG Special Faded model which runs about $600. $200 more than the esp viper. The body is much smaller, the guitar is easy to handle, it's not top heavy.. the design isn't pretentious and so you could essentially play any sort of music with this guitar in any sort of public setting.. you could play heavy metal one night, punk rock the next,and then play 80's cover songs at a wedding the next morning.. and then plug right in at a blues club that evening.. it fits in anywhere and will keep it's value too.. it has a nice slim ergonomic body design with a killer tone..check out the reviews here on harmony central.. it also has a great finish to it.. the esp ltd viper looks as though it's been sprayed in thick plastic clear coat.. the sunburst one looks better than the white one..

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What it all boils down to is this: The ESP LTD Viper is a design copy of the Gibson SG.. but be careful not to think they are similar and you're saving money by getting the ESP.. The viper seems to be great at the fretboard, but beyond that I think ESP has to do some soul seaching to finally figure out the future of this guitar.. Smaller body, less weight, better balance, more subtle body contour, better placement of strap button, better quality tuners. The clear coat on the white one shouldn't look so plastic. I can see in my minds eye the potential for a truly great instrument. As of now, the great instrument is the Gibson SG Special Faded. :-) Decide for yourself!

ESP Viper 301,black, made in korea, mohogany body+neck, rosewood fingerboard, set neck, 24 xj frets, 1 volume, 1 tone, threeway selector, TOM bridge+stoptail, comes with those dry (but pleasable to some), Emg HZ passive humbuckers, crappy diecast tuners.

well, i had mine customised, but before that, sound of this guitar was very good. The bridge pickup, i thaught was a little dry at any gain setting, really not to my liking, and the neck pickup, very muddy indeed, (but this is me were talking about here). I wasnt really impressed with this guitar on the clean sounds either. and as for those shoddy ESP tuners.....

NOW THIS IS THE FUN PART

I customised this guitar to suite me and my style, which is anything where an insane amount of gain and bottom end is used.
I took out both of those passive humbuckers, the selector switch, and wired a single Seymour duncan Invader pickup in the bridge, then i replaced those shitty tuners with sperzel locking tuners. I even ordered a custom scratchplate to mount over the space where the neck pickup used to be!(I know im insane)
Now for sound, i would give this guitar an eleven. I play through a triple channel dual recto powering a single mesa 412 recto cab, (i use channel 3 at high gain settings with the rectifier select on solidstate and the variac on bold), and the sound is absoloutley unbeleivable, especially when detuned using custom 10_52 guage strings, i have indeed found the perfect crushing bottom end tone ive been looking for years. Cleanwise, due to the ultra hot nature of the invader pickup, things are still gonna be overdriven, but with carefull tweakin of yer amp and volume knob on yer axe, i had no problen finding a decent clean sound full of body.
Without the custom job, id give this guitar a 5 for sound.

what can i say, i love this guitar, the black finnish (yeah, mine's in black), the cream binding. As if it came straight from the factory. I love the xjumbo frets, easier for string bending especially, and the neck is as comfortable as it can be. Ive had this guitar for a year and a half, the onily problem i had was whenever id have my viper strapped on, the neck would fall to the floor, but i changed that by unscrewing the strap button and attaching it onto the upper horn, no problems now, the guitar doesnt move an inch. This guitar looked ace the first day i bought it, but afer the changes i made, i wouldnt give this guitar up for anything in the world.

Two words, ROCK SOLID. built like a tank, when holding it, feels like it can withstand anything, and indeed it can withstand the hardest of knocks. Ive caught the back of the neck a couple of times just by turning around in my room, didnt make a mark

never dealt with them

ive been playing for 5 years now, i now use this guitar for everything, i use it live, for recording, i write all my songs on it.
I own 3 guitars in total, the viper(MY NO1), the other tow i dont use as often are the fender Competition Mustang, and my Schecter Jerry Horton. I will definatley buy more of these instruments, FANTASTIC value for money, and if it were stolen, id hunt the bastard down crucify em!