# ESP/LTD EC-401



## Distortion (May 10, 2009)

Hello all,
i've been looking into LP style guitars for a little while and have been GASing intensely for one...

THE LTD EC-401 (first one on the top)
The ESP Guitar Company :: LTD Standard Guitars - EC Series

caught my attention. I sadly don't know any dealers around here that sell LTD guitars so i'm asking you guys. How would you rate this guitar? quality wise, workmanship wise? is it worth the 800-900$ ?

It looks pretty good on pictures though, AND it has 24 frets so that's always a plus. Anyone has experience with these?

Thanks!


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## Jonny (May 10, 2009)

Over here in the UK, they are expensive as hell.

The 400s were just without Tonepros and they were way cheaper than the 401s.

And over here you could get 1000s s/h for cheaper, A LOT cheaper, and sometimes in mint cond.

So I don't know if it would apply to you in CA, but you could look for 1000s s/h and possibly find a bargain.

They're 24 fret, but they have abalone all over them though.


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## budda (May 10, 2009)

I have no direct experience, but was giving the thought serious attention. There was someone on another board who got one, and he's quite happy with it. They look great as well!

A used EC1000 is $800 or so, but most of the time you'll find ones with EMG's for sale instead of the passives.

You live in Montreal - $5 says there's a LTD dealer there


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## D-EJ915 (May 10, 2009)

The EC-500 is also similar if you want to look for a used model with the same features.


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## Distortion (May 10, 2009)

I was shooting for new, and just checked out the 1000s on ESPs website, might go with that instead of a couple hundred more... I know a store where they sell them but I don't think they have those models.. and plus, their price is always freackin' high and the service is craptastic too! lol


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## DSilence (May 10, 2009)

I have an EC500, which is basically the same apart from being made in a different factory, I really love it, the workman ship is really awesome for the price & it sounds great too. I find the neck a bit thicker than my other guitars but its still really comfortable. Try one out anyway, but they are solid to play, sound & look great too 

I forgot to mention the body is very lightweight.

Heres mine
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/standard-guitars/82115-ngd-or-month.html


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## Distortion (May 11, 2009)

Wow man, that looks awsome! Gonna go try one out sometime this week, a EC1000 though... I just hope the store carries the one with the black maple flame top 

If they don't, i'll go with the vintage black one with the ebony fretboard


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## Scar Symmetry (May 11, 2009)

EC-1000s are incredible guitars, and if the 400+ models are anything like the 1000s, I'd say go for it man, you won't be disappointed!


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## soliloquy (May 11, 2009)

budda said:


> I have no direct experience, but was giving the thought serious attention. There was someone on another board who got one, and he's quite happy with it. They look great as well!
> 
> A used EC1000 is $800 or so, but most of the time you'll find ones with EMG's for sale instead of the passives.
> 
> You live in Montreal - $5 says there's a LTD dealer there




as much as i hate that place, there is steves music that deals with esp/ltd guitars along with dean, prs, schecter and bunch of other korean guitars.


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## Distortion (May 12, 2009)

soliloquy said:


> as much as i hate that place, there is steves music that deals with esp/ltd guitars along with dean, prs, schecter and bunch of other korean guitars.



I know man, I hate the place too 

Everything is over priced and the service is very very bad so I always try to avoid that place at all cost but if it's the only ESP/LTD dealer, no choice 

Or go try it out and buy it online haha


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## budda (May 12, 2009)

I don't hate steve's, and its a 2 hour drive just for me to get to one .

Steve's is NOT overpriced . Comparable to online US prices? No, but they are not a huge online chain store like MF.

Try before you buy usually implies you take home the guitar you've played .

Last time I was in steve's, the dude was kind enough to let me try out an EC1000. As of now, the thought of picking one up is tempting.


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## Distortion (May 12, 2009)

budda said:


> Steve's is NOT overpriced . Comparable to online US prices? No, but they are not a huge online chain store like MF.



They were going to sell me a Dual Rectifier for 2000$ and the sales rep. wasn't willing to work out the price a bit... So got it new for 1810$ at an other store here in Montreal (Italmelodie, awesome service too)... I dunno, every time I was there the service was always so so..

Anyway, how was the EC1000? Was there anything specific that impressed you? craftsmanship? quality of the finish? tone? thanks!


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## budda (May 12, 2009)

A dual rec will generally run you around $2000 after taxes. I was looking to get one, and i have quotes from steves and a store in barrie and i forget which had it for less, but it was a $50 difference or something.

the EC1000 was nice: the tone was pretty good, but i more wanted to see how it played in comparison to my gibson les paul studio. Personally, I found the neck to be very comfortable and very similar to my les paul in terms of feel - even though the LTD has a "Thin-U" neck, and people complain about gibsons being boats. I think that the '59 taper of the LP studio's is gibson's 2nd-thinnest neck though.

