ESP LTD M-200FM

dont know when the guitar was made but it was made in indonesia
24 jumbo frets witch i love gives you more soloing options
it gives you a volume knob tone and a 3-way tap coil feature wich is really cool you can get a single coil sound the pickups are esp
Passive pickups it is a nuck through finish with agithis body
liscenced floyed rose locking esp tuners
Jumbo freats really good for fast soloing
and the finish is beautiful

I play heavy and thrash metal stuff like metallica, pantera, and ozzy and the esp pickups actually give a awesome metal tone along with my begringer, gmx 212 amp and i sometime use metal zone pedal from boss sounds great with that too when you pull the coil tap and switch to the neck pickup some unwanted feed back and noise comes though but on the brige pickup with the coil tap pushed down hardly no noise at all with the brige pickup you get a real bright sound with the neck pickup a more thicker bassier sound with this guitar you can do dive bombs but they dont sound all that great they sound ok though overall i really like how this guitar sounds

i bought this guitar used of off ebay so that might be a reason why when i got the guiatar the strings were touch all the frets so yeah it was not playable i took it to the guitar shop they fixed it but not entirely the g string was still touching one of the frets but i took it back again and now that problem is completly solved i guess since it was from ebay i just got unlucky the puckups were a little too far out from the cavity other than that no other flaws excpept some fret buzz on the first 4 frets on the e string but its not that bad

yes i would use this guitar live but i would not use the wahhmy bar because one time i snaped the d string doing that and the guitar stays in tune usually when i use it but not always i think this guitar will last a long time the finish is excellent it wont wear of i dont think the strap buttuse are perfect i dont have any problem with them yea i would bring one backup guitar if i went to a gig with this guiatar

i got it of ebay and i never spoke to the guy

ive been playing a year and a half and im never ever going to stop
i also own a cort guitar it has literaly like 6 dead notes!! and 2 notes that sound the exact same but with this guitar not one dead note if this guitar were stolen i would not buy another i would go for a jackson king v i love how this guitar looks the arrow inlays are awesome and so is the paint job and the reverse headstock, there is nothing i hate about this guitar i compared this guitar to the jackson DXMG dinky and the only reason i got this one cause it was cheaper

I bought this guitar to replace my Ibanez SA 120 !

Dont know when this guitar was made but is was made in Indosesia.
It had 24XJ frets wich plays awsome !
Its has a agathis body with a flamed maple top wich is very nice.
Its also a neck-tru-body design wich is also awsome !
Its had 2 Emg-Esp LH 301 pickups wich sound pretty good but maybe if you want a higher output you should change them !
Even the licensed Floyed rose isn't bad ! i can do dive bombs and all that kind of stuff and does not go out of tune !

So for the price you pay for this guitar you get great quality, its a beast !

The humbuckers give a rather bassy kinda sound but still nice and bright !
wich is very good at high gain settings wich i usely play in !
Tis is just a metal guitar, you just dont whant to play other music styles with it :D

action was pretty good, did not have to ajust it !
i only ajusted the height of the humbucker so the sound was a little bit fuller !
and yeah what can i say about the finish...

ist freaking awsome ! i love it !

this guitar would definetly withstand live playing !
i dont own a second guitar so i would gig with it live and even do some trem wanking with it live !

only thing i replaced where the strapbuttons, now i got Ernie ball straplocks wich are way better !

i did compare this guitar against a Ibanez RG 320FM AM and i have to say that this Esp Ltd is better !
why ?

because of the floyed rose ! it stay in tune nomatter what i do ! did had that with the Ibanez !

the only thing i miss are some active pick ups but they are gonna come soon enough !

wood: agathis
neck: Neck thru
Pickups: Esp Lh-301
finish: flamed maple with a see-thru black cherry finish
24 frets
double locking bridge
25.5 inch scale

I play a varieties of metals from death metal to nu metal, and this guitar is a versatile axe. I use a line 6 spyder III amp, and the tone i get is incredible. it's kind of a mix between a mahogany and alder sound, which is a good overall feature. The one thing i would change is to put a higher output pickup into the bridge position, because i noticed that pinched harmonics can be a pain sometimes.

the setup was perfect, and i didn't have to change anything.

