ESP LTD M-1000

The only reason I can give this guitar an 8 instead of 10 is that I don't see a reason for the 81-81 combo. I know that is the Kirk Hammet setup, but when I played this guitar, the sounds were only very mildly different and I'm not a big fan of the 81 clean sound. Well I had a schecter with an 89 in the neck and an 85 in the bridge, and wanted to put an 81 there instead, so I made the swap and now I have an 81/85 setup and it's perfect!! Very easy too with the plugs on the emgs, no soldering or even opening of the control cavity! Also an ebony fretboard would look amazing on this but the rosewood is nice too. Mine came with an Original Floyd and man it is leaps and bounds more reliable than my licensed on a no name guitar I built. Precision is the key, you could beat the trem bar with a sledge hammer and the thing would stay in tune, and the precision tuners on the headstock and the floyd make it easy to tune(for a floyd.....:) ) P.S., I may be a convert to SIT strings. I am an ernie ball guy, but now I love these SIT strings that came on this guitar(and all ESP's made in 07)

I play metal, and so does this guitar. I play through a Boss GT-8 set up as a Metal Zone with effects and EQ through an older(when they were better in my opinion) Crate Blue Voodoo 120 that I modified. The distortion on these is ehh, but the clean kicks ass! And that's what you want with an external stomp box distortion! I play through a Crate 4x12 loaded with Emminence Black Powders. This guitar is the most noiseless guitar I own, and that's including the other one with the EMG's. I own 5 electrics, with assorted duncans and emg's. Thing is silent.....until you play! Wow this thing roars! Emg 81's are the best for modern metal, but I need a bit more versatility for some clean parts, and needed to swap the neck for the 85, but now it is amazing! To each his own, but now I have a better tonal variety. The guitar is bright, but not too bright. Sometimes mahogany guitars like Les Pauls can be a little muddy to me. I originally turned my bass up on the crate, but realized it wasn't necessary, I just wasn't used to a brighter guitar, and no lowend was lost, and returned the setting where it was. The thing screams, growls, and chugga chuggas with the best of them. I was going to buy an Ibanez rgt42, but hate white, and that blue is gaudy. Plus, they come with crappy Ibanez p-ups and I would have had to spend 150-200$ getting it EMGs. I found this M-1000 on Ebay NEW for 750$! Rating gets an 8 because of the 81 in the neck, but if that's what you want there then you are good!

I got it from Canada to CT UPS in the winter. This thing arrived on a 55 degree day, when it was 8 degrees 3 days earlier. I removed it from it's box and untaped the bubble wrap, I didn't get a case. Somehow the action was PERFECT, low, no buzz, and it was perfectly in tune. The body is rediculous, the nicest finish on a guitar I have ever seen. I wish all my guitars were this color. The flame does not look like a coffee table, but is very noticeable at the same time. For a supposed sub-tier brand, LTD's are very high quality. My buddy has a viper 50, 200$ guitar that he wails on and it plays like a dream (with dimarzio d-activators.) Show me an Epiphone or Squire that hangs with the parent company like an LTD hangs with it's ESP counterpart. This is my first ESP. I have had schecters, fenders, squires, epiphiones, a Gibson les studio, deans, and a couple Ibanez's, and they all were under 1000$ except the Les Paul, which was 1300$. I thought I would need to pay 3-4 thousand to get an instrument made this well. The electronis are perfect, the pickup selector switch is tight and feels nice (unlike cheap ones that feel to light and cheap) The Fret board is awesome. I swear this thing made me a better player instantly. It never fights you, it just wants you to play it. Years of playing cheap or moderate quality guitars has groomed me to thoroughly enjoy how easy it is to make music on this. The action is awesome, the neck is thin and fast, like a Ibanez wizard 2 neck. Only gripe I have is the laquer on the back of the neck will need to be worn in before my thumb stops sticking when I sweat. It's not bad, I've played much worse. The body conturs are gret, a cross between an RG and a schecter type. The Abalone inlays are nice, but the border on the headstock and neck is a bit much. Especially the headstock. Oh well, the Japanese have differnt sensibilities than us I guess. It's not that bad, people on here calling it a XMAS tree are going overboard, but less would be more. The entire guitar is tight as a drum, every screw tight, the tremolo perfect, nothing cheaply done at all!

