ESP LTD MH-1000 Deluxe

2008 -- Korea (and mighty impressive!)
24 Jumbo Frets
Flamed Maple Top With Five Ply Binding (beautiful)
Stock with EMG 81/85 Pickups (Yuck)
Mahogany Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard
Transparent Black Finish
Strat Style with deep cut away, great access to upper frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Grover Tuners
Very Thin Neck
Had it customized to replace the pickups with Seymour Duncan APH1s and added two independent coil tap switches

I play a wide variety of styles from folk to metal and this comes as close to handling them all as any guitar I've owned. The stock pickups from EMG were entirely too hot for the bluesy sound I like, but the SDs give it a rich and warm tone. They fall a little short in the high end, where pick harmonics are more difficult than with the EMGs, but I'll take that trade off for the buttery mid range. The stock pots and switch are very quiet and operate with no stickiness or binding whatsoever.

With the addition of two independent coil taps, I can get a huge range of sounds out of it from classic Telecaster twang to Les Paul growl and everything in between without touching the amp or my processor.

This guitar came out of the box looking and playing perfectly. The factory set-up was impeccable. My allen wrenches have not touched it other than the restring it.

This guitar seems very solid and I anticipate it will last for a very long time. It puts up with my playing and the occasional abuse from my 10-year old without a scratch or a broken string to show for it. While I never play anywhere without a backup, it would really surprise me for this one to fail on stage.

I have not attempted any warranty work with ESP on any of my guitars from them. I will, however, echo the comments above about ESP's custom shop. I tried for months to purchase an ESP Horizon II customized with my choice of pickups and finish -- they will not return phone calls to their dealers about custom orders. Oh well, I can buy four more of these for the price of one custom, and I think I may just do that over the next couple of years.

I've been playing on and off for about 25 years, but have bought more guitars in the last two years (since my son started playing), than in the previous two decades combined. The only other guitar I've purchased in this period that is comparable is a PRS, and that says something about the quality of this instrument.

I play through a Boss GT-8, Morley Wah (circa 1983?), and a Fender FM 212R stacked over a Vox 50W hybrid when the kids are awake. After bedtime, it's off to the Line 6 Pocket Pod and the headphones.

I researched and shopped a long time before buying this one. While it did not come stock with the pickups I wanted, the layout of the guitar supports my playing style, so I paid extra for new pickups and wiring. In particular, the volume and tone knobs are placed such that they are easily accessible with the tremolo arm in place. Too many guitars put you in a bind by placing the volume knob too close to the tremolo arm to get your pinky in there comfortably when you're on stage without catching the bridge with your hand and creating unwanted warbles. The layout of the control compartment is spacious and facilitates a couple of extra mini switches for the coil taps with ease.

ESP: if you're reading this, try offering this guitar with the same pickup configuration used in the non-tremolo style MH-1000. You'll pick up some customers outside the metal genre.

This guitar has almost everything I want. EMG81/85, Original Floyd Rose, 24 frets. Good size frets. Neck is just right. My perfect guitar would have an additional single coil EMG in the center. Mahogany body with a quilted Maple top. Maple/Rosewood neck. Grover tuners.

The finish is outstanding. The binding looks great as well as the Abelone. The color changes with lighting. It looks blue/gray in daylight/natural lighting, and more dark blue (almost plum)/black in halogen light.

Sound is great. This is my first ESP as I have been playing mostly Jackson guitars. The sound is a little more fat and deep than the Jackson. I am able to get a different tone for blues and clean vs the Jacksons,that I like very much.
I play everything with this guitar. 80's metal/rock, good tonal solos, nice blues on the mid position, and good clean sound for any style of play.

I ordered this through a dealer, so it did not get played in the store. The setup was right on. No flaws at all from the factory

The only thing I don't like about Floyd Rose systems is the sensitivity of the 1st few frets to how hard you press. So a standard E chord can be slightly out of tune with pressure.

I have owned the guitar 1 month with 2 gigs. So far it is solid. I always have a spare guitar, so thats not reflective of the ESP.