i would use this guitar live, but i would prefer to have a backup model in case. the double locking bridge seems solid, but like any floyd system, you can't go insane with the effects (which i like to do)

haven't needed support

overall, it's a good solid axe. if it got stolen, i would probably upgrade my model to an m-1000, just because of the emg's

This is what ESP says:

Neck-Thru-Body
25.5??? Scale
Agathis Body
Maple Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Locking Nut
43mm Neck Width
Extra Thin U Neck Contour
24 XJ Frets
Black Nickel Hardware
ESP Tuners
Double-Locking Bridge
ESP LH-300 (B&N) p.u. w/ Push-Pull Coil Tap on Tone Control
Finish: See-Through Black, See-Through Cherry Red

Extra Info:

Made in Indonesia
H/H Pickup Configuration
Passive EMG/ESP made pickups
Strat shaped body
Licensed Double Locking Floyd Rose Tremelo Bridge
Reversed Headstock (Which looks the nuts!)
5-way Strat style pickups selector

All these features for a rather low price! +1 in my book.

Packed full of features, for 10 it could have done with just a little extra (Proper Floyd, H/S/H Pickup config but these depend varying the player)

Im a metal player by heart, playing everything from shrilly and melodic Power-Metal to dark and heavy downtuned Death Metal and these pickups handle the genre's very well. They are high output ESP/EMG made pickups so obviously they handle metal awesomely.
-The treble pickup handles attack very well, even at higher gain settings you can easily hear every note without them blurring together. Playing hard riffs is not a problem either. Even when playing some of the technical-metal or "MathCore" riffs you can still make out the notes.
-When you switch to the neck pickup you'll find it doesn't fault either. Chugging out heavy rhythms sounds ace, providing a nice round, fat tone that is perfect for downtuned riffs. Moving up the fretboard, soloing sounds just as good as everything else. Tearing out Maiden solo's sounds wonderful, responding to every note of legato, sweep, alternate picking or any other technical shredding skill.
-Here's where they get interesting, thanks to the split-coil feature (activated by pulling up the tone knob) makes the pickups very versatile. Playing Little Wing sounded near perfect and cranking up the gain a little I found tones almost a near replica to one Stevie Ray Vaughn.

One little niggle- The pickups could pickup harmonics a tad better. Pinches can sometimes be an effort to pull off and there's not many options for natural harmonics. Pulling off the Dimebag squeal can be an effort and some unwanted noise from the other strings can make it a bit tedious.
Also when at high gain, if the bass is quite high I find the pickups can get a little muddy, this can be fixed by rolling up the gain a little but this makes it hard to get the famous Metallica "Scooped" sound. Other than that though these badboys are awesome =]

Heres where the most problems for my guitar came in.
I bought it from Axe music in Calgary, and when I played it there it didn't seem to have any problems with it.

Then I took it home...

First thing to notice, this guitar brought a new meaning to "shredding" because of the bad fret wire. I think they must have been too long or something because when I played, the corners of the frets tore my fingers to shreds! Ouch! It came to the point where I was drawing blood which I didn't find too much fun. Luckily I had a small nail file handy so I filed them down to the perfect size so now the neck plays very well (not quite as fast as I would like because of the painted neck but thats just preference). Honestly I think I just got unlucky with the frets, which is a real shame.

The Licensed Floyd is ok...Big whammy dives can bing the bridge slightly out of tune, and its a little on the stiff side when using the whammy bar (then again it is a licensed and not and ACTUAL Floyd so this is acceptable) and when re-stringing, the strings pull the bridge right up, causing me to have to balance the thing.

When I went to open it up at the back to balance the Floyd, it was like breaking in to a safe. After taking out all the screws to move the back plate I had to wedge it out with a knife. And getting it back in was no easy feat. To fix this i just sanded it down and the problem was solved =]


These little problems are unfortunate for a guitar so great and full of features. I think I may have just been unlucky here because this really is a great guitar.

This guitar will definitely stand up to live playing, its quite heavy which I dislike but its very sturdy. Hardware looks like it will do fine if you take care of it well. Finish is gorgeous, looks quite thin but still its gorgeous.

Id depend on it live just fine, i'd just be wary about the Floyd snapping the strings thats all.

Never had to deal with them.

All in all this is a great guitar. I would definitely recommend it to a friend, ones that have played it liked it after I fixed up.

If it were stolen or broken I wouldn't buy another one. I'd go for something a little lighter and well built such as an Ibanez.

