I've had the guitar for 6 months now and initially I was impressed with the tone and playability. It looks incredible, and sounds great with the EMG pickups. However there's some finish issues along the neck binding that just hurt me to look at. Recently the selector switch has died and the guitar has no output with the bridge pickup selected. Also the gold finish on the hardware is rubbing off, which is really disappointing after 6 months. I would be happy with this if I had paid half the price however I'm not overly impressed. Sweetwater however is great as always.

Love everything about this guitar except for the tone knob. Didn't feel much change in the tone when using it.

There's a lot to love about this guitar the neck is amazing and the body is thin and light compared to other single cut guitars. The active emg pickups sound amazing but then we come to the issue. The tone knob isn't wired correctly and adjusts the volume instead of tone. I'm really surprised no one noticed considering I had the nut upgraded to tusq and that included a full setup and electronics inspection.

I always come back to this model as my go-to workhorse.

Got this guitar for my son who's been playing two years now. He loves it! Got the Plek setup, which made it play so smooth! The guitar sounds killer!

It plays fast, heavy while looking sleek and elegant!

I play heavy metal rhythm guitar and this guitar is awesome for that. The active EMG pickups are killer. It is great for that down and dirty chugging that you can feel resonate in your bones. Obviously through an amp or P.A. I do not get uncontrollable feedback and can get a great deal of gain without feedback. I have had mine since 2016 and bought it used for $. If it ever got destroyed and was unrepairable I would definitely buy another!

The active pickups and the satin finish make playing sound and feel great. Ice 9 never sounded so good. Highly recommend

Love this guitar. Does an awesome job for metal and cleans are also beautiful.

The esp ltd ec 1000 guitar is an amazing, Guitar I would recommend it For anyone that is a rock lover The problem is that the finish is not to the quality for $. ESP could pull off something better for that money and give a better quality in the Finish and After a small
Fall my guitar Got a chip But except that it's an amazing amazing Guitar the EMG pick ups, gives an amazing riffy and clarity Sound at the same time

I've had my LTD for about 1.5 months now and couldn't be happier. Brian M. was a great help getting my order sorted out! Thanks my man!

Ec-1000's are my favorite guitars by far, I've owned 3 over the years and they have always been incredible. The one I ordered from here had a scratch along the front side which I can live with but the frets were unlevel from 12 and up and the neck pickup switch doesn't work

Overall it sounds,plays, and feels amazing as to be expected! However it needed some repair work right out of the box. The higher frets weren't level and the switch would cut out on the neck pickup. After taking it in for a fret level and re-soldering the pickup switch she is as good as can be

Have over 100 guitars favorite les Paul style. active emgs total. thrash won't go out of tune. mr Matt schenchrr

I bought this guitar because of comfort. I used to have an 80's les paul lawyer guitar that was a great instrument but the weight and lack of ergonomic features made me not want to play it as much. This solves all of that. It's much lighter, has the belly cut, and just feels better to play. I tend to lean towards a thicker neck but I got used to this one immediately. It is also much more versatile than I expected and I find I enjoy the clean sounds, especially out of the neck pickup (obviously EMG's with distortion sound glorious). I only dock half a star because of cosmetics, there were a few issues along the fretboard, which I communicated to Sweetwater and they offered a discount or replacement which was much appreciated. My local guitar tech sees a lot of these and seemed to think it was an outlier so take that how you will. Overall the guitar looks really cool and sleek (better than the pictures) and I opted to keep it. Want to mention my sales engineer Carson, I've bought too many things from this site and he has been super helpful and professional every step of the way.

Talk to any guitarist in the industry and they will tell you for certain this make and model it an absolute must when it comes to guitars. This guitar in particular is the highest selling ESP guitar for a reason. The versatile shape, the edgy yet smooth sound, and the comfortable feel. The EC-1000 in vintage black is truly one of the specific guitars to have among all others.

Excellent every time

We all have our working mans go to guitar the tool we reach for because we know it inside and out, and it's completely perfect. David gilmour has his black strat, clapton has brownie, and I have this little guy.

