ESP LTD EC-1000

I bought two, a black one and a see through black cherry. They are both 24 frets. two volume, one tone. beautiful finishes. these guitars are trully beautiful. the both come with emg 81 pups and they are both les paul style. a dream guitar fro metal fans. the tunners are sperzal locking. they came witha harshell case a cheap cable and a sticker.

Metal Rules !! It suits my style perfectly. I love metal, all types, progressive, power, death, black, hard whatever. Im running the guitars through a line 6 amp or a marshall. The sound is bright. The black one sounds darker than the cherry one which sounds brighter.
The guitars are defenitly suited for metal and hard rock. Although you can defenitely play anything on them. Me band plays anything from Aerosmith to Metallica so they work great.
The finish is trully beautiful. Makes me very conserned when I play live with them because thay are so beatiful that I dont want anyone near them. There are loits of drunken idiots at rock concerts who have no respect for others people stuff.

The action on both guitars came to low for me. I raise the bridge and now they are fine. I ordered the black one from Musiciansfriend (terrible costumer service) and the cherry from MUSIC123.com (excellent service, the guitar shipped the same day I ordered it, payde via western union so no credit card hassel). The pickups had to be raised a little and the toggle switch cap on the cherry one came broken. No big deal I had another on hand. This was factory sealed so its no MUSIC123.com fault.

They seem to be very realible. Like I said the guitars are so beautiful that I dont think Ill gig musch with them. I have road warrior sg with emgs thats greta for the stage and takes a beating real well. The hardwear is tonespro and it seems durable. I would use it without backup if I had to, but since i own like 14 guitars I always have back up. ESP LTD aim their products more for a metal player, but these guitars can handle any type of music.

I havent dealt with them, although I hear that they dont have good custumer support. Well see.

Ive been playing for over 15 yeras and ive owned lots guitars from peaveys to gibson and fenders. Now I basically only play gibson and esp. I think that for the price esp guitars are better. A $1000.00 Esp comes with better features than a $1000.00 Gibson. You always have to replace the sucky gibson pickups. I like Emg pickups anyways. Thats another review. Currently I own one fender strat, two yamaha guitars, three ltd and three epiphones and four gibsons, plus two flamenco acoustics, im always on the lookout for good guitars. Oh, Im in the process of loading all of my electrics with emgs. Hands down they are unbeatable. These lts ec-1000 are trully beutiful and you wont find a better guitar under $1000.00

u all know the features!

sounds like a dream, i've always loved the emg pickups, but i changed the neck 81 to a 60 cuz the 81 isn't so good for clean. it sustains forever and ever and ever it's great for rock/hard rock and UP and with the 60 it makes the cleans, CLEAN!

setup was alright, low action but there was some fret buzz so i just raised it a bit and now it's fine. the finish is amazing, it's so beautiful....it makes me wanna look at the guitar more than play it. haven't noticed any flaws.

I've been playing for 3 years this is my 2nd esp ltd guitar and it's just as good as my other one (ex 351d). They're doin one hell of a job. The finish is great but i want a black one now....lol. if it were stolen i wouldn't have enuf $$ to get another one, so i'd have to kill that guy, take his $$ and get a black one. over all this thing is a dream les paul for metal fans.

made in korea, 24 fret 3-piece mahogany neck set into mahogany body, rosewood fretboard, abalone binding everywhere and in the fret board inlays. 2 volume, 1 tone knob. 2 emg 81 active buckers w/3-way switch. gorgeous black cherry quilted maple top. les paul copy with sperzel tuners and tone pros stop bar tailpiece. nice hard case. came with chord and truss wrench. basically a hard tail version of the kirk hammet signature model for about half the price, and better looking too.

i run it into a vox 847 wah-ts9 tube screamer-boss compression-marshall jcm 200 dsl 100 head into carvin legacy 412 cab loaded with celsetion vintage 30's. good for all kinds of distorted music, classic rock-metal, it covers them all well. i hear people say that there's no tone in metal, but i beg to differ, this axe has a sweet crunchy tone, perfect for metal, but also sounds good lightly overdriven. i have a gibson les paul and korina flying v, the crunch of this guitar blows them both away, great sustain, no unwanted noises, the clean sound of the paul is way better than on this guitar though, the emg's just don't get that warm punchy clean. but this guitar is made to rock and it does it well.

