The ESP Guitar Company

Hi ESP,

ive just found this model and while it is nice, it would be amazing if you could do a left hand version of it. A lot of your left handed range are only six string. Could you please in future guitar production runs make more left hand 7 string models with the Fluence pickups as these pickups are more well rounded and designed than others.

Thank you and kind regards,

Lachlan Chisholm

This model is not up to typical ESP standards or the quality craftsmanship of my other ESP guitars.  It’s manufactured in Indonesia vs my others are Korean made.  The fact that it’s a deluxe series really frustrates me.   I ordered two of these(1 replaced the other from retailer).

The first one had a beautiful maple top but the fretboard was very mismatched and was two very different colors. The white binding had three cracked spots where it met the fret wires at the 3rd,4th, and 5th fret.  Also there are two spots were the finish appears flaked or not sealed on the headstock (ironically flawed right where it says Deluxe!) obviously shouldn’t have passed inspection at the factory or the retailer  I returned it and the second one arrived…

The maple top has flawed grain and 2 glossier looking spots on it  the fretboard was a match and looks great!  The backside of the body had distinct blemishes on it the headstock had the same flaky looking spot in the finish or sealant. The tremolo was way higher on the low string side compared to the other, was tilted backwards, and there was noticeable fret buzz. The truss needs some relief and I had to make several adjustments to the tremolo to get it to play decent.  Again it shouldn’t have passed inspection at the factory or the retailer and it’s a B grade overall and should have been sold as that or rejected.    For a $1,400 deluxe series this is a total piece of , ya know!  

what happened to quality and craftsmanship that esp is known for?  My MH series and EC series are far superior to this one.   The one thing I was unsure about when buying were the Fishman pickups, and they too greatly disappoint me.  No bite or clarity and sound muddy and lack tonal definition for harmonics and leads.  EMG’s sound much crispier Ann’s have much better definition and mid/high bite to them. The push pull on the bridge pickup lets you choose between dull/muddy or dull/muddy with a bit more gain.  

ESP, please get back to your old ways instead of sending customers like me to other manufacturers for a good high quality instrument.  And please don’t put the LTD Deluxe name on this guitar or anything like it because it’s not even close to living up to the name. 

What has happened to the quality control standards that ESP used to have? Indonesia is making lesser quality guitars than I ever got when they were made in S. Korea.  
My new M-1007 arrived yesterday and I’m totally disappointed. The QM top was great but then I look at the neck…

The ebony fretboard has two very different colors where the pieces of wood used were an obvious mismatch. A $1400 deluxe series guitar with a neck that shouldn’t have passed inspection on a $500 guitar!  to top it off the white binding along the neck was cracked in 3 places.  How does this stuff get missed?  

For now I can’t say I recommend ESP to anyone and I wouldn’t spend my hard earned cash on one anymore.  They’re going to have to step it up to get customers like me to come back. 

Why does the description say stainless steel frets if it's not offered? 

I've had one, purchased thru a retailer in 2020. Fantastic, but for one minor issue; there is a noticeable "crack" when I do a dive on the tremolo, like the neck is bending; fortunately, only noticeable unplugged - if this is due to the lack of reinforcement, this is the only real construction issue with this guitar as far as I can tell. When plugged in, this is fantastic - it has a Floyd Rose with most of the important upgrades for longevity, stays in tune once it's set up right, and it's honestly the thinnest neck of all of my guitars. It gets a rating of A- from me - adding something like carbon or titanium rods in the neck to further stabilize it would make this near-perfect.