I really do like the guitar but the faults with it really disappointed me. I hope no one had any other problems with theirs.

Summary-Great guitar packed with awesome features and well worth the price I paid for it.

i got the red one. i got it used & the other guy had put a SD invader in the bridge...nice. you probably know all the features already...neck-thru, 24 frets, maple/agathis, bla bla
the licensed floyd is ok, but the guy didnt send the bar or wrenches with it so its kinda useless till i get a bar for it
i love the reverse headstock. why dont more companies use them? even ESP & Jackson only use them on a couple guitars & i like them WAY better than normal headstocks.

i play mostly death metal, melodic metal & thrash. think Arch Enemy, In Flames, Pantera...
i use really heavy strings & tune to C. this thing delivers. like i said above, it came with a SD invader. i play really hard, & eventually got tired of hitting the neck p/u with my pick, so i took it out & covered the cavity with some wood & tape. now its a badass, 1-pickup workhose. i play it straight into my Randall RG75 combo w/ an extension cab & it is amazing. i dunno what the HZs are like, but i get this really heavy, grinding sound that is totally awesome. palm-muted rhythms sound like death is coming. leads are like your face is getting burnt off. pretty good sustain, too, considering the crappy body wood. a little less sustain on high strings but thats normal. clean sounds are ok, but thats not what this thing was made for & it sure as hell isnt what i play

well, when i got it had 5 strings on it, 3 were broken & the other 2 were totally rusted. no big deal says i, i was gonna change em anyway. after i put an 11-52 set on everything was a-ok, the floyd is level & keeps good tune. nice giant frets, good for shredding! its got some buzz on the 1st fret on the low E but everywhere else is fine. when i first got it i was like "oh great a glossy neck" but it was was smoother than i thought it'd be. the neck isn't cardboard-thin either, which i like. the neck on my buddy's acrylic warlock is a lot thinner & my hands get tired when i play it. the neck heel could be a little smaller i guess but its not like a PRS or a strat, its still good.
the finish on this baby is awesome. nice deep, shall i say "blood" red, super-glossy. no flaws anywhere. the binding & inlays are good too.

solid like a rock. i'd play it live any day. it holds tune almost always, even the way i bash the strings. at first the bridge was doing this thing where i'd do a bend or something and the end of the string would pop out of the block, & i'd have to re-attach it to the bridge. eventually i figured out you gotta crank down the bolts REAL hard on the top strings or they come out. after that it hasnt happened again.
the finish is really tough. i'v put some pick swirls & belt rash on it, but i can't see anybody damaging the finish unless they were actually trying to. if you just play it, it'll last a lifetime. another good thing: no wierd points to bust off like on a bc rich!
i put strap-locks on it cuz i didnt like the original buttons. they didnt hold the strap well enough.

i dunno. if somethings broke i usually just fix it myself with duct tape and super glue.

i've been playing non-stop ever since my dad pulled a Squier out of a dumpster about 3-4 years ago (i dont remember when it was exactly). i modded that thing till even i didnt recognize it. i built 1 or 2 other not-so-good axes, & this is the first decent "real" one i've bought. no regrets. i love this guitar. no, if it got stolen, i WOULD NOT track the guy down and do xyz to him. it would suck to lose the guitar, but i think it'd be cool if the dude learned how to play it & got good, so then when he got famous i could go to one of his concerts & be like "hey shit-head give me back my guitar". if i somehow managed to break it or something, i'd either get another one of these or a Jackson Kelly, but i dont see that happening anyway.

Just read the from other reviews. Made in Indonesia.

I'm only learning to play guitar, so I've tried all styles of music, but mostly rock and metal (Metallica, AC/DC, Black Label Society, BB King?!), and it has been keeping me happy for the most of the times. Although it's made for metal music (and it handles that perfectly!), but with coil split you can get also some strat sound from it, although not authentic, but if you're as poor as me, then this will surely do. =P I'm using a Toneworks AX1500G, and to a computer directly, because it sound so much better on good computer speakers than on my little Microcube. With the multieffect you can almost use it for any music, even for acoustic, if you're not too strict on the sound. It can sounld sometimes too bright and thin, but that may be the price to pay for the neck-thru. Or timething like that, it got to be because of something! =P

The only thing I could hope for is more substain. Yes, this is a neck-thru, but it may be that the licenced floyd rose is killing the substain a bit.