All knobs and parts are solid.

I fully trust my local dealer should I need anything in the future

I have been playing about 25 years, I am 39. I love EMG's the last few years and always like the general strat style shape like the MH1000.
I play through a Boss GT-8 and a Peavy Classic 50 combo tube amp. I can get almost any sound from them. Tone is great with the ESP. My Jacksons play easier then the ESP, but the ESP has a better tone.

I considered a lot of ESP guitars for my purchase. I really don't think you need to pay for the ESP brand itself to get the sound or features of the LTD Deluxe type. Only if you want the custom graphics or you are a brand type person. Certainly don't think you get much for more for paying 2-3 times the $

This Guitar has everything a modern guitar should have except a tremolo but I never needed one. I'm a fan of guitars with a fixed bridge.
It's a strat type guitar with sperzel locking tuners and string thru body.
It has a binding on the body top, neck and headstock. It really is a beauty with a nice black glossy finish.
It has one volume and tone poti and a three-way-switch. I don't need anything more.

I play modern metal and metalcore like Killswitch Engage, Caliban, Parkway Drive. I'm also into lead guitar.
I play this axe through a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier with a 4x12 Mesa Rectifier Oversized Box and a Boss GT-6 for FX and a Crybaby from Hell.
This guitar is equipped with EMG-81 on the bridge and EMG-85 on the neck position.
All my guitars are equipped with EMGs because I like the sound.
The MH-1000 is the clearest guitar I own. It is not as bassy as my Les Paul but it defintitely cuts through your wall of sound. The rhythm sounds are great, the EMG-81 has good trebles and power. For lead sound I prefer the EMG-85 on the neck position. It is smooth sounding and the guitar really sings. For cleans the neck position PU is kinda too bassy so I use the switch in middle position.
The MH-1000 is definitely not a guitar for jazz because it has so much power. It is the ideal axe for metal and rock with nice powerful cleans.
And it sounds good on small amps too. I played this one in the guitar shop and it blows me and another customer away. :-)

Well I had the problem with the strings. I used a 7-string set from 0.10-0.56 by D'Addario. I play in Dropped C. When tuning the 6th string up to D it often has broken. Also the 5th string has broken two times when playing concerts. :-(
I was very disappointed because I use 0.60s strings on my Les Paul and this ones had never broken.
So I did my guitar dealer make the job in adjsuting the bridge. Now I also use other strings, the same strength but another company. Ernie Ball. These strings really fit to this guitar, it sounds great. I don't tune it up now because I have other guitars to do that. So the string problem seems to be fixed.
One thing to say: 0.56 strings are the maximum the sperzels can handle. No way for 0.60 !!!
The finish is great, all other features are very well on this guitar. It was just the string problem I had.
The neck is great, it is not to fat like my paula but also not as thin as the ibanez wizards. It really fits to me very well. It's also a "fast" neck where I can practise for hours without having troubles. Best one I own !

Well, because of the string problem I need to say this guitar has to be played live with a backup. I never had the problem again for a few month now.
This guitar is a great stage guitar because it is a lightweight. It is really comfortable to play live. It had become wet through sweat, water and beer but it resists like a tank. Only the screws on the Pickup frames lose their black colour now.

my guitar shop fixed the string problem for me. So there was no need to contact the ESP service company.

I play guitar for 10 years now and the MH-1000 is definitely the best guitar I own right now because it is the perfect live guitar and also sounds great in the studio. I will buy another one soon with a QM Top in sunburst. I love this guitar it has everything I wanted and need.
I have a squier strat, an Epiphone Les Paul, an Explorer and a 7-string. The MH-1000 blows all of them away.

