ESP LTD EC-256FM - See Thru Purple Burst Reviews

This is an excellent guitar for the money.
The guitar feels great for me and the tones are kool.

Tones are incredible on all levels , splitting coils are a bonus ..

I played electric and acoustic guitars years ago and decided to take up playing again as a home hobbyist with my bass-player husband. I'm a small person with small hands, so I spent a considerable amount of time searching for just the right guitar that would be lightweight and have a larger fret radius to suit my hands. I am so very happy I chose this guitar. It's extraordinarily beautiful and I can't keep my hands off it. The cutaways in the guitar's body make it fit comfortably against mine. I paired it with Fender's 10G amplifier bundle, Shure SRH240A headphones, and a VOX amPlug 2 Blues headphone amp for extra fun effects. Thanks to Sweetwater for excellent customer service. Sales Engineer Shaun Yingling followed up with me to make sure I was satisfied with my purchases. I don't think I could be any happier. The ESP LTD EC-256FM is an excellent value and I recommend it highly for small-stature beginner and intermediate players.

This is a step up for me from more of an economy guitar. Frets needed no work. Neck as it should be. The luthier I took it to stated it didn't need any changes. And the finish looks amazing! I was thinking with the payment plan how can I go wrong!

This is a great guitar. I had one for a couple years and sold it because it tricked myself into thinking I need one with a bigger name or a more expensive one. I was wrong and immediately regretted it so I bought another one. The finish is beautiful (I've owned the blue and purple one and they're both beautiful) the pickups are great for metal and hard rock but you can also get great cleans out of it. Very versatile guitar and if you are thinking of getting it, think no longer. Just get it!

Well I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised. I was nervous about this fiddle because I've never owned one, plus never played one. I was originally in the market for a different guitar but when I ran across the LTDs I was surprised at what you got for your money. The one that was sent too me is outstanding, very little set up needed and plays like butter. A shout out to Josh S.there at Sweetwater, Your the man dude.

I just got this guitar, and it is by far my favorite. I don't even bother picking up my Gibson any more. The only thing I have problems with are the pickups and tuning, which are both due to my playing style. It doesn't go out of tune horribly often, but it is enough to be annoying. The pickups sound GREAT for a guitar at this price, they just lack clarity once you add high gain.

Okay so almost 3 years later, I got this guitar. I have the blue one (and a review saying I'll eventually get the purple one, I also have the cherry red version I love these so much). I've got an EC-1000P as well and these hold up remarkably well for being $... less (SD pickups versus the standard ones on this guitar).

The build quality is awesome. They do come from two different factories, you can tell by the serial number's first 2 letters, I'll leave that for you to figure out (China & Indonesia, mine is Indonesia, my others are Korea for the oldest and China for the second one). They're all great in my experience though so I wouldn't worry about the factory, just pick a top you like!

The pickups are not world beaters, but at this price they are more than good enough. The coil splitting sounds wonderful too (I missed it originally because it's on the tone knob, where on most my guitars it's on the volume knob).

If you're a new guitarist or someone that's looking for a LP styled guitar, it's hard to go wrong with these. They also weigh significantly less being much thinner.

These hold up really well against my Epiphone Les Pauls. I also have a couple ARZ Ibanez (LP sytled) guitars and these are very similar in quality.

Just get it if you want it! No regrets.

I was looking for a "practice" guitar so I wasn't abusing other guitars I use for recording and stage. My other guitarist uses LTD's and suggested I give one a try. I've never played a LTD before this one, and I was a bit hesitant because of the price; I didn't know what to expect. OMG ! This puppy rocks ! ...it holds weight against any guitar in the $1000+ range. This Eclipse 256FM now shares the stage with all of my guitars and has exceptional tone and flexibility. Bottom line get off the fence this is a solid buy for practice or, rocking the stage.

Just received this guitar and I cant believe how nice it is. I so glad I gave it a try.

I'm so happy I found this guitar! I took a chance on it because I loved the way it looked, but thankfully it turned out to be a great guitar because it would have killed me to send this one back.
Big thanks to my sales tech Jason for always being so helpful. I played one at my local GC, but ended up buying it from Sweetwater because of the stellar customer service.

