Ltd ec-256 quality issues

Gerard B.Gerard B.
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    Gerard B.

    heyyy i just want to ask if any of you who owns an ec-256 have somewhat similar case like mine?  I have see through purple burst and the flamed maple top is beautiful but what bothers me the most is a wood is chipped at the edge of the headstock. And the strap button is installed slanted. And lastly the pickup ring is broken. I asked the music shop if they sell used guitars and they said no. They said they only sell brand new products and they are an authorized retailer of esp ltd guitars so no doubt it is legit. I wondered maybe it is just because of the people trying it at the music shop. But about this past week, i saw a customer review online saying that there is a paint chip when it is delivered to him. And many people replied to his post saying that they have similar issues. Some paint chip, deep scratches, air bubbles in laquer. They then said that maybe the factories in vietnam and Indonesia has bad quality control. Because they all got it brand new with those imperfections. I think mine is like that. I think my guitar came from a poor quality control in vietnam factory. Please tell me if any of you ec-256 owners experienced similar case when your guitar is brand new please tell me. 

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    Gerard B.
    Gerard B. wrote

    There is the chipped wood that i was talking about and the broken pickup ring.

    And here you can see that the body paint even covers a portion of the neck binding. That is really where i thought that these flaws in the guitar is from the factory and the quality control there is just poor. It even has some fingerprints to the laquer

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      Nathan S.
      Nathan S. wrote

      Chip in the headstock could have happened at the factory, could have happened in shipping, could have happened in the store you bought it from. Paint on the binding at the neck joint, no biggie in my opinion, I have EC1000's with paint lines there, and they are $1000 dollar guitars. LTD's are mass produced guitars, not hand made $5000 custom shops, the extreme minor aesthetic details are bound to not be 100% perfect on guitars of these levels. 

       

      I would say you may have a legit gripe if there is a fingerprint in the finish though. I would suggest taking it back to where you bought it, show them the headstock chip, and the fingerprint in the finish and see if they will refund you or swap you out another one.

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        Nathan S.
        Nathan S. wrote

        Oh and if they pickup ring was broken when you got it, the store you purchased it from should stand behind that as well.

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          Martijn R.
          Martijn R. wrote

          For what it's worth, I'd agree with Nathan.

          I bought a EC-256 lemon drop last year (2018, made in China), it is not perfect, also paint on the binding at the neck joint, glue or poly on some spots on the fretboard (removed by myself) and some very minor red colour bleeding underneath the clear coat on the binding at the body cut out (does that description make any sense?).

          I would say that considering the cost of these models, some minor cosmetic issues would be acceptable, I do not consider a chipped headstock / broken pickup ring to be cosmetic, those are physical.

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            Gerard B.
            Gerard B. wrote

            I can bare with the imperfections of it. It still looks good actually and the damages are not noticable unless you take a close look at it. I just wanted to know if what happend to my guitar is just a normal thing and also happed to others. Then, i will be relieved knowing it might be just from the factory. Thankyou Nathan and Martijin

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              Nathan S.
              Nathan S. wrote

              I would definitely pursue the headstock chip and broken pickup ring issues with the store you purchased it from if that is how it came out of the box to you, those 2 things are definitely not acceptable of a new guitar purchase. 

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                Higino Alexandre
                Higino Alexandre wrote

                Perhaps it's like most things -- hit and miss? I bought my (Made in Indonesia) LTD EC-256 in the summer of 2020 and aesthetically it is completely flawless. It stays in tune quite well and has a high quality feel to it. The fretwork is immaculate and there are no imperfections to be found in the binding or in the finish. The humbuckers sound quite good, although, I just received my Seymour Duncan Invader bridge p/u and will be making the swap in the next few days. 

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                  Dozerdog
                  Dozerdog wrote

                  If the OP's scenario was written correctly, that guitar should never have been purchased in the first place as it sounds like it may have somehow slipped through QC before being used or sold as a second, maybe banged around as a demo model at that dealer or possibly, knowing what we know now, could've been a knock-off!! Somethings definitely wrong! I purchased my 3rd LTD guitar, a brand new (also Made in Indonesia) LTD MH-350FM in see-thru purple on 12/23/2020. Upon opening the factory packaging I thoroughly examined the entire instrument under bright fluorescent lighting expecting to find something, anything that can be even remotely defined as a flaw (because I'm a bit obsessive like that) but I honestly couldn't for the life of me find even the slightest discrepancy in either the finish or the construction! This guitar was meticulously crafted, from it's initial carving/shaping to it's clean and precise routs all the way to it's final clear coat! Every hardware feature is placed and finished with the precision I'd expect to see from a high end custom build by a seasoned Luthier! The sound of the active EMG set combined with the set-through neck design produces a warm, thick thunderous tone, yet provides bright and extremely crisp & clean leads, sustain is endless! In my 45+ years of playing/owning guitars, this is hands down the easiest to play, best sounding, highest quality built guitar I've ever owned. None of my past or current Ibanez's, Fenders, Kramers or Gibsons can even come close to this beautifully constructed, amazing sounding instrument! The best part is, it's a mass-produced "intermediate level" guitar that costed less than half the purchase price of any of my others yet it puts them all to shame in virtually every aspect!   

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                    Al H.
                    Al H. wrote

                    I bought my Indonesian made EC256 in Nov of 2020.  I have not experienced any of the quality control issues described by the OP.  I am not even close to being the greatest guitar player in the world but this guitar just works for me.   Fit and finish is excellent.   I keep staring at this thing like it is a work of art.    It sounds like either damage in shipping issues or being played with in the guitar store.  I hope the OP got his issues resolved. 

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