ESP LTD MH-1000 Deluxe w/EMG's

SPECS:
??? SET-THRU CONSTRUCTION
??? 25.5??? SCALE
??? MAHOGANY BODY
??? 3-PIECE MAPLE NECK
??? ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD
??? ABALONE OFFSET BLOCK INLAYS W/MODEL NAME AT 12TH FRET
??? EMG 81 (B) / 85 (N) ACTIVE PICKUPS
??? VOLUME & TONE CONTROLS W/3-WAY SWITCH
??? BLACK HARDWARE
??? SPERZEL LOCKING TUNERS
??? EARVANA COMPENSATED NUT
??? TONEPROS LOCKING BRIDGE W/STRING-THRU-BODY
??? WHITE PEARL BINDING ON BODY, NECK & HEADSTOCK
??? 24 XJ FRETS

It's hard to find a Guitar at the $1000.00 price range that has... Locking tuners, EMG (ACTIVES), and binding on the neck and body and is a string-through.

Setup - Guitar through a Crate V3112 Tube Amp
Styles - Metal, Rock, Alternative, & Blues
Range - Full, Neck provides a very deep thick tone, the bridge is a high clarity high ouput extreme humbucker great lead.
Fairly Quiet (compared to passive high output pickups)

Love the sound, great for metal, rock and everything else. Bridge may be a bit twangy for some.

No idea, Arcata Music Online did a complete setup job for me for free. It's been perfect since I bought it.

No problems so far, everything seems rock solid.
It's very dependable

but
... never gig without a backup

N/A

Haven't had to deal with them, although it's been like pulling teeth to try and get a hold of ESP for a custom order...

I love my guitar, I've been playing 10 years, and out of 15 guitars this is still my favorite.
If it got lost in a fire, or stolen I would absolutely buy it again.
It's all about the tone, I've had EMG actives in 3 other guitars, and none of them had the sustain and tonal range of this one. The neck, the string-through bridge, and the heavy wood works great with the EMG's.



Try one!

I bought it for around $900.00 with a hardshell ESP official case. (don't get the official ESP case, it sucks, not very durable, over priced, and it kinda stinks literally...)

I've had this guitar for a few months now and I absolutely love it. It's the see through cherry finish and came with the Seymore Duncans. The sperzel locking tuners look really nice and work even better. No more annoying wrapping the string around the tuner. It's got extra jumbo frets, 24 of them. Its neck through body with one volume, one tone and three way selector switch.

I play mainly metal/metalcore and it sounds and feels perfect for that. I lowered the action slightly, but other than that it was ready to go. I'm using it right now through TU-2>Noise Suppressor>BBE>Madison Divinity and it sounds flawless. I swapped the pickups out for and 81/85 set and it hits harmonics like a dream.

Like I said earlier it was pretty much ready to go, it was more a personal preference thing. Everything was in good shape when I got it.

The only prolem i've consistantly had with ESP/LTD is their inputs. They always seem to come loose or crap out on me. I waited to replace it until I got the EMG's since they come with their own input, not a huge deal but a little inconvienent. I've played with it live and its held up pretty well. I've toured with a couple bands who are endorsed by ESP and i've seen alot of random things happen to their guitars though, like broken headstocks, necks ETC. I'm not sure if it was their fault or not though. I changed out the strap to a dimarzio, the kind that screw into the body. I take it to practice without my backup guitar but it's just not responsible to go to a show without one haha.

I've never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for about 2 years and my first guitar as well as my most recent were ESP LTD's and I love playing them. I also own an older M series with the Floyd Rose and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I play thi s one the most by far.

I got mine in dark brown sunburst w/duncans, all the other features are covered in the reviews before mine. I would say 10, but my pickups came ungrounded and the toggle switch was wired incorrectly and I had to go through the trouble of getting it fixed. For this I give features a 1.

AFTER I got the electronics fixed it sounded great. As chunky as Les Paul, clear tone, lots of tone options. I'm getting a coil tap on mine so I can get a single coil tone also. So sound is 10 now, but 1 before the electronics were fixed.

The guitar came the factory with a slight neck bow, NO fret buzz, frets were nicely polished and dressed, the quilt top looks amazing, fast neck, and lightweight considering the chunk it's able to dish out.

I play this guitar live with no backup, all the hardware should last a lifetime, but LTD does cheap out on pots, switches , and jacks-so in the long run parts will need to be replaced. I put schaller strap locks on it.