action was nice and low, no buzzing. neck and frets play very quick, you could make EVH cry with this axe if that was the style you were into. no finish flaws i can see, beautiful guitar, you won't find this nice of a guitar in this price range. good balance, good weight. no complaints here.

seems sturdy, no problems yet, quality hardware. very dependable, but like we all know, never gig without a backup.

no idea

it does what it's intended to do very well. nice playability, good crunch, it rocks. if it were swiped i'd hunt the person down and kill them, if i couldn't find them then i guess i'd buy another. i own this, and a gibson les paul and korina flying v, this is probably my favorite for distortion, which i use a lot of, but they all shine in their own ways, i recomend any of them. if you want to rock hard than this stick is a must.

Bought NEW in 2002. Les Paul-style mahoghany body. VERY AWSOME quilted maple top(with see-thru black cherry finish). Rosewood Fretboard. Abalone Flag inlays, model name at the 12th fret(motherofpearl). Sperzel locking tuners. Tonepros II locking bridge with stopbar tailpiece. Two EMG-81 active humbuckers. One tone, two volume. Three-way toggle switch. White and abalone binding on the body, neck, and headstock. Black hardware. 24 extra jumbo frets and a nice case.

I have been playing for about 15 years now. I have owned many guitars from Sears JUNK all the way up to my LesPaul Custom and my American Fat Strat, TRUST ME...this awsome axe holds its own and then some. I play MANY types of music. Classic Rock, top 40, metal, alternative and even some (RRRRRRR) country. This guitar excels in ALL categories, put in particular METAL and ALTERNATIVE. The two EMG-81's are beautiful pickups. I run through a Peavey Transfex Pro 212 with the built in Midi FX processor. Their is NO sound I cannot reproduce. The sustain in this weapon is UNREAL. WOW..can I hold that note or what.

When I got the guitar I had one MINOR string buzz. I rigured it was the low end strings that come standard. I put a nice set of GHS boomers and problem solved. NOW .... the finish !! Of course the #1 factor in an instrument is the sound and playability, HOWEVER, looks is also very important. The EC-1000 does NOT disapoint. This BY FAR is the absolute most georgeous guitar I have ever layed my eyes on. I know some of the other reviews said that the finish is not like on the ESP site. Well it is not.. IT IS MUCH BETTER. The quilting on my LTD (STBC) is far better looking then the one on the site. The craftsmanship in the inlays, and the binding is top notch. As for the fit, like I said, I own a LP Custom plus with a AAA carved top. It is a GREAT guitar, but now I ask myself, was it worth the $3500 canadian I payed. And after playing this little jem, my answer is NO !! Gibson is a fantastic guitar, but WAY TO MUCH $$$ FOR WHAT YOU GET. The LTD is much lighter, much more comfortable, much better looking, much better sounding and much more FUN to play. My back won't be killing me by the 3rd set anymore. To be honest, I will probably sell my LP.

Would I use it on a gig without a backup .. DUHH .. that would be stupid. If GOD himself built me a guitar I would still have a backup. BUT, if some guy had a gun to my head and said i could only use one axe during a gig..the EC-1000 would be it. The clear coating on the finish, I am sure, will last just as long if not longer than the higher prices LP's and PRS guitars. This guitar is ROCK SOLID.

N/A. Never had to deal with ESP.

Overall, this guitar is fantastic. If something had happened to it, without a doubt, I'd replace it with another. This guitar may not be AMERICAN...but who CARES. I like to buy quality and reliability..not a sticker on the back saying "MADE IN THE USA". This guitar is way under priced for what you actually get. If I could change one SMALL thing it would be the case. Don't get me wrong, the case is very nice, (it looks like the rectangular fender cases) but the case with my LesPaul is far nicer. But I can always buy an aftermarket case. And the the money you pay for the LP, you should get a TOP NOTCH case. But like a said, this is a SMALL INSIGNIFICANT detail. TRUST ME..if you buy this WEAPON OF A GUITAR..you WILL NOT be one bit disapointed. This will for sure be my NUMBER ONE noise maker.

