ESP LTD TE-1000 body Tele clone

[Dr.Mavashi]

Looking for this type of clone, one piece body. Routing for electronics is not as important as quality of wood and contour job. Who is good out there ? Or is it still Warmoth and USACG is the only game in town these days ?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

LTD guitars are great mid to high-mid priced guitars. I'd say they're above Epiphone quality, and somewhere around Mexican Fender quality, if not a bit higher. I like my Mexican Fender, but LTD's have all aroudn been more consistent in my experience.

Great thinner necks too.

They're not one piece bodies, though. That one is a kind of deep inset glued in neck, but the neck is 3 piece Maple, and the body on those tend to be multiple pieces, as is with most guitars in the price range.

 

[jeremy]

one piece bodies are hard to find cheap these days, warmoth and usacg are good options but even they upcharge for one piece

 

[blastcovet]

Geometry Dash​

I'm running a BC Rich (Bronze Series) Warlock. Love the design of the extra long locking screws, so you can adjust the intonation accordingly easily. I have had this guitar for 9 years and the tone seems stable.

 

[playas]

I got a standard alder strat body from Northwest guitars that was actually one piece (advertised as two though). You would need to contact them to ask if they can provide you with what you want as I don't see swamp ash or contours among their offerings.

I had to do a good bit of work extending the contours - especially the ribcage one, as there was a lot less taken off than I needed but if they're willing to do it, I guess they would do it to your specs.

They're UK based too so, like buying something from the US, you have to count on customs and exchange charges, along with shipping probably, which add a lot to the real cost.

Alternatively, I had also considered buying a finished body from Franchin guitars in Italy. The prices have gone up since then as this was a few years ago, but even still it may be worth considering if they will add the contours for you and having it finished is of benefit.

I don't know of any other good alternatives although maybe you could find a manufacturer that does something similar and persuade them to make you just the body.

 

[donaldr]

I have an LTD ST-213 guitar that is very good, but I upgraded the pickups/bridge/tuners/electronics.
I also have an LTD Surveyor 5 bass that has the same pickups/bridge/tuners/electronics as the ESP Japan equivalent. This one is as good as some Fender Elite Jazz 5 I tried.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I can feel both sides of the argument agains/for multipiece bodies.

On one hand, my EC-400VF has at least three pieces in the body that I can see, and it sounds killer. My Les Paul Tribute has two piece, and it sounds better than any other guitar I've owned.

On the other hand, 60% of why I sold my Classic Vibe Esquire was because the pieces in the body were so evidently poorly matched that it looked cheap as hell. It sounded good, though.

 

[jeremy]

i think a multi piece body can sound great! i also prefer a one piece if i have a choice

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I don't even think one piece bodies are common nowadays on production guitars.

AFAIK not even most Gibson USA's or standard production Fenders do?

Also, as far as "quality of the wood", I'm not saying one is worse than the other, but LTD's, while they're great, do not use the same kind of Mahogany that Gibson do, so there's that to keep in mind if you're picky about your Mahogany.