It's a floyd.....durable as a tank...until you break a string. Remember to adjust the claw for the trem springs if you detune or change string gauges. We tune to Eb so It took a few minutes to tune and adjust, but once there....Don't move!! The entire thing seems to be built like a tank. Only time will tell, but as far as the elecronics, I have had emg's in 2 other guitars for 5 and 7 years, and never had an issue. The finish seems very thick, strap buttons are big and sturdy, although yes I'll get strap locks soon. I think the correct question would be "will live playing withstand the guitar?"

Never dealt with them, but the SIT string company is mailing me some free gift, I don't know what yet...I guess It's a surprise! Did you know that when you buy a pack of these strings, they give you an extra b and high e string free! Think I'm a convert!

I took points away for the 81 in the neck, but overall...this guitar is worth way more than 900$ (or 750 like I paid! :) ) If there was the word "Gibson" on the headstock, this guitar would be 2500$ Assembly lines are not necessarily bad, if quality parts and trained people are working. Even ESP's handmade custom line are very cheap compared to similar Gibsons or Fenders. As for metal guitars, Any Jackson or Ibanez this nice are either in the soloist or prestige line, and therefore hundreds of dollars more. To get all the features I wanted, and not have to go buy EMGs and swap, as these are part of my sound, for 750$. A REAL FLOYD! Not a licensed, not a clone, not a Edge zero point flashy gunmetal colored Ibanez trem, but an Original floyd, in a guitar priced under 1000$ EMGs, not HZ's, in a sub brand model (Most epiphones have the HZs, while the gibsons have the emgs like the Zakk Wylde) IF YOU PLAY METAL.....Don't get this guitar because then we'll all have the same ones. :) OK fine, I don't review often, this is my third in 6 years on this site. I did this because this guitar thoroughly impressed me...so get one!!

Love the contours of the body, love the neck and the floyd rose position... awesome for metal volume knob never gets in the way so you can palmute and riff really freely without touching the knob at all... the finish is ridicously perfect really better tahn on pics.... the abalone is just insane on stage it really makes the guitar shine... perfectly done

I really love metal and it suits just perfecly... roll down the volume knob and you have a quite decent blues tone... the cleans.. WHY THE FUCK PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM?! emg 81 in the neck position and it's quite good with a litle bit of reverb.... the guitar is really silent emgs are the most silent pickups i've ever heard with high gain settings.. the volume knob is opened on every single song and there's no fuzz in the mix..The sound is really bright but nicely bright really "shapable" tone really decent sustain.. a friend of mine owns and epiphone les paul and the ltd kills his sustain... the rythm is the best part.. the emgs slap your face with every single palm mute I JUST LOVE EM... don't have an amp so i run this trough a metal muff and to any amp thats around and the guitar just kills... cuts through every thing
THE FLOYD ROSE IS UNBEATEBLE i raped the freaking whamy so much that i had to adjust the whamy from the back (just me 'cause im really violent) but the tuning stability is ridicously good hope it stays that way

perfect (i bought the guitar through the internet and it was shiped to argentina and there are no flaws) the guitar was even in tune

every guitar withstands live playing... the hardware will last emg's anf ofr...the finish is thick... the strap buttons seem safe but i'll put strap locks (personal taste) dependable guitar... wouldn't use without backup 'cause of the floyd

hope not to deal with them

really good investment for the price i paid 899 plus custom taxes and i'ts still worth it

This guitar has a great finish, much better than shown on online photos! It has Neck-thru-body construction, an original Floyd Rose bridge with a locking nut, emg81 active pickups and a VERY fast neck.