Les Paul-style mahoghany body. Quilted maple top(with see-thru black cherry finish). Rosewood Fretboard. Abalone Flag inlays, model name at the 12th fret(motherofpearl). Sperzel locking tuners. Tonepros II locking bridge with stopbar tailpiece. Two EMG-81 active humbuckers. One tone, two volume. Three-way toggle switch. White and abalone binding on the body, neck, and headstock. Black hardware. 24 extra jumbo frets

I play metal, metal, and occasionally some metal. I absolutely love this guitar! It is so damn gorgeous! When I first looked at it on the ESP website I was concerned that it might be too pretty for me. But when it showed up on my doorstep, oh baby! This guitar plays very nicely. It has any and all after market extras you could possibly want. The EMG-81s are some fat sounding pickups. They do well with clean settings, but they really shine when you kick in the distortion. Really chunky even with the bridge pickup selected. I am using this guitar through a Marshall AVT150H with a matching cab. Effects: Boss Metal Zone, Snarling Dogs BLUES BAWLS wah and thats it, very simple but very gut wrenching. Just a sweet hardrock/metal guitar!

It came set up nearly perfectly from the factory. But I had to adjust the action once I got the guitar tuned down to where I play.(Dropped-D down one whole step). There were zero flaws on this guitar. The Black cherry finish is beautiful. This has been said about this guitar before but I will say it again: If you are expecting the highly figured quilted maple that is shown on the ESP website, you may be dissapointed. Mine turned out to be more of a highly figured flame maple than a quilt, but I would not trade it for the one on the site.

Now here is where I am probably going to make a lot of people mad. But realize that this is only my opinion: Although this guitar is Korean made, it plays just as well if not better than many American made guitars. It is much better looking than any Gibson Les Paul, and it comes with way more features that come standard. Now I realize that the Les Paul is an American Rock Icon, but I feel that they are overrated and overpriced. And anyone reading this that thinks that I don't know what I am talking about, you are wrong: I've played nearly every Gibson Les Paul made, new and vintage and this guitar plays and sounds just as well. And I realize that this guitar is a Les Paul "copy" but there are a few subtle differences that made me choose this guitar over a Les Paul, and price was last on the list!

This guitar seems like it will last for the long run. very tough instrument.

This beast comes with a lifetime warranty. I haven't had to deal with ESP yet, but I'm sure I won't have any problems

I really really like this guitar! Nuff said!

Because it's made in Korea, this guitar is (even at $900) a lot cheaper than it should be. 24 fret bound 3 piece mahogany neck is set into the bound mahogany solid-body with a quilted maple top. 2 volumes, 1 tone and a three way switch gives great control over the dual EMG 81's. Shaped very similarly to a Les Paul and comes in either a beautiful see-through black cherry (mine) or black finish (without the maple top. Tonepros System 2 locking bridge and tailpiece. Rosewood fingerboard. Black Hardware. Abalone flag inlays and abalone binding. Price includes a nice case. What else could you possibly want? (Besides strap-locks)

The mahogany body sings. I play hard rock/metal. But I like bands with skill, not just show. I play Dreamtheater, Tool, Pantera, Metallica, Van Halen, and Megadeth plus some original stuff. I play on a Marshall AVT-150 head with a 1960 slanted cab. I love it. You can get a lot more sounds out with this guitar than I thought possible. Can easily duplicate my favorite bands. Nicest sounds I've ever heard, and I've played Les Paul's, Strat's, Jackson's, Ibanez's, and even quite a few ESP's. This is amazing.

The guitar was set up very nicely. Very easy to play. No buzzing on the frets or the pickups. Everything perfect. Maybe some ten gauge strings would be nice though.

Let's see, I've had it for a month now, no problems at all. The finish is staying on and rarely does tuning change. But, the fact of the matter is that you have to be a dumbass to gig without a backup.

I've never had to deal with the company even though I've played ESP for about two and a half years. Never had to get either repaired. Has a limited lifetime warranty. Nice.

