First I would like to thank zZounds for being so customer care driven! They always go above & beyond for their customers, and I find that very important while online shopping. I ordered the ESP LTD EC-1000 Amber Sunburst w/ duncan pickups and it is a very nice guitar! Order this guitar you will NOT be disappointed!

Sound
The sound of this guitar is better than I expected and I expected a lot. With the Seymour Duncan JB/'59 it has a lot of grunt if you like metal, rock, etc... and the coil tap gives this guitar more versatility and cleanliness. Don't mistake, it can go from gospel to Metallica in 0.1 seconds. It obviously can't do Fender Stratocaster single coil "twang" but it does good in the coil tap mode. The JB has a lot of hair if you want it, or you can dial it back and get a tamer rounded sound, while the '59 has that buttery creaminess that we all love with a driven solo.

Features
The guitar is a mahogany body and neck with a flame maple top and ebony fretboard and appears to be finished in a poly clear but doesn't feel at all plastic-ey like some cheaper guitars. The pots and switch function as intended but at this price point (and considering how nice and well made this guitar is) probably has cheaper components under the rear plastic covers. With very smooth locking tuners and a tone pros tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail piece I feel makes up for cheaper pots... Also the older EC-1000 guitars had abalone… read more running up the fretboard, the newer ones do not, BUT, the new model has an ultra access heel which helps tremendously up the neck and worth the trade off...

Ease of Use
The sound from this guitar is amazing. The playabilty is amazing. It has a thinner neck than say a 60's Les Paul but not hardly Jackson Dinky thin. The neck is very comfortable and fast, and the action was surprisingly low straight out of the box. The pickups is the only thing I adjusted and that's all by preference.

Quality
The fit and finish, frets, strap buttons, tail piece, nut and binding over all are very nice but not flawless. The binding on the body had a slight divot about the diameter of a match stick that was cleared over but impossible to see unless you are inspecting the guitar for such, and the LTD on the headstock had a ever so slight imperfection at the corner of the "L". Again impossible to notice unless you are searching really close. Listen, I owned two Gibson Les Pauls here recently. 2016 - 2018 models and fit and finish was nowhere as nice as this EC-1000 for 1/2 the price. The fit & finish is superb on these guitars.

Value
I find this product is priced well for what you are getting. I would buy another without question.

Manufacturer Support
I haven't dealt directly with ESP but I have never had the need.

The Wow Factor
This guitar is stunningly beautiful! The abalone flag inlays and abalone binding on the amber sunburst flame maple is very HOT! This guitar will pull inspiration from you that you forgot about years ago. Go for it and thank yourself later!

Musical Background:
Several Bands and several bedroom concerts to mention through out my life.

Musical Style:
Country to Metal. My musical taste leans more toward the heavier side of music though. read less