This axe rules! I own a Gibson les paul and a Fender, both from a much higher price class than this guitar. And i like the sound of this guitar better. However, the clean sound is worst compared to both my other guitars. But it doesn't matter, i don't use the clean anyway. If it comes to solo's and shredding, this guitar simply owns.
All tones come out perfectly no matter how fast.

When my guitar arrived, it was set up perfectly. Perfectly tuned and the action was just like i prefer. No flaws.

I think this guitar is good for any situation. If u handle it with care, i think it will last very long. Its not too heavy and i think its well suited for gigging. However, because of the floyd rose on it, you better bring a backup guitar, incase a string breaks.

Never had to deal with them.

I have been playing for 5 years. I owned 5 guitars and played with many others. I must say this guitar has an incredible price-quality value! It is very well suited if u play metal, but it can handle all styles without problems. It is fast, faster than all my other guitars, the neck feels just so good, its no effort at all to make music with this guitar. However i wouldn't recommend it to beginners, because its just to easy to play with it, too much quality to realy learn too play guitar.

And it looks so much better than on photos, its a real beauty.
If it where stolen, i bought a new one. But i would still hunt down the thief and hang him on a guitarcable.

The guitar is made in Korea like all LTD's. It has a maple body with flamed maple top, painted in see-thru black ( actually blue-ish, but very impressive ). Neck-thru construction. Maple neck, 25.5" scale, rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets. It's equipped with 2 EMG 81 active hummbuckers and an original Floyd Rose bridge with a locking nut. The body si strat-shape, the tuners are ESP standard. The neck is thin-U shaped, just a little thicker than the one on the KH2. Controls: 1xvolume, 1xtone, 3-way switch.

I play mainly play metal ( thrash, heavy, power, speed ) and some '70 hard rock, sometimes a little blues. It suits metal perfectly, especially thrash and speed, where the pick-ups make the sound very tight, great for fast and acuurate riffs. I use it with a Koch Powertone II. Great combination. Not one bit of noise ( active hummbuckers ). The sound is quite bright and focused. Amazing for soloing, it just cuts through. The clean sound isn't all that great, but very usable, it just requiers a little tweaking of the EQ. The pick-ups are a little too punchy for blues and jazz, but then again, that's not what i bought this guitar for. Great metal sound.

The guitar was set-up okay when I got it, no major problems. The action was a little too high for my liking and the intonation was a little off on a couple of strings, but i took care of it quickly. The guitar itself wasn't flawed in any way.

The guitar is very well built. It will withstand live playing and seems built to last. The finish is great, it doesn't seem it will wear off soon, it is a little scratch prone though. I removed the strap buttons and put in dunlop straplocks ( due to an accident I had with another guitar ), i guess the original ones were solid, but still not safe enuogh... If I were forced by events to use it without a back-up in a gig I would, but otherwise I'll always have another guitar standing by.

I never dealt with them.

I love prety much everything about it. Maybe i'd like it to have an emg 85 in the neck position, but that's no problem to acomplish. It's a great metal and generally soloing guitar. If it were stolen I would buy another one, definately.

Well, 2002 model, made in Korea (LTD... not ESP)

24 Jumbo frets. Kinda strange first cause sometimes you don't even touch the fretboard while playing lol. Need a lot of precision.

One volume, One tone, 3 way selector. Well the tone isn't very efficient. And i never use volume on any guitar. Always on max... Plus, EMG 81 sound very bad if you lower the volume.

2 EMG-81 active pickups.

Black (I think 2003 models have a better looking as they have some transparency and the flamed maple can be seen)

Superstrat. Just like the M-II or KH-2

Original floyd rose. I prevent the back movement recently, with a piece of wood. What I don't like with Floyd Rose bridges, as any trem system that can be pulled, is that the strings tension and the bridge are in some kind of balance. So, if you bend a note, the bridge is pulled, and you got to bend more to obtain the note you want, and it prevents from doing unisson bends that sounds right because all the string are pulled. So i've prevented the back movement of the tremolo and tightened the springs so that the spring tension is heavier than the strings one, even when bending. Now i can bend and have perfect notes. Whatever, i don't really use tremolo...