ESP are pretty cool about helping you out and go through a lot of trouble to do so.

I own many high quality guitars ranging from les pauls to other ESP/LTD's. After the mistakes on this guitar were corrected its my favorite guitar. Its comfortable, can do any style of music, sounds great, and looks great. BUT BEWARE-LTD do cheap out on things like volume&tone pots, jacks, and switches. Again mine came with ungrounded pickups and caused a lot of headache. so a 6 rating just because of the pickup deal.

2005 Black with 81/85 EMGs , 24 XJ frets ,sperzel locking tuners. See website for the rest.
But Im telling you for the money you are getting a asskicking guitar. Incredibly Fast neck , Beautiful finish.

The guitar sounds great with its 81/85 EMG combo. I started off wanting the Jeff Hanneman signature series but for the ESP its over 2k. My local dealer said here try this , So I gave the MH 1000 deluxe a test run. I played it on a Crate Solid State amp , I use a Marshall DSL at home BTW. I fell in the love with the tone , It has great lead tone , being Im of the old school where solos still kick ass.The 81 in the bridge ripped and the 85 wasnt too shabby in the neck. I have other axes that have the 81/60 combo . So this was pretty cool to have the "Zakk " set up , also used by Hannemann as well as others .
Some say the 85 neck isnt the best for cleans that the 60 is better , but I dont find that to be true , the 85 has a bit more output I think , but I think its fine. Besides you really arent going to play too much clean with this type of guitar . ESP/LTD has a reputation for being a heavy rock /metal axe So you are mostly going to play balls to the wall rip your face off type of music.
Now that said I play a old school type of guitar , ala UFO Saxon , Old gary moore , mercyful Fate type , And this axe rules. Simply put the guitar sounds incredible

Action was fine from get go.
I think the entire LTD 1000 Deluxe seies is awsum . Im going buy ones with the Duncans also . The guitars are made in Korea whereas ESPs are now made in Japan. ESP makes a excellent guitar ,their LTD line , now Im talking specifically bout their 1000 line is not far off from the ESP quality. You really get a great guitar for probably less than half of what you would pay for a ESP . Im sure ESP is a better made instrument , but for the buck the LTD 1000 series is a awsum awsum axe that for sure holds it own.

Id never gig without a back up ,
Probably need to put strap locks on it.
it looks sturdy , I dont treat my guitars badly so hopefully they will last .

never dealt with em

I must say . I have 20 guitars as I have OCD LOL when it comes to guitars I have mostly gibsons,See reviews , Zakk Camo , Slash , Page , A les paul; class 5 , standard , classic , custom , Explorer Explorer pro , iommi SG , ESP jh-3 Kh-2 , ESP Eclipse and other stuff
Im currently using a Marshall DSL 100 with a Gmajor processor with a pedal board . Im not going to tell u my LTD MH 1000 Deluxe blows my gibsons away , that would be bullshit and foolish. But I will tell you Id never gig a 3k Zakk camo or a 5k Page custom aged les paul , but Id surely in a heartbeat gig my MH1000 . First off it sounds great it plays great and it looks great but even better it didnt cost a arm and a nut. Thats why Im going to buy a few more of them .
The 1000 series are great instruments for the money ,like I said before the ESP line is a better guitar but it costs $1400. for an Eclipse , My MH 1000 was approx half that.
The conclusion it has real EMGs , it is a great sounding ,playing guitar , which looks awsum as well . If your looking for a decent priced but excellent quality guitar , this is it

MH-1000 in See-thru Black Cherry - Made in 2005 you know all the features if you have been looking around at these guitars. I got the See-thru black cherry finish which has a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Also you will notice a huge difference in your tone with the Earvana Compensated nut. It keeps your guitar intonated even when you play chords how cool is that?

