ESP LTD EC-1000

I dont want to spend time on writing a bunch of specifications. All information can be found on ESP's homepage. But just to mention some, as theres some specifications to choose from. Mine have:

2 Humbuckers; EMG 81/60.
Vintage black finish.

Its hard to rate a guitar based on its features - When you buy a guitar you know what features you want. I am pretty much an "Ibanez-person" in general, and I am very much into their prestige models with tremolo bridges. So thats probably something that I might miss, but of course I knew that when buying this guitar.

I have always been somewhat "anti" EMG's active pickups. They sound good and give a hell of a "brutal" sound. They also work for cleaner sounds, but the variety and the "wideness" in these pickups (compared to others) are quite bad, I think. It does not sound crap, but I definitely get the feeling of that this is a guitar to use for "rough" and "dirty" music rather than the extremely clean.

Another quite annoying thing is that the pickups use a 9V battery... of course... thats the whole thing with active pickups, but anyway; Its another thing to have control of. The first thing that I had to do was to change the battery to get a better signal. And I would feel anxious about using this instrument live without changing to a new battery.

Everything was well adjusted from start. The guitar was used when I bought it though. So there where a couple of smal flaws. But this vintage black finish, as it is dull, seems to stand flaws much better than many of the clear finishes.

This guitar seems to work for a long time. The only bad things are the battery as well as it doesnt seem to hold the tuning as well as many other guitars, even though that it have lockable tuners.

A really good guitar. Its quite expensive when bought as new, but its definitely worth spending these ammounts of money instead of buying a "real" ESP, that costs a lot more but works exactly the same (according to my thoughts).

If you???re reading these reviews you should know what this guitar features. No need for me to tell you again. I went for the Vintage Black with EMGs 81/60. Has everything you need.

I got this guitar because I have an Ibanez with a floyd, so I wanted something I could tune down to Eb. For Guns n Roses and for all those songs tuned down that I couldn???t play. Mostly playing along to live songs when bands tune down. I have it set up with 10???s and the action low.

I???m using it with an ENGL Fireball, clean boosted with a TS9. Sounds amazing when using the clean channel with some chorus and reverb ??? very Metallica like.

It???s noiseless ??? the only noise I get is from the amp, which buzzes anyway.

This is my only reservation about this guitar ??? the sound. I love the rhythm sound, it???s great. Chunky and thick. As I said, cleans are really good. They???re obviously not Fender cleans, but they???re crystal clear and I like them. The only disappointment is when playing lead. It doesn???t scream as much as I had thought it would. I was thinking Zakk Wylde type leads but it can sound a bit weak. Not sure what this is down to???

This is where the guitar really shines. The playability. I was lucky that the guys at the shop set this guitar up really good. It plays like a dream. As I said, the action is a little lower than I???m used to, but this allows it to be played even faster.

The neck is a lot thinner than most Les Paul shaped guitars. Another great point is the weight. It is SO light. You can hardly tell you have it on when standing up.

It really is a beautiful guitar. The only problem I have is that the tuning can sometimes go out a bit, but for now I???m putting that down to new strings.

I don???t play live, but I???m sure it will withstand live playing. As I said, if the tuning problem persists then this could of course affect live performace.

The finish is great, but I have been told that eventually the Vintage Black will start to fade, where the picking arm rests on the guitar. I can deal with that. Not sure reselling it will be easy though.

N/A

I???ve been playing for 6 years now. This is the 4th guitar I???ve owned. I had an Epiphone Les Paul, sold that and this is now its replacement. Being left handed also limits what is on offer to me.

If it was stolen or lost, I???d definitely buy it again.
My favourite thing about this guitar is the playability and how light it is.

I didn???t directly compare this to other guitars. I wanted a Les Paul shaped guitar, but with a thinner neck and lighter body. I got what I wanted.

Overall I am happy with my purchase. It has the weight of a Fender, the playability of an Ibanez and the looks of a Gibson Les Paul. The perfect package.

This guitar is amazing. Active EMG PICKUPS sound amazing. with locking tuners and a tune o matic bridge with stop tailpiece....i think this was made in 2007 but dont quote me on this.The design is similar to a les paul, but thinner and much lighter. Although it is still not a very light guitar. made very well, fast neck feels very smooth and comfortable. The inlays look amazing, sometimes they distract me while playing because i just love looking at them.

This thing is a beast. If you play a lot of clean stuff this is not your animal. I know this will sound odd but, i play it through a fender deluxe tube amp with a digitech death metal pedal and a boss rc-10. this amp is obviously not made for metal but it still shreds like crazy. with the active pickups in this baby it really screams i dont think it would matter what kind of amp was being used.

The action is very low, intonation is perfect. I bought it from a store online however i think they set it up very poorly. but thats the stores fault not esp. i had to adjust a few things when i got it but it is amazing. Nothing was wrong with it electronically or cosmetically

the only regret i have is buying the glossy black. finger prints show up very well on it however that means nothing. the finish is solid and its not goin anywhere, this thing could hold its own at any venue. as far as dependability i think it would be right up there with gibson and fender.

Never dealt with company

I have had this guitar for about a month and im very happy with the purchase. i dont see myself getting rid of this anytime soon unless i decide to upgrade to the version with the floyd rose. but i dont think thats gonna happen either. GREAT BUY

Same as all the other but in see through blue finish (which looks great)
plenty of feautures good bridge set-up two strong active humbuckers, and all the tone and volume controls you could need, Maybe seperate pick-up volumes would be a good upgrade.

Really thick sound! Lots of sustain (like a cross between a PRS Custom 22 with EMG pick-ups)
On distortion -Chords come out full and full of bass with sum realy clear mid and treble cut, and single note play is really clear and full of sustain.

Clean sounds are great too, ecspecially on the neck pick-up really full and shiny

Good strong neck, Pick-ups a good hight as standard smooth rosewood fretboard.
the blue finish is great too,really nice and classy.

I've owned many many ESP LTD's and i've only ever had one that had problems but that was most likley the EMG pick ups.

N/A

A great looking guitar + great sounding- my only issue is the price point maybe should be a hundred or so cheaper then it would really be 10 out of 10.

ESP LTD EC1000 Deluxe - Gloss black with black hardware and EMG60 / 81 active pickups. Sperzel locking machineheads, earvana nut, 24 Frets, mother of pearl inlays / bindings etc. Korean made 2007.

Like a Jackson soloist is a superstrat, the ESP Eclipse / EC1000 is a superlespaul.

I bought this off eBay in February 2008 for $829 (around 420GBP). By the time shipping and customs charges were added it came to around 540GBP - the EC1000 deluxe retail in the UK for between ??699 to ??899 so this was a fantastic deal.Truly excellent - why bother with anything more expensive

It's lightweight (solid mahogany / maple), but strap it on crank up the amp, slam that powerchord and wow! - Sustain!!

This guitar kicks buttloads of thick, rich sound from ripping metal distortion to gentle clean bell like sounds. Sounds from this black beauty are amazing whatever your gig. You can play clean and do jazzy jingles etc but crank up the distortion on your amp and this becomes a metal monster. There is also no noise from the pickups so it's all good

This was set up by 'On The Fringe' music in Hopewell NY with 10-46 and it's the best set up guitar I've ever played.

Finish and everything is superb no complaints whatsoever

It's already got a couple of dings in it from me i.e. dropping it after I'd had a couple, but nothing serious. I reckon this baby will stand the test of time no problem - would gig without a back up. It's light but durable. As long as you don't use it as a cricket or baseball bat - it should last

I've been playing guitar seriously for 15 years and for the vast majority of that time (9.5 years) my squeeze has been my trusty Gibson Les Paul Classic - no other guitar that I've played has really come anywhere close to it - it's meaty and it rocks. It can however be quite heavy and even though the neck is a 60s slim taper - it's no match in term of speed for the EC1000. The neck on the ESP is just amazing and top fret access is much easier than on the Les Paul

I own the gloss black finish with hardware. it has schaller locking tuners which are awesome, quick n easy to re-string, keep guitar in tune. comes with TonePros locking bridge n tailpiece, these are excellent, they dont fall off when you take all the strings off n locks in string action settings so they never move. has the earvana compensated nut. also has the EMG 81 (bridge) and 60 (neck) active pickups, both have great tone, nice n phat sounding, perfect for heavy styles. The finish on the guitar is absolute *******, with the abalone binding and inlays, just cant get over how good it looks. the neck is nice to play, nice n fast and comfortable and the frets are great easy to play. i have to say ive improved my playing dramatically since i got this guitar.

this guitar suits perfectly what i play, i play in a band which plays heavy electo rock, i also play alot of metal in my own time as well, and the tone is just ********. i play it through a Marshall JCM 900 100w valve and run it through my boss compression sustain pedal, and its the most amazing sound, ****** ballsy phat sound, great sustain. the tone i get out of it i can match up to soilworks guitars or killswitch engage, clean and dirty channels.

no noise comes from this guitar, absolute clean, turning up the volume and down again on the guitar, perfectly clean.

when i first got the guitar the action and everything was great, brilliantly done, though they weren't to my settings, i took it to a guitar tech for an intial setup, cause i like heavy strings and a play in drop C. i use erinie ball Not Even Slinkys 56-12 i think, yeah it still plays so nice, it can handle the heavier strings. what i do recommend if u purchase the 56-12 gauge strings, purchase a 24 wound round stings extra, because the one that comes with the ernie balls is just way to thick to be a steal string n sounds like balls.

i think this guitar is entirely liable, and the way i play live is quite extreme i think it would hold out just fine. all the hardware is top quality, although it has shown some minor wearing of the black paint of the hardware, but nothing anyone would notice. other than that its built like a brick.

never called them

I bought this guitar from the states, im from Australia, bought it off ebay, for about 850USD, thats about 1000AUD, so basically got 1400 off buying it on ebay, they retail for about 2399 here is Aus. It came from the guitar store from hell, in newport. It is made in Korea, beautifully set up, arrived in factory box and everything, pulled it out looked great, played great, sounds great! i was seriously so stoked.

is were lost or stolen id probably definately by another one, if not the exact model but definetaly another ESP.

This review is of a See thru Blue 2006 model.
All the same as the others.
Bought on eBay for 511.00, in mint condition.

This guitar really shines as a lead player, for Santana tracks it works great!. I use it with a Blues Jr. and Fender Reverb and it is sweetness to my ears.

I have some buzzing on the low E string but I??m sure I can work that out easy.

Mine was not bought from the factory so the previous owner must have set it up pretty well before shipping cause it was nicely set. No adjustment done yet.

This guitar was supposedly used but the person that used it most have taken great care cause the finish is flawless and this is the kind of shinny finish that can scratch pretty easy.

Can??t say anything here cause I have??t had it for long-.

Haven??t called them-

The value you get with this guitar you won??t get on many others.

Made in Korea, set up in USA I think... Locking tuners (which are a necessity), perfect, fast neck, flawless fretwork, stunning finish (Matte Black with aged binding). Ordered through San Diego's only (I think) ESP Dealer, Guitar City. Overall was about $900 since I got a case. Order online and it would be plenty cheaper sans case and no tax, but the experience was great and WELL, WELL WELL worth it.

This is no joke, the best guitar I have ever played... I have owned two Gibson SG Standards, which until purchasing this guitar, was it for me... This, sorry to say, blows Gibson away... Blows everthing away. I still love playing Fenders for Fender Blues/Clean tones, but they're fender's and nothing can sound like a fender... But, if you're like me and prefer the Gibsonesque thickness, check out the LTD's, the 1000's, can't say much about the lower line LTD's but, I can't imagine the ESP $2000 models playing any better than these already do. I will never sell this guitar. About the pickups, never used Active before... They sound awesome (EMG 81's). What can I say, if they're good enough for Zakk Wylde and Kirk Hammett... I play with a Randall RG75 75watt combo with a single 12" celestion ($200 new on ebay) and run through a Digitech RP350 effects module ($100 Craigslist)... this guitar, through this inexpensive little rig I pieced together sounds better than most tube amps I've played through, and all for $300... I think the active pickups really make the difference when running through effects pedals... You can also get these with passive Seymore Duncan 59's which sound awesome as well if you wanna go passive.