We all have different preferences, so I had to adjust the trust-rod and the bridge quite a bit before finding the perfect setting for me. It still have some fret buzz from some higher the frets, but I think you can get them away by adjusting all the things in the guitar, but that was not why I bought the guitar. =P

Otherwise the guitar is quite okay, for the price.

I have been playing this guitar 7 month, and it's really a miracle that this have survied such a beating. Seriously thou, I have managed to brake almost everything I use, and yes, there's quite some marks on the guitar, but nothing that effects the playing or the sound. It has been dropped, fell several times, sitted on, but it's still lasting.

Can't say anything about this.

I been playing about 8 month, and I'm a bassist in a band, but also been a guitarist on one gig using this guitar, and nothing much to complain about the guitar. For the price, it's among the best you can have, at least if you'll be playing metal for the most of the time.

If it's stolen, I would probably get a bit more expensive, but if it's not stolen, then I'm not selling it either. I'll probably buy a ESP LTD EC-400 or Viper 400 next for those active EMGs, but I'll definitely keep this, since with passive pickups and coil split, you can get so much better cleans with M-200FM.

Here is a brief rundown of the features:

- Made in INDONESIA
- Agathis wood body
- Maple neck
- Neck-through-body design
- Rosewood fretboard
- Arrowhead fretboard inlays
- 24 XJ frets
- EMG-designed, ESP-branded LH-300 passive pickups (2)
- Floyd Rose-licensed double-locking trem (low profile design)
- Three-way pickup selector switch
- Volume knob and tone knob with push-pull coil tapping
- Available in see-thru black or see-thru cherry

For the price (I paid $419 at Music123.com) it has a laundry list of features normally found on higher priced guitars, especially the neck-through-body design. Couple that with other features like EMG pickups, Floyd Rose-licensed trem and 24 XJ frets, and, at least on paper, you have a guitar that seems like a complete steal at $419. So what's the problem? There are two, actually: the Agathis body and EMG passive pickups. Agathis is by far the worst wood for any guitar I've ever played (more on this below). And the passive ESP pickups (based on the EMG H4s) are disappointing (again, more on this below).

In the "Features" category, I give it a 7. If not for the surprisingly effective (for the price) Floyd Rose trem and the classy neck-though-body design, it would have scored a 4 or 5.

I have been running this guitar through a Roland Cube 60 amp, primarily using the "R-Fier" setting that emulates a Mesa-Boogie combo. I play mostly glam rock like Def Leppard (lots and lots of Def Leppard) and some classic rock and progressive rock like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Kansas, Asia, Cheap Trick, etc. I don't "shred" because the music I like doesn't call for it...and because, even after 15 years of playing, I still don't have the chops (maybe I've never felt the need to master it). I also don't play dark and bass-heavy speed metal, because, again, it's not my thing.

That said, this guitar is built for the kind of music Def Leppard plays (glam and "hair" metal circa 1980s), and that's really why I bought it. I wanted a guitar with nice humbuckers and a double-locking trem for all the bends and dives in Def Lep songs like "Women" and "Animal".

Once the guitar was properly set-up and ready to rock, I was not as impressed as I had hoped I would be. First, the EMG-designed passive pickups are weak, muddy and lack the "bite" I was hoping for (in the bridge position). I had always played a single-coil American Strat, and while I wanted the warmer, fuller sound of a humbucker, the pickups lacked any kind of sparkle. While I blame the design of the pickups for this, I also blame the Agathis body.

Agathis is a cheap wood and does not have the full-bodied sound of a Strat's Alder wood. Agathis has a thin, dull sound. However, Agathis is not as heavy as Alder, so the guitar is lighter. Some people like this, however I prefer a heavier guitar like a Les Paul. I like the feeling of having a substantially heavy guitar strapped to my back.

When using the neck pickup, it basically sounds the same as the bridge except darker and muddier still. Forget playing blues with this guitar...nothing beats a Strat and a neck-position single coil pickup for the blues.

The push-pull coil tap does not do much to change the guitar's tone.

I ended up replacing the EMG pickups with a DiMarzio Super3 in the bridge position (just like my boy Phil Collen of Def Leppard uses) and a DiMarzio Air Norton in the neck position. While these are much better pickups than the stock set and improved the sound noticeably, I am still at the mercy of the Agathis body.