It is the perfect weight, it has a perfect next, and the engine pickups give it the perfect sound.

I own 3 primary guitars. This one, an American Ultra Stratocaster, and an ibanez RG 550 Genesis series. I would say that this is the most versatile guitar I own. And truthfully, I feel like it plays and sounds better than my other two.

I've been playing for going on 25 years, I use a Marshall JCM 2000 and an orange TH30. I also use a line 6 HD500x pedal board in my effects loops.

This guitar has such a good deep clean tone, but when you get it dirty is when it really shines. I will say that the fender does edge it out when playing those clean blues tones, but this is no slouch. I've owned this guitar for about 10 years.... and I can honestly say that even though my strat is valued over a grand more, I'd grab this one in a fire.

I would say this guitar really shines in punk, grange in metal. I will post two videos of recording I have used playing this guitar, the amplifier was my JCM 2000 DSL 100 using the amplifiers overdrive, no pedals

This is a very nice guitar. I'm a beginner and this is my second guitar and I bought this guitar cuz I wanted something nice and it was quite the upgrade from the entry-level guitar I had. Sounds great feels good and I would absolutely recommend it to anybody. It arrived at my house real fast I even got a phone call from Sweetwater letting me know if I had any issues or concerns but they would be available to me doesn't get anything better than that. I will definitely do business with Sweetwater
in the future.

This thing plays like a dream. Well balanced and comfortable to play sitting, standing, laying down, you name it. Definitely feel like I got more than my money's worth. Also as this was my first purchase with Sweetwater I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the customer service and how fast I got the guitar. And it was ready to go straight out of the box. It was even in tune! Definitely stoked on both ESP/LTD and Sweetwater for this one!

This review is for the passive pickup version of the EDP 1000 LTD Deluxe: I have had this guitar for a year and a half now and it's simply phenomenal. I've played many other guitars since buying my ESP and it still smokes all of them in playability but most importantly: Versatility. I play mostly classic rock and blues and this guitar is perfect for that. It's also perfect for higher gain music which I am a big fan of. The middle pickup position alone is more versatile than many guitars I've played out there. I did unfortunately have the neck pickup die on me, but it was under warranty and that's not really ESPs fault, that's on Seymour Duncan as it's their pickup. Either way, I got my guitar back and I haven't had any issues at all with anything else. It stays in tune really well, even when I'm regularly doing multiple step bends. The neck is INCREDIBLE. It's perfect for solos but man it's also so great for chords too. It's the perfect middle ground, that's basically how I would describe this guitar: It's the perfect middle ground guitar. It can play jazz to heavy metal, shred or barre chord, it does it all and at an incredible price.

I remember playing gibsons in the same price range (obviously entry level gibsons) and they all felt SO cheap compared to the ESP. I could seriously go on for days about my guitar. I love it. I see absolutely no reason to buy another humbucker guitar for many years. Why would I when this guitar delivers everything I want? It could easily be sold for $500 more. I am a lifetime ESP customer now.... 5 stars.

Came a day early which was cool, plays well handles great no complaints here.

Listen, it's a guitar. In all the decades of buying, I have learned that there is no way to make a stage-ready-touring-quaity machine for that price without serious compromises. Scales of economy just prevent this from competing with a 4K PRS, Gibson, or even the USA made ESP guitars. (My main line consists of ESP M-II models. I know what feel and sound I need).
So this LTD is sitting over there after arriving this morning. I adjusted the action a little. Not much. AND THAT WAS IT.
We are tracking a new album - this guitar is already on 2 bed tracks. Holy Maria. I am astounded.
Forget compromises - this thing is the real deal. A professional instrument that will not break your back fianancially. I still cannot believe it. Just stunning. The workmanship and quality are far far above it's price point. I am hard pressed to find any contender below 4-5K, and even then you are paying for cosmetics and 'reserved' wood builds.
Buy it. Use it. It was meant as a players' guitar. It will not let you down.

Well this is absolutely perfect. Came perfect. Delivered in great timing.