Right out of the box, absolutely perfect. Theres a reason these aren't hanging on the walls by the hundreds at Guitar Center... they are done right. I know to each is own, but before you pick up an Ibanez or a Jackson or even a Gibson, and waste your money, try one of these out if you can, even if you take a chance on mail order, you can always send it back if you don't like it, but pretty sure you will love it.

this guitar is built like a gold plated tank, it's tough, but plays like a dream... I'm telling you, I love this guitar and will never get rid of it... If anything, I may pick up another one, passive, just to mix it up...

Supposably good, only dealt with the dealer who told me that they were easy to get a hold of... I'm sure it goes without saying that you would have better luck dealing with a company that sets their guitars up this finely as opposed to say, Jackson or Gibson.

I've been playing 10 years, if this were stolen I would cry like a *****... then I would scour Craigslist and eBay until it popped up, because whoever would steal a guitar like this would not be an artist worthy or even capable of playing such a riff-beast... I would find out who it was and go get my guitar back... and then, set their car on fire.

Gets a 10 because of the sheer quality of the hardware - the pick ups alone bought seperately would be a significant investment. Mine is the vintage honey blond model with Seymour Duncans and matt finish.

The locking tuners, lock down bridge, nut, pick ups etc etc are all the business!

I have always been a Fender guy (still am with 2 strats and 2 teles!) but wanted a Les Paul type guitar for that thicker richer sound. I guess I could have stretched to a Les Paul if I had really wanted to but for some reason I can't quite bring myself to go there - not quite sure why that is though.

In any event, this guitar does exactly what I want it to - it does "Classic Rock" in every sense. The Seymour Duncans are perfect to my ear!

I bought this guitar on a serious deal from an ebay dealer in Canada - no big deal except I live in the UK! On arrival the guitar played great out of the box although I did end up with a wiring problem (loose wire to the bridge pick up which needed re-soldering).

Not sure if it took a wack in transit or if it was a production fault.

Cosmetically the finish to the neck binding is not great in once place but that is just being picky - I am pretty happy with it over all.

I have gigged with this a few times now - still trying to work out the best way to blend the sounds with my Fenders (and the other guitar player in my band who always plays Gibson!)

No that the wiring problem is fixed I can't see anything else packing up - this is a quality guitar and I have no worries about using it live at all!

No contact so far so can't judge.

I have a slight problem here! These guitars sell for almost ??700 in the UK (that's $1350 at today's rate of currency exchange!) That is a high price for this guitar. However, I paid around ??425 ($800) including shipping to the UK and for that I got a great guitar for the money.

My rating is based against the price I paid!

I just picked up the ec-1000 with a shiney black finish, with a bunch of mother of pearl. It was a toss up between the vintage black and this one, but the more I look at it, the more I dig it. Of course it has all the goodies, the sperzels, emgs, tone pros bridge, and that compensation nut.

I play progressive rock type stuff, and this fits that style pretty well. I play out of a dual recto, and sometimes I gotta deal with some feed back. It's an easy fix though, just turn to volume down a bit. But with those emg's, it sounds pretty mean. I'm a big fan of semour duncan, but these sound good. Good artifical harmonics.

As far as set up from the factory, well, I play a half step down, so it obviously need adjusted. I think for those who play in the standard tuning, it should be set up well. ( I could always go for a lower action, that's kind of a personal preference thing. ) All and all fit and finish seem quite good.

All seems well except for that compensation nut. I've only had it for about 4 months at most, and I'm already experiencing the high E, B, and G buzzing, if ever so slightly. ( and it's coming from up at the nut. ) So, I'm gonna have that changed, and I'm sure all will be well.

I dig it. It looks good, plays good, it's light but yet has a big sound. Don't like having to replace the nut already but, whatcha gonna do? I also have a Ibanez SZ520, and a Jackson Performer, this guitar is a nice addition. Although, I do like the bridge in the Ibanez more. It is so nice for palm muting, it's perfectly smooth. One of the best that I've experienced. Once again though, I'm a big fan of this guitar, and I'd probably pick up another if need be.

Locking tuners, EMG Pups, mahogany body, les paul body shape, Jumbo frets, etc. This guitar seriously has some good features on it.

I tend to play metal/hardrock/blues. I was a little regretful on not getting the JB/59 pups...but to tell you the truth, the emg's suite my needs practically perfectly! I'm serious, the 60's give me a nice crisp clean tone and the 81 just drives the distortion on!

I'm using a roland cube 30 with the dime crybaby (a nice crybaby I must add!)

It's not noisy at all, no buzz, thank goodness for humbuckers!

I love this guitar very much, my first REAL guitar just to add. It has great features/plays so well, and it just sounds AWESOME!

It was set up pretty well, the only thing that was wrong was the action, some fret buzz here but it's all good.

Everything seems to last, I can depend on it and I don't think you will be needing a backup for this guitar. Seriously, it's actually really good! The body is going to take a beating (what guitar doesn't) But it's not something you should be worrying about too much.

I got a year warrenty with it and so far, the company that I have bought it from has been very kind and supportive.

I've been playing for about 2-3 years and this guitar is just awesome. It's fast slim neck totally makes playing much easier. I've played on a Gibson and I don't find it to be as comfortable (although, i love Gibson, don't get me wrong :D)

I basically love everything about this guitar, if you're into a beautiful looking guitar with a heavy distorted, yet clean sound. Then I suggest you atleast you look into this guitar...it's just awesome.

I got the Honeyburst with the JB/59 combo. 1 3-way toggle, 2 volume knobs and a shared tone knob. Giving it a 9 on features because of the shared tone knob.

My band plays punk verging on sounding metalish with classic rock leanings. This guitar suits the style perfectly. Also, in my basement, I mess around with blues, reggae and some other type of stuff. The guitar suits that type of music well also.

I love the JB in the bridge. Its pretty bright sounding. Typically, I don't like bright tones. But this thing is bright in a good way - and proud of it. Its not a grating type of sound, but more of a sweet type of sound. Sounds great for rhythm or leads. Turn the volume down a little and the tone will darken up quickly.

The 59 in the neck is very nice as well. Its got that smokey quality that I love in a neck pickup. At low gain settings, you'll sound like Jimmy Page playing Kashmiir. Turn up the gain and you have a great rhytme sound. Turn the tone knob down to zero and the tone will thicken up and project like that beam shooting out of the top of the Luxor hotel in Vegas. Very cool for playing leads and a great contrast to the bridge pickup.

I modified the tone knob to only affect the neck pickup. I hardly ever mess with the tone knob on the bridge anyway. I did this so you don't have to mess with the tone knob while switching pickups (which would be a pain in the rear). So for instance, while playing the intro to American Woman, I can play the chords on the bridge pickup, then flic over to the neck to play the thick single note line. If I want the tone of my bridge pickup to be less bright, I can put the toggle in the middle and use the neck pickups volume control to blend the 2. Works great!

All in all, this thing sounds amazing clean and with varying levels of gain.

Mine came setup exactly the way I would have it setup. No problems with the finish anywhere. I spent a lot of time with this in the store before I committed. I couldn't find any flaws in the finish.

This thing is SOLID! Its got a set neck, a locking bridge and locking tuners. The input jack and strap buttons feel like they've been set in cement. The knobs move freely, but aren't loose - same with the toggle. If you shake the guitar, nothing rattles. I love that!

I've strung it with .10's. My other guitars have .09's, but this guitar is such a tank that .10's felt right. After playing them for about an hour I was right at home on the .10's.

The neck is a joy to play - with a bit of a C shape. Very fun. I'm a fan of the modified Les Paul body and the headstock is cool. The maple cap is gorgeous to look at.

I have no complaints in this category, so I'll give it a 10.

I'm confident that this thing is durable. As I said its very solid and built like a tank! Nothing rattles. At this point, I have no reason to give anything but a 10 (I've had the guitar for almost a year).

I have no idea. If something were to go amiss, I'd have my local tech buddy fix it. Nothing against ESP / LTD, but it would just be easier.

For a > $1000 guitar, this thing is amazing! I own 7 other guitars, ranging from decent to very nice. But this guitar is the one I think of playing when I'm at work. I love the sound and how it plays.

I bought this guitar very recently, it has 24 XJ frets with the model name at the 12th, iy's a solid top with 2 volume and 1 tone control. It comes equipped with EMG's, a 60 and an 81. The ec 1000 has a mahogany body with a 3 piece mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard. Mine is in a intage black finish, the shape is kinda Les Paul ish but its a lot more comfortable. It comes with a tonepros locking bridge, Spersel locking tuners, Earvana compensated nut.

I play most styles of music from blues to metal. The EMG's have a beautiful range of tones good for anything. They are bright and rich yet can pump out really dark tones too. I use it through a Line 6 spider 2, and it sounds great for me. My guitar teacher did say it would sound good through a Messa Boogie.

I bought this guitar and it was brilliant i havnt had any problems and its action etc. were perfect.

I havnt used the guitar live as yet, but my mate used a ltd viper 1000 live and it withstanded his crazy playing.

i have never dealt with them.

10 out of 10!!! This is a great guitar all round. I would recomend it to anyone.

I had a hard time choosing between the new vintage black model with EMG 81/60 or the new vintage honey burst with Duncan JB/59 combo
So I bought them both .
First the features both are Les Paul shaped , The vintage Black sport EMG 81/60s .The Vintage Honey burst sport zebra Duncan JB/59 pups.Both Mahoghany bodies, sperzel tuners. Rosewood fingerboard 24 XJ frets.

Oh baby for guitars that are under a thousand dollars , The LTD 1000 series are incredible. I have a MH-1000 and a Hetfield Truckser LTD version and those like these two EC-1000s are incredible sounding guitars .The Vintage black with EMGs are heavy heavy,great for Metal and hard rock , the vintage honey burst with the duncans while definitely suitable for heavy music are also great for blues and old school rock.Both are great sounding .Im totally impressed.

Both guitars look great , Set up was great ,Both of these guitars the Vintage black and vintage honey burst do not have glossy finishes , the finishes are what they are supposed to be ,look like an aged guitar. I really like that look.You can beat the crap out of them ,which of course I dont do to my instruments and it will still hold up well.

I would play both of them out , Thats the beauty of these guitars , I have alot of expensive Gibson Les Pauls ,which I would be very hesitant to gig with ,for fear of it being damaged or stolen .But with these guitars and the other LTD 1000 series they are great playing and could withstand the rigors of playing out.

I also own numerous Gibsons , Les Pauls , Vs , Explorer , several ESPs JH-3 KH-2 Eclipse , Several Deans ,and several LTDs.
The LTD 1000 series are awsome very close to the much more expensive ESPs.Matter of fact I bought these two EC-1000s for what it would have cost me for 1 ESP eclipse .
I play through a Marshall DSL 100 with a TC electronics G major processor and numerous other efx.
I give the EC and the LTD 1000 series ,a seal of approval.Im picky as hell about my guitars and gear ,so you can bet on it if I give something a good mark.
I play mostly hard rock ,metal , heavy blues type .
I want the Wilton model too , that will be my next purchase .

Black Cherry model, you know all the specs from the reviews below.

This I can't complain about. The guitar sounds great. As with others, I agree that they should have used an EMG 85 in the neck, but oh well.

As with some of the other reviews, I have had some problem with the abalone on the neck flaking off. Very annoying as it only took a month or two to start. Yet, the guitar plays great and sits ever so nice on my body. All of the electronics work well and the action was fine when I bought it. The intonation screws are all rusted out though after a little less than a year...

