Just outta the box this thing had a ton of pure raw crunch. Exactly what I was looking for when I decided to purchase this guitar. The 81/60 combo is awesome. I use the guitar mainly for a lot of metal so it definitely suits those needs, but even on the clean channel the active pickups just seem to give it more clarity then you'd ever hear with passives.

tuners are awesome the thing stays in tune better than I ever thought it would. Intonates amazingly

vol vol tone & toggle does'nt get much easier to make a few simple adjustments to get the sound your lookin for

Everything thus far is still factory perfect quality, but I did pretty much just get it, however I'd have to say every part feels like it was built to last

Worth every penny. If anything ever happened to this guitar I'd cry like a ten year old girl.

Don't know from personal experiece..hopefully never have to, but I've heard good things

When I get old I wont need viagra. Ill Just look at my guitar

Active Musician

Metal, Hardcore, Rock, Death Metal

EMG's rule, great intonation and electronics tunes perfectly

should have gold hardware, i'll add it, grovers stay in tune great, good build, good pickups, good electronics, A+ guitar

fantastic neck, incredible playability, great size and comfort

its not perfect, some of the creme binding is real messed up, and on the headstock its 2 different colors, and i find a sharp edge, maybe from the tape removal after a clear coat? thats a little embarrassing for ESP.

EMG's and a snow white finish? get this guitar, you won't look back. its worth 1500, easily. will outplay and gibson you can find.

ESP's warranty's are great, never had any problems with their guitars, always impressed

awww skeet skeet skeet. period.

active gigging musician

tech

If you have played an ESP LTD with EMG's then I don't have to tell you. It sounds like heaven. Clear clean tones, huge chunk on the rock end of things...beef supreme all around. This through my Line6/Marshall set up is pure bliss. But it sounds grand through a trashy 15 watt amp also.

It's got EMG's. What more do you want? The archtop is gorgeous.

This is a man's guitar. No kid stuff here. Play it and put some hair on your chest. It's easy to use like any other guitar if you have experience, but the thing feels so good it literally plays itself.

Again, ESP. Nuff said. They build beautiful tanks meant for hours of expression. The paint job on this was amazing. The wood is nice and heavy. Super comfortable to play.

$649 is a steal. Buy two if you can.

ESP is a great company. Never had issues with them.

Hotter than most women. I thought the EC400 was a hot guitar...the EC500 is like the EC400 with implants. Same greatness, with that much more "rawr". Make sure you pay for dinner when you take it out.

pro

metal

The sound out of this ESP is very good. Thick, chunky, and grinding when used for hard rock/metal with a good dose of distortion. It's also whisper-quiet with the EMG pickups. Full chords are a little bit undefined; you can't "hear every string", and used on a clean channel it's not the best. Sounds a little thin and weak. Not bad by any means, but it'll never substitute for an acoustic, nor is it even passable to emulate one. This is my first EMG-equipped axe, and while the sound is pretty sweet, I miss some of the "soul" of magnetic pickups.

This is a basic axe; no Floyd, no whammy bar - but I'm not complaining, because I like the solid nature of a good Tune-O-Matic setup. The guitar is rock solid, and the finish is beautiful. I was very impressed to see threaded inserts for the control cavity cover screws, not just wood screws - a very nice, high-end touch in this price range. I'm still not sure about the Earvana compensated nut and the super jumbo frets. Maybe I'm just accustomed to a standard nut - even if that means the intonation is only 99% and not perfect - and smaller frets, but I find that I hear oddities in the intonation and sometimes my hand pressure causes strange tuning anomalies on big chords. The frets are BIG, and if you have a heavy fretting hand, you might have issues. I'm getting used to it, and still use this guitar regularly for stage performances. The inlay, finish, and overall construction are top-notch. No doubt there.

With simple controls, you can get any basic sound you want. Again, clean sounds are a little thin, and the string definition is a little lacking, but overall it's a good sounding guitar. I'm almost glad there's only a single tone control; I almost never use it anyway.

Construction is top-shelf. Really well done. No visual blemishes of any kind, and as I stated before, the threaded inserts with machine screws (instead of simple wood screws) used to attach the control / battery cavity covers is a seriously nice addition to a guitar in this price range. Really gives a high-end touch. The guitar required minimal setup to get the intonation/action right, and it has remained rock-solid and in-tune no matter what I put it through.

It's a great guitar for the money, if you are looking for an EMG-equipped piece. I might not buy another guitar with actives, just because it's not quite the sound I look for. I have several other guitars, and I especially prefer the Seymour Duncan JB's; the difference is clarity and string definition is dramatic. But that's my opinion, your may differ. The guitar is very comfortable to play, and it's nice to have an LP-style axe without the LP weight .... sometimes. When I want that chunk-o-resonating-lead feel, I strap on my Paul. Worth the money? If you can get a decent discount on it (and now that it's discontinued, you probably can), it's worth it. I paid about $550 with an ESP hardshell case. I bought as a blem from another site, and still can't find the blem.

Haven't needed support.

Look at it! It's definitely a damn fine looking instrument, in any color. And comfortable, too.

Playing 20 years, active gigging musician.

Mostly metal/rock

sounds great. other than the defective switch. upper & lower humbuckers work independantly. dual in the middle only plays the lower unless you press on the toggle. bad switch or solder. i'll have to pop it open. should be a cheap fix though.

nice guitar for the price. i love the look & feel of it. the most fun i've had playing a guitar.

nothing wrong with the appearance. the switch problem is the only defect on mine. otherwise it looks & sounds great.

for a $500+ made in korea inspected in the US guitar i'd hope they'd catch defects like a bunk switch. realistically i'm surprised there wasnt more wrong with it.

it's a hot axe. a joy to play & looks good on the stand.

gear junkie

random

I play this beast of a machine through a Peavey ValveKing Head on a Marshall 1960 cab. To say the least the sound is massive and destructively loud. Very very heavy.

The pickups, finish and comfort of playing this monstrosity are simply beautiful. This is a well crafted guitar.

Right out of the box - Sounds better than any Gibson I've ever heard.

Better than Gibson.

Comparing the price and sound of this guitar to anything else on the market in this price range, i wouldn't buy anything else.

Never had to deal with ESP personally so I'm assuming they are damn good.

If this guitar were a woman, I would do unforgivable things to it.

Hobbyist

Rock, Blues, Metal, and everything else.