Absolutely LOVE this ESP!! Couldn"t find a lot of reviews or videos on this one specifically so I was a little anxious when I ordered it but I am blown away!!!! The finish is beyond what I imagined, pictures can"t do it justice. The flame maple body practically shimmers and the "LTD" on the headstock is silver inlay but almost has a rainbow tint to it. The sound is incredible, the best of any guitar I owne. Fit and finish as well! My only other mid-range guitar is a Jackson Kelly JS32 and this thing completely dominates the Jackson as far as overall quality and machine marks go. (The Jackson is still great, there"s just some nasty spots inside the cavity they routed out for the Floyd Rose where it looks like they used a full router bit and it looks gross, aside from that it"s still a great low-mid range guitar) but the ESP is still better, by miles. If you want a classic Les Paul-style guitar with all the goodies like push-pull pots and TOM bridge, but want it to have a more modern, sleek design that sounds, looks, and feels great without breaking the bank, I couldn"t recommend anything more than this!! Also the Purpleburst is actually almost more of a pink BTW

Out of the box wonderful. Plays smooth and easily, the split coil ability makes the guitar so versatile. Love the color which is purple but just enough of the beautiful wood to show through. This guitar sounds great for just practice or Rock the stage with your thousands of fans. For me I have only one fan; that"s me, but this guitar wants to be played. I"ve got a Gibson US Les Paul ; this LTD sound every bite as good as the Les Paul to me. For the price of the guitar you can"t go wrong. Want to thank my point of contact Nich Magnani. Very helpful and he knows he knows his stuff. If you are looking for a point of contact Nich is your man. Just call Sweetwater and ask for Nich Magnani. Sweetwater is just a great place to buy your equipment, Thank You All.

This Guitar is Beautiful in looks, sound, feel, just all around awesome.

I've had this guitar for the last two years and I absolutely love it. The finish is fantastic. It plays very well, but it does have a few minor dings that keep it from being five stars.

The only things that I dislike about this guitar is the glossy finish on the neck and the plastic nut. The glossy finish can make it difficult to slide. It's really essential to keep the neck clean. The plastic nut caused issues with the strings binding and the nut was also cut too high. It made barre chords tough to play and it was easy to accidentally go out of tune. I had to move the saddle all the way back on my low E string for intonation. I really recommend getting the Tusq XL 6642 nut. It is a drop in replacement and it really improves the playability and sound of the guitar. Some people may find that the pickups sound muddy on this guitar, but they really tighten up once the nut is changed. Also my guitar had some minor fret sprout, but that's something you can easily take care of with some masking tape and an emery board.

The value of this guitar is outstanding. It's not a $3000 Gibson Les Paul but it's better than any Les Paul style instrument in this price range. It can be used for the stage without worry. The pickups are very usable, though a bit muddy with high gain and that's why I only gave it 4.5 stars. The bridge pickup's bass tone gets a bit mushy, even after adjusting the pickup height a few times, but it's not bad sounding. Still, I plan to upgrade to a pickup that has a tighter bass response (Duncan Custom 5). The neck is extremely comfortable for my hands and playing style. I can also see using the coil split on occasion. With a thinner body that most single cutaway guitars, it's also lighter than most. Even with the thinner mahogany back, it doesn't lose that humbucker growl that we love.

I got the purple burst and it's a very beautiful guitar with no finish work imperfections that I could find. The set up has a nice low action with no needed intonation adjustments needed. It's a keeper for my purposes.

Here's a plug for my excellent Sales Engineer, Ryan Wiltermood, who has done a fine job for me for a long time now. I consider Ryan to not just be a person that I do business with, but also a trusted friend. Thanks!

This guitar is sweet! Great job on the Bone nut & pleking, when I strum the string I can feel the vibration through out the whole guitar, the 11 - 49 string s sound great on this guitar, I also have the matte black ec- 256 , I dig that guitar also,
But the work done to this guitar just makes it more better, great service once again, best place to buy a guitar or gear for that matter, the description on the Ltd ec -256 is spot on....thumbs up to the guys (luthiers) in the shop .....this review is about the guitar Esp LTD Ec 256, Great guitar !

I'm more of a Rock blues guy and I had quit playing guitar for about 18 years. I wanted to jump back in but do a bit more metal, this guitar for the price point is a brilliant piece of equipment. Plays great and at 7.5 lbs it's lighter than standard Les Paul guitars, and plays well. Only downsides are given 1 - Need to change out tuning heads as d, and g strings go out of tune often, pickups will need to be changed but for a low price you could quickly save money and play a guitar that plays like a $ axe.

Okay, first, for the price point this is a pretty good guitar as is. It arrived in good condition and was well packed. The set-up was terrible and the strings were tarnished, but a basic set-up and new strings would get it up and playing pretty well. However, with a little further work I was able to get this guitar paying great. So, beyond the basic set-up (truss rod, action) adjustments here's what I did (I'm not advising you do it yourself, but you might want to take it to a tech to check out): I filed the nut slots - they weren't bad but not quite low enough for me, I leveled two frets that were slightly high (6th and 12th) - again not bad, but not perfect, polished the frets - they all needed it, cleaned the fretboard - grime along the frets was excessive and some glue or lacquer was evident in places on the fretboard. The tuners and bridge saddle seem to be okay and I did not replace them (yet). Cosmetically, the finish looks good, but with a close inspection sanding scratches are visible through the finish. The flamed maple top looks stunning, though. I have a few Epiphones, which are similar in price, and I'd say the Epiphones are nicer cosmetically, but the LTD EC-256 is a better player. The balance of the LTD is good too and does not "neck dive" at all. My favorite guitar is a Gibson Les Paul and this LTD plays and feels nearly as good (and is slightly lighter). I thought the stock pick-ups sounded pretty good clean and distorted. They were a little too bright for my taste, but something that could easily be tweaked with amp EQ adjustments. However, I replaced them with set of vintage PAF style zebra PUPs, which complement the creme binding nicely, and sound great for the classic rock I play! Finally, the order of the volume knobs is odd to me as they are opposite the order of the pick-ups and reversed from every other guitar I own. I rewired them to be more consistent with my other guitars and prevent confusion. Overall, I am very happy with this guitar and it is now a staple in my gigging line-up.

