ESP LTD EC-1000 - Black

I love the guitar. It sounds great. The tuning was almost perfect. Intonation was perfect. It feels good playing it. The neck body weight balance is nice. Only this is, and I’m probably being picky, the paint could have been a little better. The rails on the neck and not exactly painted evenly and you can see faint brush marks on the body. Other than that it’s phenomenal

I started out with the ESP LTD ec 256 and loved that one . . . .I felt so good about the 256 . . I decided to purchase the 1000 . . .I got mine in cherry and love the look and feel of the guitar . . .Abalone fret inlays and outline of the guitar make it a step better than the 256 . . .Now . . the action on my ec 256 was awesome . . .but the ec 1000 is even closer to the fret board than the 256 . . . both guitars are great for the price and I would also suggest to invest in the ESP LTD B-205SM bass guitar . . .the 5 string was really nice and if you're in the market for a low cost bass . . .this is the one to get . . .Because I bought the B-205SM . ..I went ahead and purchased the ec 256 . . .I was amazed at the quality of the 256 and now the ec 1000 will absolutely blow you away. . . .I owned a PRS and felt the ESP was a better purchase . . I'm not saying PRS is inferior . . .but I'm loving the close action on my 1000's fret board . . . EMG pickups!!! Man what a surprise! . . .I must have missed the fact that the 1000 is equipped with EMG pickups . . . .I play through a Spider Line 6 and found the clean setting sounds tight . . .My distortion is a problem . . . My amp is starting to sound a little boxy . . .I don't know . . .I might need a different distortion pedal . . . the pickups are far too superior for the Line 6 settings on my on-board effects unit . . . .I don't know . . . something is wrong with my distortion on the 1000 . . .the 256 sounds pretty good . . .but the crispness of the 1000 might need more money spent on a decent distortion pedal . . . .Anyway . . .the clean channel sounds awesome . . .You'll love the ESP LTD ec-1000. . . Note: I tweeked my amp (Line 6 Spider V 60 MKII) a little and changed my strings to super light D'addario . . . .The treble knob on my distortion patch needed to go all the way up . . .and now my new ec-1000 is sounding pretty decent on distortion. The boxy sound is gone . . .so . . .this guitar is, now, awesome . . .and you'll love it . . . .

So first off this is a great playing guitar. The fit and finish is excellent this thing looks amazing. Love the satin finish as it’s super fast on the back of the neck and resists smudges on the body. Has a perfect weight to it and is nicely balanced. Locking tuners work well and the guitar stays in tune. Emgs are emgs you either love them or hate them i happen to love em. The only issue I have with It and my reason for 4 starts instead of 5 are the frets. They’re not sharp and jagged but they could have used some more attention I had to polish them there is glue seepage from glueing them in on quite a few of the frets. For a 900 dollar guitar thought the frets could have been better. Overall awesome guitar though I am happy with my purchase. After playing for a few weeks despite the fret flaws I described above I’m changing from 4 to 5 stars because this is the best sounding guitar I’ve played. I’ve played for a long time and have some very nice guitars. They just don’t sound as good as this one.....

I bought the ec 1000 a couple of weeks ago and I gotta say, I'm crazy about this guitar. The black finish and gold hardware on it makes for a beautiful look and the abalone on the inlays and around the body and fret board looks awesome. The emg pick ups are great for long sustains, punchy palm muting, and shrieking pinch harmonics. I don't know why people complain you can only play metal with these pick-ups though. Sure, they're really good for that, but they also have beautiful clean tones and even manage some decent classic rock or bluesy tones as well. If I really want to be a stiffler about my more vintage tones then I will use my strat, but this guitar usually sounds fine for those as well it's just not a blues machine or anything. I also love the playability of this guitar. Shredding up and down the neck feels so natural and easy, I just want to do it all day when I pick this up. Hands down this is probably one of the best modernized, metallised LP kind of copies you can get for such a cheap price. I highly recommend it!!

Received a used item instead of a new one. I ordered a brand new item but ended up getting DKs guitar and DK does not wash his hands very well. All jokes aside, I think DK inspected the product but he should have used gloves. I don’t mind keeping it but this is clearly not brand new. It’s the “like new” option which is over $100 cheaper. There was no guitar documentation like when you buy a new product and the guitar is full of grease hands marks. Not good. Wipe the product at least. Returning it.

I did not know that these models are now produced in Indonesia. They were previously made only in Korea. That doesn't necessarily mean its an inferior instrument. I like that there is no longer that ugly writing at the 12th fret. Pros: Overall, solid construction. The guitar feels very solid and has a good bit of weight to it, which is what i want from a single cut guitar like this. The pickups are good and after tuning the instrument, it came reasonably set up out of the box. Frets are straight, no dead notes. Cons: The fret ends are not as well done as they are on the Korean built models. You can make it comfortable with a little tlc, which I'm okay with but i expected better. The input jack on this thing is TIGHT. You really have to put force into plugging in and pulling out the cable. I guess i dont have to worry about it coming unplugged unintentionally. Overall, good guitar for the money. No doubt.

I've played a LP for 30 years and was a little skeptical about this guitar. It doesn't have the sweet tonal quality of the LP, but that's not what it was made for. It sounds great through the Marshall alone, but it comes alive through the Diezel Herbert...and a total beast through both. The cut away allows easy reach to the top frets (much easier than the LP) and the tone can be shaped exceptionally well through the volume knobs. Is it perfect? No, but I've never played a $1000 guitar that has made me smile like this one...and, it looks surprisingly good too!

This guitar is an exceptional value. I sold my 2011 Gibson SG because after 7 years, it just wouldn't play right. I even had it set up twice. After reading many reviews I thought I'd give the EC-1000 a try. Very glad I did. It plays better, and stays in tune better. Beautiful craftsmanship, sounds perfect. Love the locking tuners and the TonePros bridge. This thing plays like a $2k guitar!!