I've been playing for five years. I currently own three guitars. My shitty Squier Affinity Strat (Hey, it got me started), an ESP KH-502 with EMG 85/81 and the Eclipse 1000. This things has blown all other guitars away. Specifically, I was also looking at a Jackson Kelly 2, Randy Rhoads 5, a Washburn pop-top, and a Gibson Gothic Explorer. This guitar was cheaper, sounds better and I even had to drive an extra two hours to get one. But, man, this is my dream guitar. I won't let anything get within 10 feet of this one. I've I could change it, I would put in gold hardware, strap-locks, and ten gauge strings. Nothing else. Go buy it. NOW! You won't regret it. What are you still doing here. GO! Don't make me come over there.

my ec-1000 was made in 2002. it is an archtop les paul shaped guitar. The controls on it are vol,vol, tone. But what is strange is that the first volume is for the bridge. i dont know if this was a mistake made in the factory but i will find out. eighther way it will be changed to the regular formation that everyone else uses. the active emg 81 s are really good pichups. i can get a good clean sound from them although it is nothing like a strat or my gibson. not as good eighther, but that is just my opinion.the distorted sounds and espeasialy huge hi gain sounds are the best i have ever heard. the distorted sounds are tight and are defined and the harmonics are very pleasant. this guitar was built to be big on sustain. every component and piece of material used on this guitar equals sustain. I can hold a note infinitly it seems , with the right amp seting withoput feed back. the top 6 frets are small due to the scale lenghth and 24 frets. i hace to bring my thumb out to play them. the case looks nice but compared to my gibson case its seems a little bit cheap. the lid flexes around to much for me.

I play many styles of music and this guitar can fit into them all. the jazz tone is ok but i prefer my gibson (howard Roberts Fusion)but i prefer my gibson. Rock Fusion Metal and anything that needs good overdrive this guitar is wicked.The tone knob on this guitar is very useful. and a 3 way selector ofers a variety of sounds. I LIKE this guitar but it is not a gibson and thats ok.

The EC-1000 came strung with 10's the intonation was ok but needed some small adjustments. The action was fine. today i will change the setup to acomodate 8's . i really like useing 8-40 gauge string but some guitars dont accept them well, sounding weak or breaking easily. i hope it works out well.I looked closly and found a couple of small flaws. There was no scratches or bents or anything it was virtually perfect. Perhaps the Bridge and the neck pickup being in strange spots was a flaw. and when i looked iside the wiring cavity i noticed two wires were taped together. Apart from these observations this guitar is great. YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER LOOKING GUITAR FOR THIS PRICE. If this guitar had the gibson name on it you would be paying 4 times as much. The binding and abalone inlay is spectacular. gold hardware and black paint this guitar is very flashy. I decided nott to go for the flamed maple top because that is a little too flashy.

This guitar is the most solid guitar i have ever played. This eqauls magor sustain. the gold hardware on my 97 gibson has worn off in the places when i rest my hand when playing. aperently this is just something that happens. i hope the gold satin on the hardware doesnt wear but it probably will just like that scatches that it will get over the years. oh well. The stap buttons were great but i replaced them with locking shallers and put a planet waves stap on it. would i use this guitar on a gig without a backup? what a dumb question.strings break on all guitars.

I have dealt with esp before because this is my second esp ltd. i had a problem with my f-207 and they have sent out the part for it to be fixed. so i would say the support was good . i will be inquiring about the volume knobs problem and maybe they can help me with that. i always follow up my reviews latter on.the warenty is a lifetime on all the stuff that they know wont go wrong and 1 year on everything else.

I have been playing for 13 years and have been pro for 3 years. My other gear is ltd f-207 7 string, Gibson howard robert fusion semi hollowbody.cort curbow 5 bass. asorted acoustics. keyboards drums ect. My main amp is a 1 12 tube combo made by roland called the bolt 100. and i have a pair of kustonm kga65's. rp 2000 multi effects. I looked at nearly every other guitar on the market and this is the oly one i really wanted and could afford. too expensive are the godin hollowbodies and the cort coryell. my overall rating is 10. if this guitar was stolen i would eventualy buy another although i would certainly put out the time and effort to retrieve the guitar, find the theif and tie him up in my friends backyard with his great dane.

2002 ESP LTD DELUXE EC-1000 (see thru dark cherry). This guitar was made in Korea, has 24 frets with abalone binding from top to bottom includeing abalone flag fret markers. This guitar is equiped with dual EMG-81's that just rock your brains out, 2 volume 1 tone and a 3 way toggle. It comes with two colors...black or see thru dark cherry on a quilted top. Sperzel locking tuners, tone pros bride, black hardware all around.

