Possible new guitar

Re: Possible new guitar

I've seen some older (Made in Korea) LTD models and those were pretty good guitars. I've noticed they switched their production line and the new ones are made in China, don't know if this affects the quality of the guitars though, I never had a newer Chinese made LTD in my hands.
The guitar you like seem to have pretty nice specs, I like the fact that it comes loaded with SD pickups, many of the LTD models come with EMG actives. I didn't find that particular guitar on the ESP/LTD website, may be because I am in Europe and that model isn't imported here?? Maybe it's a special edition of that model?
The only thing (specwise) I am not fond about is the fact that it comes with a Floyd Rose Special trem unit, not the best quality out there that one.
If you are an avid trem user, I'd stay away from the FR Special or upgrade it to a better unit, if you don't use the trem too extremely than you might be fine with the FR Special.
Jackson Soloist models (Made in Mexico) come with a better FR, but they are probably more expensive too.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

It depends on what music you like. This guitar certainly looks like it would be better suited for metal (going purely off aesthetics), but if you look at the pickup, it has a Pearly Gates in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. The Jazz can work for metal if want a really articulate neck pickup, but the Pearly Gates is a PAF and will definitely not help you with any sort of high gain application. But if you are in to styles with medium to no gain, it actually looks pretty promising.
I'd also suggest you play one before sealing the deal, not everyone likes extra jumbo frets and I can't speak on the quality of the Floyd Rose unit.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

It would probably play some killer doom stuff with those pups. No clue on how well it's made. Everyone above is spot on.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

Another thing I forgot to add. It includes coil split, which could be useful for the neck pickup. But in the bridge it's already really low output, so unless they are doing some tricky wiring with resistors, the bridge is going to be very thin when split. There would be more or less 4k's of resistance, compared to 6-8k for a strat coil.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

That is one pretty guitar (with good pickups). I have no direct experience with it, though. It is similar in construction to my Brian Moore.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

As far as the word "investment"... LTDs are great guitars at and sometimes above their price point. I think if the features and look appeal to you, then it would be a great guitar to own... I sure like it and the pickup combo would be pretty versatile too! I pointed out investment, since you used that word. If you are looking for a great player, absolutely... If you are looking for a guitar you will get a good resale value on, probably not.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

If I was you, I'd try buying a late 90s-early 2000s used Japanese Jackson.
Those usually brought original Floyd Roses stock.

Also... are you sure you want a floating tremolo? If you like to change tunings frequently, they're a terrible choice IMO and the trem unit that LTD has -an FR Special- isn't the highest spec either.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

I had one of the MIC EC401's last year. Very briefly.
It was terrible. Poorly made nut, frets you could stick a business card under, blemishes in the hardware and finish, over spray on the fretboard. So, try before you buy.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

It's a mid-line LTD. Probably decently/well made. Neck through suggests it would be solid. Real Duncans. Jazz/PG is a fairly bright sounding combo, but it would likely take extreme dirt very well. With a little more or less futzing/adjustment the term will likely work well.

Is it an investment? Oh hell no. Will out be a decent functioning guitar? Sure. Will it be good or better? Likely.

Here is another way to look at it:

It's a $500 neck thru guitar with a Floyd from a respectable company with $200 of Duncan pickups in it.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

I bought this POS Japan-made Ibanez Prestige RG655 last year for the equivalent of 700 bucks, with 2 extra Dmz included:

12742419_151241238592511_3458747088434861465_n.jpg
 
Re: Possible new guitar

Diego said:
If I was you, I'd try buying a late 90s-early 2000s used Japanese Jackson.
Those usually brought original Floyd Roses stock.

Also... are you sure you want a floating tremolo? If you like to change tunings frequently, they're a terrible choice IMO and the trem unit that LTD has -an FR Special- isn't the highest spec either.
Click to expand...


Plenty of Takeuchi and soft-metalled Floyd Licensed trems on MIJ jacksons, too
 
Re: Possible new guitar

i recently acquired a very similar LTD guitar - a Year 2011 M-300FR. it seems there 3 differences in specs: 1) passive pups vs active (mine has 2 EMG 81s) - and hence naturally mine doesn't have coil splitting, 2) the fretboard inlay design, and 3) mine was made in Indonesia (vs China).

They both have the Floyd Rose Special in common.

** this bridge has been a problem and nuisance. **
the strings have repeatedly popped out of the saddles, and one of the lock screws has already stripped.

luckily i just got turned onto a solution in another post "Floyd Rose Special" https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?249846-Floyd-Rose-Special&p=4120752&viewfull=1#post4120752

where member CTN reported the same issue and said it was remedied by replacing the soft zinc alloy saddles (and blocks) in this cheaper bridge, with the steel versions found in the Original Floyd Rose. I am currently shopping for a set of these to try them out.

i can also confirm what Adieu said: by buying used, you can have this type of guitar for 50% less. I got mine for ~$350 from GC Used.

Adieu said:
For 700 bucks??? HELL NO

Guitar center has full ESP SS / E-II / LTD Elite (same item different years' branding experiment) for $500-700. Try the used section.
Click to expand...
 
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Re: Possible new guitar

Adieu said:
Plenty of Takeuchi and soft-metalled Floyd Licensed trems on MIJ jacksons, too
Click to expand...

Yup, that's why I mentioned "usually".
I used to own a KV4 with a JT-something FR by Jackson, which I think counts as "soft-metalled" all the way.

Nowhere near as bad as the Edge Pro trem that came on a Ibanez RG1550 I used to have. Holy crap that was a faulty trem.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

Diego said:
Nowhere near as bad as the Edge Pro trem that came on a Ibanez RG1550 I used to have. Holy crap that was a faulty trem.
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Glad to see I'm not the only one who sees the Edge Pro as an abomination!! It replaced the original Edge and Lo-Pro edge for quite some years, just horrible! It was the very first time Ibanez totally turned me off (guess it was 2002 when they introduced those Edge Pros).
 
Re: Possible new guitar

A good investment? Heck no. If you have to sell, people will grind the sale price down to $300, give or take.
It's a stepping stone guitar for non-serious musicians.
Gibson, Fender, PRS, Suhr, Jackson, Charvel Martin, Taylor, etc
Save your money for good stuff
 
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Re: Possible new guitar

The JEM Ghost said:
Glad to see I'm not the only one who sees the Edge Pro as an abomination!! It replaced the original Edge and Lo-Pro edge for quite some years, just horrible! It was the very first time Ibanez totally turned me off (guess it was 2002 when they introduced those Edge Pros).
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I havent had any experience with the Edge Pro, but the Edge is a good trem..
 
Re: Possible new guitar

LTD's are solid guitars, but remember, your money will always go farther on the used market. Watch craigslist, good deals show up fairly frequently (at least in my area) and if you're lucky you could get an actual ESP for around the same price as that LTD.
 
Re: Possible new guitar

BloodRose said:
I havent had any experience with the Edge Pro, but the Edge is a good trem..
Click to expand...

The original Edge (and Lo-Pro Edge) is my favourite locking bridge, don't get me wrong, it's an excellent double locking trem system! The Edge Pro however...YUCK!!
 
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