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Rating And Reviews: ESP ST-203 Guitar

Alder Body with Maple Neck. Rosewood Fingerboard. Nickel Hardware and ESP Tuners. Three ESP LS-120 Single Coil Pickups. Distressed finish.

User Ratings
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Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
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"I play this more than my PRS Custom 22. THAT is saying something." submitted September 6, 2010

By a customer from gmail.com
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Musical Background: Active Musician
Music Style: Progressive/Folk/Metal
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Sound: I bought this guitar with pretty low expectations. I thought I would definitely have to change the pickups the first day. I can't believe how amazing this thing plays and sounds. It is on par sound wise with the Fender road worn stuff but it plays WAY better. The pickups are very hot and somewhat unforgiving to a sloppy player. Feature: Great worn finish. Real alder and maple. Not crappy basswood. ESP knows how to make a great guitar on a budget. Ease of Use: Plays like butter. Quality: I will end up spending a ton of money upgrading all of the hardware on this guitar. Not because I think it needs it, but because I think it deserves it. It really is a beautiful guitar. Value: Plays and sounds better than other guitars that cost 5 times as much. Manufacturer Support: N/A The Wow Factor: This guitar inspires me to play.
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"Great Playing Guitar at A Great Price" submitted January 21, 2013

By Dustin M in Panama City, FL
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Musical Background: 10 yrs experiance. Proffesionally.
Music Style: Country/Rock, Blues, Alt Rock.
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Sound: Sounds just like/better than my Mexican Fender strat for about half the price. Was able to get a good SRV sound, country/rock, and alt rock sound. Feature: Tuners are solid hardly went out of tune. Wood was fairly light weight but not too light. Neck felt great. Did not use the wammy bar so cant say on that. Took the strap nuts off and replaced them with strap locks but they seemed solid. The road worn look is really well done. Ease of Use: Pretty much take it out of the box and play. Will have to set intonation on it and adjust the neck a little but that's about it. Quality: ESP has built a really solid guitar here. I keep all my instruments in hard shell cases so I expect it will last a long time. Value: Your more than getting your money's worth with this one. I would recommend this over your standard Fender any day. Manufacturer Support: N/A The Wow Factor: Like I said the road worn body and neck looks great on and off stage. Overall: I bought this guitar and had it shipped to the club we were playing at that weekend because I was on the road. Only had 30 minutes to set up my stuff. Took the guitar out of the box and basically tuned it and started playing. WOW the sound was already good without having to tweak too much. Played great. And looked awesome. Better than my MIM Fender Strat.
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"A must have product for beginner, immediate or pro! Can't go wrong!!!!" submitted December 14, 2011

By a customer from gmail.com
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Musical Background: 32 years, pro, session, touring : bass, guitar, drums, and vocals
Music Style: country, blues, christian, and rock
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Sound: This an incredible axe for the money! Sounds great, with electronics much better sounding and responsive than the MIM Fender. Fit and finish is great, and the neck is far superior to anything in this price range. I would put it up against far more expensive instruments anyday! This is a very versatile, user friendly guitar that will fit any style of music. Works great for pop, rock, country, jazz, and especially da blues! Feature: no complaints at all, other than the tremolo is a bit touchy, but does stay in tune! Ease of Use: Very simple and traditional. No rocket science here Quality: Made very well! I still can't get over the quality for the price! GREAT BANG FOR THE BUCK!!!! Value: Absolutely Manufacturer Support: Not had to use it yet The Wow Factor: Yes, besides the great consistent tone, it looks great with the "RELIC" look, and gets all kinds of attention Overall: would definitely buy another one if I had to.
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"Nice" submitted October 7, 2012

By M P in LA, CA
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Musical Background: Playing guitar since 1982
Music Style: Metal, Blues, Jazz
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Sound: Good Feature: Basic Strat Ease of Use: Easy Quality: Very good Value: Excellent Manufacturer Support: Don't need it The Wow Factor: Looks cool Overall: I've owned about 75 guitars over the years, this is my 7th ESP. My prize is my original ESP "Series" Strat I bought in 1984. I mainly bought this for the looks and it's less than half the price of a road worn Fender. Every road worn that I played in the store had crappy frets. This looks cool and plays very well. Can tell that the body is 3 pieces. Pulled it out of the box and it was pretty much in tune. Neck and frets are very good, the action is good, no dead spots, but just need to tweak it a little to my preference. Pickups are decent for price but noisy, I will change those anyway or just hang it on the wall because it looks so cool. ESP does a fantastic job with the aging on the body finish, but the fretboard still looks brand new. Not going to complain since I am more than happy with the looks and playability of this guitar for $349. I might buy the black/maple one just for the hell of it since it's only $249.
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"I would reccomed this guitar to anyone who likes a smooth guitar at a great price. The road worn looks are great has a good feel" submitted May 31, 2011

By a customer from teamsterslocal95.com
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Musical Background: active musician
Music Style: blues
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Sound: For the money I don't think you can top it. Feature: Again for the money it would be hard to beat. Ease of Use: great Quality: Seems well made the road worn affect is great looks and plays great. Value: great product Manufacturer Support: only dealt with zzounds and they will get my business in the future a great company with excellant employees, they know how to treat a customer. I could not have been any happier with the service and the way they they worked to give me the best deal possible. I will be a zzounds return customer. The Wow Factor: looks great, plays smooth Overall: for what I use it for I will keep for ever.
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"Esp Player for 15 years..." submitted March 13, 2012

By Patrick T in Reno, NV
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Musical Background: Semi-Pro
Music Style: Hard Rock
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Overall: This thing is a hunk of garbage. Dead frets, lousy balance and horrible tone even after upgrading the pickups to EMGs. All my other ESP / LTD guitars are great. I love them. This thing... what a waste of money. I had it for 7 months and hated it every time I gave it a second, third, fourth chance. You certainly get what you pay for.
1 of 8 people (12.5%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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