Overall in the "Sound" category I give it a 5 due to the only average stock pickups and the thin-sounding Agathis body.

Here's where the guitar really shines (no pun intended). The fit and finish and quality of craftsmanship for, essentially, a budget-priced guitar is incredible. The model I received was very well constructed and the finish and hardware were flawless. The transparent cherry finish is dark and classy, while the neck-through-body design - a very unique feature for a guitar at this price - is elegant and seamless. While, in theory, a neck-through guitar is supposed to help increase sustain, the cheap Agathis wood used in its construction betrays this. Try out a Mahogany-bodied Les Paul with neck-through design to hear what real sustain is.

The guitar is hurt in this category by the fact that factory set-up was non-existent and the action needed to be set. It was so bad out-of-the-box that the Floyd Rose would not even keep tune. Once a professional set-up took place, everything was hunky-dory. If you purchase this guitar you MUST MUST MUST get it set-up. If not, you have wasted your money.

Overall in the "Action, Fit & Finish Category" I give this guitar an 8 for the quality of construction and finish, but with need for a thorough set-up.

The guitar seems like it would withstand live playing (I'm only a hobbyist, so I can't be sure), but the question is would you WANT to play it live? If I played live I would want a guitar with a more substantial tone.

The hardware, especially the Floyd Rose, seems like it will stand the test of time depending upon how much you abuse it. Keep in mind that the hex screws that lock the Floyd down at both ends are easily stripped, so be careful when you change strings.

Never mind the quality of any guitar, I would NEVER gig without a backup if I were using a guitar with a Floyd Rose. These systems can be irritating if they decide to become difficult, and changing a broken string is not exactly a 30-second activity, especially in a low light conditions.

Overall, I give this guitar a 9 for "Reliability/Durability".

I have never had to deal with the company.

I have been playing for 15 years. Along with the ESP LTD M-200FM I have also owned a Fender American Standard Stratocaster and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom. Out of these three guitars, the ESP LTD is my LEAST favorite for pure sound quality (my favorite being the Les Paul). The Strat (which I don't have any more) had an Alder body and three single coils and the Les Paul has a Mahogany body and two classic Gibson humbuckers. However, I do really love the ESP LTD's Floyd Rose double-locking trem and that is probably its strongest feature.

When I first started shopping for a new guitar, I initially wanted a Jackson...I have always wanted a Jackson. But I didn't like any of the Jacksons in my price range ($500). I should have saved up a few hundred more and just bought a Jackson DK2 Dinky. I really want a Jackson PC1 Phil Collen signature model, but I just can't afford to drop $2,250 on one right now.

The point is, if this guitar were lost or stolen I would not buy it again. I would buy a Jackson. In fact, I'm going to sell this guitar and buy a Jackson DK2 later this year.

Overall, I give the ESP LTD M-200FM a 6.

+ Neck-through-body design is elegant and usually only found on higher-priced guitars
+ Floyd Rose-licensed trem performs excellently
+ Good value for the money
+ Outstanding fit and finish, especially for the price

- Agathis wood body sounds thin and dull
- Stock EMG passive pickups sound muddy, weak and lack "bite"
- Guitar MUST be set-up before it plays properly
- Push/pull coil tap does little to the tone
- Guitar feels almost too lightweight

The 2006 LTD models just came out and this was one of the first batches. Made in Indonesia on the back of the HS. The specs are as follows:

-24.4" scale
-Neck thru construction
-Agathis body with flamed maple top
-3 piece maple neck
-Rosewood fingerboard
-Arrowhead inlays w/model name at 12th fret
-Volume control, tone control w/push pull coil tap & 3-way switch
-Black hardware
-Floyd Rose licensed tremolo
-White binding on neck & headstock
-24 XJ frets
-See through black and red finishes

Mine is a seethrough black model. I ordered a case as well. The case is awesome, fits the guitar snug, and has it's own compartment to store things. The case is very solid and sturdy. It comes with allen keys, for the bridge, locking nut and the control knobs. The cool thing about the knobs is, they dont just snap on and off. Theyre put in place and the hole in the side holds it down so it doesnt fall off. It came with the ESP catalog as well as the instruction manual. The tuners are standard ESP tuners, and pickups are ESP designed EMG's with ESP at the bottom right corner. The push pull coil tap is an addition to the tone knob. When you pull it up, it makes it so that one coil in the humbucker turns off, turning it into a single coil. This GREATLY improves the clean tones. It does however make the distortion much more noisy as single coils do. Push it back down to restore the humbucker's to their original state. The feel of this guitar is also very very comfortable.