I could have gotten Any guitar I wanted - with payments no problem - but after 4 months of looking and debating, I decided on something I could drop the cash on without any thoughts to my wallet...
Ok - I let it sit for 24hrs. Opened it and the guitar was Completely Flawless and in 100% Sweet condition - my first guitar from Sweetwater! So 5star for condition! The Action was good from the go! No setup needed for me.
So the guitar itself: Its not a lap/sitting guitar. Slides alot off the leg. So I use the strap when sitting. And the upper body digs into the upper ribs after awhile which is very uncomfortable - dont get me wrong, I still like the guitar! Not truly complaining.
Next - the neck is thick - took a few times to get used to it - but Im good with it now - it is very easy to Jam with and Im into Keith Merrow style of Metal playing. No problems with speed or riffing on the neck. All the frets were good.
I did order better TUNERS - Gotoh locking. Stock are ok - but I already knew the tuners would be a first upgrade. So... new tuners - same style but black.
The Pickups! Ok this is a top question Im sure. Right now Im good with Stock Esp pickups but it wont be long till I get around to switching them out. Right now Im satisfied with them, so Im not rushing till I decide which to replace them. The Stock pickups are quite good - comparable to seymour duncan JBs - maybe not exactly, but very similar. They definately are NOT junk pickups.
Overall the guitar is lightweight - not heavy at all.
Now I do consider myself a Very Good Player - though not a gigging musician or Youtube sponsor seeker - at least not yet. So for now, this guitar is Not bad - Not Great - but Good Enough for Me! Once I get a Promoter, then Ill seek out a Premium guitar.
Conclusion - this is a Good guitar!
Verfied by Myself!

I was confused on what guitar I wanted. I got a Jackson Dinky then a Kelly. I tried a cheaper end fender. Did not want a Les Paul style guitar hated the feel of Gibson for some reason. My wife said look at this Purple one. I at once loved the color did not know about LTD guitars. I tried it out thinking I dont want this body style. But as soon as I played it I was impressed. It felt smooth and I swear everything just felt right. Strumming seemed easier everything just feels great. No major issues neck was good etc. I have since got the guitar plecked and up graded the pick ups but even before that I played this guitar more than my $900 EC 1000 I got after this one. The 22 fret set up is awesome.

Plays fast and comfortable, nice flame purple top. Lighter than my Gibson Les Pauls, but also has back contour cutout. Made in China, whereas previous models were made in Vietnam and Indonesia. 12th fret (fortunately) didn"t have EC-256 marker but had normal pattern inlay. Nobs were off center and had to be removed and reset. Fingerboard is not rosewood as advertised but jatoba (Brazilian cherry, which is not a cherry wood...). Recommend application of Gorgomyte and breaking in.

Factory prep left substantial scratches near edges that I was able to buff out 50-70% with Eterna Shine and some elbow grease. Disappointed that the "55-point inspection" didn"t catch/remedy this. Stock pickups are poor and wouldn"t provide quality sound for a live show at any reasonable volume. Plan is to replace with EMG H4 and H4A (passive) set. Will need to test live but my also need to replace pots. Good buy for the money (if you can get discount), but plan on $150-$200 plus labor/effort to replace pickups and tidy up. Hope for adequate quality craftsmanship. Pro set-up and truss rod adjustment is a must if delivered in cold weather.

Bought this guitar 2 years ago I'm late i know. Honest opinion this is by far one of the best looking guitars I've ever witnessed. The purple flame maple was gorgeous. The guitar played very well and the neck despite being finished felt great. Would have given it 5 stars but mine broke 3 days ago, the trussrod broke. I was replacing the nut to a graphtec but the action needed some tweaking and so i adjusted the trussrod a little less than an 1/8 of a turn since the bridge adjustments weren't enough (first time adjusting this guitars it was a very steady neck) when i went to pullout the allen key the trussrod pulledout of it with the key. Not sweetwaters fault you can't foresee that, i may have gotten a lemon because based on everything else i don't think they cut corners. The push pull knob would come off but that's on 90% of guitars with those pots, the nut could have been better but it played well