I'm a Les Paul and Gibson man, but this ESP is on par, if not surpasses any LP I've owned. And I am just nuts over the finish. The satin black and gold hardware look killer! When I de-tuned to drop D, the low end stayed super tight, not muddy. Those EMGs seem to be good for that. All the hardware on this axe is an upgrade from a stock Gibson. When I first played my EC1000, I couldn't believe how low the action was without any buzz.
Let me tell you people one other thing. It's about Sweetwater's customer service. It's top notch. Read some other reviews, the other people are not kidding. My sales rep Ben Jimenez is a great guy to deal with. He follows up on your purchases, and gets back to you asap if you have a question. Guys like Ben will inspire customers like myself to keep coming back to Sweetwater for all my gear.
Wayne F

I absolutely adore this guitar, although I got it with the passive Seymour Duncan's because I am not the biggest active pickup fan (so far... I probably will be one day though!) it's an absolute beauty. The frets are so smooth, the neck is truly a dream to play both chords and quick licks, the sustain on a bend holy moly, it's got it all. Did I mention how PHENOMENAL this is at staying in tune though?? It's seriously impressive. Now for the bad... My neck pickup died 9 months into owning this baby. Its under warranty and technically that is on Seymour Duncan's end, and not ESP. I regret having to give it 4.5 stars because of this, and I currently do not have it at my home, it's with the shop. So, I miss my guitar so much that I'm writing a review about it. Most Seymour Duncan's don't die so I'm sure you'll be fine buying the passives if interested. This guitar is incredible, just buy it already and stop reading reviews!

Handle great and play amazing and sound amazing worth the money everyone.

There's so much that I appreciate about this guitar. From the way it stays in tune almost perfectly, to the killer sustain flying out of the EMG pickups, to the variety of tones achievable, to the overall beautiful finish and neck inlays, I really do enjoy holding, playing, or even just staring at this guitar. A quality instrument at a great price point. No regrets.

I waited 10 months to receive this guitar and suffice it to say it was absolutely worth it. I love everything about this guitar from the build quality to the feel and play ability to it"s stunning appearance. Certainly is not a guitar to bang out some Stevie Ray Vaughan but if you"re into metal or hard rock… Wow! Sweetwater is always a great place to deal with

Such an amazing guitar crafted with quality materials. Such a BEAUTIFUL GUITAR and SOUNDS AMAZING!! 100% happy with my purchase! Shoutout to Sales Engineer Phil Potts!

First off this is the nicest guitar Iv owned,i was originally in the market for a strat,but seen this and glad I did,the finish is beautiful.The fishman pickups are very clear and crisp sound for the clean kinda has a acoustic sound to it,and the distortion will blow you away it"s like getting a round house kick to the face from chuck Norris,I mainly play Power,thrash metal and this does Job,works great for worship music at church to.overall very happy and pleased about my purchase.

Most easy playing guitar ever, scale length is perfect, in amazing condition, and the fluence pickups take his guitar to another level. Very satisfied with my purchase

I love my LTD, and sometimes make it sound perfect...

I've had this guitar since the second week of Sept, 2017. The guitar is flawless, if I were to spend into the Les Paul range ($3000+) to improve this guitar, I don't see anything they could do to make it better! I really like the feel of heal of the guitar (neck joins the body). The EMG's are awesome! I love the feel of the neck, the fit and finish are truly flawless. I love the tone, the cleans and grit are there. If you're dreaming about getting that $3000+ Les Paul, but not sure you want to spend that much, get this guitar instead. It scratches that itch!

StilI one of my favorite purchases! I have been using this model as my main guitar for over 2-1/2 years now & I'm still in love with it! Really light guitar & the neck makes this model very easy to play even with my thicker gauge strings(13-62) for D Standard/Drop C tuning. I use this guitar for my hard rock/metal band.

