MH-103QM Quality

Updated
Sean S.

I actually emailed ESP today regarding the guitar we just got for my son.  Now, granted it's not a $1000 guitar, but it's a $399 dollar guitar.

We are on our second one.  The first one with the humbucker problem was probably just wiring, but we opted to return it as there ware just too much going on to get it repaired.  This was made in China, had a beautiful finish, nice maple neck and fretboard, perfect frets and really nice.  I guess we expected the same as a replacement but we were surprised.

The replacement we were sent was made in Indonesia, I know there are arguments about which is better or both the same etc. but the finish quality is not as good, much darker, the woodgrain in the neck is quite a bit different and almost has a burled maple look to it.  It came in setup much better than the first guitar, but the fine scratches in the finish and poor see through to quilted maple and is more of a putrid greenish blue.  The fretboard is what really has me concerned, the frets seem poorly fit and protrude out the top and bottom of the fretboard not by much, but definitely noticiable.  We have a BC Rich, 2 LTDs and Peavey and other than the BC Rich, all have much better frets than this one.

I have also emailed ESP, considering this was his 15th birthday present, he's getting tired of waiting and swapping guitars, but I don't know what else to do, I would not have accepted this in the store, nor do I feel like I should from mail order.  I just want that ESP/LTD quality we have in our M-10 and EX-260.  For that matter, the frets on the Chinese M-10 are far better than this one.

Please don't tell me to pay more for a guitar, I think it's a reasonable expectation for quality at this price point without fretboard or finish issues on his most expensive guitar to date.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Pushead

From a time-of-year standpoint, it's a rough time to be shipping guitars. Because of the colder weather (at least in my part of the world) as the moisture in the air goes down, the fret boards shrink a bit and often times you'll end up feeling a bit of the edge of frets as you're playing.

My suggestion, is instead of sending the guitar back, to take it to a competent tech in your area. He/she will be able to do a quick pass on the edges of the frets with a file, condition the fret board, and do a restring and setup on the guitar, which may bring new life into it. Or, he/she will say that there are more issues than it's worth and to send it back.

My guess is that for less than $50, your son will get a much better guitar back.

Sean S.

Thanks for the reply, I can appreciate the current weather and it's impact on guitars.  However, the first one was perfect fit and finish, just bad pickup wiring and we should have let our tech fix that instead of replacing the guitar.  I can't accept the poor finish on the frets I don't think, but I'm waiting to hear back from ESP on it before I decide if I'm going to return to the dealer.

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