This is where all the problems really start. The low e string will not stay in the saddle groove. It keeps slipping out, and there is now a second groove in the saddle from this. This guitar is nearly impossible to keep in tune. If you put it to a tuner and hit a note it stays at pitch for 2 seconds, drops a few cents then drops a few cents more. I use 10 gauge strings in standard tuning, and never had any problems with the same setup on a real Les Paul which has the same scale neck. One bend on the g string and it's right out of tune; dive-bombing my non-locked strat holds tune better. The intonation is sketchy at best. It goes out before i go through the rest of the strings, and the high e cannot be intonated. A friend bought the same guitar and his holds tune FAR worse than mine. This leads me to question the Earvana nut, and the Sperzel tuners... I've read rave reviews about the nut, but I think it's garbage because my other guitars give me no problems like this (just my opinion from my experience). The whole guitar has a nasty habit of going sharp after a song or two, maybe temperature related??

I've owned the guitar for about a year. It was great for the first month or two, but that's when it went downhill. I pretty much have been leaving it on the stand at shows. Such a pretty guitar that is just so frustrating to play. If you are interested in getting one, give it a thourough examination. Some people don't complain about it so maybe I got a bad one. (It happens) I don't think I would buy another though. It has it's good moments where it plays fine, nad then bam! no stability. If anyone has any solutions, I'm game...

2005 Korean Made guitar, 24 frets, 2 volume/1 tone, 3-way selector, 2 EMG active humbuckers (60 neck, 81 bridge), Earvana OEM nut, tune-o-matic TonePro bridge, Sperzel tuners, Black Cherry see through body with white/abablone binding, abalone inlays. More things I missed are on ESP's website

I play a variety of styles, so something versatile was needed. Despite most reviews indicating the EMG actives were for rock/metal only, I've been plesantly surprised. The pickups are dead quiet until a string is hit. The pickups are EXTREMELY bright though-lots of treble and high-mids that I wasn't used to. Anyone getting one of these should immediately change the 9-volt powering the pickups and be prepared to fiddle with their EQ settings. Distortion sings on either pickup-I only need a gain of 3 on the ESP to get what guitars driven by passive pickups (including a Gibson 500T ceramic) needed a 9, and each string can still be clearly heard. I can play six-string barre chords at Spinal Tap amp settings and still have distinguishable suspended or augmented chords ring true all over the neck. Pinch harmonics are ridiculously easy to get. Clean...well, if you're expecting vintage tone, you're not going to get it. The clean is very bright and pristine, but lacks warmth. Cleans do sound better on the EMG-60 neck pickup than the 81 in the bridge position. The tone knob only has an impact rolling down from 10 to 7-after that, there's not much difference in tone. The volume knobs on the guitar make a world of difference in the sound in either clean or distorted amp settings

The action on this was PERFECT straight out of the box. Flaw-wise, there is some slight overlap of the cherry finish over the neck bindig in the 17th-24th fret range, a 3/4" scratch on the low-E side of the neck along the white binding and the abalone dust for the neck binding drifts a little outside the black lines. Also, ESP's website indicated that they string with GHS strings (10-46), but mine had D'Addarios in the same gauges. I also had to replace the battery and wish ESP shipped the battery not installed (but included with the guitar). The frets were extremely tarnished, but nothing that 5 minutes with a rag and some jewelry polish didn't clean up.

This guitar seems like a tank. The strap buttons aren't going anywhere; in fact, I had to unscrew them just to mount a strap ON the guitar! It stays in tune extremely well, and with the Sperzels on it, I'd definitely risk this being the only guitar at a gig.

N/A-I've never dealt with ESP's support directly. The website seems helpful, but I'd like to see more about the instruments themselves rather than the recipients of all those endorsement deals...

I'm really happy with this guitar's overall sound. I'm still getting used to the Les Paul body shape. If stolen, I'd be torn between buying a new one and using the insurance money to track down the thief instead. This is the third ESP I've owned, and is easily my favorite. I sold a Gibson V and this was my replacement axe-what I lost in collectible value, I made up for in playability and satisfaction

2002 Made in Korea.
24 XJ frets.
Black Finish with Gold Hardware
2-volume, 1-tone, 3-way toggle switch.
Dual EMG 81's from factory but I changed neck to EMG 85.
Sperzel tuners. Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece.
Mahogany body.
3 pc. mahogany set neck, rosewood fretboard with abalone flag inlays
Les Paul Style bodystyle (thinner body, sharper cutaway,)
TonePros Bridge and Stoptail
Sperzel locking tuners
Thin neck, slight C-curve, 24.75" scale

This guitar is amazing with the EMG's in it. I changed out the neck pickup to an EMG 85 so I could have a cleaner / brighter distortion sound. Harmonics really come out on this guitar especially if oyu have a tube amp. I use a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier with a Mesa 4 x 12 ovrsized cab.
Overall the guitar is quiet ( no craking when you turn pots or anything like that). Definately a metal guitar. You can play blues, light rock, and jazz but if you play ultra clean styles the EMG's are not for you.

The factoryset up wasn't that great. But on't fret ( hahaha unintentional joke), You can have it beautifuly set up for less that 50 bucks. If you buy the guitar at a store they will prolly set it up for free. After it was set up it played perfect. The factory set up the strings were very high and the intonation was off, but the factory did get the pickup heights right. There is nothing special about the black finish. While it looks cool, all black finishes look cool, there is nothing special about it.

This guitar is a beast. It can take just about anything you do to it. Mine fell of a 5 foot tall stage and it only suffered a minor paint chip. They are also pretty light compared to the brick of a guitar known as a Gibson Les Paul.

Kinda retarded. they can't help you with serial numbers and factory specs ( things like pickup height, string height and other stupid things like that). but I've never really needed there help so its ok. But it kinda worries me cause if I ever need there help I don't think they will be very much use.

I've been playing 7 years. I own the black ec-1000, Fender American Strat, and an ltd DV-8. I wish the guitar would have come stock with an EMG 85 in the neck or even an 89, or 60. The 81's sound too much alike in the bridge and neck position. If it were stolen or lost I would definately buy it again.The best feature about it is the locking tuners. If a string breaks onstage you can change it and tune up in around one minute. I compared this guitar to my friends H-1000, they both were LTD and had EMG's so I compared the sound and feel to his, but I've always loved les paul body styles so I choose the ec-1000.

2004 Made in Korea.
24 XJ frets.
Flamed maple top--BEAUTIFUL amber sunburst finish.
2-volume, 1-tone, 3-way toggle switch.
Dual Seymour Duncan passive humbuckers (59 in neck, JB in bridge).
Sperzel tuners. Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece. Earvana nut.
Mahogany body, flamed maple top.
3 pc. mahogany set neck, rosewood fretboard with abalone flag inlays
Les Paul Style bodystyle (thinner body, sharper cutaway)
TonePros Bridge and Stoptail
Sperzel locking tuners
Earvana Nut
Thin neck, slight C-curve, 24.75" scale
Included hardcase, strap, and custom setup with purchase.

Gets a 10 in this category. Would've liked to have 2 volume and 2 tone controls, but I'd be REALLY nitpicking. For the money you are getting a TON of features.

This is the category that truly matters, so I'll make sure to elaborate here.

I play mostly classic rock, hard rock, and metal , blues, some surf rock (AC/DC, Metallica, Tool, Sabbath, Zep, Alice, Shadows Fall, COC, Monster Magnet you get the picture--basically any music with great riffs.)

I am using this with a Mesa RectoVerb Series 2 combo with two cabinets: Mesa 2x12 cab with Celestion vintage 30s for the hard rock/metal stuff, and Avatar open-back 2x12 with 1 Celestion vintage 30 and 1 G12H30 for the classic crunch and cleans. I use Monster Cable Jazz instrument cable and speaker cable, and occasionally a Crybaby Classic Wah.

This guitar suits my styles beautifully. In comparison to similarly shaped guitars, I've owned an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and a Gibson Les Paul Studio, and I truly prefer this ESP to both of them, mainly because the body shape is much more comfortable to play. The neck feels less sticky, and the back body cutaway places the guitar against your body for comfortable, fast picking techniques. The tone I'll describe in more detail below, but it is slightly less full than a real les paul, probably because of the lighter body. One thing that shouldn't neglect being mentioned is that this guitar has EXQUISITE balance with a strap. When you remove your hands from the guitar it STAYS PUT. This may seem trivial to some, but in a gigging situation this reduces back fatigue, playing hand fatigue, and just makes you play better period.

I actually purchased the Black Cherry model with the EMG's at the same time to compare the tone. I ended up returning that one because the tone sounded too close to my ESP custom explorer with the same pickups. Don't get me wrong, the Cherry model is a great guitar, just not as versatile as this one (and slightly more expensive too). I chose the Sunburst model because I wanted a tone that provided a distict contrast to my Explorer to use for studio work.

SOUND QUALITY: This is my first experience with the Earvana nut and it is truly a wonderful feature. I couldn't believe my ears when I first started playing high-volume clean leads up in the high frets. The intonation is so spot on, with none of the shrillness you sometimes get in the high positions. You may want to keep in mind that the Earvana system only works when the strings are in standard tuning relative to each other. Dropping the low E sting as many metal players do will counteract the benefits of the nut.

The JB/59 pickups are a great all around pickup combo for my styles of playing. While EMG's are the perfect pickup for hard rock and metal, they simply don't give you the warm overdrive tube crunch that passive humbuckers do for cleans and overdrive tube clipping. I can get a wide variety of sounds with this guitar from warm, round cleans from the neck to full shred hi gain with rich harmonic feedback. Thrown in some smothering reverb on the neck clean and back off the tone control, and all of a sudden I'm Dick friggin' Dale. Crank the gain on the clean bridge, boost the mids a tad and Angus Young's "wooden" crunch appears. Scoop the mids and switch over to modern hi-gain for any hard rock, thrash metal, nu metal tone you want. Its all in there, just waiting for you to experiment.
As far as dislikes, i think the neck pickup is slightly darker than I'd prefer, especially for cleans. I find myself constantly tinkering with the mids/presence amp controls to get the right amount of shimmer for the clean style I want when I switch from the bridge to the neck. So I may swap the 59 for a Jazz model, which is more my flavor. Again, this is being really nitpicky----this guitar will reward nearly all players with an impressive arsenal of tone.

The guys at the Guitar Garage set up the guitar to my liking with a full pro setup, so I didn't sample the out-of-the-box setup. However, this is my 5th ESP, and they have always been setup near perfect out of the box. The pickup height was perfect, and the quality of the finish is first rate. No flaws in the finish, and I inspect guitars really closely. The switches and pots seemed solid, no scratching. I have mine with all strings tuned down a half step, and the action begs you to get wild with your string bends, and dares you to find any sign of fret buzz. Awesome.

The build quality on this (and my other ESPs and LTDs) are top notch. Thick paint finishes, quality hardware and construction. Will withstand rigourous gigs. Strap buttons are solid, but I always use strap locks, but I suppose a little wood epoxy on the screws of the standard strap buttons would work too. Absolutely dependable, and unlikely to give you trouble, but for your audiences sake, please don't gig without a backup cause you just never know.

I've only ever contacted ESP thru email, and they are a little slow to respond. However, when they did respond, they were super helpful and thorough with my questions. I don't know how they handle warranty issues so I choose to not rate this category.

Been playing for 15 years and am still mystified by the possibilities that the guitar offers. Ive owned many guitars in my time, and currently have an ESP custom explorer, Gibson SG Standard with Bigsby Vibrato, Gibson Les Paul Studio, ESP LTD F-400fm, epiphone Alleykat, Fender Standard Telecaster with SD Quarter Pound neck/ Little '59 bridge, and a Washburn acoustic.
If this guitar were stolen or lost, I'd definitely get another, and maybe even sell my Les Paul Studio (sounds fantastic, but the tuners don't cut it, and less comfortable to play).
The best aspect of this guitar is its versatility. Its also damn good looking. No gripes, other than my preference for the neck pickup. I compared this guitar to the Black Cherry model with EMGs and the Fernades Raven Elite with Sustainer.