I'm giving it a 10 because for the price, this is amazing. For all that this guitar has it's value is amazing.

I play mostly metal (slayer) and some clean stuff (opeth) and this both suits it very well. In distortion channel it has a darkish chunky sound on the neck pickup, and on the clean it has an extremely well sounding clean tone with the push/pull coil tap. I love this thing, it transforms the clean so well.

It plays like absolute butter, the painted neck is very, very slim and fast. The playability exceeds anything I've ever played before. Harmonics sound great and overall is very smooth and sharp.

It has its fair share of noise in the distortion channel, but a Boss NS2 can patch that up. I run a Crate GLX65 with wah and Digitech hyper phase so it has some noise.

The trem is your standard licensed Floyd. I hear lots of problems with licensed ones but haven't had any so far. I've owned it for almost a month now.

The only thing I don't like are the Pickups. For 2006 they put the ESP designed EMG's in it instead of the HZ's. From a distance it looks like an EMG active but says ESP on the bottom right. On distortion is sounds a bit muddier than my BC Rich. I'm fixing that with an EMG 89 and 85 as I love the coil tap.

I'm giving it a 9 because of the distortion issue, nothing more.

The finish is absolutely beautiful. The old website's picture of it is terrible and the new one is almost dead on to it. It has a bit of a greyish smokey tint and in the daylight its a bit dark turquoise. Attention to detail was excellent to me, and it's an LTD. The binding on the HS and neck are like the icing on the cake, it really makes it nice. The neckthru heel is very convenient and smooth.


The setup was perfect, the tuning was almost exactly as the tuning I play it, so I only needed to tune down a tiny bit. I was afraid it would mess up the floyd but it didn't pull back at all. Action wise I've never needed to really adjust it. It comes as low as it can go and could easily be fixed by the allen keys.

I'm giving it a 10 because the overall apperance is stunning, I really like it.

This is a very solid guitar and has many years ahead of it. The Floyd keeps the tuning locked, the looks are top notch and even though I don't play it live it seems like it could handle it. Everything on this guitar is secure and tight, the strap buttons stay in place, the input jack doesnt come loose, the knobs are always tight, the inlays are stunning, the sound is rich. This has become my favorite and rely on it very much.

I believe that it's always good to have a backup while playing live, but if I had to, I wouldn't worry about not having a backup. ESP's are built to last.

I'm giving it a 9 because of the licensed Floyd, as some people have said that it's of bad quality. I have not experienced this yet as it's still new, but take other people's word wisely.

Never had to contact support.

I've been playing for 3 years so far. I have a BC Rich bronze warlock that I got about 2 years ago and still play it, it's my second favorite guitar besides this one.

I wish I would've known ESP replaced the PU's with the EMG designed ones, as I expected it to have EMG HZ's. They didn't disappoint me too much, I got what I needed in this guitar.

If I were stolen or lost I'd definately get it again.

My favorite features are the maple top and the trem. The finish is amazing to look at and the trem is very convenient. I chose it because I had been starting to grow a liking to traditional style guitars again and the finish and features really grew me to like it, and I ended up buying it.

All it needs for me are EMG actives and this guitar is perfect for me. That is happening soon enough. I think it'd look even nicer with white body binding also.

Also...if you're worried about neck diving, you shouldn't be. With my Warlock the neck diving is enough to drive you crazy even with my wide strap. With this, neck diving is non-existant. You don't have to worry about it with this guitar.

Overall, I give it a 10. I got alot for what I paid for. I was worried I'd end up wanting a new one sooner or later, but that surprisingly isn't happening. But if I ever do get another one, I know for sure it will be an ESP.