I absolutely love everything about this guitar. I'll start by saying the flat black finish is just awesome. It just looks mean let alone how it sounds and how it sounds? It sounds like amazingly, brutally, beautiful. Yes I used two adjectives because it deserves them. The 81/60 EMG's deliver powerful sonic tones that melt your face off dialed up on a high gain channel, however, they sound really good with the gain and volume dialed back as well. They sound great clean too, delivering nice clear and bright tones. I use delay, reverb, and my univibe on my clean channel and WOW this thing sounded awesome. It has locking tuners which are a great luxury to have when it comes to changing strings. The neck is by far my favorite feature, it has a thin shape with an ebony fretboard and combined with the flat black finish make it easy to play. It is blazingly fast so if you're a shredder, you're going to spend a lot of time with this baby. The ebony fretboard combined with the jumbo frets make it a bit easier to play and give the notes a little extra punch. I did however have a small issue when I changed the strings. The nut fell off and after I examined it, they just had a very light touch of glue on it from the factory, so after a couple drops of super glue, it's as good as new. To me, that was really no big deal because humans make mistakes sometimes and it was a very easy fix. Bottom line, considering the nut issue and I wish it came with a case or gig bag, that's really the only thing I would change. It's a high quality guitar and sounds amazing on any channel you throw at it. Has a very nice weight and balance so it won't kill or neck if you're gigging with it. Make no mistake, this is a metal/rock guitar so if your looking for a weapon of mass destruction, this is it.

These have really gone downhill fast! Cheap parts and quality.
Not to mention ZERO resale so now I can't sell it with this gaudy gold binding. What was I thinking when I bought this?

Seriously the best decision ever made. The guitar
arrived pretty fast and after fully inspecting the guitar I couldn't find a single thing wrong with it and it came ready to play right out of the box with a fresh set of d'dario strings on it! Couldn't be happier!

Ps. This is my first time ordering from sweet water and I'm deff not disappointed!

I own several nice guitars that I tour with and make my living with - Gibsons, Fenders and PRS... Not bragging at all, just saying that my expectations for a guitar are pretty high and I ordered this based on recommendations from reviewers and from friends who already owned one or had played one. I wanted something EMG powered, light and fast and that popped visually.

Only thing I can say is Wow! I'm pretty much blown away by the impeccable build quality, quality of components - but most importantly at how nicely it plays and how sweet it sounds. This will be on the road with me quite a bit going forward. The EMG's are sweet, understatement and very focused without being compressed or squishy. Cannot imagine anyone being disappointed with this axe at this price point (even at twice this price point).

This is one bad*** machine..it sounds great clean but once u distort it and add some crunch it turns into a whole other beast. My only complaint with this war axe is that i didnt order it sooner. So if ur looking for something to keep u warm at night this aint it but if ur lookin to make something squeal an snake some tail at the sametime then get on stage with one of these beasts an let her rip

I absolutely love everything about this guitar. The mahogany body, the ebony fretboard, the locking tuners, the killer EMG pickups, etc. This is one impressive Axe, especially at this price point. The tones and sustain you get out of this machine are outstanding. The fit and finish are impeccable. Im very picky with cosmetic flaws, and this one is perfect. If your looking for a LP body guitar, look no further. You will not be disappointed with this one, it is amazing in every way.

I love this guitar. I received it quickly and very well packaged. My guitar arrived in tune after traveling half way across the country! Not only is this guitar that stout but, Sweetwater is amazing!

The sound of this guitar is killer! The shape of the neck combined with the satin finish makes it a pleasure to play. It does not feel as heavy as other Les Paul style guitars do either. Which, is a good thing in my opinion.
And wow, if you've never used locking tuners before, you have no idea what you are missing!

I did have a few minor issues with this guitar though. The nut isn't evenly glued to the headstock completely. 99% of people wouldn't notice it but I just happened to see it. Doesn't effect the function in any way though.

Both volume knobs were difficult to adjust for a while too. After a few weeks of playing this guitar they loosened up though.


Overall, I would highly recommend this guitar.

It stays in-tune surprisingly well, the neck seems very stout. Switching from standard tuning to drop tuning the neck stays right where I want it.

Feels and sounds amazing.

Looks fantastic.

Only lost half of a star because of some minor quality control issues.