No gig bag. Very hard to get an ESP in France and the dealer seems to make lot of money. I've successfully lowered the price from 2159? to 1760? with a gig bag. But still cheaper on the USA...

Perfect for Metal, Rock, even Blues, Funk, whatever. You can have really good nuances.

Not any noise... Active pickups. Sometimes my tone control make a little noise. Happens really rarely when i move it fast.

I haven't really achieved to get a good clean tone. As soon as you're playing "forte", some distorsion. Could lower the pickups though. But really hard to play clean. Well with some work and good effects, it's possible lol

The sustain is just incredible. With new strings of course and good setting of course. I think that's why it's hard to play with clean songs as soon as they are chords.

If the string lenghts are well set on the floyd rose (kinda boring to do), the notes are perfectly right on each fret, according to my boss GT6's tuner.

Well... I don't really know. I don't know what happens when you get an ESP guitar in France.
It was mounted with 9 42 strings. I wasn't used to it. It seemed perfect. Easy to play. Some buzzing at 16th fret. ... Some parts where i could see the wood. I used a black marker... And a little break on the neck. Invisible when clean.
Well after some littles works, i got it well. Now i use 10 52 strings, lowered one half-step. The neck is a little convex so that i got no buzzing on the first frets. The action is quite low but not too. Some buzzing that i could eradicate by getting the strings higher. But i want to play on that guitar lol. When i started to play, i really hate buzzing, ang get despaired about it. But with time you know you have to compromise between buzz and playability. Plus, 10 46 or 10 52 strings are more keen to buzz cause they are thicker than 9 42 ones. But it's the only way to have a great sound. More powerful, more clear, longer lol. Kinda hard to learn playing with so 'hard' strings (they are "regular" actually lol) especially with heavy picks. But when you got it... Man, 16th notes won't scare you anymore lol.

Well seem that it will last. Some screws lose their black colour but the bridge isn't oxyded as it happens often.

I one day hit my bed with the guitaf's head... Argh. I was scared but the guitar had nothing. Well my bed still have a scar lol.
Seem to be unbreakable lol

The finish will last i think.

I don't know. "Lifetime warranty". Well, probably for US residents. I don't even figure what it would be if i need a fix... Lots of money i think, lots and lots lol.

I don't have trust on my town's guitar sellers lol. I do my set up and that's fine. Won't pay for someone that don't even know how to set up the string length to get the right intonation.

Got it one year ago. Use it through a boss GT6. L OUTPUT linked to the RETURN of my Hughes and Kettner 100W amp. OUtput set on "combo return".

I couldn't afford a KH 2 so i've chose this guitar. Same look, same pickups, same bridge, etc. But it's not an ESP. I think an ESP guitar would be far better. But man, it's really a incredible guitar.

I play a lot of Metallica and it fits perfectly. Some Pink floyd songs. Not a fender but with the GT6 you can have the same sound. Well it's surely a metal guitar, no doubt about it but can be used with everything, if well used.

Well by now, i wish it had a fixed bridge. I'm not into the floyd rose thing lol. But, it's far better with my "custom" lol.

This ESP LTD M-1000 was made in 2002, Korea. All black, 24 frets, 25.5 scale, 1 volume 1 tone, 3-way selector.H/H 2 EMG 81, active. It has a alder body and 3 pieces maple neck, neck thru, and a rosewood fingerboard with abalone arrowhead inlays. strat body style with a perfect Original Floyd Rose.

I played Metal,Heavy Metal,Speed Metal,Thrash Metal......
M1000 works great!I used Mesa boogie Dual Rect, sounds sooooo cool!
When i use POD 2.0 to play it, I cant hear any noise at all, EMG 81 give me the most powerful METAL sound! so i think this guitar is really KICK ASS!

Set-up at the factory is OK, i dont need to adjust the pickups.Action is good! The only flaw i think is that it should have 2 tones.

