ESP LTD EC-1000 Evertune - Dark Brown Sunburst Reviews

This was my second demo guitar from Sweetwater. I love the transparency when it comes to any flaws with the demo guitars. This guitar looked amazing out of the box for what was considered a demo unit, a few surface scratches which we all know on a gloss finish is completely inevitable. There was also a slight imperfection on the headstock, but nothing that is jarring or affects the playability. After speaking to Dave Dunsire about my guitar requirements and concerns we landed on this bad boy. His main concern for me was the evertune having an adjustment period. That went out the window as soon as I held this thing. The bridge while massive in size just feels comfortable. Especially coming from playing hipshot products on a majority of my guitars past and present. This guitar sounds amazing, it has this gnarly snarl to it when under a nice metal tone. The cleans are great and somewhat expected from the pickup set. My only issue with this would be the gloss neck, but that's a player preference kind of thing. This also was my first LP style body ever, I've always played super strat bodies through my live career and in studio. But this guitar feels great in hand and on the body. Dave has never let me down and continues to shine on every request I throw his way.

I liked the first one so much that when I heard they are now made with stainless steel frets I bought another and had it plek'd by Sweetwater. Now I can practice, play and record as much as I like without worrying about the cost of new frets or fret dressing, etc. The guitar arrived with action and tuning spot on... and with the steel frets I expect that to last forever as long as the neck wood doesn't warp.

I still think this sounds better than my Eii, even with the JB installed in one of my Eii guitars, maybe because of the thicker wood? The Eii is a little more comfortable to play, with a slightly shorter reach for the left hand and the slippery feel of the matte neck (and locking tuners and straplocks installed are nice), ... but this EC1000 is a bargain at roughly half the price of the Eii. I used it to record an album, alternating between the Eii and this one, and often preferred the tracks made on this thicker body (but not more than a pound heavier) guitar.

I'm still not a fan of this color/look, but it's hard to beat the sound, action and tuning of this plek'd stainless fret beast!

Sooo...I've played (for pleasure) for 30 ish years with sundry breaks/periods of indulgence. Quite a bit these last 3 years. I bought this guitar about a year ago and feel I've seen enough to have a proper opinion. I don't know how you could make a better choice at this price point, honestly...the guitar is very (very) easy to play and the evertune is (while being a wee bit fiddly) sooo nice. I routinely go 6-8 weeks without considering any tuning issues and that's about as long as I let my strings go. I'm a big 'bender' (3 semitones on the regular) and with Stringjoy strings the machine just sings every time I pick it up. I've got a lot of guitars that really don't get touched anymore. There are lots of good guitars out there and I'm not a 'brand' person but this tool absolutely elevates this price point imo. In short, if you can't do it with this--then you can't do it.

Its sound is brutal, excellent sustain, stays in tune and is a solid guitar. Perfect for any musical genre, but ideal for those who like Hardrock.

I bought this in February with the outstanding assistance of Mike Arango. It is still perfectly in tune as it has been since I opened the box. Setup was dead on and it plays itself. I love playing it plugged in or not. The pickups sound great clean and dirty. The fretboard is fast and slick. I normally use 10's but the 9's that came on this are awesome. The coil split works very well and definitely adds a nice touch to the package. Overall a great purchase. Mine has a demon in the quilt just below the Evertune, had to buy it.

The legends are true. It actually stays in tune. Well worth it. I added ratio locking tuners and she's complete. Stunning finish and great playability!

Looks amazing! Sounds amazing! I have no doubt once it comes back from the shop, it will play amazing as well. Action was a bit high. Find yourself a good setup person to professionally set up your axes. Shout out to Jason my sales brother who takes killer care of me.

I bought this guitar to try the Evertune system. I was debating installing one in an existing guitar, but the cost of the installation and shipping (no Evertune install specialists in Boise) was similar to getting a demo discounted version of this EC1000 ET, and I figured two guitars was better than one (especially if I was disappointed in the system).

I rehearsed on it for 3 months with the thin strings, literally without tuning it once, having fun with the shreddy solos and palm muted tones that this guitar seems to yearn for. Then I installed 11s and reset the bridge so I could grab too hard without chords going sharp (I'm primarily a rhythm player and lead vocalist), but I could still bend the highest four strings with just a bit more bend than usual (it hits the bridge spring limit, then starts to bend).

Then I played it like that for 6 months, requiring one tuning touch up on one string. Literally pick up the guitar and play, no need to check tuning! The constant tension system compensated for my overly aggressive strumming (minimizing the sharp effect of a hard hit) as well as my grabby hands on folk chords. Note, I usually use 12s to minimize my grabby sharp effect, especially because going from acoustic thick strings to electric, it is hard to be gentle (and 12s never broke on tours, unlike 10s and 11s, back in the day when I was very aggressive). But, as noted above, I even sounded in tune using the stock 9s! So I decided for live, going back to 11s was probably better for the action and fretwear (than 12s). I probably could go down to 10s easily. The intonation was so good I could reliably play an open D chord, then slide it up and play it an octave higher and sound very in tune.

