The ESP Guitar Company

The deluxe line is actually better quality than the LTD Signature series.

are there more models above the ltd delux line. i see big name guys with ltds and i know they can afford esp. are there ltd customs or signature models or something?

no custom shop for LTD unless for some strange reason you want an LTD logo on an ESP Custom Shop Guitar, and above deluxe is ESP standard, and its a MAJOR leap, the NT-II i owned was leaps and bounds above the MH-1000NT in overall quality

Same factory doesn't mean same pieces of wood, hardware or electronics. You can built shit and gold at the same place ^^. I guess the LTD signatures (600 series) are in the same price range than the Deluxe (1000 series) because you pay the instrument AND the signature, but this is obvious. I have played signature LTDs and Deluxes and the Deluxes are slightly better in MY opinion.

From my understanding that wood intended for musical instrument got cut by the lumber company and they would grade the quality of the wood stock themselves before selling to manufacturers.

I think the above pricing of signatures is to compensate for royalty fee (if any) plus the limited quantity produced that stops the benefit of mass production unlike the more common Deluxe's.

One could say the LTD Signatures are a grade above the Deluxe since some of the finishing on the guitars required more steps to complete and overall fancier. Like it was stated before, the ESP Standard is the natural next tier of model lineups of LTD. There is a noticeable jump in overall quality and wood intonation, even against the LTD Deluxe.

my ltd sig is way better than the deluxes I played. I think the thing is that they are korean made; some are perfect, some aren't. I think the 600 sigs and the 1000s have the same chance at being perfect, youhave just played those certain chance guitars