# Edwards vs high end LTD



## Dudley (Oct 4, 2017)

Hi all,

I'm after a bit of advice from anyone who has experience of both. I've played and own a few ESP Standard Series guitars including a Full Thickness Eclipse and really fancy another very similar guitar. Sadly the FT models are nigh-on impossible to track down nowadays, so it leaves me with Edwards or a full thickness LTD model.

I've not had experience with Edwards at all, though I hear people rate them highly and they're meant to be all MIJ as of a few years ago now I think, and it's been years since I've played an LTD. I know the Edwards is meant to be more traditional (non-XJ frets, basically), but how would it compare to a full thickness higher end LTD model like a Skolnick signature? I'd love a LPC, especially a silver burst, but just don't want to take the risk on buying one without playing given Gibsons reputation and there's sadly none anywhere I could try before buying.

TLDR; Edwards E-LP-130 vs full thickness LTD Eclipse. Which is likely to be the better built guitar?


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## feraledge (Oct 4, 2017)

ESP>EII>Edwards>LTD
I’d go Edwards for quality.


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## bnzboy (Oct 4, 2017)

I have heard somewhere that Edwards necks and bodies are made in China then assembled in Japan. Not that should stop you from buying Edwards guitars but that is a major difference from high end LTD models where they are all made and assembled in Korea. Also in my opinion LTDs offer a lot of non-traditional models where as Edwards carries LP/EX/Strat models. I would personally love to try an Edwards LP Custom model.


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## mbardu (Oct 4, 2017)

bnzboy said:


> I have heard somewhere that Edwards necks and bodies are made in China then assembled in Japan. Not that should stop you from buying Edwards guitars but that is a major difference from high end LTD models where they are all made and assembled in Korea. Also in my opinion LTDs offer a lot of non-traditional models where as Edwards carries LP/EX/Strat models. I would personally love to try an Edwards LP Custom model.



Most people are only aware of the LP/Strat from Edwards but actually they carry a huge range of models all the way from semi hollows to forests, superstrats, PRS-likes you name it.

Quality wise I'd compare it at least to LTD-1000 level or above.


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## Dawn of the Shred (Oct 4, 2017)

feraledge said:


> ESP>EII>Edwards>LTD
> I’d go Edwards for quality.



This!! I had a Edwards and it was about on par with LTD elite models.


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## vilk (Oct 4, 2017)

bnzboy said:


> I have heard somewhere that Edwards necks and bodies are made in China then assembled in Japan. Not that should stop you from buying Edwards guitars but that is a major difference from high end LTD models where they are all made and assembled in Korea. Also in my opinion LTDs offer a lot of non-traditional models where as Edwards carries LP/EX/Strat models. I would personally love to try an Edwards LP Custom model.



You probably heard from a .jpg screen shot without any names for reference of authorship. Or from someone who saw that jpg

The paperwork that came with my Edwards is written in unambiguous Japanese that the guitar is manufactured in Japan. 

My Edwards SG is by and far my favorite guitar that I've ever played, fwiw


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## protest (Oct 4, 2017)

Does a full thickness EC have the same neck carve as a regular EC? If so the two guitars will be very different. I had an EC-1000 and currently own an Edwards LPC, the Edwards is hands down a nicer feeling guitar, but it is much more like a Gibson than it is an ESP. It has a noticeably thicker neck than my brother in laws 2017 Gibson. I'd say it's somewhere in between ad 50's and 60's neck carve.


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## eightsixboy (Oct 4, 2017)

Edwards all day. I have had quite a few over the years and they are on par with my Prestige's easily.

I believe only the initial CNC is done in China and the important stuff is done in Japan. Either way they are still great guitars.


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## Crash Dandicoot (Oct 4, 2017)

Edwards, every time. Great guitars, especially when price is a factor.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 4, 2017)

eightsixboy said:


> Edwards all day. I have had quite a few over the years and they are on par with my Prestige's easily.
> 
> I believe only the initial CNC is done in China and the important stuff is done in Japan. Either way they are still great guitars.



I herd it's all done in Japan now. 

Either way, since I'm biased towards true Gibson shapes, I choose Edwards. Because I want one as well.


