ESP LTD H-1001FR vs ESP LTD KH-602

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ESP LTD H-1001FR vs ESP LTD KH-602

Deciding on a new guitar.  Styles i like to play, rock, metal, progressive...if you had to choice between these two...which one would you pick and why?

krj

Hi,

 

I'm still a newbie, but I can suggest the KH-602. It was my first guitar from ESP. (I don't know the H-1001FR.)

But I have modified it...

 

Things what I have done:

 

Sound:

Other pickups. Currently I use the EMG 85-X in the neck position (I didn't like the sound of the original EMG 60 - too bassy for me) and the EMG 81-X (EMG 81 original) in the bridge position. More modifications to go... Today I have ordered the EMG Afterburner for a higher gain.

 

Other things:

- Security Locks

- Locking Tuner

Shannon B.

Hi,

 

  I would go with the 1001FR personally. The Floyd Rose will make the guitar more versatile and sooner or later you will want a guitar will a tremelo. I actually have the 1000 (not Floyd Rose, have that in my Ibanez) with Seymour Duncan pickups in it and like them. They are fairly versatile and can play most any type of music from jazz to hard rock and even metal, are not too hot like the active EMG's can be sometimes, and have a smooth sound for progressive music styles that are little less aggressive. I am a Les Paul body style guy from way back but have and Ibanez RG470 w/low pro trem, BC rich Mockingbird, a black and gold LP Custom, ESP/LTD EC-1000, and an Ibanez 2EX1 ($50 project guitar with passive EMG's) to advance my maintenance techniques. Bought the EC-1000 with the Seymour Duncans in it and am fast learning that even with the other guitars it has a place in my guitar stable tone wise. It is a thinner body that is contoured and still has great sustain and tone. Love the LP with the 490 and 500T pickups (great clarity and grind with incredible sustain) but at 10.5 pounds it gets heavy fast when playing standing up for 30 or 40 minutes. Your call on which guitar(s) you like the looks of in the EMG line up but other than spending a bit of extra time learning the peculiarities of the Floyd Rose you will never regret having it as an option and they stay in tune well as long as they are set up correctly. Good luck, and remember, if you are not completely satisfied with the guitar you choose (most of us never are) you will none the less learn from owning it, and probably buy another that seems like just the one you need later on. You can then decide if you really want to give up the first guitar or keep it like many of us do because it fills a specific slot in our arsenal of tone. Take care!

Shannon

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