2004 model in Sunburst finish.
24 frets. Sperzel tuners. Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece. Earvana nut.
Seymour Duncan JB & 59' zebra pickup set.
2-volume, 1-tone, 3-way toggle switch.
3-piece mahogany set neck with rosewood fretboard.
Abalone flags for inlays, model name at 12th fret.
Mahogany body with flamed maple top.
Tummy cut and deeper lower cutaway for higher playing.

I have to come right out and say this is the best guitar deal I have ever had in my 16 years of playing. For $700, this can't be beat. This may be considered a poor man's Les Paul, but I would take this over many of the Gibson's I've owned in the past.

This is just one of those guitars that plays perfect. This one weighs 6.5 pounds! How can you beat that! The Duncan's prove themselves as great pickups. I can easily get a really nice rock sound or get into the metal territory (if I needed to). Granted, they are not as strong as EMG's, but they are still pretty hot. I currently play a Peavey JSX through a Genz Benz G-Flex cab.

I'm giving this category an 8 only because the guitar is a little bright. No doubt in part to the light wieght on this one. I can back down on the tone a bit and get all kinds of great sounds out it. It won't get that nice thick neck pickup sounds like Les Paul's do, but I'm thinking of trying the Rio Grande BBQ Bucker/Texas Humbucker set in this guitar to compensate for that.

Factory set-up was great for shipping to me (Illinois) from Nevada. I always have my guitars set-up at a local music store when I buy one anyway. Everything looked great out of the box, no problems.

I see this guitar lasting a long time. Great craftmanship and top quality parts on it. I've seen USA guitars that don't have this kind of quality and/or the components. If I had to, I would feel comfortable gigging with this and no backup.

Never had to deal with ESP.

As I metioned earlier, I have been playing 16 years and this is undoubtedly the beast deal on a guitar that I've ever had. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy another one ASAP, and hope that it only wieghed 6.5 pounds like this one! I had never played one of these before, but I have owned a couple of the LTD Viper models, so I knew what to expect in the craftmanship department. I chose this model after reading several reviews on it.

If you are looking for a great 2-humbucking blues/rock/metal guitar with tons of quality parts-----you need this guitar!

Finish : amber sunburst
Wood : mahogany (body/neck) rosewood (fingerboard)
hardware : tonepros II bridge, sperzel locking tuners, earvana nut
Pickups : seymour duncan - JB bridge - 59' neck
Neck : 24 XJ frets, 24.75" scale length, thin U shape
Controls : 3 way switch w/ 2 vol. and 1 tone knob

For what I play (hardcore/trash metal), it's got everything I need. The Best thing about this guitar is that you get so much stuff for your buck! You don't see guitars with tonepro/sperzel/earvana very often!

I play hardcore (note that I don't mean that gay shit music a la atreyu, stuff like Cro-mags, Warzone, Agnostic Front, Madball should come to mind!) and a little bit of trash metal (metallica, megadeth, anthrax...). First, I've been an EMG devotee for the last 3 years so playing with Duncan is way diferent! But I love them, the JB delivers some great balanced crunch and it really catches the real tone of the guitar, as EMG's aren't really affected by the wood of a guitar. For solo I love the middle position with the 59' volume halfway, it's great; not to fat, not to bright. I Play this guitar through a 5150/marshall 1960 stack whit no effect (BOSS TU-2 AND GE-7 are there), that's all I need!

The only thing turning me off is all that abalone, it would looks way better with standard white banding, but anyway, I can live with that. Great factory set-up, the action is a little high, but that fixable in a split second.

I don't have the guitar long enough to tell, but it looks solid. Strap locks are needed. One sure thing it that the hardware are built for war. I will defenitly gig with it!

Havent dealt with them yet.

I don't think you can get more bang for your bucks that the Deluxe LTD line! At first I was looking for a gibson les paul studio, but when I tried an EC-1000 I just said , fuck that overpriced Gibson! The EC-1000 sounds way better than the studio and it's got great hardware. I don't know any guitar with duncan pups./tonepro bridge/sperzel tuners/earvana nut that cost 700$!!! If your looking for a les paul shaped axe, you owe to yourself to try the the different eclipse from ESP/LTD, they got EC for every budget!

All the features for this are on the ESP website and have ben gone into great detail here. I have the ASB model with the Duncans and it is fantastic. In terms of hardware and materials its a prefect 10.

Awesome. I play death metal, emo, rock ect and this guitar sounds perfect in all regards for whatever im doing. Great lows and mids, highs aernt too harsh or brittle. I also demo-ed the black model with EMG's, that was also phenominal in the tone dept, abliet different.

This guitar can be setup very well, no complaints. The body is thinner than a Gibson LP, i like it but some players may not.

Ok, this is where we go downhill quick. The alalone that ESP uses it real brittle and is cracking and falling off in spots. I've only had this S.O.B. for 3 weeks and i can already tell that i wont be gigging it.

To the Guys at ESP, kill the abalone on the neck, it looks kinda gaudy anyway.

I havent spoken to them yet, i may just get some abalone from stew-mac, fix it and trade it in on an ESP standard Viper.

Im gonna give this sucker a low rating becasue of the abalone, but it is a really nice axe in all other respects. ESP is a great compant and i plan on buying from them again, and this time gettin what i really want.

2004 Made, See-Through Black Cherry (Which means Dual EMG 81's). The binding is nice, as I have no problems with mine. The flamed maple top is AMAZING. Like others have said, the picture does not describe how great this thing looks! My only gripe is the black hardware. I would have prefered chrome, but thats just me. The rosewood fretboard is a bit grainy, but it still plays great. The neck is also great. Nice and thin. I own a Gibson with a 60's style thin taper neck, and this neck is much faster in my opinion. The abalone inlays were annoying at first, but I've grown to like them. Extremely comfortable to play. Not heavy like a Les Paul, but still sturdy.

I play a wide variety of rock music including things like Metallica, Sabbath, Zeppelin, STP, Hendrix, Van Halen, and some newer mainstream stuff (I know, I know). Some country and blues as well. Great for thrashy metal, which is what I use it for. If I wanted to play country, I'll use my Strat. Its that simple. This IS a metal guitar. No questions asked. I'm running it through a JCM2000 TSL100 /w a Mesa oversized 4x12 and it sounds great! I had to ease back on my treble and put a bit more mid into my EQ at first, but other than that is sounds great. Like I said before, its built for rock, but you can always roll back on the tone, and get some decent jazzy tones out of it. If you don't want a metal sound, don't buy the one with EMG's. It's as simple as that... Still undecided on the 81 in the neck. I've got an extra 85 laying around that I just found that will be in there as soon as I change the strings. The bridge and neck just sound too similar, especially when playing rhythm stuff.

It was set up great from the factory. Action was perfect for my liking. Only thing I had to adjust was the bridge pickup height, which I brought up a bit. Garbage strings, which is completely normal. I changed them immediately. The maple top was match quite well. Better than my Gibson anyways. Nothing else I have noticed yet.

Definately reliable. Harware looks solid. Finish looks nice and thick. It is my main live axe now, but of course I bring a backup. I use all 4 of my current guitars live now, because of the range of sound that I like to have, but this one gets the most use.

Never had to deal with them. Hopefully never will.

I've been playing for 6 years. I own a Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 reissue, an American Series Strat, an cheap Ibanez /w EMG 81 & 60 (For lower tunings). If it were lost, I would definately buy it agian. To me, it is more comfortable to play than my Gibson, and suits my style a bit better. Gibson-like quality, with the sound I need, for a price of less than half of what I paid for my Les Paul. In a perfect world, it would have came from the factory with an Ebony fretboard, no inlays, chrome hardware, 2 tone knobs, and a EMG 85 or 60 in the neck. Unfortunately, I don't have $6000 for an ESP from the Custom Shop, nor would I spend that much if I could. All in all, an amazing bang for your buck, from a very reputable company, with quality that is comparable to, if not exceeding guitars in the $2000+ price range. This ones a definate keeper.

2004 EC-1000, you know the specs i'm sure. I have the black one, took a chance and ordered it without ever playing one.

It is a little heavier then I expected, I was expecting a cheap light weight feel. So being a little heavy and having EMG 81'S, it has a bright sound. I really needed to mess with my amp to get a decent sound. I have a real Zakk Wylde Les Paul and they really are bright. You will definatley want to add some bass/mids. The 81 in the neck sucks, what the hell were they thinking?!

The guitar came set up well, the action is low and the neck is fast

This is already one of my main guitars. It seems to be built to last, somebody on here said the pictures don't do it justice...they're right! Just awesome to look at.

hopefully wont find out

I have been playing for 15 years and have tried a little of everything. The only thing I know now is that I hate a tremelo systems. I have also bought a Shecter C-1 classic, which is great, but this guitar is better. This EC-1000 is real close quality-wise to my Les Paul, thats staggering and it makes me ill. Its not $2000 nicer, that I promise you. If you decide to get one, you wont be dissapointed.

I just purchased the LTD EC 1000 with the amber sunburst finish and the two Seymour Duncan pickups. When I opened the case my jaw hit the floor. The guitar looks great on the website but when you see this guitar in person it will capture your attention. The paint job is beautiful and the craftmenship makes this guitar look expensive.

I played it for the first time last night in a venue that required lots of sound. I always use my Fender Double Fat at shows. I warmed up in sound check with the LTD just in case I needed to use it. When it came time to play I stayed with the Fender because of comfortability. Sure enough I broke a string after the first song. The LTD came off the bench and Kicked Ass! This guitar sounded amazing. Needless to say it won't be sitting on the bench any longer. I loved it.

The action is perfect for my likiing. The sound from the Seymour Duncan's were fat and warm and yet they cut through the mix. This is a fantastic guitar. I now understand why there is such a wait for these things. If you have to wait to purchase this guitar it is worth it.

Between this and my Fender and my 335 I now have a complete arsenal of tone.

I play rock with a cold play vibe and this guitar handles that type of sound very well. I'm sure I could get a lot more out of it. Haven't had the privilege of moving into other venues of sound yet.

I highly recommend this guitar. It's really not necessary to go out and spend $2000 on a guitar when you can get one like this for under a $1000 and get the same results. Don't pay for the big names. The LTD can hold its own. Even with the big boys.

The set up was perfect when I got the guitar. Great action. The neck is perfect. And the finish is amazing. I haven't seen the cherry finish or the black in person but if they are anything like the sunburst than you are in for a treat.

Feels very solid.

Haven't had to go there yet

I've been playing for 25 years and have owned a lot of guitars. This is definetly in my top 5 of all time.

My only complaint about the guitar has to do with all the abalony. There is a lot of it on the guitar. I wish they would make one without so much abalony. Other than that it is a perfect guitar. This is just a minor thing.

I've had my EC-1000 for about 2 months. Since I'm not a strictly metal player, I got the much less metally-looking sunburst finish; with the Duncan pickups. It's made in Korea, and has nice binding all around its 24 fret neck and body. Apparently, it has a TonePros bridge, no idea what that is. For the pickups, it has a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. It's all mahogany, with a maple top. The Sperzel tuners are really nice, they make changing strings incredibly simple. Unfortunately, it didn't come with a case, but that's ok because you're already getting quite a lot of things for $700. Since it has the Les Paul body shape, it doesn't have the best high fret access, but if you stretch your fingers you'll reach just fine.

I play pretty much everything, from classic rock from the 60s and 70s to country to metal. Unfortunately, the amp I use is a crappy 15 watt combo that can magically make any guitar sound like utter shit. Ocassionaly, i get a chance to play on tube amps, and it sounds great. Sometimes I run my amp from the FX loop to my computer, and then use the Guitar FX Box program for effects. Even with my terrible amp, the guitar sounds nice. It has a fat, full sound that approximates a Les Paul tone. Sustains forever. The JB is too noisy for my tastes and doesn't give enough output for high gain solos, so I'm planning on replacing it soon. For non-metal purposes, it works just fine. The 59 in the neck is good for clean, jazzy playing; with a fat, mellow sound. This guitar can cover a wide spectrum of tones, with some EQ / tone tweaking. Plugging it into a tube Marshall plexi, i got a really awesome sound that's reminiscent of 70's rock tones; with my 15 watter i can get any sort of crazy metal sounds out of it. The 24 fret neck lets you go really high, and it's good for fast, shreddy solos.

