Not stoked on the newer 300-400 series
Not stoked on the newer 300-400 series
Ones I've had from Korea and Indonesia were all high quality. I hate to bash notes when they're made in sweatshops, but the ones made in China are like shitty toys.
I've been 100% on my standards, but if this is the route they're going with the LTDs, it's hard to justify dropping half the cash for something that's nowhere near the same league.
I own a 400-500 series LTDs which were made in Korea back then. I own a 1000 series from 2010.All are well buit, solid and amazing. But i agree, the 300-400 series Chinese made seem below standard. Did they drop the prices though? Where i am from the prices remains the same but you guys should notice a difference.
I agree the chinese ones seem like total crap I've had great luck with my ltds my first was a jd600 then an mh1000nt in greenfollowed by a black cherry ec1000 so this year I got an ec1000vb I am very pleased with and then there were 3 chinese ones an st203, h351nt, and ec400 and all of them sucked which is hard to say I'm such an ESP fanatic but I've looked elsewhere and now have played 14 different chinese ltds and haven't found a good one yet I just ordered my phoenix ii and will stick with real esp from here on I've never played a real esp that was bad I own 8 personally they are they best hands down
I recently played a MH-351 from a friend of mine and I think it's a nice guitar for the beginner, considering its value.
Nevertheless, those MIC LTDs are different from the old MIK. I own a 2003 MIK MH-301 that didn't use to play well due to its crappy bridge. But everything changed when I got it replaced by an Original FR PRO (the "made in Germany by Schaller" thing), as well as a set of 81/85 active EMGs, a fret leveling and a very good setup.
Taking my Horizon FR-II as a reference, my LTD feels also like a very reliable guitar, and has proven itself to be a very pleasant guitar to play with. I'm not saying there is no difference, but I can assure that anything you played with the Horizon you would easily reproduce with my LTD.
Another friend of mine has an MIK old M-50, which was amazing for the price he paid for. He has a lot of fun playing that thing, and I can understand why he enjoys it so much.
Finally, although it's not a LTD, I have to mention that my Edwards E-KL-170 was also made in Korea, and is an amazing guitar. If it came with an OFR instead of a 1000-series MIK bridge - which works very well, anyway -, I would swear that it is as good as my ESP. Indeed, I have just ordered a MIJ Edwards E-KL-170SE (unfortunatelly, it won't be in my hands untlil October) and I want to see how it compares also to the Standard Series ESP Horizon.
My LTD 327 is pretty awesome, and it was made in china. IDK, maybe I got a good one or something.
I'll be able to compare in a couple months when I get my horizon.
Do any of you know if it's normal to have to wait a couple months for a Standard series to come in?
The 327 is a very interesting model among those available in the US. AFAIK, that's the only superstrato model with a mahogany body AND a FR bridge that comes with Duncans on it. It resembles a mix of the Kiko Loureiro models indeed, and I believe it's a very versatile guitar.
I have purchased all my gear in the US (DC area, to be more specifc), and my Horizon FR-II took a couple of days to arrive from California when I bought it in 2009. Where do you live? Are you getting the Standard with a mahogany or an alder body?
I have a 2005 MH-250 and it fucking slays the 2010 MH-350 . The Chinese ones are total crap. The one thing I noticed was how bad the clear coat material is , slow ,sticky ,dirty and scratches easily. I have noticed a slight stop in the quality of the 1000s as well ,albeit nowhere near as much (just leveling and other minor stuff )
BUT !
Chinese LTDs > any epi
I bought an MH-327 last summer. I was trying to decide between it and Epiphone Annihilation V and fit and finish of the LTD won me over. I had the store tech set it up with my strings (Dean Markley, Medium gauge) and everything was fine for a bit and then one day one of the strings go out and it won't tune, so I bring it back and the store tech tells me the string broke, which is a bit odd as I've used Dean Markley strings for 20+ years and never had one break, but whatever, it could just be a bad string.
The tech replaces the string and tells me that the Floyd Rose is sitting a little low, which again is a little odd as the tech just set it up a couple of months ago, it doesn't get played everyday and I hardly use the whammy.
I then noted that whenever I play the 12th fret and up on the E and A strings, maybe even the D string it buzzes and I can't get rid of it. The store tech did a 2nd set up which ran me $40 and didn't fix the problem and he said that it needs to have the leveled and dressed, which struck me as odd as before I bought the guitar I asked the store tech how the frets were.
I left the guitar at the store for a luthier to look at it. The luthier apparently picked it up on Friday and I still haven't heard anything back. If the fret leveling and dressing is all that's required than I'll have it done as I do like the guitar, but anymore than that and I'm selling it to get something better.
This experience has put me off LTD's. I was seriously looking at an LTD GL200-K, but after this experience I've decided to stick to higher-end guitars.
UPDATE: I heard from the luthier who stated that the guitar was fine and needed to be re-set up as the store tech didn't set it up properly, he said he would set it up and drop it off and would talk to the store about being charged twice for set ups. I go to the store and low a behold the low e string still buzzes. The store tech still insists that the frets still need to be dressed and that many of his guitars buzz at certain frets and you have to live with it. I told him I don't have that problem with my other 6 guitars. The store tech and the luthier are both telling me the other is wrong. So it's going back to the luthier again and if it can't be fixed I'm going to take it back to the store and see if I can exchange it/trade it, even-though I've had it for 7 months. Very disappointed so far.
my 2010 mh350nt is stellar quality for the price. i cant say anything bad about it. my indonesian 2007 mh100qmnt had a twisted neck and a bubble in the finish and just feels like a piece of shit compared to the 350nt. i gave it to my brother as a beginner guitar. my '99 m100 has always played amazingly.
PRICING AND SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Support
© Copyright 2024, The ESP Guitar Company, 5433 West San Fernando Road, Los Angeles, CA 90039 USA - PH: (800) 423-8388 - INTL: (818) 766-2097 - FAX: (818) 506-1378
Design by SilverFrog
I ordered a V-300 last year, made in china, when it came in I refused it. I coughed up the extra thousand for a ESP, and never looked back, esp's are incredible. on another note most of the LTD's I notice made in korea are solid as well. Just my opinion though