ESP LTD EC-1000 Vintage Black

EMGs, ESP - do I need to say more? If you are browsing for a guitar, you have probably already watched countless videos of pickup tone comparison, reviews, wood type, bridge type and all other guitar geekness you could come up with.

This guitar was ordered as a replacement to my first Thomann purchase, which was an EC-1000 but with Seymour Duncans in it. The pickups kinda need more "oomph" for my taste (I'm a big metal guy), so I have decided to go with EMGs. BUT, BUT - the first guitar did arrive damaged, and it seemed as though the finish started coming off and Thomann were ever-so-generous to actually take the blame (even though it cannot be confirmed, the guitar was upheld in Customs for 3 weeks), so they have agreed to fully refund me - and this is where this metal beast came through.

The ordeal was a nightmare, but it is finally over and this guitar, it is just utter perfection.

I've played on an Ibanez S470 with ZR Tremolo bridge and my hand placement needed heavy adjusting, but the playability, the everything is just freaking amazing.

Did the guitar come with some standard faults? Yeah - there is a "nibble" where it seems the finish kinda "gathered up" and there is a bubble, but I embrace it. There are chinks in the neck, although you cannot feel it when playing it - then again, it is wood, it is not plastic.

If you are looking for a metal machine with a heavy tone, EMGs and a proper modern Les Paul - look no further, this is the one.

One of the best purchases I have as of yet.

This is probably the best guitar you can get for such price.
The finish of the guitar is amazing, looks gorgeous and feels nice. The back of the neck is very easy to switch positions, it does not 'stick' to the hand.

Pros:
- sound is very aggressive and deep if you play with distortion;
- amazing look;
- amazing finish;
- feels very comfortable to play.

Cons:
- 'golden' paint wears off after a while, especially on the bridge where you rest your hand if you do a lot of palm muting;
- Neck nut is waay too high, depending on the strength with which you press you can alter the sound on a single fret even by a half tone! But you can always bring it to your local luthier or lower the nut yourself if you know how to do that.
- Kind of heavy.

Primero, muy agradecido con Thomann, llego en buenas condiciones.
Llego bien, sin ningún problema, solo tuve que afinarla, pero nada de importancia, el sonido es increíble, soy un guitarrista que usa Schecter, también toco con Gibson, y esta guitarra tiene un peso de 4-5 kilos aproximadamente, realmente el sonido es increíble, fácil Judas a Cannibal, el limpio es muy bueno, uso Boss G-1000 y de salida en PA, realmente es una guitarra de respeto, yo ahora lo uso en Japón, es prácticamente difícil de conseguirlo en Japón, ya que tiene la E-II que es la versión japonesa, pero de la misma compañía ESP.
Muchas gracias por el envio, y hasta ahora no le doy descanso, dos horas mínimo de explotación a mi guitarra. EMG Pick ups, desde que Schecter cambio de Seymour a EMGs, me acostumbre, solo cambiar la EQ del PA y listo.

Where do I begin with this "black beauty". This is my first ESP/LTD and I am very happy that I chose one.

The vintage black finish together with the gold hardware is a classic beauty very well implemented in this model.

The sound of the guitar is solid. Very full body with amazing clearness even when playing acoustically (something that was very surprising). Moreover, the EMGs don't need any introduction and as expected they produce a very high quality of chugging.

Together with my Orange Dark I find it very easy to achieve similar tone to albums like Death Magnetic and Hardwired... :D

Very minor detail is that the binding of the guitar in some corners could be a bit higher quality but its barely noticeable and I don't mind.