LTD M-1000 E

[Slartibartfarst]

After much deliberation, I've taken the plunge on an LTD M-1000 E. I was wanting a superstrat with an alder body, maple neck, ebony fingerboard and Floyd 1000 so this fits the bill very well. I was originally after a bolt-on for a nice bright tone and this has a set-thru, but the upper fret access is superb so it's a reasonable trade and it should still be brighter than my previous PRS. I really don't like EMG pickups so they will be changed to passives. I'm thinking of a Super Distortion in the bridge and an AII Pro in the neck. I'm also not a fan of the reverse pointy headstock but it seemed silly to let a cosmetic detail put me off.

[Mincer]

An A2P in the neck is my favorite neck pickup. It balances well with higher output bridge pickups, too. Congrats on a very sleek guitar!

[AdrianSD]

Very nice guitar! How about a Black Winter set?

[Slartibartfarst]

Black Winters aren't really my thing. I was originally thinking of a JB in the bridge as I know I like that pickup in alder bodied guitars, but I've also always fancied a Super Distortion and never had one so perhaps now is the time.

[EmiAba]

Have you had the chance to hear or play EMG retroactive PU's? They are active, yes, but with a more passive vibe. Easy to install, they are plug and play, so you don't need to change the entire cables routing and the pots. I have a les paul with the zakk wylde combo and I played a lot a schecter sun valley super shredder with, if I am not wrong, the super 77 combo. Different guitar you can argue but the retroactive are an improvement to me. If you want to stay with passives, well a 59 and a JB is a good thing

[Slartibartfarst]

I thought about the Retro Actives a lot, perhaps with a 70 in the bridge and Fat 50 in the neck. They seem like really good options but I have no idea if they'd be as good as a Super Distortion and an AII Pro so for the sake of buying a few electronic components, it seemed safer to go with passives that I know I like.

[Top-L]

After much deliberation, I've taken the plunge on an LTD M-1000 E. I was wanting a superstrat with an alder body, maple neck, ebony fingerboard and Floyd 1000 so this fits the bill very well. I was originally after a bolt-on for a nice bright tone and this has a set-thru, but the upper fret access is superb so it's a reasonable trade and it should still be brighter than my previous PRS. I really don't like EMG pickups so they will be changed to passives. I'm thinking of a Super Distortion in the bridge and an AII Pro in the neck. I'm also not a fan of the reverse pointy headstock but it seemed silly to let a cosmetic detail put me off.

I got the purple burst version of this guitar late last year. Mine is MIK. It had some high frets that needed some attention, but now it plays and sounds great. Love the neck through. I think it is good (not great) quality for a 1K guitar. They didn't level it, but besides that it is well constructed and looks great.

I was planning to rip out the EMG 60/57 set, in fact bought some Dimarzios, but the EMGs impressed me. They might grow on you.

Another thing that has been gone over by those "in the know". Bolt on guitars are acoustically resonant, but warmer when plugged in. Neck throughs are acoustically deeper but brighter plugged in. This is a bright guitar plugged. warmed up a bit by the floyd. Balanced imo. Not as spongy as a basswood/bolt on superstrat. IME, the neck through makes it more metal, more aggressive on top, than typical bolt on strat derivatives.

[Slartibartfarst]

Mine is also made in Korea, which I checked before I bought it as there seems to be a few more QC issues from the Indonesian factory. My version also comes with a set of EMG 81 pickups. Had they been the 60/57 set I'd have been more inclined to give them a go. Mine is also not a neck-thru, it's a set-thru. It looks the same for upper fret access but it means that the bridge pickup is set on alder instead of maple. The neck pickup is probably on a bit of both depending on exactly where the extended tenon ends.

In terms of quality, I couldn't see a Korean guitar being worth the £1,150 that most retailers were selling it for but where I bought this one, they did a deal at £830 and it was still unboxed. That seemed far more realistic as it put it in the same ballpark as my previous Korean PRS SE 'Floyd' Custom 24, which I found had excellent build quality. If it ends up a bit brighter and snappier than the PRS I'll be happy.

[Top-L]

Mine is also made in Korea, which I checked before I bought it as there seems to be a few more QC issues from the Indonesian factory. My version also comes with a set of EMG 81 pickups. Had they been the 60/57 set I'd have been more inclined to give them a go. Mine is also not a neck-thru, it's a set-thru. It looks the same for upper fret access but it means that the bridge pickup is set on alder instead of maple. The neck pickup is probably on a bit of both depending on exactly where the extended tenon ends.

In terms of quality, I couldn't see a Korean guitar being worth the £1,150 that most retailers were selling it for but where I bought this one, they did a deal at £830 and it was still unboxed. That seemed far more realistic as it put it in the same ballpark as my previous Korean PRS SE 'Floyd' Custom 24, which I found had excellent build quality. If it ends up a bit brighter and snappier than the PRS I'll be happy.

I'm sure you will enjoy it. Didn't know it was a glue on. I think the tone from my M1000 is very much from the maple core that runs the whole length. Yours is mostly alder probably warmer.

Let us know how the fretwork is when you get it. Prior to the M1000, I got a deal on a M400 MII, that had a level done on it and didn't need any fretwork. The guitar itself is more basic, but had a level done.

The M1000 frets looked completely new and mirror-like, like they had never been leveled. My opinion was that with K guitars, they decided doing a full level/crown/polish was too expensive, so they shipped them out this way. It played fine but needed some attention to get super low action. Its a good choice for a 1K guitar, especially if you like the 57/60 emgs. Those are expensive to install yourself.