The factory setup was good: it was perfectly intonated, though I lowered the action to my taste. Anyway, I'm not going to bitch about the factory setup because I changed it all within a week anyway. The guitar is beautiful, its maple top is better than most Gibsons i tried, although nowhere near a PRS level (not that I'm expecting it to be). When I looked at this guitar in the ESP catalog, I thought the guitar had way too much binding, but it looks a LOT better in person than on photos. The binding and inlays are nice, and i found only 1 minor flaw in the binding. The 16th fret buzzes a bit, but you probably shouldn't set your action that low anyway. I haven't discovered any other flaws yet.

I have not used it live yet, but it seems like it would withstand live playing just fine. It feels solid. I haven't had problems with the finish yet, and it still looks nice and shiny. Strap buttons are OK, i might replace them with locking ones to be safe. Since I've only had this guitar for 2 months, I wont comment on the durability.

No idea. I usually fix guitars myself.

Overall, this guitar is awesome. It is definately one of the best deals i've found in the price range. I like it more than all the $500-$800 instruments i've found so far, and it sounds way better than the faded Gibsons; don't pay for the big name. It can compare to more expensive guitars: it sounds a lot like a Les Paul Classic, at half the cost. It's no LP Custom, but its great. I've been playing for about 3-4 years maybe, and I also own 2 cheap acoustics and a cheap Musicyo.com Kramer guitar which was my first. It feels kind of weird playing the EC, since I'm more used to Strat-style guitars, but I'll probably get used to it. If it was stolen, I would certainly like to replace it, but I'm poor and I doubt I could scrounge up another $700. For those who can't afford a Gibson, this is certainly a good way to go.

ESP LTD Deluxe EC-1000. Had it for about 2-3 months now. 24 extra jumbo frets. Two volume knobs - one for each pickup - and one tone knob with a 3-way selector. It has two EMG 81 active pickups. Mahogany body, 3-piece mahogany/rosewood neck. TonePros bridge. Sperzel Locking Tuners. 24.75" neck scale. I got it in the black and it looks gorgeous.

This guitar really sounds great. I play mostly metal/hard rock, with stuff like Metallica and Dream Theater, and my band's stuff tends to lean in that direction. This guitar fits my style perfectly, and the EMG 81 in the bridge has a great crunch to it and it sounds killer. The 81 in the neck surprised me somewhat, as the clean is very bright and it has a nice, smooth tone for distorted leads. That said, I will most likely be changing the neck pickup to an EMG 60 or 85 soon, since I do want a nicer clean sound and I don't like having two of the same pickups in the bridge and neck.

This guitar, surprisingly, can cover a pretty nice variety of sounds. Obviously, it is intended for pure metal as that is what the 81 does best. But rolling back the guitar volume and using the middle or neck pickup selection can actually give you a fair amount of options with the sound. Still, it does heavy music best and if you play something other than hard rock or metal, you'll want to look elsewhere.

I think this guitar sounds perfect for my tastes. I guess I can't give it a 10, since no guitar is absolutely perfect, but this one fits my playing style. I don't have any big complaints about the sound.

When I received this guitar, the action seemed to be just fine. It plays great and is fast. The pickups were also fine. I didn't find any flaws with the guitar when I received it.

I haven't played this guitar at a live gig yet, but I have played with it at band practices and have had no problems. It seems like a very sturdy guitar and very dependable. One thing that I really like about this guitar is its weight. Most guitars of this body style (Les Paul-style) are very heavy, but the EC-1000 really isn't. It's not super light, but it's nicely in the middle and is comfortable to play standing up.

One problem I noticed with the strap buttons is that, because of the strap I use (PlanetWaves locking strap), they tend to unscrew a little. I guess if I used real straplocks this wouldn't be a problem, as the PlanetWaves strap locks right onto the buttons and turns a lot, so I guess it's easy for the button to get unscrewed a little. But, it's not a big problem and doesn't happen often. Nothing a screwdriver can't fix quickly.

As far as playing a gig without a backup, I probably would have no problem with that. I think it's a very reliable guitar, although playing without a backup is always risky. It's up to the player in the end, but I think this guitar will perform very well live.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

Overall, this guitar is an excellent deal. It can easily compete with many other guitars in its price range and above it. I've only been playing for a year and a few months and this is my second guitar - first was a starter Ibanez. If this was stolen or lost, I think I would definitely buy it again. I really love it. I pretty much like everything about this guitar. The only problem would be the pickups, I guess. It seems like a lot of people change the 81 in the neck for something else, and I'll probably be doing the same soon.

I spent months searching for the guitar I wanted, and considered a few. The main one that I was thinking of getting before this was the Jackson SLSMG. That's a very good guitar, and its neck is, I think, a little faster than the EC-1000's. But, overall, it just doesn't match up to this guitar. It's very basic, especially because it has two EMG HZ pickups, and it costs around $900. I planned on buying that guitar and switching out BOTH of the pickups for active EMGs, and then I found the EC-1000. I'm glad I did. Not only did I save a lot of money this way ($150 on the guitar alone, then another $150 or so at least on pickups), but I prefer the way this guitar plays and feels to the SLSMG.

If you are interested in this guitar, I would highly recommend it. The price is almost unbeatable for the features and sound you get. As I said, this can easily compete with many similarily-and-higher-priced guitars.

This is an updated review from the one I posted several months ago. The features can clearly be seen all over this page. I have th black LTD EC-1000. Made in Korea, 24 frets, EMG 81's, TonePros bridge, Sperzel tuners, abalone inlays, 3 way toggle switch with 2 independant volumes, but only one tone knob. This was my only grievance with it's features when I first received it. It'd be nice to have two tone knobs, but oh well no big.

Well this guitars sound kills. Active pickups, what more can you say? I am using this along with my Gibson Les Paul Studio and I am playing through a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier amp through a Mesa Boogie slanted 4x12 cab and I am also playing it through a Line 6 Flextone III amp. As you can expect I play harder stuff, and I must admit this guitar suits my style great. I did replace the neck pick up with an EMG 85 though, because the neck EMG 81 just wasn't doing it for me as far as cleans go and I wasn't into the sound coming from the neck pick up in general. I would highly suggest throwing an EMG 85 in the neck. This guitar is out to do some damage with an EMG 85 in neck.

The action was set pretty nice and low when I got it, but after a oouple days I noticed some buzzing coming from the G string so I raised the action a bit and haven't had any problems since as far as action goes. The finish was beautiful to this day I love the glossy black finish of this guitar. I haven't had any intonation problems so that is holding up pretty well. I did come across another problem about a month after I received this guitar. When I plugged it in, if I moved just a little bit it would cut out and do those annoying pops through my cab. If I stood still no problems, but moving was a problem. I sent it to a local repair shop and was told that when I was plugging into the guitar jack the plug wasn't completely receiving the active pickup signal because one of the parts wasn't tight enough(I forgot all the jargon exactly but this a summary of sorts of what he told me). So he tightened it and all was good. This guitar is pretty well built but as you can see above did not come flawless.

This guitar seems pretty solid now that I have had some work done on it, but in general it is a very dependable guitar. Most guitars come across some problems, but I don't anticipate worrying anytime about this guitar. I did put a Dimarzio screw-in strap system just to play it safe and because they are rock solid.

I haven't dealt with them, but I have heard a mixed bag of good and bad. I hope it never comes to me finding out.

I have been playing guitar for 4 and a 1/2 years now and the guitar gear I own is a Yamaha acoustic, a Gibson Les Paul studio, the LTD EC-1000, a Line 6 Flextone III amplifier, and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would definitely buy another one. I think this guitar is great for the price and ya gotta love the inclusion of active pick ups. Like I said the only features I wish it had was another tone knob and how about throwing an EMG 85 in the neck during production so we don't have to spend extra money. This guitar is great nonetheless.

a 24 fret quilt top cherry model... all the rest of the features are listed in other reviews...

this guitar rocks.... I play through a johnson millenium 150 with a cry baby wah.... thats it... I hear this guitar is built mainly for metal, but I have found that to be not true... this guitar can play ANYTHING and do it well... from creamy warm tones to kick you teeth in chops, it does it all... The emg 81 pickups are a little hot, so if your a sloppy player you will have to learn to clean up your riffs....I have played just about every guitar out there, and nothing comes close to this guitar for the price...

UNREAL....gorgous in every respect... the kind of craftsmanship on this guitar would cost you a couple grand on a gibson... all I can say is go check one out for yourself and you will fall in love....

this thing is built like a tank but definentally not as heavy as one... it can withstand just about anything you can throw at it...

never had to deal with them

I personally would take this guitar over a les paul anyday.... same craftmanship but at a price a normal person can afford....

Read below for the specifics. Mine's See-through-Cherry, and the quilt top is not bad. I've seen one's that are REALLY dark, but mine's a little brighter than what ESP shows on their website. As far as Les Paul knockoff's go, this has a lot of features you wouldn't find on a Paul, so I'm going high with my score on this.

I used to have EMG's in all my guitars back in the 80's, but I've gotten away from them for a while. It was refreshing hearing them again. I play mainly hard rock, and this works well in that regard. I was even suprised that it sounds very good clean too. The pickups are very sensitive, and tends to magnify hiss on high gain patches. I'm running mine through a Peavey Triple XXX half stack, and also through a Vamp Pro into my DAW for recording, and this guitar sounds rich, chunky, and pissed through both. I've owned Jacksons, Ibanez, and Les Pauls, and I must say that I'm more pleased with the sound of this guitar to all I've had before.

The action on this guitar is what sold me. When I had first seen this guitar I thought "oh great, just what the world needs, ANOTHER Les Paul copy", but when I picked it up, I noticed a few things. It's neck is longer and thinner than a Les Paul. I hate finished necks, but the more I played it, I really fell in love with the feel and playability of the neck! Strings felt looser and easy to bend. As far as finish, I'm relatively neutral. You should also know that I am EXTREMELY picky about workmanship, so take my opinion as you will. The binding is less than perfect, and in some areas it's easy to see where the stain was sprayed over it. The paint seems durable, but there are a few areas where dust is trapped in the paint. I'm not really crazy about the Abalone all over the guitar,(Although it's starting to grow on me) but it was applied well. Since it's a transparent color, I can see that the Mahogany isn't the highest grade, as you can see nicks and grain flaws that were cleared over. Either the truss cover was cut too long, or the screw hole was drilled a little off, since the cover is not flush with the neck, and is a little wedged against the nut, which leaves a gap. The hardware is top notch and seems very trustworthy. I really like the Shaller locking nuts. The nut was cut okay, but I'm going to need to cut the high E and B to make me a little happier. For the price, I can live with these little "character features".

I've always leaned towards Floyd Rose equipped guitars, so having a fixed bridge gives me a lot more confidence in it for live use. As stated above, ESP didn't skimp in the hardware department, so I think it should last a pretty fair amount of time. I haven't had a chance to run it through it's paces yet, but it seems like it's pretty trustworthy so far. My only beef, is that the battery compartment for the pickups is merely a small plate and 2 screws. It would have been nice for a drop-out battery box, but for the price I can live with it.

Wouln't know about their support. My dealer had no paperwork to give me for the guitar, as they take all new guitars out of the box and throw them up on the wall for display. Their site is a little vague about warranty info, but they do state "The ESP Limited Lifetime Warranty will cover defective parts ONLY within the first year from purchase date. Guitar must be purchased as NEW from an Authorized ESP Dealer and Warranty only applies to Original Owner. To receive Warranty Replacement parts, you must submit Proof of Purchase AND return your completed warranty card to ESP"

Hmmmm...How can you have a limited lifetime warranty that only lasts a year?