I dont play live, but I think this can withstand any live playing. thick finish, perfect hardware...... it's easy to use and will last for many years.But i wouldn't use it on a gig without a backup, coz i wouldn't use any guitars on gig without backup!

i haven't dealt with ESP, but the sales in the store are all very friendly!

I have played for 2 years. this is my second guitar, i have one Jackson SL1 before it.if it were stolen i would kill the guy and buy another guitar, but i think i should take a Music Man JP or a ESP Horizon CTM.

This baby was made in 2002, Korea, 24XJ frets on a 25.5 scale. It has an alder body with a thick black finish that runs all the way up the back of the 3-piece maple neck. There is white and abalone binding (which I don't really care for) around the fingerboard and headstock. Fingerboard is rosewood with abalone arrowhead inlays and model name at 12th fret. It is a neck-thru with two EMG 81 pickups. Bridge is Original Floyd Rose. Mine came with a case, which I hear is no longer available. Super-strat mirage body style. It also came with three allen wrenches. One for the locknut, one for the bridge, and one for the truss-rod. A cheap cord was also included, as well as a back up spring for the trem system.

Well, I play metal mostly, and of course it works great for that, but I also play a lot of other stuff too. Whatever I play, it is always melodic, and this guitar will sing your melodies. The neck-thru construction makes it possible to get some decent sustain for having a floyd-rose. It is a very low noise instrument, on any setting. I found the clean tone to be suprisingly warm and full, if you are using the middle position that is. For a softer tone, use the neck pickup, stay away from the bridge position for clean though, unless you like honky tonk. I think even then it sounds like crap. Distorted, the pickups are beautiful again. I prefer bridge position for rhythm and middle position for leads.

Action was pretty low, I had slight buzz at the first fret, nothing to fret about though. I had to re-setup the guitar anyway as I tune down one whole step to STD D. I raised the bridge just a tad to make the action, what I would consider to be medium-low. I also had to loosen the truss rod-after tuning down because I had a horrible buzz after doing so, even after raising the floyd. But, after the neck set and I tuned back up, I have had no problems, no buzzing, good action, and great tone. The pickups are set up where they should be. There are two minor cosmetic flaws on the binding (I hate binding), and you can see the wood coming through. Finish is nice and thick.

With its thick finish and the fact that it has an Original Floyd Rose, I think it can take a beating for a long long time. As long as you take care of this guitar, there should be no reason why you can't pass it on to your grandkids. Strap buttons are solid, but I am always paranoid, so I use locks. If you didn't have to worry about those things called strings, you could use it without a backup. Be sure to have a fresh battery for the EMG's too, just in case.

Music123 suprised the hell out of me, they got it here in one week, and they got everything exactly right. The guitar was factory sealed. I am a little pissed about the cosmetic flaws on the binding, but that is ESP's fault. I am not going to call them up and deal with them just for that though!

I've been playing for over 10 years now, and this is the best guitar that I have bought. My second best is probably the BC Rich NJ Warlock, but that guitar is not versatile at all. This one definitely takes the cake in sound and playability. If it were stolen, I would go psycho Pee-Wee's big adventure style. If I could afford it, I would like to get an M-2 custom. I don't need a tone control, and the binding is not necessary. I also wish that the neck was just left alone with its natural color. But hey, for the price I paid, its a good buy. This is a good buy for the money.