This guitar works perfectly for my style of music which is death metal. Some people told me that I should have got the black model with EMG's. I wanted something more expressive and the Duncans let you express your style more, especially when playing leads. I play in a band and after shows most people tell me that our tone is one of the most brutal ever. Trust me the Duncans have as much gain as EMG's they just sound a little more old-school almost like the Deftones really. I play through a Mesa/Boogie Single Rectifier and honestly I have never played a nicer sounding or feeling setup. No noise at all. This guitar works great for metal and hard rock but I could also see going to the neck pickup and playing through an old Fender amp to achieve some amazing classic rock tones. It's so good, I dont know what to say.

The guitar was perfectly in tune when I picked it up from my local music store. The action was a little high for my taste so I lowered it. Also the pickups were a little too close to the strings so I also lowered them. The construction on this thing is amazing. The binding is perfect as well as the quilted maple top. Very fast neck. When you pick it up and hold it you can feel that old school Gibson quality. It seriously feels like the guitar is made out of one piece of wood. The finish goes all the way on the back and on the neck and headstock it looks so awesome. Perfect 10 as far as I'm concerned.

This guitar is very comfortable to play live and it sounds great. It feels very solid and doesn't feel cheap in any way. I would only compare it to something like a high-end Gibson or Tom Anderson as far as construction goes.

Never had to talk to ESP and I hope I never have to. This guitar is a beast and I don't think I will ever have problems with it as long as I take care of it.

I have been playing for about 5 years. I play in a serious death metal band that plays local shows often. Trust me, if you wanted to know about guitars and amps you would want to ask me. I grew up around musicians and I seriously breath and sweat music. I can honestly say that this guitar (and any other LTD Deluxe guitar) is one of the best guitars I have ever played. The combination of pickups, quilted maple top, binding, and insane construction make this one a no-brainer. For 700 bucks you can't beat it. I wouldn't replace it with anything. If it got stolen I would buy a nicer ESP.

Korean made(not a bad thing!) 24 frets, two seymore duncan 59/jb humbuckers, Mahogany body with a 3 piece maple neck, see through cherry red, string throiugh body, Sperzel Locking tuners, xj frets. .....abalone binding. earvana nut what a deal.

The Seymore Duncans give an extremely expressive sound and feel. You can really let your emotion shine when playing. Incredible sound. Can go from metal to jazz in a heartbeat.

The action was simply incredible. The neck and body styling of the guitar makes the mh-1000 the most comfortable guitar I have ever played. It sits nicely agaisnt your body when you play and the neck(for me) is a perfect shape. So fast and smooth....hmmmm...

No visual flaws other than a small paint smudge on the neck. Barely noticeable. But alas, I have to give it a 9 because of that small imperfection. Other than that, perfect in ever way. It is gorgeous.

I havent had it for too long, but it seems very well made, especially for such a light weight instrument.

Havent dealt with yet, though it did take the guitar a few months to arive. But hey, cant argue with quality!

The MH-1000 is probably the best guitar I have ever played. It surpasses other "solist" guitars such as jacksons, ibanez, etc. I have played many high end, expensive guitars such as the Gibson SG Supreme. The MH-1000 stands above all the rest in every aspect. The body shape is incredibly comfortable and it sits gently agaisnt my body. THe playability is outstanding and the sound is incredible, with the seymore duncan pickups bringing out all the emotion of my playing. It can play metal to jazz in a heartbeat. When I picked up the guitar from my local store(I had it special ordered) they were all drooling over it, sayinjg it was the most "badass" guitar they have ever seen/played. The pictures surely do not do the guitar justice. Craftmanship was flawless, except for a small paint smudge near the neck joint, but what can you complain about for only 740 bucks?? the guitar is simply amazing!