I really didn't want this guitar. I went to my local dealer to buy some recording stuff, and I picked the guitar up to mess around with until my salesman was done with his customer. After a few minutes with it I was having bad thoughts of walking out of the store with in fact, I DID leave the store without it, but I drove around the block and went back for it 5 minutes later! I've been playing for about 18 years now, and I have owned just about everything ever made. I've been on the "Ultimate axe" quest for the last 5 years, but I've been dissapointed with what's available. I should also mention that I've never been a big fan of the LTD line. Their stuff always seemed...cheap...somehow. I guess since I knew it was ESP's Korean line, I never gave them a chance. For the money, I feel relatively pleased with this guitar. Great hardware, good pickups, and an awesome neck. It's nice to see manufacturers throwing quality hardware on their guitars at a decent price point. If I had spent over $1500 on this guitar, I would have issues. The fact is, I paid half of that, and got something leauges better than the $2500 priced Gibsons that share similar flaws in quality. For rock, metal or jazz, this gets the job done well.

Read below for the specifics. Mine's See-through-Cherry, and the quilt top is not bad. I've seen one's that are REALLY dark, but mine's a little brighter than what ESP shows on their website. As far as Les Paul knockoff's go, this has a lot of features you wouldn't find on a Paul, so I'm going high with my score on this.

I used to have EMG's in all my guitars back in the 80's, but I've gotten away from them for a while. It was refreshing hearing them again. I play mainly hard rock, and this works well in that regard. I was even suprised that it sounds very good clean too. The pickups are very sensitive, and tends to magnify hiss on high gain patches. I'm running mine through a Peavey Triple XXX half stack, and also through a Vamp Pro into my DAW for recording, and this guitar sounds rich, chunky, and pissed through both. I've owned Jacksons, Ibanez, and Les Pauls, and I must say that I'm more pleased with the sound of this guitar to all I've had before.

The action on this guitar is what sold me. When I had first seen this guitar I thought "oh great, just what the world needs, ANOTHER Les Paul copy", but when I picked it up, I noticed a few things. It's neck is longer and thinner than a Les Paul. I hate finished necks, but the more I played it, I really fell in love with the feel and playability of the neck! Strings felt looser and easy to bend. As far as finish, I'm relatively neutral. You should also know that I am EXTREMELY picky about workmanship, so take my opinion as you will. The binding is less than perfect, and in some areas it's easy to see where the stain was sprayed over it. The paint seems durable, but there are a few areas where dust is trapped in the paint. I'm not really crazy about the Abalone all over the guitar,(Although it's starting to grow on me) but it was applied well. Since it's a transparent color, I can see that the Mahogany isn't the highest grade, as you can see nicks and grain flaws that were cleared over. Either the truss cover was cut too long, or the screw hole was drilled a little off, since the cover is not flush with the neck, and is a little wedged against the nut, which leaves a gap. The hardware is top notch and seems very trustworthy. I really like the Shaller locking nuts. The nut was cut okay, but I'm going to need to cut the high E and B to make me a little happier. For the price, I can live with these little "character features".

I've always leaned towards Floyd Rose equipped guitars, so having a fixed bridge gives me a lot more confidence in it for live use. As stated above, ESP didn't skimp in the hardware department, so I think it should last a pretty fair amount of time. I haven't had a chance to run it through it's paces yet, but it seems like it's pretty trustworthy so far.

Wouln't know about their support. My dealer had no paperwork to give me for the guitar, as they take all new guitars out of the box and throw them up on the wall for display. Their site is a little vague about warranty info, but they do state "The ESP Limited Lifetime Warranty will cover defective parts ONLY within the first year from purchase date. Guitar must be purchased as NEW from an Authorized ESP Dealer and Warranty only applies to Original Owner. To receive Warranty Replacement parts, you must submit Proof of Purchase AND return your completed warranty card to ESP"

Hmmmm...How can you have a limited lifetime warranty that only lasts a year?

I`ve had my EC-1000 for about 2 yrs. so this review has some get to know you time behind it.Rundown of features is as follows:

*Mahogany single cut(Les Paul type)body w/quilted maple veneer top.
*Mahogany 3-piece set neck w/rosewood fretboard.
*24 Xtra jumbo frets, 24.75" scale length.
*Tone Pros locking tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece, sperzel locking tuners.
*Dual EMG 81 pickups w/dual volume and single tone control, 3-way pickup selector.
*Multi-layer white, black and abalone binding on body, neck and headstock. Abalone flag inlays on fretboard.
*See through black cherry finish w/black hardware.
*quick access pop-up battery compartment for EMG`s

This catagory gets a 10 because there is no other manufacturer offering this level of features in this price range.

As far as sound, well with the EMG 81`s I think the guitar is geared more toward heavy music. This is not suprising, since ESP is considered by most to be metal guitars. EMG 81`s have a decidedly bright EQ curve to them. This makes them "the" choice in a bridge pup. High output without getting muddy and loosing string definition. Pinch harmonics leap out and scream with high gain amps. You have to be on your toes with technique because every little scrape and squeak gets picked up.
I was suprised to find the neck position 81 also suited this guitar. I would have thought it would be too bright for a good woman tone. Not so, just roll the tone back and play on.
The Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece also help lend a solidness and sustain to the guitar`s voice. The locking bridge and tailpiece in conjuction with the set neck construction make this one of the most solid playing guitars I`ve ever picked up. Sustain goes on and on.
I was origionaly playing this ax through a Marshall Valvestate stack and was very impressed. Since then I`ve moved up to a Peavey 5150 II and now the guitar really shines. The two seem to be made for each other. Ultra thick, heavy tones abound. I`m going through a Dimebag custom wah to the 5150 II. With Digitech X-series delay, flange and chorus through the amps effects loop. All coming out through two Marshall valvestate 4x12 cabs. The EMG pickups make all my rig sound better. The effects are quiet and seem to have a broader range of sound. Like the difference between a transister radio and a 5.1 digital surround system.
If you want heavy clear tones then this guitar will not dissapoint.

O`k now for fit and finish. This was my second EC-1000. The first one I recieved had numerous small cosmetic faults. No big deal except for one major problem. The nut was not well done. There was a large gap under the base of the nut. You could slide two buisness cards between the nut and the neck. A major no-no in a new instrument. So here I go calling ESP`s customer service #. I talked to their warranty manager who proceeded to tell me that this defect would not affect the guitar. After informing this individual that I was not a 16 yr. old kid who didn`t know his ass from a hole in the ground, he agreed to replace the guitar. He even sent me a UPS shipping voucher and guitar box to return ship it. Things where looking up. The replacement I recieved was perfect as could be expected. No flaws at all. Good for me. The guitar was even set up for me with my string gauge and tuning.
I got the impression that most if not all of the faults where from the initial production run and the rush to supply demand for this model.
After nearly two yrs. I`ve not had any trouble out of the guitar. I didn`t even have any string buzz until this winter set in. That`s pretty damn good.

I would give this guitar a 8 or 9 in this catagory except for having to go through two guitars to get a good one. So 5 is what it gets.

This is one of the most solid guitars I`ve ever played. The finish is thick and seems tough although I am pretty carefull with mine `cause it`s too beautifull to scratch. The hardware is top shelf and I don`t expect any trouble out of it. The strap buttons where large and solid but I replaced them immediatly with strap locks. No use pushing things. Just like any guitar it can break at any given time. Even if it`s only a string breaking. Never gig without a backup.

The only long term problem I see is with fret wear. I notice that the fret wire seems pretty soft and cuts easily. Especially under the wound strings. This is really no big deal. I`ll just play it till the frets get too bad then have it refretted with some premium wire. Even with a refret I`ll only have about $1,000.00 in this guitar including hardshell case. That`s pretty damn good for this level of features/performance.
Although this guitar deserves a 10, I`ll remember the fret wear and give it a 7.

As I said above there was some trouble with my first EC-1000.The worst part was the condescending way the ESP rep. acted toward me. A gap under the nut is a major problem. To try and convince me otherwise was wrong. I am convinced that the old adage of the customer being right is gone and dead in american buisness.Too bad.
Since ESP/LTD did replace my guitar with no cost to me, I`ll be generous and give a 5 in this catagory.

I`ve been playing for more than 20 years and have owned my share of equipment. I`ve not played everything out there but have sampled most of what`s offered. The LTD EC-1000 is the best deal out right now. If you want a high end modern take on the venerable Les Paul then this ax is the one to get. The best of hardware and electronics, superb fit and finish with great ooh and ahh factor and a killer aggresive sound with equally impressive playability.

This guitar makes everything in my rig sound better. Hell it even makes me sound better. I like everything about this guitar. Even after the trouble I had with my first one I was so impressed that I went and bought another LTD deluxe series guitar this year. This time I got a Viper 1000 and it`s just as good a guitar. Another awesome deal. The fact that I bought another LTD after havig trouble out of my first one says it all.

Do yourself a favor. Go out and try one of these guitars or one of the other LTD deluxe series guitars. They are all superb guitars and you will not be dissapointed. If anyone needs any info on this guitar or the Viper 1000 you can contact me at the email address below.

2003 Korea. 24 frets. Solid top. black finish with abalone/white binding and abalone flag inlays. EMG 81 set, You know the rest...

Love the sound... The EMG 81's provide lots of low end for metal. I'm not using any effects with it as of yet. Not noisy. Full sounding. Some people say the cleans are too harsh but i like them. very good tone. This guitar is mostly for the heavier areas of music... ie. Metal, Hardcore... if thats what style you play you will LOVE this guitar.

the set up was good. But one minor flaw in the finish; the abalone inlays were not cut very well, and there is more filler than there should be. Its not enough to make it an eyesoar but its something they [factory and inspection] should be more careful on. Theres no excuse for sloppyness on any guitar in this price range. However, overall the quality of the finish is good. nice gold hardware, nobs are tight and sturdy. Some slight fret buzz, but thats not a concern to me.

This guitar looks and feels sturdy enough...

never dealt withem

Been playing 4 years, i also own a yamaha pacifica which sounds like crap compared to this beast. Wish i had taken a closer look at the red one before deciding on black. If it were lost or stolen i'd probly get a new one. I love the low 24.75 scale and slim neck for fast playing, and the sound. Finish looks beautiful... Wish they had done a better job on the inlays though. I compared it to jacksons' other ESP's, ibanez, this came out on top. Great guitar, period.

This EC1000 came with the ASB finish (antique sunburst). the pickups
are Duncan '59neck + JBbridge. this guitar is a freshly made Korean import year 2003 model. LP body styling with refinements that are mucho appreciated! mine has a three piece mahogany body in equal measurements(center piece + two wings ...very Fender in build)along with a three piece mahogany neck (very Hamer in build). two volumes and one master tone plus typical LP three way switch. Refinements: thinner body thickness, tummy cut, underside horn bevel, venetian cut-a-way ..... resulting in way less weight and way more comfort. Glitz: abalone fret markers - neck and body trimmed and bound with abalam - two piece center seamed flame maple top - tone pros II hardware + Sperzel locking tuners. Finish: poly-something or other resin based urethane-a-ma-bobber. Neck: 24 fret two octave scale over 24and 3/4 inches .....say what?

Sounds like ..... well, it's own thing really as all guitars have their own signature sound and as we all scramble to find the best out of a given crop or offering. Is it good or bad sounding ...? neither really .... but it's extremely well voiced and usable. i have many different guitars as do most dedicated and skilled guitarists - this is just one more tool to work with and it performs very well. My ONE GRIPE - is the thinner narrower neck profile. i know most players love thinnner necks - i don't .... gimme some meat and width to mine please. i bought this guitar to save wear/tear on my fave axe ...my PRS McCarty (the king of all neck shapes are found on these!) the EC1000 isn't anything like my McCarty but i wasn't expecting it to be either. i use my McCarty very sparingly to extend it's near mint condition and the fact that i spent a very long time acquiring one as superb as this one - a really good McCarty is easy to find - but the great ones like vintage LP's you have search out ..... i got lucky and found a featherweight with the biggest vowel like voice you'll ever hear and does this with razor thin action - the guitar resonates at will!

this EC1000 had no major let-downs as received from the factory. the intonation was correct - no fret buzzing - superb finish overall - no compromised hardware parts (everything fits nicely and works smoothly). no hums - snap,crakle or pops! all i had to do was to setup my choice of strings and action - that's it!