Tonally, the one I played had EMG's (), and it sounded fine. I think I tried it through a line 6 spider valve, can't honestly remember. The finish had no flaws that I could see - it was a trans green model with all the abalone. I would have prefered much less abalone, but alas that is how an EC1000 comes.

The guitar felt very solid overall, however I did not get to play it standing up. The fretwork felt nice, and the guitar didn't fret out anywhere.

I'm not sure I'd drop the $1300+ on a brand new one, but a used one at $800 is fine by me!

I'm a big fan of buying used, which is the route I'd go. I was impressed with the guitar, and I would like to eventually add a LTD or ESP eclipse to my collection of singlecuts that I have yet to make.


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## soliloquy (May 12, 2009)

going back to steves...the steves i've tried in montreal, AND toronto were absolutely disgusting! toronto being the worst. in montreal, steve, or atleast thats what he said his name was, wouldnt even dare let me play a guitar unless i showed him cash for it. not even a 200 dollar epiphone. the one in toronto, actually snatched a schecter out of my hand, even though i wasn't even plugged in or annoying the customers. and i actually helped them save one of their guitars as a stupid kid bumped into a 3000 dollar gibson that fell to the ground. fuck steves! i'm sticking to LA Music, or lon g& Mcquade or something...



Distortion said:


> They were going to sell me a Dual Rectifier for 2000$ and the sales rep. wasn't willing to work out the price a bit... So got it new for 1810$ at an other store here in Montreal (Italmelodie, awesome service too)... I dunno, every time I was there the service was always so so..
> 
> Anyway, how was the EC1000? Was there anything specific that impressed you? craftsmanship? quality of the finish? tone? thanks!



i've tried the EC line extensively and i've compared it tons of times with my agile guitars. i have to say that all 500's, and 1000s play very similar to one another. and why wont they? aside from the inlay, they are the same guitar. their EC 256, or whatever their veitnam guitar is, i have to say, is one of the best playing single cuts i've EVER played! aside from its electronics, these guitars frankly outplayed the EC 400, 500, 1000, and my agile guitars too!

one thing i didnt like about the 500 and the 1000s is how thick the finish is on them. to me, they sounded kind of dead when played unplugged. they didnt resonate a whole lot either, which is surprising with its thin neck. aside from it feeling dead, the feel of the guitar was rather nice. the frets were nice. the necks are comfy and yada yada yada. are they worth the 700-1200 canadian dollar price? nope. i rather just spend 200 more and get an ESP eclipse II or something. 

and yeah, feel wise, i prefer my agiles


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## JeffFromMtl (May 12, 2009)

I have an EC-1000 with Duncans that I bought at Steves in 2005 and I love the thing. It has been my main guitar since the day I bought it, although these days I'm looking at getting a Les Paul and using my LTD as a backup. I love the feel and the tone and the finish is downright gorgeous.. I tried the models with EMG's as well, and for the way I play, and the sound I go for, the Duncans blow the EMG's out of the water, but I've never been a fan of actives. I found that the 1000's played much more nicely than the 400's, something about the 400's did didn't sit well with me. They just felt uncomfortable and bulky, however I can't really pinpoint specifically what I didn't like other than overall feel.

As for steve's, I've never had a problem with them... I don't want anyone harassing me to sell me anything. If I want service, I'll go and ask a sales rep about something. Any time I've ever asked to play anything, they've let me, and that includes $1,000+ Spector basses, ESP and Gibson guitars and so on.

Some pics of my EC-1000 just to give you an idea of how pretty the finish is:


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## DSilence (May 12, 2009)

soliloquy said:


> one thing i didnt like about the 500 and the 1000s is how thick the finish is on them. to me, they sounded kind of dead when played unplugged. they didnt resonate a whole lot either, which is surprising with its thin neck. aside from it feeling dead, the feel of the guitar was rather nice. the frets were nice. the necks are comfy and yada yada yada. are they worth the 700-1200 canadian dollar price? nope. i rather just spend 200 more and get an ESP eclipse II or something.


 
Im not sure what you mean by dead? Out of all my guitars the EC500 resonates the loudest when unplugged but that might be the way I have it setup, Drop C 12 gauge strings?


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## MTech (May 12, 2009)

Play one first.. I tend to like the deluxe models better because the neck feels better..A lot of the lower ones have different profiles so some I've liked and others felt like a softball bat (the anniv. one comes to mind). Also you're saying $800-900 but that's more around what the deluxe model goes for, and you can get the real ESP Eclipse II for $1200 so I would say save and get the real one if you're already in the $800-900 ballpark.

