Someone please tell me the truth...

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rscornutt
OK, here's the deal. I have two guitars - one is a thousand dollar Strat, the other is a less than $300 M-100 FM. Now, I've been playing for about 24 years, so I am well aware of the differences between single coils and HBs, necks, etc. I have owned more guitars than I can remember, some good and some junk. So here's what I can't figure out - my $279 ESP plays easier and better than my Strat! What gives??? I have had this guitar less than 48 hours and I already know the Strat would go before the LTD. This is hard for me, quite hard, as I am a dedicated and dyed-in-the-wool Fender man. My next question is this: are the higher priced ESPs actually that much better than mine? Do they get better than what I have? This is almost too hard for me to come to grips with.
bjoyce27205

i just got an ec-1000, its around 900 new, and its one of the best playing guitars i have played. i play a friends prs custom 22 frequently, and yes my ltd plays just as good as the multiple thousand dollar guitars, and sounds just as good also. i would like to get a prs singlecut, but i think ill end up with another ec-1000.

Mr Riboflavin

i just got an ec-1000, its around 900 new, and its one of the best playing guitars i have played. i play a friends prs custom 22 frequently, and yes my ltd plays just as good as the multiple thousand dollar guitars, and sounds just as good also. i would like to get a prs singlecut, but i think ill end up with another ec-1000.

I'm with this guy, I just got an EC-1000 as well. My first guitar was an epiphone strat copy, then I spent about 6 months in stores playing all kinds of guitars especially Gibson Les Paul Studios and Ibanez's. I really didn't like the Ibanez necks and the Les Paul's just seemed too flat sounding. Then I picked up my first ESP. It was an older LTD V-250 with EMG-HZ's. I fell in love with it instantlu, the tone, the neck, everything about it felt perfect. After that I went ahead and ordered an explorer which I fell in love with. Here I am 8 years later still playing ESP's and nothing else feels right in my hands or to my ears to this day.

ninjalinkdeath

I spent over a year researching guitars before finding a replacement for my Dean Baby-V, and it brought me to the ESP M-400. I just can't believe what a difference there is between the necks. No other neck feels as good, and I'll shake the hand of the man who can make a better neck than ESP. As for Fender; it's become a company looking backward in time to 50s and 60s tones, almost exclusively. Vintage is their business now. Very sad that they don't cater to today's music as well as preserving a line of vintage guitars. Especially since their guitars look so good. That's the reason they don't compare to ESP: they don't even try. It's not what they're about anymore.

bloodstyle

I own a AX-400 and it defitnely sounds better than a 100 serie. Yes the higher priced ESP is way better than the lower priced. the feel is, IMO, better and the sound can be as clear as it can be crunchy. the higher priced guitar have a wider range of possibility in tone.

I've never tried a strat tough... I couldn't compare.

Nova

I also own a AX400 (since last day!) and yes, it sounds way better than the AX 260 I tried a couple of months ago, and this one prolly sounds way better than the AX50 also (never tried it)

LTD offers great prices for 100 to 400 and deluxe too, all quality axes if you compare to the prices and other brands

I paid less than 650 $ US for a NEW AX 400
feels almost like a gift, too good to be true, this axe is worth easily 1000 bucks

Justin

The only simple way to put this, Esp > all
XD
But yeah, the higher esp's are alot better. The quality on esp's are flawless, which is why esp remains my favorite brand. If you think your mh 100 is good, play a 1000 XD

iheartsquires

meh
my fender has a better fretboard then my LTD. my ltd is VERY grainy.

Skin N. Bones

meh
my fender has a better fretboard then my LTD. my ltd is VERY grainy.

Thus your name says. Why are you here than. Shouldn't you be wasting your time at the fender forum.

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Gil

I was playing an esp Eclipse II at my local shop and I'll tell you what (sorry I'm from texas), it was miles above my Viper 400. so yeah the higher end is most certainly better.

Butch

you owned more guitars than you can remember and u can't figure out why?

rscornutt

you owned more guitars than you can remember and u can't figure out why?

No, I said I can't figure out why a $300 guitar plays so much better than one that costs over three times as much. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but if you are going to use my words to ask a question please get them right.

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TaoZen

I took an LTD Viper 301 in a trade, and didn't expect much...

I sold my main guitar, an Ibanez 3120 2 months later because I couldn't put the Viper down, and realized I could live without the trem. The viper sounded and played much better.

I used a little bit of the Iby sale to buy myself another used Viper 300, with lots left over. Still on the lookout for another one...may pull the trigger on an ESP Viper standard, but can't stand camo.

mayes213

I have had Gibson, Washburn, Jackson, Ibanez, etc... None of them ever came close to any ESP's I have played. I had two high end Gibsons that I thought I loved but then I played and Eclipse II Standard and it was all over. I ended up selling my Gibsons and buying that Eclipse II. That was the best decision I ever made. I recently bought a D-5 bass and I am still impressed with the quality and sound even though it was at a cheap price. I'm saving for a Surveyor 5 Standard now. I also wouldn't mind having one of the new EC-256 guitars. ESPVIPERCAMO is right! Once you get one ESP/LTD you will want sooooo many more.

Butch

its about comfort imo really.

ZULND3R

the problem is that you bought a fender.... i have a fender american tele that i dont even like that much.... just about anything i have played performs better than fender

Gfunk

The concept of jumbo frets is the same as a scalloped fret board. Higher frets, lighter touch, seemingly "playing faster", comfort, etc.

Greatdeceiver

frets, maybe thinner neck?

sirsloop

btw... a squire is not a fender...

SDMFPantera

btw... a squire is not a fender...

its made by Fender, same thing although yes Fenders are MUCH better quality, it would be stupid to have a "Squier" board

andrei

the low end series aren't that bad, in terms of specs/playability.
the neck may have the same specs and a nice fretjob - it makes all the difference in terms of "comfort".

the high end series sounds better, cose of the wood, construction, hardware, electronics. (LTD)
and ESPs / custom shops cose of the attention payed to every detail.

bottom line: a low end guitar may be also comfortable to play, but the high end will come with the real good sound.

TaoZen

Also the fretboard radius, and scalelength is different between Strats and ESP LTD which makes it easier to fret with a lower action, and less tension on the strings.

To answer the person who dosen't know about why some people like jumbo frets:

When you fret the string on a Jumbo fret (taller and fatter then regular) the string is higher off the fretboard so that your fingertip won't hit the fretboard which makes for easier string bending, and a more positive contact with the string.

Some people will carve some fretboard out between frets which is called scalloping, which will make it so your fingertip wont touch anything but the string. I prefer feeling as little wood under my fingertips as possible so all my guitars have jumbos, and i only have the frets levelled and recrowned two or three times before I have my frets replaced because each time you level the frets and recrown, they get lower.

SDMFPantera

and i only have the frets levelled and recrowned two or three times before I have my frets replaced because each time you level the frets and recrown, they get lower.
Yesterday 01:00 PM

you only level and recrown 2 or 3 times, man i thought theyd be ground down by then! Ive never had it done, but i thought you could only do it a couple times, or does it only take barely any off at a time?

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