Reliability ...... way to premature to determine at this time beings this guitar is three days old to me. but, by the looks of things and having great qaulity guitars many years, i can spot trouble areas quickly ..... i didn't find any with this guitar anywhere!

No input.

I know gear and guitars in particular - it's been the biggest consuming free part of my life for the last 30yrs. i buy/sell collectibles for the most part. i have my keepers and they are all American made babies and do me proudly .....but, when i noticed the serial # with the word KOREA before the string on this EC1000 - i had to stop and think it over before buying it - it was that mental trap and bias that only American guitars with potential appreciation are worth the buying - and i had years of experience to confuse myself all the more! so, i put my bias aside and looked over the guitar extensively and came to the very sane conclusion that these have to be one of the better bang-for-your-buck guitars right now being offered. even though, the neck profile isn't what i personaly prefer i knew i had found a gem nontheless. i have been hunting for one of the Japanese Zemaitis LP copies which are very hard to come across right now - and then i found the EC1000 at my favorite dealer. simply stated: the ESP EC1000 LTD is a guitar that delivers and doesn't disappoint and gives some of the higher priced big name boys a real challenge. NOTE: this guitar will most likely not appreciate in value over time because of it being a Korean built guitar - but, as a tool for making and creating music it's a keeper!

This has already been rehashed over and over... The specs on mine are the same as all the previous reviews, except it has the Seymour Duncan JB/59 passive humbuckers and the antique sunburst finish on a flamed maple top and chrome hardware.

The nice hardware is surprising for a guitar in this price range. The TonePros bridge makes adjusting the action and intonation so simple an idiot could figure it out by himself. Why do they even make guitars without locking tuners any more? From start to finish, I can change an individual string in 15-20 seconds.

One thing I would have liked to see on it from the factory is strap lock hardware. My USA Strat came with the hardware and I've NEVER dropped it, but another guy in our band has no strap locks on his acoustic guitar and he's dropped it several times, once punching the 1/4 inch jack right through the wood. All guitars should have locking straps.

Well, seeing as the first words out of an avid guitarist's mouth, after hearing me play for about 30 seconds through a lowly Johnson J-Station and a PA system were "OH MY GOSH that is some freakin FAT TONE!!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!" .....it's pretty dang good.

The SD JB/59's fit my style perfectly, which falls anywhere between straight-up classic rock and blues rock, to highly processed U2-like sounds.

Unfortunately, at the moment I have no amp and can only play through the J-Station. Next week I'm hoping to hook up on a friend's vintage Marshall half-stack (I don't know anything about what models the head and cabinet are). The tone reacts well to any effect I've thrown at it...delay, reverb, chorus, tremelo..etc...

The pickups are remarkably clear and clean, with no excess noise or humming. Next to the JB/59's, my '02 Strat sounds like the Indy 500.

I first played an EC-1000 with the EMG 81's and instantly decided that the sound was much too harsh and sterile. Granted, for some musical styles this is exactly what is wanted....but not mine. With the JB/59's I get a beautiful warm distortion, full of wonderful tone just waiting to be played with. The clean tones are very good. The first sound I ever got from the guitar was a clean tone from a (simulated) VOX AC30 with some compression and a little reverb...I instantly knew I was going to buy the guitar.

The quality of this guitar is absolutely amazing, ESPECIALLY considering the price. Everyone that has seen it has been stunned at its finish level. The flamed maple top is excellent quality, and the bookmatching is perfect. All the hardware feels very durable, the tuners are precise, the output jack is solid, but not too stiff. The body is solid as a brick wall, but doesn't weigh as much as one (need to learn a lesson here Gibson). All of the inlays are perfectly set and well-styled. Some think it is overdone, but I think it was done just right.

The setup from the factory wasn't bad at all. The action may be just a tad high at the bridge and the intonation is very little bit off, but then I'm also an obsessive perfectionist.

The one and only problem I found was that two of the strings were slightly damaged or deformed, having a few small kinks in them. However this was quickly resolved by the best sales rep I've ever met.

If you're into smashing guitars at concerts and stupid stuff like that, look elsewhere. I'm not altogether sure you would be able to break this one if you wanted to. Every joint is solid and every piece of hardware is set well. Finish seems quite solid, but only time will tell. The strap buttons are solid, but then I never trust strap buttons on ANYTHING. The first thing I do on any guitar I buy is install strap locks. As has been said over and over, you don't EVER gig without a backup...EVER... Lets just say that if I had to trust on one guitar to last me the rest of my life...this one would be my choice.

Haven't had to deal with support yet, hopefully never will. All I know is that I have the best sales rep in the world. The guy will break his back to get you exactly what you want. If you're in the San Antonio TX area, drop by Alamo Music on loop 410 and talk to Neal, he is THE MAN!

If it were lost or stolen, I would first hunt down and kill the person who stole it, and then go buy another one. As is quite obvious, my favorite feature about it is its sweet tone. There's nothing I hate about it. I compared it to a Les Paul Standard, but then did a reality check and came to the conclusion that Gibson and my bank account are not compatible terms. Now that I have the EC-1000, I wouldn't want a Les Paul anyway...much too muddy of a sound. If you can only buy one guitar right now, get this one, its quality and versatility make it unbeatable.

I think many of the other reviews cover the features, the fret board is a work of art! (had to say it sorry) Tone pro's -EMG's -Great tuners -Awsome Black Cherry Finish!

My Music style is mainly metal and hard rock original stuff, this guitar works great for that syle through my Mesa Dual Rec. I run a boss Noise Gate and it cleans out all fuzz and buzz (I love that pedal!)Very thick sound and the set neck makes it happen with the EMG's. I run EMG'85's through my other guitar's necks but the 81 works better than any no name most companies throw in there guitars. All in all this guitar sound like $1500 Not $800!!!

Set up was flawless on mine the guys at the shop set the neck just right for me -new strings and the binding and body were perfect (surprised) for the price! I am a freak for flaws and I am trying to find one but damn I just can't! I also own a PRS Tremonti and these guitars are similar to a point and both are perfect and set up just as good as the other for such a price difference! Hat's off to ESP good job on this one!

I am hard on my live stuff so I am hoping it will withstand the pressure it is so good looking I hope it is built like a tank! The Emg's should be great never had a prob. with those ever and the tone pro's bridge is a plus, should stay strong and in tune! The finish looks great the black cherry is the best of the three offered (in My Opinion)It looks very solid! I don't suggest playing w/o a back-up if you don't have to--- but this one might make it.

N/A Have not had to deal with them yet-- Lifetime warranty!!! I give that a 10!

I have been playing for a few years and this guitar is worth checking it out for under $1000.--Not a bad piece at all for a intermed. player or a pro check them out! I would compare it to the Prs Tremonti SE for body style and the way it feels on you, The ESP neck is a little better. For Looks it is right up there with some custom shop stuff can't say enough about the good work on mine very very surprised and pleased! Thanks

2003 Model Black, fitted with the stock EMG 81's. Kind of wish they offered to put an EMG 85 in the neck. Beautiful looking guitar.

Great distortion sounds, a little harsh on the clean sounds due to the 81's. May swith the neck to a EMG 85. Overall, can't beat it for the price. Fingers slide like butter over the frets.

One of the better looking guitars out there. Mine is with the black finish, but I really like the cherry as well. The guitar came set up a little to low with a little too much fret buzzing, but a little tweeking fixed that.

So far so good. The guitar just feels like it can take a beating without even scratching the finish.

I've been playing a Schecter Diamond series elite for the past year or so. I've been looking for something to replace it as my primary guitar, however I had trouble finding anything that matched up to Schecter. In my opinion, this guitar is the best guitar priced under $3000. Since I paid about $750 for mine, it feels like I saved a grand with this deal.

(Just a slight update to my previous post as my PRICE PAID did not show)
Made in Korea 2002 and have played it about 100 hours so far.
I paid a little more than some (by the looks of the reviews) but still feel it is worth that and more.
I sold my Les Paul Deluxe (WHY!! WHY!!!) and looked for another, until I saw this guitar. (Not to mention the price of a new Deluxe is about $3500 Canadian, and good luck finding a nice used one. If money were no object... BUT HELLO GIBSON, IT IS!).
The ESP is a mahogany body, capped with a quilted carved maple top, with abalone laminate ("ablam") on top, fingerboard, neck and headstock. It has a mahogany set-neck, and compared in some respects to my beautiful old Gibson at a fraction of the cost.
I would like to have seen an ebony fingerboard as well, but I guess you can't get all the goodies for this price.

Definitely very good bang for your buck though!
(Read other reviews for the rest).

I listen to and play many styles, but 95% of the time it's HEAVY IS AS HEAVY DOES!
Main amp is a BOOGIE 4-12" with a Carvin (450 watt) stereo power amp and Rexx 2 channel pre-amp. For practice a BOOGIE combo, straight in both, (if you can't get a good sound straight in you need a different amp)!
Mahogany sounds great for electrics and the set neck, fixed bridge and EMGs give loads of sustain.

Switching to 11-54s from the limp noodles they ship with was also a big improvement.
Ya' can't get no sustain out of a 9 guage!

I haven't heard or played a better pickup than EMG for high gain loud volume.
They feedback far less than non-active pickups and don't muddy up by covering a wide harmonic spectrum.

I probably would have preferred an 85 in the neck though for a fatter lead tone, but I'll change that myself and can't complain cause' the 81 is worth about $30 more.

Action from the factory was good... other than the fact it buzzed pretty much all over!
Unfortunately it was my only choice at the time and I didn't want to pass it up (and wait for another) so I grabbed it. Since I worked at Larrivee Guitars for many years (and have literally set up thousands, YES thousands) of guitars I was confident I could fixer' up.

They must have fretted this on a Friday afternoon long weekend after a liquid lunch though, because I had to recruit the expertise of Larrivee's old fretter to dress, reseat and glue down a number of high frets. No excuse for this level of carelessness on any instrument over $1000.
However, I doubt this is indicative of most.

This is one problem with ?ablam? though on the fingerboard since the frets (friction fit) can't always grab enough, but it should have been caught at the factory (or at least at the USA inspection point) as this was over and above what should be let go.
The nut was also a little high but an easy fix.

The quilt and cherry stain on the maple top is beautiful but could have been fit better, as there is a (glue) line in the center of the book-match.
Otherwise the inlay, joints, and paint are quite good (other than a slight buff-through on the headstock).

Have to giver' a 6.5 when I bought it but it's a 9 now.
In my books a 10 means perfect and nothing less so let's not overuse the 10 rating.

Quite a pretty guitar to risk cuts and bruises, but quality doesn't concern me. Still, I'll probably (try to) use my other workhorses out most of the time.

Without a backup? This question doesn't deserve an answer until they make non-breakable strings.

The warranty is "Limited Lifetime" (original owner) so what more do you want?
Yes I could have sent it for warranty repair on the frets but what for when I would rather tweak it to perfection myself, so I haven't dealt with them yet.

I don't anticipate any problems though. If you have a valid issue and treat people with respect the results are usually positive.

I have been playing about 20 years and owned Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Kramer, Larrivee, etc. and swear by Boogie for amps.
I would have wet dreams of playing this guitar if it ever were burned in a fire or crushed in an earthquake.
IT WILL NOT BE STOLEN! I HAVE EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD!

Overall if you want an excellent guitar with quality HW and nice features I personally can't justify spending more money for anything else, unless you are a collector.

This ones' a keeper!

