ESP LTD EC-1000....anyone play them much...

[chrisrocksusa]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

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But the 1000 series guitars are pretty expensive off the shelf. There are definitely Eclipse guitars out there used for the same price.

I sold one for $400.

 

[JimmyBlind]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

$

But the 1000 series guitars are pretty expensive off the shelf. There are definitely Eclipse guitars out there used for the same price.

I sold one for $400.

An Eclipse or an EC1000?

 

[chrisrocksusa]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

$

But the 1000 series guitars are pretty expensive off the shelf. There are definitely Eclipse guitars out there used for the same price.

I sold one for $400.

An Eclipse or an EC1000?

EC1k. My point is the EC1k isn't necessarily expensive, especially used. You won't find a used eclipse for anywhere near that.

 

[C1-ocaster]

there is one of the white ones, EMG 81/60 (the store rep said it was 81/85, but the website says 81/60), on consignment near me for $650, but the store guy said he would give me a better deal that the tag...

Curious as I respect a lot of your opinions on here as you all have much more experience with some of the fine details of things than I do....so whats the opinion on these? I plugged it in on my day off today while out 'searching' for what kind of guitar I'm into. I tried a lower end Tele, Kramer (again lower priced), LP Studio...and granted the LTD was the first one I tried, it was for good reason. I have been looking at them a lot and seem to always gravitate towards them online, so was excited to get one in my hands in person. Took awhile to get used to the xtra Jumbo frets...but I think I would get used to them after a bit of 'real' playing. I couldnt get used to the LP's neck, and lack of access to the higher frets like the LTD has...the kramer just didnt feel right, it was a cheaper model only about $200 on consignment as well.

I recently had a chance to play a really nice one at a GC. It was the quilted red model with EMG's. I LOVE that guitar.
The action is so freaking low and stable all the way from fret 1 to the top. It stayed in tune no matter what.
Super easy to play and wonderfully light compared to a Les Paul. But it was still not wanting for cool tone even when played clean.
It has EMG's which on some guitars I can take or leave, but plugged into a Peavey JSX the pairing gave superb tone clean to gritty blues to full on saturated gain.
I'm now considering getting one.

I will never sell my 1990 Fender Strat Plus Deluxe as it has beautiful versatile tones with that cool Strat tone.
It's the LTD's neck that I love. It has a great thin and fast feel, and the one I played had amazingly low action. So low I was checking for buzzing everywhere and none to be heard.
I like Les Pauls, but I don't like those baseball bat 50's necks. They sound sweet for sure, but it's too hard for me to play well as I have short fingers and a paw like hand.

ESP have a quilted blue LTD that looks oh so sweet, and the price brand new was only like $750 for the red one and the blue one is just a bit less. But I think that doesn't include a hard case, which would be about $130-$140 for a nice SKB case.

You're doing the right thing. Don't shop by looks only. You gotta play it and feel it in your hand. It has to feel natural and right to YOU as that will let you play what you feel without fighting the guitar's ergonomics, which is how I feel when I play a fat necked LP.
I think it's a great choice if it feels right and sounds right to you.

 

[C1-ocaster]

However, with the lack of upper fret access and the 24 3/4" scale, it just didn't always seem "right" for me, if that makes sense.

This seems different than my experience. I'm coming from a Fender Squire (LP style body) and I thought the access to the 24th frets was pretty decent. I didnt get a chance to plug it in while standing with a strap, but sitting down, had no issues reaching the higher frets. Seemed the neck was tapered well to be able to get there, unlike the LP, which made it very hard to reach the 20/21 frets. The scale is a bit shorter than my DIME guitar, but its similar to my Squire scale length in feel...so i'm ok there. My next step is to bring my rig and play through it to hear it plugged in better than the XXL amp I was playing through. Couldnt dial in a sound I liked...

Don't forget, you can always buy or order one from Guitar Center and try it out at home for 29 days. They have a no questions asked full refund policy.
Also, Musicians Friend has a 20% off coupon and GC will match their offer. I think GC owns Muscians Friend.
SO, $750 - 20% = $600 +tax for a brand spanking NEW LTD! Can't go wrong if that coupon works.
Go for it.

 

[C1-ocaster]

I've owned two and sold them both, if that tells you anything. Took the EMG out of one and replaced them with BKP's and it still sounded plasticky. The other had SDs and sounded tiny next to my LP. They can't stand up to a good LP or PRS.

I'll have to respectfully disagree.
But then, we all have our own preferences.
OH, and I hate PRS guitars. I've never found one that felt right to me. And for the money there is nothing special about them other than hype. A good LP sounds way better than a PRS, imho.

 

[C1-ocaster]

They're great guitars, especially for the price...

But if you played it and you liked it, why do RTers opinions matter? Your opinion on the guitar is really the only one that should matter.

This!

 

[C1-ocaster]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

What is "...the real thing..."?

The one I played was real in my hands. It wasn't a phantom guitar.
Really great craftsmanship. Cool finish. Cool tone. And I think I got a very nicely set up one. I was quite impressed and didn't expect to be.
It was quite the REAL thing to me.

 

[JimmyBlind]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

What is "...the real thing..."?

The one I played was real in my hands. It wasn't a phantom guitar.
Really great craftsmanship. Cool finish. Cool tone. And I think I got a very nicely set up one. I was quite impressed and didn't expect to be.
It was quite the REAL thing to me.

The real thing being a top quality ESP made in Japan. Not the LTD models which are mass-produced & made on a production line in Korea.

 

[JimmyBlind]

In my opinion, you're always better off digging a little deeper & getting the real thing or buying a quality, used guitar. I've never understood the high-end mass-produced guitar market.

$

But the 1000 series guitars are pretty expensive off the shelf. There are definitely Eclipse guitars out there used for the same price.

I sold one for $400.

An Eclipse or an EC1000?

EC1k. My point is the EC1k isn't necessarily expensive, especially used. You won't find a used eclipse for anywhere near that.

I've seen 1000 series LTD guitars go for £1000 new. I sold a mint 10-Top PRS Hollowbody II for £1500. I think my point was more that I don't understand who would pay full price for the best 'budget' guitar on the shelf. You would always dig deeper for a quality instrument or buy one second hand. Nothing against LTD guitars, but the new ones don't justify the price tag IMO.
If I compare the H1000 to the Horizon II, there's just no comparison in build quality. The ESP isn't that much more expensive.

 

[chrisrocksusa]

I've seen 1000 series LTD guitars go for £1000 new. I sold a mint 10-Top PRS Hollowbody II for £1500. I think my point was more that I don't understand who would pay full price for the best 'budget' guitar on the shelf. You would always dig deeper for a quality instrument or buy one second hand. Nothing against LTD guitars, but the new ones don't justify the price tag IMO.
If I compare the H1000 to the Horizon II, there's just no comparison in build quality. The ESP isn't that much more expensive.

ah, europe. You guys spend a lot more for stuff like that.

In the states the EC1ks are a great budget guitar. Used they go for 400-500 USD all day long. Personally I wouldn't pay over 1k for the ESP version. I've owned a couple of ESPs (custom shop KH2s, one bolt on and one neck through). I've played the ESP eclipses as well and I don't think they're worth the price. The problem with an ESP eclipse is that it's dangerously close to LP price, and for that I will go with a les paul EVERY TIME. There simply isn't a comparison between an eclipse and a les paul. I have an LP custom and an LP standard and they're in a different category than the eclipse entirely.

the EC is on a different playing field in terms of price and is a great deal. The eclipse not so much.

holler @ your boy