For me, this is a game changer, as I plan to use it for live shows (once those are possible again) where I used to frequently wonder, mid song, if my guitar was in tune, and also check tuning several times during the show (distracting from my banter). I anticipate I won't have to do any of that anymore. I can't wait for the bass version (coming soon, I heard), so my jumping bassist can also be more in tune, which helps me sing.

I love the bridge (main for me) sound of the EC1000, in fact I prefer it to the E-II Eclipse I recently purchased (probably, I hope, because of the JB v Pegasus pickup at the bridge position).

The downsides:
This guitar has slightly less arch than a Les Paul, and the neck is flatter compared to the body (the LP angles a bit, up to the taller bridge)--so for me, the palm muting ergos require a little more effort than a regular LP. I may shave the top edge to reduce rock rash and give my arm a slightly different angle.

It takes a while to set up the tuning system when changing string sizes or tunings, as the intonation adjustments are interactive and require an allen wrench (but once it's set up it stays, in tune... for a longggg time).

You can't pull flat for a centered note vibrato--you can set up strings (like I did) near the top of the spring limit, so you can bend them sharp when you really want to... but if you are by the top limit, you can't get the to flat limit. If you really love vibrato and subtle bending on all strings, the Evertune probably isn't a good match for your style. If you love to sing and strum, and occasionally bend a string sharp, this is perfect.

The other downside of this model, for me, is it is a bit heavier than my lite Les Paul style guitars (my EC1000 is slightly over 9 pounds), though not as heavy as a real Les Paul. So for my old back, I just purchased an E-II Eclipse, which is similar but much more expensive, made in Japan and has a few upgrades (though, as mentioned above, I like the sound of the EC1000 better, which may be due to the JB pickup... my EC1000 has more low end and a smoother top end (I think the Pegasus is voiced a bit thinner/brighter to help with metal solo voicing/articulation). My E-II weighs under 8 pounds, which makes a huge difference on my standing rehearsing stamina.

In short, I bought this guitar to test the Evertune system, which for me was a home-run game changer. But I was so impressed with the overall ESP package, that I decided to continue down the path, buying a lighter ESP rather than taking the risk/cost of installing an Evertune in my existing guitars (which I'm selling now...). I may keep the EC1000 for recording, since I prefer that tone... but likely I'll try a JB pickup in the E II, in hopes that my live guitar sounds as good as the slightly heavier EC1000.

This guitar feels like a steal at 1099.99 to be honest. And I snagged a demo version for even less. If the marks on it weren't highlighted in the pictures, I likely would have never noticed. The finish is beautiful. The pickups are perfect for the style of music I bought this for and I'm sure they are perfect for others as well. The neck on this guitar is worth highlighting. It plays super smooth, the fret work is excellent for a guitar at this price point. I'm just lazy enough to be obsessed with evertune. I can't say enough good things about this guitar.

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

I really wanted to try an Evertune bridge. My arsenal includes Gibson Les Pauls and Jackson Dinky Pros. Anyone familiar with these guitars know the string break across the nut and the issues you can run into with tuning. This guitar has an amazing fit and finish. No sharp fret edges, clean lines, and was set up almost perfectly (2 strings were less than 3 cents out of intonation). The Evertune bridge, once you figure it (which will not take but a second) is absolutely amazing. I'm selling off another guitar to fund a second!

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

Very nice finish. Love the JB pickup. Build quality is very good. Was a bit apprehensive about the Evertune bridge but turns out it works as advertised. Just realize you use the hex wrench holes which are located closest to the fretboard to tune and the "tuning keys" to adjust the string tension. Sweetwater did an excellent job setting it up. I only adjusted the tuning slightly. I have a guitar that costs 3x the cost of this one (from that "authenitc" manufacturer) which I like, but this one stays in tune. This can't be beat, in my opinion, for the price. Great value!

First, I must say that I am enjoying this guitar. I love how it sounds and I love how it plays. Further, it looks great. I am not a big fan of the Evertune. Once you get the guitar tuned, it does do the job of keeping it tuned as advertised. The issue though is that tuning the guitar is a whole production which includes using an annoying, small tuning key (Alan wrench) as well as following a four step procedure. So if you wanna make a small tweak, you have to find this little tool. Further changing the strings out is a little bit more complex. If I had to do it again, I would've probably gone for an ESP-1000 guitar without the Evertune. Again, I do love the guitar but don't think the complexity of the Evertune is worth it. I have been playing guitar for 20 years so tuning isn't a problem on a regular set up. Perhaps if I was younger.....