Made in Korea 2002 and have played it about 100 hours so far.
I paid a little more than some (by the looks of the reveiws) but still feel it is worth that and more.
I sold my Les Paul Deluxe (WHY!! WHY!!!) and looked for another, until I saw this guitar. (Not to mention the price of a new Deluxe is about $3500 Canadian and good luck finding a nice used one. If money were no object...BUT HEY GIBSON, IT IS!).
The ESP is a mahogany body (and neck), set-neck, and compared in some respects to my beautiful old Gibson at a fraction of the cost.
I would have liked to see an ebony fingerboard but you can't get all the goodies for this price.
Definitely very good bang for your buck though!

(Read other reviews for the other details).

I love and play many styles but 95% of the time it's HEAVY IS AS HEAVY DOES!
Gear is a BOOGIE combo and a BOOGIE 4-12" with a Carvin (450 watt) stereo power amp and Rexx 2 channel pre-amp straight in both. (if you can't get a good sound sraight in you need a different amp)!
Mahogany sounds great for electrics and the set neck, fixed bridge and EMGs gives loads of sustain.
I haven't heard or played a better pickup than EMG for high gain loud volume.
They feedback far less than non-active pickups and don't muddy up by covering a wide harmonic spectrum.
I probably would have preferred an 85 in the neck though for a fatter lead tone, but I'll change that myself and can't complain cause' the 81 is worth about $30 more.

The action from the factory was good... other than the fact it buzzed pretty much all over!
Unfortunately it was my only choice at the time and I didn't want to pass it up (or wait) so I grabbed it, and since I worked for Larrivee Guitars for many years (and have litteraly set up thousands, YES thousands) of guitars I was confident I could fix er' up.
They must have fretted this on a Friday long weekend after a liquid lunch though because I had to recruit the expertise of Larrivee's old fretter to reseat and glue down a number of high frets. No excuse for this level of carelessness on any instrument over $1000 but I doubt this is indicitive of most.
This is one problem with ablam though on the fingerboard since the friction fit can't always grab enough, but it should have been caught at the factory (or at least at the USA inspection point).
The nut was also a little high but an easy fix.
The quilt on the maple top is beautiful but could have been fit better, as there is a (glue) line in the center of the bookmatch.
Otherwise the inlay joints and paint are quite good.
Have to giver' a 6.5 when I bought it but it's a 9 now.
In my books a 10 means perfect and nothing less so let's not overuse the 10 rating.

It's a pretty guitar to risk cuts and bruises so I'll probably use my other workhorses most of the time.
With out a backup? This question doesn't deserve an answer until they make non-breakable strings.

The warranty is "Limited Lifetime" (original owner) so what more do you want?
Yes I could have sent it for a warranty repair on the frets but what for when I knew I could tweak it to perfection myself, so I haven't dealt with them yet.
I don't anticipate any problems though. If you have a valid issue and treat people with respect the outcome is usually positive.

I have been playing about 20 years and owned Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Larrivee, etc. and swear by Boogie for amps.
I would have wet dreams of playing this guitar if it ever were burned in a fire or crushed in an earthquake.
IT WILL NOT BE STOLEN! I HAVE EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD!
Overall if you want an excellent guitar with quality HW and nice features I personally can't justify spending more money for anything else, unless you are a collector.
This ones' a keeper!

This is a 2003 Delux ESP/LTD EC-1000.......this guitar freaking rocks. It was made in korea, has 24 gloriously jumbo frets, solid mohogany body with quilted maple top, 2 volume, 1 tone control (great for the one cancelled humbucker effect), three way pickup selector, 2 EMG 81's!!! Wow, these 'buckers rock. Some people think that they're too heavy for some styles, but I think that they clean up too-thick distortion, and add wonderful amounts of low-end to any set-up. Great active pickups. All maple neck with rosewood fretboard ( not the best rosewood, though. real grainy). Finished in a real deep black cherry (looks awesome with the quilted maple top.) Has abalone inlay all along the body, neck and headstock. Very eye-catching. Also has abalone flag inlays. Sort of a Les-paul body style, but with more severe curves, and a lighter body. comes with the very nice tone-pro's locking bridge system ( like a tune-o-matic, but bolted to itself) and sperzel locking tuners all finished in black.

I like to play many different styles and this guitar can cover them all. I will say in particular that it is unbelievable for the hard rock/metal style of playing because of it's fast neck and great active pickups. here's the chain that I put it through. One Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion, a digitech multivoice chorus stompbox (awesome chorus sound!!) and my Bedrock 50-watt tube amp combo. Turning the volume back, I can get some twangy, almost fender-ish sounds from the bridge 'bucker, and real blues from the neck. turn up the volume and it's peel-the-paint-off-the-walls ballsy tone. sometimes distorts clean channels when volume is up high (depends on the amp, doesn't happen as much with tube amps). sound can get a little too raunchy sometimes, but I like it like that!!

right from the store ( no set up from a pro, nothing) the action was pretty darn good ( about 3/16ths or so) although the intonation really needed to be set. after I got it set up, there was absolutely no problem at all. perfect action, GREAT intonation. Love those sperzels. pickups were what I thought was a little high at first, but that's just because I had my other ones more than a full inch away from the strings.....duh. great top ( put together very nicely) quilted maple looks flawless. bridge is tight against the wood, so we get crazy sustain. all the controls are quiet and smooth. the nut, however, could have been filed a little lower ( and a little cleaner). the only wood that doesn't look all that hot is the fretboard. the rosewood looks a little low-grade. And so much abalone inlay can get a little superfluous.

this guitar is GREAT. I'm pretty sure it could withstand about anything (unless you're curt kobain). all the hardware is stout, the finish looks and feels very reliable, the strap buttons are very different from gibson and fender-style. they are wider, and look like they would hold up better. ( but I'm not gigging it untill I install some straplocks!!!) this guitar is dependable, but I would NEVER gig without a backup if I could help it. Hopefully I'd have another one of these. You have to remember to change the preamp battery ( for the 81's) before a show, just in case. ( -1 for having to remember to change the battery)

wouldn't know, never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for a little over three years, but trust me, I have been methodical and ravenous about playing different guitars and choosing the right one for the money. I also own an epiphone les paul standard, and a cort starfire (surprisingly not bad). Before I traded it in for this guitar, I also owned a Fender Showmaster Scorpion HH. I really love having this guitar, it suits me and it was SOOO worth the money. You won't find a better guitar for the price, guaranteed. You can do just as well with one of the new fenders that just came out, but not better. If this guitar was stolen, I would f@#$ing freak out and chase down the thief, ripping out his vital organs with a dull salad fork. It is worth it.

Made in Korea, 24 frets, les paul shape, mahogony body, neck blah blah look on www.espguitars.com for features or other reviews. Gets a 10 for its features due to price and what you get. This bad boy doesn't weigh that much either.

AMAZING SOUND! I remeber plugging in at the store and totally loved it! Bought it right there, prefered it over the Gibson Les Paul Custom's sound and defintely the weight. I play Black/Death Metal/Thrash and this suits very well. Show No Mercy sound dead on! I can also get that detuned sound like on Blasphemy's Fallen Angel of Doom or Conquerer, HAIL METAL!

Set up nice. No buzz or anything, pickups adjusted fine etc. I looked the baby over plenty of times, no flaws in site. Gets a 10.

This bad boy will last a long ass time. The hardware is great, the wood is great, I can depend on this beast and I don't need a stinkin backup!

Haven't dealt with them. Has a pretty good warranty so I will give an 8.

I have been playing for couple years. I also own an Ibanez RG 560 and BC RICH NJ NECK-THRU WARLOCK and this is defintely the best out of the two! I would buy this again if it was stolen. I compared this guitar to a Gibson Faded SG and a Gibson Les Paul Custom, I liked this more.

Email me for more questions or catch me on the harmony-central board!

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!

2002 ESP EC-1000 STBC, 24 Frets, 2 vol, 1 tone, Twin EMG-81 active
humbuckers, rosewood fretboard and mahogany body, sperzel locking
tuners, tonepros system II bridge, includes hardshell case :)

The EC-1000 blew me away. I used to play old gibsons which just
wouldn't cut the mustard, however, I got this guitar and the 81's
on it scream. I play a very wide variety of music and it seems
to keep up with every one of them. I love this guitar very much (I
guess I should for 899.99, exactly how much I paid). Very quiet
pickups with my Marshall G50R solid state amplifier.

Action is almost perfect, however the low E string buzzes a little bit (maybe it is because I was tuning too low?). I only had one
problem with the neck pickup fading out. I noticed that if I push
on the humbucker it would fade back in and out. I took the guitar
apart and plugged back in the wire. ESP doesn't leave enough slack
in the wire for the humbucker to be lowered, maybe this is just in
my experience.

Other than that little setback, the guitar is great. LOOKS OUTSTANDING, looks almost exactly like the picture on their website which is very SWEEEEET. See-thru black cherry is a very nice color.

Very sturdy guitar, I am going to take it wherever I go. The only
thing I would bring with me is an extra 9V for the EMG-81's, the battery always seems to die when you need it most :)

I called once about the pickups, they were pretty nice considering
the nasty notes I hear about their customer support. I was going
to get it repaired under warranty but the only choices I had for
doing that is sending it to ESP or sending it to music123 where I
bought it. I decided after waiting 4 months for the guitar, to attempt to fix it myself, which was a success... According to the
card I got with the guitar, this guitar has a lifetime warranty, excluding finish problems (paint and chipping), any aftermarket hardware (pus, etc).

I've been playing for three years now so I think my ear is getting better. However, don't get me wrong, I'm no experienced guitarest. I own several acoustic guitars including 5 twelve-string guitars (I just love those sounds) and three electric guitars including a Fender Stratocaster, Hamer Slammer, and a Washburn POS.

I was looking at several guitars to buy, something about ESP just drew me to this guitar. I looked at several gibsons and played them at the store. Don't get me wrong, they are SWEET guitars, however, for their price they should be. This guitar, however, has very nice looks, a very nice sound, and a very nice price.

This guitar pretty much has all the aftermarket goodies that I would have put on it if I had to replace them. Features a set-neck, abalone inlays on the neck and headstock. Abalone binding on the body, neck and headstock. Inlay work was really good. Made in Korea. The hardware is second to none with Sperzel trimloks on the head, a tone pros II locking bridge and tailpiece. A really nice combination. The pickups are awesome active EMG 81's in the neck and bridge. Two tone pots, one volume. This thing actually stays in tune quite well even after transport. The body is a solid mahogany LP style, but thinner and not as heavy. I really like the strap buttons on this thing. I probably won't even have to change to strap-loks.

I play a lot of heavy music and this thing is perfect for that. I'm using a solid state Marshall combo and it really screams. I don't use any effects, dont need'em with the EMG 81's. Has a nice tone, but my Viper sounds better.

Guitar was set up pretty well with decent semi-low action. I play heavy rhythm so I don't need it too low anyway. I didn't like the gauge of strings that came on it, but I guess I being picky. The black finish is laid down smoothly. The only mistakes I can see are in the fretting. At about the 19th 20th frets, the frets are too short, they don't go all the way to the edge of the fret board and are short by about 1/8" on two of the frets.

The guitar and all the hardware seem to be top-notch and should last for a good long time. The finish has a good thick coat of lacquer on it. Again I dig the beefy strap buttons on this thing. I would use it on a gig without backup, but bring extra 9-volts for the 81's.

Here is where ESP failed me. I don't like Gold hardware and that's the only color hardware you can get with the black finish. I contacted ESP about having the hardware replaced with a different color and it seems that the guy couldn't get off the phone with me fast enough. I told them I would pay extra and the guy just told me they "couldn't" do that. Hmmmm, a custom shop that can't do hardware replacement, That's BS. Anyway I've heard that customer service is at the top of ESP's list. That's dangerous in this economy.

I would probably not buy it again unless they offered different hardware options and changed their attitude on customer service. I may have just spoke with the biggest prick in custom shop though. If I never have to deal with sending it back, the guitar is a good deal for under a grand.