This is a 2002 or 2003 (I think it's a 2002 model since I'm pretty sure ESP discontinued all M-1000's in black for 2003) ESP LTD M-1000 in black that I bought about 1 month ago from Music123.com for $659.99 I bought this guitar exactly on 3/21/03 This is 3 way selector with volume and tone. Its pickup configuration is Humbucker/Humbucker. Its pickups are the great EMG 81's which are just about the best pickups for metal and they are active which means they require a 9volt battery. but dont worry, the battery last about 1year so you wont have to switch it that often. The body wood is alder and the neck is 3piece maple/rosewood with pearl(abalone) binding on it. Its also neckthrough (whoohoo), for really good acess to the upper frets. The finish is a standard black finish. The bodystyle is a super strat with reverse headstock. And the headstock has binding too. The bridge is also one of the best bridges - the great Original Floyd Rose, not the cheaper Licensed flody rose. It has locking tuners. Its neck scale is 25.5 with xtra jumbo frets. It came with whammy bar, and the allen wrenches. One of the main reasons i bought this guitar was for the features. Emg 81's pick ups, neck through, original floyd rose....you cant go wrong. The only maybe flaw would be that its an LTD and its made cheaper quality than real ESP's. I could be my lack of experiance on guitar (i only have been playing 2years but i kick ass), but this guitar seemed of the same quality as with a Gibson les paul i picked up and played at guitar center.

It suits my taste fine. I play metal, and I'm trying to learn some Neo-Classical shred like Jason becker and Yngwie Malmsteen. I'm using it through a Peavey transtube envoy 40watt amp. of course i'm not going to hear the true potential of this guitar since the amp isnt that good but the guitar still sounds good. This guitar is not noisy at all. But if you put the gain really high though, you will get some feedback. I usually put my gain on 7 and treble on 9 and try to get more volume. I dont play through any pedals, but between just my guitar and amp this guitar sounds good so when i get some overdrive pedals and EQ pedals this guitar will sound better.

the guitar was setup ok at the factory. The action was too high though, and the neck was bended up so the action was fucked up. Like when ever i lowered the action enough to be good, the upper part of the fretboard with the frets 1-12 were good, but the rest had fretbuzz. and then if i highered the action so it wouldnt buzz. the frets 1-12 would be way to high so i had a problem. i guess the pickup height is right, i dont know much about repair and all the shit, so i cant really tell you if the bridge is routed right and all of the electronics are right. I also noticed though that my low E string is lower than all my other strings so i dont know what was up with that. I should be taking it to get a professinal setup by a local guitar luthier here so he should fix all of that

i dont play live, but i think it would withstand live playing unless you dont saw it in half or throw it at the floor. The finish seems like it will actually stay on their for a while. I dont even use strap locks becuase the stock strap buttons seems fine. I really like this guitar, it sure beats the hell out of my shitty Bc rich NJ warlock, the only thing i didnt like were all the flaws on the setup of it, but then again, barely any guitars come setup perfectly from the factory. For my next guitar, i'll probably get an Ibanez since i'm getting into the whole shred thing, but for now, i'll focuse on getting better at guitar and practicing

i havent dealt with the company, and i'm going to get it set up this weekend by a luthier and if they find anything wrong were i have to send it back to ESP they better be helpful. i 'm not even sure if this guitar is under warranty or not so i cant comment on that.

i been playing 2 years, and my only other guitar is a bc rich nj warlock. all i really need now is to get this M-1000 set up. then buy some effects pedals, and a way better amp and this guitar would be even better. the only other guitar i want is a ibanez JEM so its made for shredding and thats what i want to play. i love the neck through, emg 81s, original floyd, and binding. the only thing i sorta dont like is how they put LTD on the headstock really big then ESP really small. it should be the other way around. overall this guitar was a steal for the price i paid, since it was selling for like 999$ the setup was the only bad thing, everything else about the guitar kicked ass

New 2002 Korean sweatshop M-1000. Body is maple, with a neck-through 24-fret neck, which is 3-piece maple with a rosewood fretboard (extra-jumbo frets). Nice abalone arrowhead inlays with the model name at the 12th (which is gay, but just the way it is with ESP). One volume and one tone, which is fine, but I'd prefer no tone control at all. A 3-way selector controls the two active EMG-81 (stock...nice move, ESP) humbuckers.

The bridge is a real Floyd Rose (again, nice move, ESP), and all the hardware is black, as it should be. The black finish seems quite thick. Also, nice LARGE strap buttons.

A "hardshell" case was included, but these LTD "hardshell" cases are crap compared to, say, a Jackson hardshell case.

This guitar is definitely up there with "real" ESP's, as far as design and quality (and parts) go.