[Slartibartfarst]

I had a bad experience with a maple neck-thru as I had a Japanese Jackson SL3 that was maple neck-thru and it was an absolute pig to get pickups that worked in it. The JB that came stock was awful but that same pickup in an alder bolt-on guitar was incredible. I went through loads of pickups and although I eventually found a couple of Bare Knuckles that worked best of all, it was never really ideal. I might have just been unlucky with the guitar I had but it put me off enough that I've never owned a neck-thru since then. Had my M-1000 been neck-thru, I wouldn't have bought it, yet loads of people love them so maybe it's just me.

I've only had a chance to have a quick look at the guitar so far but I had the tech at the store set it up to an action of 1mm - 1.25mm and there doesn't appear to be any buzzing.

I did think about changing the 81's for a 60/57 set or Retro Actives but I really don't want to go the that expense just to find that I still don't like them. I think I'm on fairly safe ground with a Super Distortion and an AII Pro, though I'm also thinking of getting the neck pickup custom made for me. I've been thinking about an alnico 2 magnet but wound all the way up to a DC resistance of 9.5K so it keeps up with the bridge better and wound with 43AWG wire instead of 42AWG for a more focused sound.

[Top-L]

I had a bad experience with a maple neck-thru as I had a Japanese Jackson SL3 that was maple neck-thru and it was an absolute pig to get pickups that worked in it. The JB that came stock was awful but that same pickup in an alder bolt-on guitar was incredible. I went through loads of pickups and although I eventually found a couple of Bare Knuckles that worked best of all, it was never really ideal. I might have just been unlucky with the guitar I had but it put me off enough that I've never owned a neck-thru since then. Had my M-1000 been neck-thru, I wouldn't have bought it, yet loads of people love them so maybe it's just me.

I've only had a chance to have a quick look at the guitar so far but I had the tech at the store set it up to an action of 1mm - 1.25mm and there doesn't appear to be any buzzing.

I did think about changing the 81's for a 60/57 set or Retro Actives but I really don't want to go the that expense just to find that I still don't like them. I think I'm on fairly safe ground with a Super Distortion and an AII Pro, though I'm also thinking of getting the neck pickup custom made for me. I've been thinking about an alnico 2 magnet but wound all the way up to a DC resistance of 9.5K so it keeps up with the bridge better and wound with 43AWG wire instead of 42AWG for a more focused sound.

I havent tried any other pickups in my M1000. It may be that the EMGs work best in that guitar. All of my other guitars are bolt on.

I was surprised that I was able to get all of my core tones with the 57/60 set. It is different, but not enough different that I couldn't interchange with my other guitars. If it didnt have a "dual sound" in each pickup, I probably would have taken them out. They could pass for passive pickups tonally, except they are more open than hot passive pickups would be. IOW, they have an open character like a medium output PAF would, but they are actually hotter. Requires some different amp settings, but overall they enable all my techniques, and I'm not worried about them sounding "sterile" or "fake".

At least your M1000 has a batter cavity so if you decide to upgrade with actives you are set.

1-1.25mm action is super super low. I typically have my high E at 12-th fret in the 1.3 range, and the lowE at 1.4 if I can get away without any buzzing down low. A 1.5mm pick just barely displaces the low string at the 12th fret. It displaces the highE string just a bit more.

BTW, if you havent bought the pickups and want a hot "but more modern" kind of distortion class dimarzio, try the D-Activator X. THey have a liberal return policy. That pickup was the best of the really hot ceramics ive tried. A good match is a Super Distortion in the neck, which has that classic SD neck sound. THey are both hot enough to have a great split sound for clean or low gain playing.

[Slartibartfarst]

When I first started looking at this guitar, it was actually my intention to install the 57/60 set after I saw a video featuring Andy James. I thought his neck tone especially was really good and they certainly sounded less like actives to me. I then switched to the idea of Retro Actives, as they seem even less like actives. The Hot 70 reminds me quite a bit of a Super Distortion but the DiMarzio was clearly better. I finally thought of a Fat 55 set, which I am still very sorely tempted by, but I suspect I'll just end up wishing I'd gone passive anyway.

I'm actually thinking of raising the action on my guitar to something closer to yours. For some time now my work has meant I haven't had access to my own guitars and I've been forced to practice on a really crappy Epiphone Les Paul Special. It's a truly horrible guitar and the action has had to be high to avoid fret buzz and choking, but it has meant that moving back to a decent guitar has made me realise just how low I have the action.

[Top-L]

When I first started looking at this guitar, it was actually my intention to install the 57/60 set after I saw a video featuring Andy James. I thought his neck tone especially was really good and they certainly sounded less like actives to me. I then switched to the idea of Retro Actives, as they seem even less like actives. The Hot 70 reminds me quite a bit of a Super Distortion but the DiMarzio was clearly better. I finally thought of a Fat 55 set, which I am still very sorely tempted by, but I suspect I'll just end up wishing I'd gone passive anyway.

I'm actually thinking of raising the action on my guitar to something closer to yours. For some time now my work has meant I haven't had access to my own guitars and I've been forced to practice on a really crappy Epiphone Les Paul Special. It's a truly horrible guitar and the action has had to be high to avoid fret buzz and choking, but it has meant that moving back to a decent guitar has made me realise just how low I have the action.

Probably the only thing holding me back from buying and installing actives in other guitars is the price and the installation diffculty, including battery placement. And the fact that I think they are different, not better.

But if your guitar already has the EMG wiring harness, you should be able to swap EMGs very easily. Back in the day, the EMG81 was my goto pickup, and wiring those is not fun. But if its the late 80s and your Fender tube amp only has SRV levels of gain by itself, they are what you need. The 57/60 could pass for passives, except they have more clarity and heat than they have a right to. Just listening to them I don't think your ears would hear "active" but when you play they are a lil differnt.

[Aceman]

SuperD and a PAF Pro