Budget wise I'd also highly recommend the Schecter Solo-6 Hellraiser. Normally I don't like their guitars but I played their LP style one yesterday and it's actually really nice..it looks like a solid body ESP X-Tone... Also it's a 25.5 scale.


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## soliloquy (May 13, 2009)

DSilence said:


> Im not sure what you mean by dead? Out of all my guitars the EC500 resonates the loudest when unplugged but that might be the way I have it setup, Drop C 12 gauge strings?



this is coming from a person who likes tone that comes out of a maple neck, a maple topped guitar, and MAYBE have some alder in the body too. but yeah.

but i have to say, that even though the EC is all mahogany, i've tried tons of other all mahogany guitars, and they sound much more live-lier, louder, brighter. this goes for PRS SE, Schecter, Dean, Agile, Cort, and Jackson. and i think its due to the finish they have on those guitars.


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## Distortion (May 14, 2009)

JeffFromMtl said:


> I have an EC-1000 with Duncans that I bought at Steves in 2005 and I love the thing. It has been my main guitar since the day I bought it, although these days I'm looking at getting a Les Paul and using my LTD as a backup. I love the feel and the tone and the finish is downright gorgeous.. I tried the models with EMG's as well, and for the way I play, and the sound I go for, the Duncans blow the EMG's out of the water, but I've never been a fan of actives. I found that the 1000's played much more nicely than the 400's, something about the 400's did didn't sit well with me. They just felt uncomfortable and bulky, however I can't really pinpoint specifically what I didn't like other than overall feel.
> 
> As for steve's, I've never had a problem with them... I don't want anyone harassing me to sell me anything. If I want service, I'll go and ask a sales rep about something. Any time I've ever asked to play anything, they've let me, and that includes $1,000+ Spector basses, ESP and Gibson guitars and so on.



Awesome man, simply awesome thanks for the pics!

May I ask how much you dropped for it? I'm thinking about passing by Steve's to try one out and pick it up if I like it.

As for trying guitars out, i've never had any problems with that either, they usually just let me try anything out without asking a question. The problem is that it's actually hard to get a sales rep's attention and when you do, he takes for ever to give you a god damned lead to try an amp or guitar out. Then when he sees you're playing the guitar he keeps checking back every 5 minutes to put some pressure on you to buy the thing -- That, I don't like 

Italmelodie impressed me service wise. The guy stayed next to me while I was trying a dual recto out and I asked him if I could have some one on one time with the thing and he was really friendly about it and left, telling me to come get him when i'm done so we can work something out if I liked the amp. That's what I call service


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## JeffFromMtl (May 14, 2009)

Distortion said:


> Awesome man, simply awesome thanks for the pics!
> 
> May I ask how much you dropped for it? I'm thinking about passing by Steve's to try one out and pick it up if I like it.
> 
> ...



The price tag was $1,200 or so, and I haggled him down to $1,050, paid cash. but that was 4 years ago, and I'm not sure if the prices are still the same.

I've also had great experiences with Italmelodie. The guys there are always way happy to hang around with you while you try out the instruments and talk about all the gear. When I was on the market for a new bass, the guy pulled down the Prestige BTB for me and plugged it right into a top of the line MarkBass amp, and just pointed out a few things about the bass while I tried it out. It's true, what you say about Steve's though, the guys at Steve's would have just handed me the bass and plugged into their little 15-watt Line6 that i guess they have designated for demo's and walked away... Doesn't seem logical to me to plug into a shitty amp if you're actually interested in selling the bass/guitar


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## Distortion (May 16, 2009)

Hmmm.. I may stick to the EC-1000 even though the Eclipse II isn't that much more expensive 'cause the EC-1000 has 24 frets... I need 24 frets lol

Gonna go check 'em out this week though.. JeffFromMtl, did the guitar come with a case ?
Thanks!


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## JeffFromMtl (May 16, 2009)

Nah, unfortunately no case. But maybe the sales rep. can work something out?


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## budda (May 16, 2009)

ever played 24 frets on a 24.75 scale? Not as much fun as it may sound.

Look around for a used one, save some pennies.

I'm debating looking for a used EC1000 myself.


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## DSilence (May 17, 2009)

Yeah the frets are a little bunched together than my other guitar, something you get used to I guess.


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## Distortion (May 22, 2009)

budda said:


> ever played 24 frets on a 24.75 scale? Not as much fun as it may sound.
> 
> Look around for a used one, save some pennies.
> 
> I'm debating looking for a used EC1000 myself.




You don't have to actually go there if you don't want to but the frets are there if you ever need them. That's what I'm talkin' about hehe


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