Overall, this is simply the best guitar out there for those who like a hot sound. Im not saying it doesnt also work for softer music, but it really strides in the high distortion area. The only reason I can think of why anyone shouldn't buy this guitar would be that they want to do whammy bar stuff. Anything else, and you've got it all here in an affordable, sexy, tight little package.

Sound
I could write a novel about the sound of this guitar - no matter what model you have. So to put it extremley brief: the mahagony gives it a tight, warm, resonant base for the pickups to build on. The EMGs are 81 and 60 (bridge and neck, respectively) and are, shall I say, hellacious. The 81 rips out intense distortion for all you metalheads to play juicy squeals and harmonics - perfect for leads and tight/heavy riffs. The 60 is soft and smooth, great for legato playing or soulful soloing. For those who have the JB and the 59, let me just say this: Lamb of God's Willie Adler uses the exact same setup on his ESP guitar. Got it? I own the model with the EMGs, and for those that boo the clean sound, I'd like to disagree. Just put it on the neck pickup and it'll take off a lot of the bite. Dont feel like you have to pay high prices for a great sound - look no further than this guitar for any genre. A++

Features
Mine shipped with a manual, some crazy ESP stickers, and allen wrenches for adjusting the hardware, but I didn't need to adjust… read more it one bit. This guitar has fabulous intonation because of the way it's designed - to start, it has a tonepros locking bridge (so the bridge will not move at all no matter what you do to it) and that makes the tuning a lot easier when changing strings. Then you move up to the headstock and find both a compensated nut and locking machine heads (which you don't have to unscrew or anything like that, they just lock the string in place so you dont have to wind it around the post and risk slippage)

Ease of Use
Playability is outstanding. Like I said before, this thing can crank out some wild sh*t if you know how to play. The neck is also nicely shaped - not too thick that you cant play solos really fast, but also not so thin that you can't have a nice full grip on it.

Quality
Made very well. There was absolutley nothing out of place or wrong with mine and the guitar itself makes for a very durable road guitar (just ask all the bands that use them). However, I advise against getting the Satin Black finish (Vintage Black I think they call it) if you're the type of person that is a total neatfreak about your guitar. Mine has the Satin finish and it is very prone to scratches / blemishes if you don't treat respectfully. If you don't want to worry about scratching or things like that and you still want EMGs, just go for the regular gloss black or the black cherry finish - they're a little more easy to keep clean.

Value
Best. Price. Ever. Pretty much everywhere you look, this thing is selling for WAAAYY under what it should be. You're basically getting a Les Paul with better pickups and neck (that's easier on the shoulder too) for less money even than a studio guitar. Ridiculous value.

Manufacturer Support
Though I've never personally delt with them, ESP is a company that caters to guitarist's every need to make them happy. After all, they specialize in custom guitars - why wouldn't they act the same with customers?

The Wow Factor
Pretty much any variation of this guitar will make people crap themselves when they first see it.

Musical Background:
Active Musician

Musical Style:
Metal / Hardcore / Blues read less