Made in 2005 in South Korea, 24 frets, master volume, master tone, 3 way switch, H/H, emg 81/81, Mahogany body, Maple neck, black finish,white binding ESP MH body (similar to a Jackson Soloist), fixed bridge, string-through body, Sperzel locking tuners, 25.5 inch scale, Rosewood fretboard, XJ frets, offset block inlays,

I love the sound of this guitar. i play mostly heavy music (hardcore,metal) and the pickups clear up your sound very good. i always thought i dont like active pu`s, because i didnt want to sound like all these new metal bands but you can nearly dial in any sound you want to. i even like the clean sound very much. switched to the neck position the guitar has a very rich sound with a lot of body. lots of people tell me that they dont like actives because they have no character and no balls. maybe its because of the mahogany body or maybe its because of my amp(engl screamer top with 2x12 celestion vintage 30s) but this guitar just sounds awsome with a lot of bottom end.

the guitar was set up very well with just a little of fret buzz but with a little tweaking i think i can solve the problem. the guitar has no flaws at all but i think i was just lucky because i saw other ltds and even esps with a few dings.

the guitar is built like a tank and i will definitly play it life.maybe i would also play it without beckup because of the sperzel locking tuners. the strap buttons are huge. but i changed it to schaller strap locks but i do that with all my guitars.

ive been playing for 5 years now and studying audio engineering and i have to say this guitar almost fits me perfect. i would like it more if the fretboard was ebony but you cant have everything for that price. it definitley beats all the other imports.

Made in 2004 in South Korea, 24 frets, figured Maple top, master volume, master tone, 3 way switch, H/H, Duncan JB/59, passive electronics, Mahogany body, Maple neck, See-Through Black Cherry finish, ESP MH body (similar to a Jackson Soloist), fixed bridge, string-through body, Sperzel locking tuners, 25.5 inch scale, 16 inch radius, 1.63 inch nut, Rosewood fretboard, XJ frets, Abalone inlays/binding.

I purchased this guitar intending for it to be very versatile, but a little more towards the rock/metal side of versatility. This is my first guitar with Duncans in it, and based on what I read about the JB/59 combo it sounded like what I was looking for. The pickups are very well matched as far as output and the guitar has a very expressive sound. Something I don't feel like I get through my straight up metal guitars that have EMG's and Dimarzios in them. They pound the bottom end a little harder, but with less definition. The nuances of your pick attack really come through with both p/u's. The JB has exactly the tone I was hoping for. It can do just about any sound, and it doesn't sound anything like an EMG-81 (don't get me wrong I love my EMG but there's stuff it just doesn't do well). The 59 really shines as a clean pickup. Gorgeous. I haven't made up my mind on the middle position yet. I run through a couple of different amps and the guitar is pretty much silent. I can hardly bear to stop playing this guitar.

The guitar arrived from Drum City Guitar Land set up nearly perfect. It was still extremely close to even being in tune. I have never had a figured top before so I'm not really qualified to rate it, but the thing looks stunning with the see-thru red and the Abalone binding around the entire thing. All the controls are tight I gave the guitar a pretty good inspection since it had been shipped, and couldn't find any flaws. Amazing what you can get for under a grand these days. The hardware on this model is top-notch. Looking forward to my first string change now that I have Sperzels.

Time will tell how the finish holds up, but I have a lot of faith in ESP. Again the hardware is top-notch and have no worries about reliability. I had strap-locks put on it before receiving it so I can't really comment on the strap-buttons. As I always say, in parallel universe where strings never break, I would be comfortable giiging it without a backup.

If you call or email ESP, don't expect a reply. Just go through your dealer. They make amazing guitars but god forbid you try and contact them with a question.

I've been playing over ten years. I have a Fernandes Vertigo X with an EMG 81 in the bridge, and Ibanez RG7621, A cheapy Squire Indo-Strat, a couple of different amps, and some stompboxes. If the guitar were stolen or lost I would replace it immediately. This was one of those rare toy-purchases that turned out to be exactly what I had hoped it would be. I bought it based on how impressed I was with a friend's MH-400 NT. I was planning to by a Gibson until I played that MH-400 and after I heard what he paid there was no way I could justify the Gibson price tag when the LTD felt like it came from a USA Custom Shop at half the price of a Les Paul Studio. I do kind of wish it was reverse headstock, and I like toggle switches over sliders, but that's getting really picky. Besides those two little items, I would change absolutely nothing about this guitar.