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## technomancer (Oct 4, 2017)

The woodworking and nothing else was done in China on the Edwards for a bit but they are completely made in Japan now. Even when work was being done in China it was basically only the CNC work, all finishing and assembly was in Japan including fret installation etc etc etc


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## possumkiller (Oct 5, 2017)

I've had two Edwards, two ESP SS models, an Original MII Deluxe, a CS KH4, and a MIK 1997 LTD M200 from the days when the 12th fret said LTD. Edwards to me felt just like an ESP Standard Series (which is the same thing as EII and LTD Elite).


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## bnzboy (Oct 5, 2017)

technomancer said:


> The woodworking and nothing else was done in China on the Edwards for a bit but they are completely made in Japan now. Even when work was being done in China it was basically only the CNC work, all finishing and assembly was in Japan including fret installation etc etc etc



Man I am so tempted to get an Edwards LP Custom now...even more


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## purpledc (Oct 5, 2017)

Ive had two Edwards, 3 LTD elites and a bunch of esp and ltds. Its been my experience that Edwards are on par with the LTD elite and Standard series. Any rumors about china anything I have yet to see any proof of. The same story gets repeated yet the story really has no merit at all from what I have seen. And even if by some small chance it is true the final product gives nothing away to that effect. I would put my ALS Lp up against any production Gibson made in the last 20 years.


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## Tisca (Oct 5, 2017)

Edwards any day. I have two Edwards at the moment. Earlier this year I tried some high end Ltd's in the 1300€ range and I wouldn't pay even half of that for what they were. I have one Ltd from 2003 and that one is muuch better. 2nd hand MIJ Edwards is my go to best value guitar.

The FT ECs feel very different from let's say an Edwards LPC clone. Keep that in mind.



protest said:


> Does a full thickness EC have the same neck carve as a regular EC?



Yes, iirc.
EDIT: The Kelliher model has a fatter neck tho.


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## MoJoToJo (Oct 8, 2017)

Keep an eye out for Orville MIJ LP's as well. I have a Fujigen '96 long tenon & very good guitars.


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## Dudley (Oct 8, 2017)

axl12 said:


> Play both and decide.
> I'm sorry but this is always a stupid question. I know there will be hate for me saying this.
> I own a Edwards Les Paul and its the best Les Paul I've ever played more then a any Gibson or ESP custom I've tried but that's not saying they all that good Its just someone did a really good job that day my Edwards was made?
> Same rule applies for any brand.
> ...



Yeah... pretty much a useless reply. I think every single person on this site is clued up enough to know that not every single guitar from every single brand is going to play identically. There's no substitute for trying the guitars in question, I'm sure everyone would also agree on that, but it goes without saying that for the most part these kind of discussions are in general terms, just like the countless "what will pickup X sound like in guitar Y?". The question in itself isn't half as stupid as telling someone who's already said they have no means of trying the guitars in question to try the guitars in question.

To everyone else; cheers for the helpful info! Much appreciated. Very heavily leaning towards the Edwards then and giving up on my dreams of sweet, sweet silverburst ownership. I'm sure I'll not be disappointed with nice white Eddy LPC


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## skewkus13 (Oct 9, 2017)

Dudley said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm after a bit of advice from anyone who has experience of both. I've played and own a few ESP Standard Series guitars including a Full Thickness Eclipse and really fancy another very similar guitar. Sadly the FT models are nigh-on impossible to track down nowadays, so it leaves me with Edwards or a full thickness LTD model.
> 
> ...



I own a edwards flying V-EV-120 D, i also own a esp ltd Micheal Armott ninja 600. I picked the Edwards last october second hand in japan and it was basically mint besides some yellowing on the binding and a few "swirls" where the strap has been moving on the neck strap button, i can say without a doubt the Edwards is a better guitar although i haven't played the ninja in a few years due to it being in Australia and me being in Canada. Also LTD is circa 2006ish and i can say pretty confidently that top end LTDs are better quality these days. I think its also worth mentioning that the secondhand Edwards guitars i played in japan varied a fair bit in feel and quality. Sometimes because they had not been taken care of but sometimes because they just lacked that quality feel to me. Not sure if thats because of the perceived quality jump when they apparently moved most of the process back to japan?? i dont think you would be disappointed in you bought one made recently. If you can ever get to japan its basically heaven for ESP guitar fans and guitar fans in general. anyways off top topic. hope this helped


