Open a Sweetwater Card & Earn BonusBucks

ESP LTD EC-401 Electric Guitar - Black

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Mahogany Body, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Black
Building your custom Guitar Gallery
$999.00

Earn $50 back in Bonus Bucks OR pay $42/month with 24 month financing*

In Stock!

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?
Sweetwater Gear Exchange

Have one to sell?
Check out Sweetwater's Gear Exchange!
Learn More

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Certified Fit Cases

No more guesswork! These cases are hand-tested and guaranteed to fit your guitar. See how we do it

Certified Fit Cases

ESP LTD EC-401 Electric Guitar - Black
In Stock!
$999.00
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

Hit Your Amp with Serious Tonal Aggression

With the ESP LTD Eclipse EC-401 solidbody electric guitar plugged into your amplifier, you're primed for pure rock fury. You get eternal sustain from the Eclipse's set-neck design, which keeps it resonating longer than bolt-on designs. And you've got powerful, articulate tone on demand thanks to EMG humbucking pickups. From chiming cleans to growling high-gain tones, this guitar covers a ton of tonal territory. Find out why some of the most aggressive guitarists choose ESP — get your LTD Eclipse EC-401 from Sweetwater today.

ESP's Eclipse body style blends classic looks with modern performance

Nothing screams hard rock like ESP's timeless Eclipse body style. The extra mass of this single-cutaway design gives the Eclipse EC-401 truly epic sustain, whereas its slightly arched top provides you with comfortable hand positioning, no matter your picking style. Add to that a super-sharp cutaway, which gives you open access to the Eclipse EC-401's upper frets, and you're totally ready to shred.

EMG humbucking pickups are a solid foundation for hard rockin'

Hard rockers and aggressive players have turned to EMG active pickups for years, for their amazing tone, exceptional dynamic response, and reliable performance. You get EMG 60 and EMG 81 humbucking pickups in the Eclipse EC-401, ready to sound as clean or as mean as your style calls for.

ESP LTD: a huge value with ESP quality

ESP LTD guitars and basses were created to bring a more affordable version of the classic designs and quality of ESP guitars to a new market. The entire ESP LTD line of instruments features premium tonewoods, quality pickups, and solid hardware for a lifetime of use. An exacting eye for detail and quality means that every instrument is ready to rock when it leaves the factory. An impressive list of signature guitars by some of today's biggest guitar heroes shows the popularity and respect held by ESP LTD. If you're looking for the perfect rock or metal guitar, then you need to check out ESP LTD.

ESP LTD Eclipse EC-401 Solidbody Electric Guitar Features:

  • Classic-looking electric guitar with exceptional sustain and aggressive tone
  • Thin "U" profile makes the mahogany neck play fast and smooth
  • Dual EMG pickups give you aggressive tone, hot output, and excellent note definition
  • TOM bridge/tailpiece give you dependable tuning stability and intonation
  • Set-neck construction gives you long-lasting sustain and excellent articulation

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • General
  • Number of Strings 6
  • Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
  • Body
  • Body Type Solidbody
  • Body Shape Eclipse
  • Body Material Mahogany
  • Body Finish Gloss
  • Color Black
  • Neck
  • Neck Material Mahogany
  • Neck Shape Thin "U"
  • Neck Joint Neck-through
  • Radius 13.7"
  • Fingerboard Material Rosewood
  • Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Flags
  • Number of Frets 24, Extra Jumbo
  • Scale Length 24.75"
  • Nut Width 1.650"
  • Nut Material Molded
  • Hardware
  • Bridge/Tailpiece Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Stopbar Tailpiece
  • Tuners Grover
  • Electronics
  • Neck Pickup EMG 60 Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup EMG 81 Humbucker
  • Controls 2 x volume, 1 x master tone
  • Switching 3-way toggle pickup switch
  • Miscellaneous
  • Strings D'Addario, .010-.046
  • Case/Gig Bag Sold Separately
  • Manufacturer Part Number: LEC401BLK

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Great guitar!!!

Purchased this guitar and have nothing bad to say about it. Everything about my purchase was great...the ease of purchase, the customer service before delivery, well packaged, the guitar itself, and those EMG's!!! Love it and can't wait to get another. Thanks Sweetwater.
Music background: Hobbyist
Rated 5/5

Give active pups a chance it’s worth it

I returned a prs se custom 24 which sounded beautiful but I didn"t really love the tremolo and wanted a slightly thinner u shaped neck. And I decided on this ESP LTD EC-401 Black, and it is so so wonderful!! The neck feels fantastic especially since I don"t have real big hands, the body and binding is very appealing to the eye, and the sustain and power from the active pups has awed me. And don't listen to the haters of active pups, it's like comparing a carburetor to fuel injection; they're both fantastic and have pros and cons but all in all both passive and active are great. Also I really like the clean sound of this guitar. So if you get this guitar I'm betting you'll be just as happy and pleased as I am. And thank you Michael Duncan you're a killer fella to help me like you have.
Rated 5/5

AN OUTSTANDING GUITAR!!

Got this after returning another guitar that I was uncomfortable with the playability. i might add with NO HASSLE WHAT SO EVER! This guitar is outstanding in quality for the price point. The playability is so
much better for me personally. Unbelievable value. The EMG active pickups are metal/rock playes dream.
The finish, the burrless frets and the looks are intimidating. Absolutely worth every cent. Sweetwater has
to be the best customer service on the planet! Giant Thanks to Chris Lewis. You have made me
a very happy, satisfied customer.
Rated 4.5/5

What a Surprise

Buying this guitar was for a guy to do some work for me a pay me back well he didn't . This guitar is made extremely well great fretboard ,the PU are good also which is a suprise to me the finish is wonderful the speed knobs are also very good the tuners keep the guitarin tune . Well I'm glad he didn't get the guitar I like it a lot and what to keep it . I would tell anyone who plays electric guitar BUY IT you will like it.
Music background: Former Road Musician
Rated 4.5/5

Awesome guitar!!

I kind of bought this guitar on a whim. I didn't really need another guitar but, how many is enough? I've seen these LTDs with the Gibson-type body and really liked them. A friend of mine has one very similar. I've always played strat-styles, LTD, Ibanez, Jackson, etc. Thought I'd give this one a chance. It came today and so far I really like it.

The bottom of the body is a little heavy compared to what I'm used to. I really need to make sure I hold onto it if I'm seated while playing. The EMGs, 81/60s sound pretty much identical to the EMG "Het-Set" that I bought from Sweetwater and put into a Dean 350f. Nice and crunchy distortion/overdrive, and the cleans sound crystal clear, almost magical!! It's a beautiful instrument.

It arrived in perfect condition and was set up exactly the way a guitar should be. I won't be doing a thing to it. Perfect. I think they even put fresh strings on it, though I'm not sure, They look new!! Really happy with my purchase and another great experience with the best in the business, Sweetwater!!
Music background: One man band, home recording enthusiast
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!