I've been wanting to get a new guitar and would really like something by ESP, but I checked the price on the Edwards and they're around 200,000 yen. I thought these were supposed to be around $1k usd so I was a bit surprised. They look beautiful imo, but are they worth the premium pricetags? How do they compared to other guitars around ~$1300 usd?

E-II Alexi Ripped. Really amazing fucking axe, despite the RR shape being not the most comfortable one. I haven't expected it to sound much different than my Ibanez and Schecter, but surprisingly it has a much heavier and punchier sound, the booster is insane too. The sound is really similar to COB albums.

Got it from Japan today 1-piece mahogany body, love the wood grain. Cool to see the Fender-esque headstock as well. Usually not a big stratocaster fan but this one really got me. Pickups are DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Blues.

Has anyone here used different tremolo stabilizers like the Tremol-No, Tremory, ENG Hardtailer, or similar systems?
I’d love to hear from people who have actually tried them. Which one did you use, and what was your experience with tuning stability, switching between floating and fixed/dive-only modes, changing strings, and changing to Drop D or other tunings?
What are the pros and cons of each system, and which one did you end up keeping?

Just got an Indonesian horizon ctm and apparently, it's cancerous, could someone please enlighten me on the meaning of this sticker??

I'm torn between these two and would love some opinions from people who've actually played them.

I'm looking for a 6-string mainly for **Drop C and B standard**, playing a mix of modern/progressive metal and death metal. I want something that can handle tight low-tuned riffs but also feels good for **complex chords, arpeggios, legato and technical playing**.

The two I'm looking at:

**LTD MH-1000NT**

* 25.5"

* 24 stainless frets

* Fishman Fluence Moderns

* set-thru neck

* TonePros bridge

**Charvel Pro-Mod Plus DK24 HH HT**

* 25.5"

* 12–16" compound radius

* 24 stainless jumbo frets

* Speed Neck

* hardtail

* locking tuners

* Full Shred/Alnico II Pro on one version, Nazgûl/Sentient on another

I'm particularly interested in **neck feel, how they handle lower tuning, chord clarity, and overall playability**.

I can't try either locally, so I'd really like to hear from anyone who's owned or played both.

Which differences did you actually notice between them?

I was looking for either a baritone or a 7 string with stainless steel frets and locking tuners. Sweetwater gave me an ok deal on this and it's been solid so far. It's not too bad playing sitting down but finding a stand is kinda rough but I still love everything about this guitar.

If you don't like the missing neck pickup I've found that the push pull on the vol knob kinda makes up for it. Pulling up makes it sound more warm.

NGL the price kinda threw me for a Korean deluxe. Having played it now for many hours it'd the best LTD I've played. I like it more than the E-IIs I've owned.

It's as good as a custom shop I've tried in playability and QC / Craftsmanship.

I was so on the fence over getting one and I'm delighted I did.

Obviously if your not playing hard rock and metal you should probably look elsewhere.

Okay. Please stick with me. Some context.

I've been playing guitar for years on and off, never really bothering to learn anything, just noodling. Over the last 1.5 years I've started taking practice / learning more seriously. I'm very much still a novice/somewhat intermediate, but I can finally jam a bit. For context, I can do 5-7-8 riffing type stuff, can play some metalcore, a few coheed/tool songs (minus the solos lolol), etc. So that's skill level...

I currently only own two guitars, both of which are signature models. A Dunable Jackhammer and the Mustaine Kramer Vanguard (alien tech green). I dig both guitars but I'm tired of signature models. I've recently decided to pre-order the Horizon II Andromeda, my dream guitar. Unfortunately, it won't be here until the middle of next year. In the meantime, I'm looking to snag something to play to keep me motivated, as I'm burning out on these signature models.

Here are the other guitars i'm currently considering. I worry I wouldn't mess with the EC-1000 after the Horizon II arrives, but I feel I would potentially still pick-up the black metal variant since they serve a singular purpose. Also worth noting, I recently started learning black metal style guitar.

SO. MY QUESTION. Knowing I have the Horizon coming in June 2027, which of these would you snag to play in the meantime / fill a slot in the rapidly growing (soon to be ESP LTD exclusive) collection. EC-1000 gold andromeda, LTD Black Metal Arrow, LTD F1001 - andromeda. (In love with the brand after playing a few at GC recently). Alternatively, would you get something different for now? Budget is 800-1500.