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## soliloquy (Oct 10, 2017)

i've played a few LTD guitars, and my main guitar is an edwards custom lp. havent had an esp experience, so cant comment on that.

for what its worth, i'm in so much love with my edwards, that i'm having a hard time finding any guitar that comes close to it. and its getting to the point where i wanna sell EVERYTHING to buy another edwards.

after having had about 20 guitars in the past, i can say that the edwards is the best playing i've had. and after trying to find a guitar that comes close to it after playing several gibsons from the 2013-2017 range, the edwards is head over shoulders.

yes, it could be that the gibsons weren't set up properly, but the edwards just fits so perfectly.

you'd be happy with the edwards. and if it has the ebony board, then you wont have to deal with the CITES stuff either.


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## oversteve (Oct 15, 2017)

one more thing to take into consideration when thinking on Edwadrs vs LTD is the specs, all Edwards LP's I tried were almost 1:1 LP copies with a different neck profile and low frets while LTD and ESP have a slightly more modern approach to them with imo better body ergonomics and higher frets. Also if I'm not mistaken all LTD's have solid mahgany body with veneers while Edwards have maple tops even on solid color models
in terms of built quality Edwards felt a bit more solid then LTD's 1000 but I'd rather go for LTD Elite which are basically ESP Standard Series and usually you can snatch them for a great price


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## technomancer (Oct 15, 2017)

Please don't feed the trolls


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## feraledge (Oct 15, 2017)

Are the MA neck profiles different than the LP?


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## feraledge (Oct 15, 2017)

Are the MA neck profiles different than the LP?


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## MatiasTolkki (Oct 19, 2017)

vilk said:


> You probably heard from a .jpg screen shot without any names for reference of authorship. Or from someone who saw that jpg
> 
> The paperwork that came with my Edwards is written in unambiguous Japanese that the guitar is manufactured in Japan.
> 
> My Edwards SG is by and far my favorite guitar that I've ever played, fwiw



The edwards line USED to be MIJ, back when they first introduced it, then they moved it around, and from the information I've gotten from the guys at Big Boss about the edwards line, it's MIC but assembled in Japan.


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## technomancer (Oct 19, 2017)

MatiasTolkki said:


> The edwards line USED to be MIJ, back when they first introduced it, then they moved it around, and from the information I've gotten from the guys at Big Boss about the edwards line, it's MIC but assembled in Japan.



Which was reportedly moved back to MIJ again for current production based on the last things I read. The China factory is now being used for LTDs.


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## vilk (Oct 19, 2017)

MatiasTolkki said:


> The edwards line USED to be MIJ, back when they first introduced it, then they moved it around, and from the information I've gotten from the guys at Big Boss about the edwards line, it's MIC but assembled in Japan.


Do you read Japanese? The documentation that came with my Edwards says "nihonseizou" (Apparently kanji are banned from SSO? What's that about?)

I do not believe they are legally allowed to write that if it only just assembled in Japan. Assembled in Japan is usually written 'nihonde kumitate' or something along those lines.


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## MatiasTolkki (Oct 19, 2017)

vilk said:


> Do you read Japanese? The documentation that came with my Edwards says "nihonseizou" (Apparently kanji are banned from SSO? What's that about?)
> 
> I do not believe they are legally allowed to write that if it only just assembled in Japan. Assembled in Japan is usually written 'nihonde kumitate' or something along those lines.



Yes I do read Japanese (completely fluent).

This is why I mentioned the guys at Big Boss. Big Boss is the Japanese guitar shop owned by ESP. I was curious about that because I always hear lots of good things about Edwards models, so I figured I'd go to the source, which for me would be Big Boss. That's the answer I received.

I did do a lot of research on my own but the best I've found was that early Edwards were all MIJ, basically the same as the E-II/ESP Standard Series is today, just far more affordable. They then moved production to taiwan or china, and SEEMED to not state that fact for a year or two, then they suddenly started saying "Assembled in Japan." I can go ask again if you want, as I have to go down there again soon anyway (the Big Boss maintenance guys are TOP NOTCH for setups, they brought my Ibanez RGR580 back to life).


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## MatiasTolkki (Oct 19, 2017)

Vilk, if you wanna post pics of the manual so I can take a look at it and read through it, I'd be more than happy to.


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