I play in a prog-metal band that leans toward thrash (sorta Testament meets Dream Theater, I guess), and this guitar was a nice addition. Say what you want about EMG-81's, but they are great pickups for this style of music. They also give a very eerie clean sound...a bit more sterile than a passive pickup, but sound nice through a Jazz Chorus (or any amp with a nice chorus in front of it).
The guitar isn't noisy at all, and the knobs are noiseless (so far...I'm sure that will change with time). I play the guitar through a Peavey XXX head into a Marshall cab, mainly. The pickups and neck-through design make for simply fantastic metal sounds.

The guitar arrived set up just fine. There was a somewhat dead spot on the 2nd string, somewhere around the 19th fret. Once I restrung the guitar, this went away. Pickups were set to the correct height.

The only flaw I could find, was in the binding on the neck, at the 3rd and 5th frets (by the 6th string). Very VERY minor, but it looks like some wood is showing through. No biggie (but probably shouldn't be there on a non dent/scratch guitar).

I'm happy to report that I didn't need to adjust the action at all. It was quite as low as I like it, but close enough that it wasn't worth changing.

It better withstand live playing! Seriously though...any guitar will withstand live playing...just don't go Paul Stanley, Jimi Hendrix, or Yngwie Malmsteen on it, and it'll be fine. The finish is thick, and I don't see it wearing off anytime soon.

I've had the guitar for a little over a month now, and it seems just as solid as my most high-end guitar (a 2002 Malmsteen Strat).

DON'T GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP, GENIUS!!!!

Haven't dealt with ESP. Don't know how long the warranty is, but if something goes wrong, either I'll fix it myself or have it done locally.

God bless the closeout! I've had my eye on this guitar for some time, but the $1000 price tag seemed a bit high. I've played a couple ESP's in the past, and though I do like them, I'm still very much a Charvel/Jackson man. In other words, I wasn't paying a grand for an ESP, especially not an LTD. That being said, this is hardly like any other LTD model. The hardware is what you will find on high-end ESP's, as is the workmanship. When the 2002 LTD's started going on closeout at the beginning of 2003, I waited until the LTD Deluxe series dropped and snatched this up right away when I saw the $629 price tag.

At just over $600, this guitar has everything you SHOULD be getting for that money. At a grand, which is the original price, you're definitely being hosed.

If it were lost (again, see my other gear reviews for my opinion on people who LOSE gear), I'd feel rather stupid. If it were stolen, I'd be rather unhappy. I'd buy it again, but not for a grand. For that price, I'd probably start looking at the US-made Jacksons.

My rating of 10 is due to the price drop. At the normal price, it'd probably get an 8, which isn't all that shabby either.

24 frets, mahogany body, neck thru, original floyd rose, volume/tone/3-way slotted config, abalone neck and headstock binding, EMG-81 set, completely black :) nothing more you could want i suppose.....except maybe 2 volume controls instead of 1 volume and 1 tone. but i'm not fussed. having a kill switch isn't THAT important

sounds just like my explorer does: big and brutal. nothing like an EMG-81 to pound out the aggression. it just does it like no other. personally i didn't really like the EMG-81 in the neck position though. it seemed a little bassy there. i think an EMG-60 would have been a better choice because it's brighter, but i don't use the neck pickup anyway. the bridge EMG-81 sounds great for everything, even clean. also, the middle position on the pickup switch seems to be predominantly neck pickup....not much bridge in the sound at all. maybe it was just that particular guitar, i don't know

i like to use high gain...very high gain. well, not so much that all you can hear is fuzz and mush, but enough to keep me satisfied. think The Haunted, my sound is kinda like theirs. maybe a little drier and slightly heavier. i use a marshall jcm900 and a zoom tri-metal. the EMG-81 is an essential part of my sound now, and it really goes well with this guitar. i'd heard rumours that having a recessed floyd rose cuts out a lot of the tone of the guitar, but from what i heard, it was fine (no, i haven't bought it. but i played it in the store for about an hour through a Mesa Single Recto)