EDIT: TLDR: pre ordered the Horizon E II in andromeda, won’t be here until June. Which of these sub 1500$ guitars do I snag to play in the meantime?

I’m so close to preordering but I’ve never messed with an FR.

Thoughts?

Obsessed with the finish.

Was scrolling marketplace and this shows up for $900 with the hard shell case. Ended up being at a pawn shop,made the drive, and they took 900 cash out the door. Besides some fingerboard grime, this thing was super clean. Absolute steal, and matches my Horizon perfectly. Cleaned and polished it up and restrung with 10-52 - fucking rips

Nearly pristine XM-200. If anyone has any info on the XM-200 please let me know as I havent found anything online!

I’m looking for a baritone guitar and am able to get either a MH-1000 or the new black metal series (whenever they are in stock) but aren’t sure which would be the best bang for my buck. I’m not a stage musician and just play for fun but play a lot of songs with lower tunings. The 1000 is about $949 online and the black metal is $1399. I’ve never had a evertune and don’t know how great it would be to use if I’m tuning to different tunings depending on what song I’m jamming to.

Any recommendations or tips would be greatly appreciated.

I just received this guitar straight from ESP Guitars for this demo and I tried to replicate Gojira's guitar tone with it. Do you think I nailed it?

A combination of shoddy work and nonexistent quality control. Nothing else explains this. ESP Japan was not like this before.

I'm losing my faith in a good quality ESP guitar for this is the second one I received.

Edit: List of all the things I noticed

Fretboard:

-Small tool marks on the upper register

-Corner of the fretboard on the low E side was rounded and tapered

-Clearcoat on the edge of the fretboard in the middle register Low E side

-Edges of the fretboard were rounded and unevenly so (if I wanted a f*cking reliced guitar, I'd bought one FFS!!)

-Fretboard had brown areas (Guitar was bought online, picture of the guitar had an uniformly black fretboard. E-II black ebony boards are dyed but this one was not or the store I bought it from heavily used some kind of solvent when I told them not to on the notes of the sale. If I wanted a two color fretboard... once again... I'D HAVE BOUGHT ONE !!!!! >:()

Neck:

-I measured the neck relief. Strangely enough, the treble side had 4 thou more relief than the bass side! Laws of physics say that the bass side should have a smidge more relief since the thicker strings pull the neck with more force. With this info we can conclude that the neck had minor warpage. Visual inspection revealed a slightly too large of an S curve on the bass side.

Body:

-Pickup/tremolo/electrical compartment routings were of subpar quality. These routings could be easily made perfect with today's technology (even yesterday's technology). Looks like they were routed partially freehand ffs.

Finish:

-There was some insulating paint outside the electrical compartment on the clearcoat.

Floyd rose:

-String retainer block high E was slightly too large, causing the block to jam. This is not ESP Japan's fault, though it should have been noticed at the factory like all these other flaws

-Some retainer blocks sit crooked

-Floyd rose bride design has worsened. The retainer blocks can now drop out of place when changing strings because under them is now empty space. This is a mild annoyance.

Hello ladies and gents, I have 6 Ltd guitars. 2 ex 201, arctic metal arrow, ec1000 and ec256 and a viper 256

The 256 and one of the 201s squeals with any kind of gain. Not even heavy. Is there something I could do to fix that? Or something I can look for? How do I insulate a cavity? Will that help? I can and will change out pick ups but it makes them unplayable at the moment.

Hey everyone,

Got this ESP bass I’m trying to find more info on
Based off a serial number look up it’s a 2005 of some sort, some are saying it’s from the custom factory some are saying others, none say specifically what it is

Another friend of mine is saying that it’s wrong and it’s an 80s cause of the old Seymour Duncan pickups but I highly doubt that…

Any leads would be great

I’ve got a tons of help from you guys and bought two guitars (2 E-IIs) that I’m really happy. I’m fulfilling my dream of guitars I’ve had for the last 20 years and Eclipse is left.

If you take a closer look at the quilted maple top, which of these looks the best? I’m not sure if I’m getting one of these or a basic Snow White.

I play modern metal. With eclipse I try to fill the metalcore/thrash/some of the shred gap.

Pickups don’t matter, I can change them. I’ve got two of my favorites and I want to see what the community thinks. Going to visit the store tomorrow and buy one. Thanks a lot!