2005, Made In Indonesia.
24 XJ frets with name on 12th fret
1 volume, 1 tone (push/pull tap)
2 EMG-ESP Pickups (passive)
Agathis Body, 3 piece rock hard maple neck
See Thru Black Cherry (nice blood red color), flamed maple top.
Floyd Rose Licensed, black hardware.
Neck thru construction
$419 at Musicians Friend

I love the feel of this guitar! I've been using SGs and LPs for a while, and I recently started to fall in love with Floyd Rose equipped guitars (guitar stays in tune after heavy divebombs and tremolo bar yankin'.) One problem I'e had with the tune-o-matic bridges, although they are easy as hell to string, are that they go out of tune fast after a lot of bending, which I do a lot of. I play a lot of speedy 80s thrash and melodic metal riffs, so I need a guitar that's fast around the neck and has a lot of sustain. To my surprise, this is a neck thru construction... which a lot of guitars around this price range and style are bolt-on, so it rocks in that department already. The body is agathis, which is a pretty dead sounding wood, but the maple neck makes up for it and brightens it.

I was a little disappointed when I saw that the EMG-HZ H4 pickups that came standard with it were replaced with EMG-ESP pickups. From what I read, they are supposed to be an improvement of the HZs, but I rather would have had the HZs because of their quick connect feature (which allows you to disconnect the pickup with ease and pop in another HZ model.) The sound of these pickups aren't bad, I think they are made in a similar way )ceramic magnet with bar loaded coils). The sound is pretty bright, but there's just something about it that doesnt fit what I want... its way better than many stock pickups though, I just played a gig with it and it was ok at best.)I'd compare them to maybe a cheaper end duncan distortion. I'm gonna compare to an EMG HZ this afternoon at guitar center to see what's lacking. But nontheless, I do intend on adding an EMG active preamp boost to the guitar to juice up the pickups.

The action was suprisely perfect... I didnt need to set anything up the first time I played it. I dont like 9 gauge strings, so I switched to 10 gauge and had to adjust the bridge a little bit for more resistance, but it was no biggie. No flaws at all.

Well, its not a light guitar, so it looks feels like it could take a hit. Quality hardware and electronics... for this price, you have way better parts than any epiphone, fender guitar on the market which is another thing that made me interest in ESP. The strap buttons are nice too, they flare out more than most to lock your strap better. I could trust it without a backup, but I always bring one just in case.

I've been playing for about 6 years straight now (been on and off, never serous before that, and I used to own an Epiphone Vintage G400 that I sold to my other guitarist. I also own an Ibanez Les Paul Custom, a custom Dean Freddy Krueger superstrat, and a cheapy Squier strat that is in pieces. If it was stolen, I probably would buy it again, Its a really sweet axe. But I'm also a guitar whore, and I'd probably get the M-400 model that just came out with EMG 81s and an alder body (who knows, I may get that one anyway and use this as a backup) or a Randy Rhoads V. But if you ask me if this is worth it, YES!

24 Frets, 3 way switch, HH combination of Pickups.

EMG HZ pickups (Replaced them with Bare Knuckle Pickups, Miracle Man)
Body, Agathis, Fretboard Rose wood. (rest unsure)
Floyd Rose Bridge.

I play in a funk metal band with this guitar think somewhere between Van Halen and Extreme, it suits that style extremely well but It's not my main guitar.

Im using an ENGL Screamer 50 combo amp which i've been using for about 3 years now, great piece of kit

The sound of the guitar with the EMG's in was ok but once I dropped in some Bare Knuckle Pickups it soon came to life with a great tone. The guitar seriously lacks sustain though, which isnt much of an issue for a the style of music i use this guitar for but it's a shame none the less.

Setup was fine, Pickups were adjusted perfectly.

Bookmatching is horrificly unmatched, Bridge is routed ok the holes for the studs the trem sit into were nice n tight but the studs themselfs were very cheap and wobbled and caused tuning stability problems.. fixed later.

The guitar takes a beating live the ammount of times the other guitarist in our band runs into me on stage is ridiculous he's bust my nose many times but never managed to damage the guitar. which says a lot to be honest.

Hardware is reasonable but the floyd on it really could be replaced for a better one.

The finish is fine

I use it as a backup at my gigs so no i wouldnt use it as a main guitar.

i've been playing around 14 years, i owned over 30 guitars and i will say this isnt one of my favourite, it will suffice as a backup for now and really has a fantastic styling to it for the music i play.

If it were lost or stolen i'd chase the bastard who stole it to recover the pickups out of it..

I love the way this guitar plays and the overall design it's fantastic for what i use it for but the lack of sustain, crap trem and tuning problems i had on it when i first bought it were major draw backs.