obviously it isn't going to be perfect as soon as you get it/try it out. i tune my guitars to B-standard tuning, so that was wrong already. it feels weird playing a guitar in E tuning now. it's so.....high. anyway that's besides the point

the guitar look amazing. it's not as striking as you would expect, but once you take a good look at it you realise just how awesome it looks. but it's the sound you buy it for not the looks, after all. when you first get a guitar you gotta put it into your correct tuning and adjust the trem, action etc to how you like it. so once that's done i can imagine this guitar would be kingly. but you can't judge it based on how it's setup from the showroom/factory

i couldn't tell you. but the retail price down here in Australia speaks for itself. you'd be pretty disappointed if your new $3500 guitar didn't react too well to stage use, or just vigorous use in general. i for one treat my gear with as much respect as i'd like to be treated with myself, and everything always turns out fine. if you take good care of it it'll give you years of great performance in return. same goes for most gear that's worth playing. any malfunctions in your gear is either attributed to it requiring regular maintenance, the gear being low quality, or you treating it like crap. good quality gear NEVER breaks down on you if you're treating it well enough

i've dealt with ESP before and they're very helpful. given the amount of customer support they must have to deal with everyday from people all around the world, they handle themselves very well

you can tell a great guitar when you put your hands on the neck and your palm on the bridge. i knew it'd be brilliant before i hit a note. there's just a certain feel you have when you play a quality guitar. everything you're capable of as a guitarist comes out with little effort at all. and it feels great to play on. there's not a thing on this guitar i can say i don't like (except the price tag). there's very few guitars like this one being made anymore

everything about playing it is just perfect. every harmonic you hit correctly comes out perfectly. every palm mute comes out with a huge chug that just feels incredible. every shred feels totally liquid to play. and that's all you can ask for in a guitar. my hamer explorer is like that to play, and so is the ESP M-1000. i just wish i had the money.....

stay away from the LTD series though if you're a pretty serious guitarist. i just found the licensed floyd rose to be very stiff and uncomfortable to use, not to mention very unstable. goes out of tune too easily. the pickups are very unresponsive. not a good move getting rid of the duncan designed HB-103's...they're a lot better than the EMG-HZ's. and the necks on the lower models (the unfinished ones) are very slow and sticky. you can just tell that the guitars aren't great quality. mind you though, i did enjoy the EX, EC and H series. those are an exception i suppose. it's the ones with the floyd rose i'd be worried about. but that's just my opinion, you guys might like them. i don't know whether you can directly replace the ESP licensed floyd rose with an original floyd....if you could then the higher LTD models would definately be worth buying. some of those have neck-thrus like the M-1000 does

when you play a guitar like this one, you must buy it. congratulations ESP, another masterpiece. i can't wait to see what this machine looks like with the new flame maple top

This is the Black, ESP LTD M-1000. 25.5 inch scale, neck through, ORIGINAL FLOYD ROSE, 2 REAL EMG 81s, 3 way switch, reverse headstock, gotoh tuners, great abalone binding and arrowhead inlays, 1 vol. 1 tone, huge strap buttons, thin fast neck and great upper fret access, comes with case and tools.

Plugged into a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, this made the store shake on high gain. I mean damn...Slayer never sounded so rad. The EMG's loud and great, yet quiet and no feedback. Cleans are sterile, and haunting...oooohhhhh....sweetness personified

set up near perfect. neck pup too high, twist twist of a screwdriver and done. keep shredding. finish is black...nuff said. everything is of the highest quality, just needs a little tweaking to be perfect for you.

this guitar is exremely solid...it'll definitely withstand gigging unless you're a fucking dumbass. everything is the highest quality will definitely last, but bring a backup cuz it does have a floyd....recessed....finish thick...strap buttons giganticus.

dunno...hope to never find out

I didn't buy this guitar. Will in a few weeks...so so SO NICE...would recommend to any metal guitarist...FUCKIN' THRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!