EC-1000 BARITONE
EC-1000 BARITONE
CHARCOAL METALLIC SATIN

Guitars in the LTD 1000 Series are designed to offer the tone, feel, looks, and quality that working professional musicians need in an instrument. The EC-1000 Baritone is the extended range guitar you’ve always wanted, delivering the single-cutaway Eclipse shape in a 27” baritone scale. Typically tuned a fourth below standard, from B to B, this is the six-string guitar that lets you explore the downtuned sounds of modern rock and metal while still maintaining ideal string tension. Its darkly minimalist design pairs the look of a Charcoal Metallic Satin finish with black single-ply binding and a Macassar ebony fingerboard with no inlays…except for the glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots. The EC-1000 Baritone features 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body, and powerful tones from a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker active pickups (alnico in the neck and ceramic in the bridge), with push-pull control to select voicings and black nickel covers.
I guess it would be the first comment/review about this guitar. So, let's begin! I received it today and played for hours and I think I'm ready to tell a little bit about it.
For years I wanted ESP to release a new affordable Eclipse baritone. Yeah, we all remember EC401B, but it was a long time ago. Then we saw Ben Burnley signature - BB-600 which is awesome I believe and now we have THIS!!
1) LOOK: Guitar looks amazing and stunning. It's not your common plain matte black, it really has some structure to the color. Depending on light - it even seems like it's glittering and it's awesome! If you saw and touch Black Metal series - forget about them! This guitar beats them all. And to be 100% honest - I did not like BM series at all - very poor color and everlasting fingerprints even when touched once. Paintjob on this baritone is superb!
2) ERGONOMICS: Really well done. Classic Eclipse (or I'd say - LP-style) shape with all these contours that we all know and love. Very comfortable to play. Weight is worth mentioning too - it's very light! Lighter than my old LTD EC-1000 VBK. When you grab it - you feel comfort!
3) PICKUPS: Well, we're pumping a cherry here, because it's a very first time that I tried Fishman Fluence pups. For NOW they seem a LITTLE BIT (and I mean it - A LITTLE BIT) harsh for my taste, but maybe it's just me. I think I need to dig 'em more and find my sound with them. Anyway - all the fans of FF pups will love them I'm sure. And it's a good move to make this guitar with different pickups instead of EMGs. As for me - I'm a huge fan of SD Sentient/Pegasus combination (I felt in love with them when I bought my E-II EC7)
4) THE SOUND: This thing can roar! I'm not a big fan of Drop Q tunings, I use baritones as they are - in Standard B or Drop A occasionally but I think you can go much lower with this scale length of 27'' if you want to. As for the push-pull switch - you can get very interesting clean sounds using it. But I didn't hear much difference using it with high gain distortion.
5) OVERALL OPINION: I love it! Plays like butter, looks very smooth and stylish. Lightweight (which is good). Awesome neck profile, would be nice for those who can't handle 7 string guitars. And I know what I'm talking about because I have ESP E-II EC7 with Evertune bridge (I love it too but the neck is kinda wide for my taste). Having locking tuners is a must. Having luminlays is cool too! So, for now I can highly recommend it if you want to explore some new high-end LTD guitars!
BTW, my guitar is 2021 Korean-made (which makes me happy), although all online stores state that this model is made in Indonesia.
I was really considering a PRS SE 277, (have read very good reviews and the price is right), until I came across the ESP Baritone. Since this is new for ESP, not much for reviews thus far. Overall look and style, it's ESP all the way; however, I'd like to get your opinion in case you're familiar with the PRS. Btw, I own an ESP E II and love it.
Alejandro, I played the PRS 277 at my local guitar shop yesterday. It's not a bad guitar and the price is good. I also have an E II Eclipse and found the PRS disappointing. The fretboard on the E II is so easy and comfortable. The PRS wasn't bad -- just not as friendly as the E II. The neck of the PRS is huge by comparison. It's not just the length either -- it felt like a baseball bat. I have long fingers and I still found the PRS neck to be uncomfortably big. I know the Eclipse is more of a shredder style neck so it will always be thinner, but the PRS still took me by surprise. That said, the PRS sounded pretty good. But I suspect that if you're looking for a similar playing experience to your E II then this LTD baritone will likely feel more familiar. The PRS is also longer than this one with a scale length of 27.7. That's almost 3/4 of an inch longer than this one which makes the frets just that much further apart (which might make the PRS more suitable for even lower tunings). I have not tried this LTD baritone yet but I'm definitely leaning towards it for myself, especially after trying the PRS.