THIS GUITAR ROCKS!!!!!!!!

actions ok, could be slightly lower for my taste, the guitar feels good in your hands. the only thing i care to discuss is the "quilted maple top". first off, for any unexpecting buys, do not go with the picture esp has on the website, that is the best wood they could find...add in some special lighting and make everyone think thats what they are getting...ok...first off, the color isnt bright red, its dark cherry, the guitar is somewhat darker in person but with light shineing on it, it looks brighter. secondly, i looked at one before i bought it, the quilted top could be better, but i ordered one anyway, and it came in with more of a flamed top, more of a ripple effect, in the middle of quilted and flamed...and im happy that happened because it looks alot better than the one i seen in person. if anybody elses turned out like that...let me know

this one is going to last a long time, no doubt about it!

never delt with them

Overall, I happy with what this guitar offers

This is a 2002 guitar made in korea, although it might as well have been made in the states, 24 frets , maple cap, 2 vol 1 tone , 3 way selector, 2 emg 81 humbuckers, mahogany body and neck, quilted maple with see through black cherry, les paul style, with nicer lines, excellent tone pros II tune o matic bridge/tailpiece, and fantastic sperzel locking tuners, it has a 24 3/4 scale with a medium neck and jumbo frets(nice for bending strings!) and a quite nice esp hardcase.
it basically came with all the extras id put on it anyway and my other guitars will soon be upgraded to this spec.

my kinda music is metal and punk , i play in a punk band and its almost perfect for what i play , only thing is its quite hard to get a clean tone out of it, its really crunchy, but i have other guitars for my clean sound. this guitar just rocks out on distorted tones i couldnt ask for better sound. a really full sound that just kick ass.
i use it through a line 6 flextone 2 running through a marshall slash 4x12. and it sounds incredible.

everything on the guitar was spot on no problems here,

ive used this live and in the studio and it just kills every other guitar. finish seems good not sure about it yet.best strap buttons ive seen come standard on a guitar and i would most definitely trust my life with this guitar live, but i wouldnt gig without a backup. thats just plain crazy and i need 2 guitars live anyway.

havent had to deal with esp but the shop were i bought it are great . help u out with any problems

im playing about ten years and i have a gibson sg, gibson explorer , ibanes rg and a shecter c1.if it were stolen id go on a violent rampage till i got it back or id get another one. i love the look of it and also the feel of the body way nicer than a les paul. i sold my les paul to buy this. although it was a bit on the expensive side over here due to currency and stuff

This guitar was made in 2002, and made in Korea I think...the cool thing about this guitar is all the features...it has all the aftermarket stuff that you would buy...a Tone Pros II bridge, EMG 81's, Sperzel Tuners, etc...The body is mahogany and has a quilted maple top...the see-thru black cherry is absolutely beautiful...gorgeous...and case is included...(nice case too, by the way)

the sound of the guitar is tremendous...I play mainly rock, metal, and a lot of classic rock...it suits it all perfect...there is absolutely no noise from the EMG 81's...I love EMG's by the way...and you can feel the guitar resonate...it has a full acoustic-like clean sound, but the overdrive screams!!! I have absolutely no complaints about the sound...it's perfect!!

this was the best part of the guitar...it was setup perfect...and I mean perfect...the intonation is spot on...this guitar easily has the best craftsmanship I have ever seen, especially for a guitar this price...everything about the guitar is beautiful...it has abalone inlays around the entire guitar and neck, and has flags inlaid in the frets...the quilted top was perfect...this thing stays in tune great too...I couldn't find a flaw!

I've only had it for a while but it seems sturdy to me...the strap buttons are great and all the hardware is top of the line...there is a lifetime warranty on this guitar, so there's no worries...

haven't had to deal with them, so I'm not quite sure...

I've been playing for 7 years or so...I've played lots of guitars; Gibsons, Fenders, Ibanez's, etc, but nothing that I've ever played comes close the this with regards to the looks...obviously a Les Paul Custom would sound just as good, but no Gibson could ever look the way this guitar do...I'm 110% satisfied with this guitar...it's a unique guitar that suits me to a tee...couldn't ask for better!