ESP vs. LTD

[MyEmergency]

I was wondering what peoples opinion of the two brands were. I would think that in a way ESP guitars could be losing money to LTD. Personally I have owned 2 different ESP Eclipses and have had 3 LTD EC-1000's in the past few years and currently I own an LTD EC-1000 in the vintage honeyburst and I have to say that there is a reason I now own an LTD over an ESP. They are extremely similar, so similar in fact that while I could notice a slight difference in them that it was extremely insignificant in comparison to how close they were in overall playability and tone. Maybe I have had good experiences, but I just feel like some of these newer korean made top of the line LTD's are just amazing values and compete very well with some other much higher priced guitars.

[jhorne]

I had an LTD EC-1000 and an ESP Eclipse II and they were very similar in quality, playability, etc. I probably couldn't tell the difference if I played them blindfolded.

 

Had the EC-1000 for a few weeks and finally sent it back because it really didn't do much for me. I really tried to like the Eclipse, but after holding onto it for over a year I finally gave up and sold it.

[craigny]

Well i've owned a few LTD's and all of them were excellent guitars...my Snakebyte (made in Korea) I would put up there with an ESP standard series..pretty darn close...LTD's are a GREAT bang for the buck...offering EMG's and Seymour Duncans, Sperzel tuners, as well as other good components, for an affordable price..a high end LTD can cost close to $1000...not a "cheap" guitar by any means....although i have never owend an ESP i will say that yes i believe there is a difference, i am a firm believer that you get what you pay for with a guitar to a point...now does the difference justify the difference in price...it may not to you but others will say its worth it.....bottom line i would have no problem rawkin a nice LTD (i've done it) but i aint kickin an ESP outta bed either

[DavidMgT]

I do not know about financials, however ESP produces some of the finest guitars on the planet.

[zenbu]

Losing money?...same company so I can`t see how they`d be losing money.

I see a lot of both in Japan and yeah, the LTDs are very nice but in Japan, status is everything when it comes to stuff...I`ve seen a pair of $700.00 cantaloupe melons, saw a $2000.00 watermelon on the TV news recently, there are tuna that sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars...getting the picture?...people own expensive things not because they`re necessarily better but because they like to show off that they can afford em, even if they sometimes really can`t...image is everything...so my point is this, sure guitar players in this city could buy an LTD for $1000.00 but they`ll more often choose the ESP, Gibson or F/USA for many times that price for the reasons I already mentioned. Now, the March earth quake has changed a lot of lives in and around this area so guitars are probably not high on many folks list right now but there is a very high end department store chain called Mitsukoshi and you`d see folks walking around the downtown are with their Mitsukoshi bags even if they didn`t go to the store that day, they need to be seen with one of their bags, they may go to another lesser quality store and just put their things in a high end store bag...same goes for guitars, and LTDs are not MIJ...they`re MIK, and that alone would prevent some people from buying LTDs, now don`t ask me to explain it, I can`t but there is still a lot of bad blood in the neighborhood and it sometimes is not logical but there you are, it is what it is. I know...Gibsons and F/USA aren`t MIJ either but wait...they`re American...and Japan seems to have this fasciation with US culture, maybe it is an odd respect for a country that kicked their butts, don`t know but I do know a lot of Chinese and/or Korean people I meet, as well as those from other Asians countries have their own stories of life in Japan and they aren`t always good, perpetuating the bad feelings that some folks just can`t seem to let go of...and I don`t mean to imply this only happens in Japan, no...many Koreans and Chinese evidently harbor the same feelings toward the Japanese.

[TheIgnoramus]

Depending upon the model number, the lower-end LTD models are made in Indo or China. Don't equate LTD = MIK.

[MyEmergency]

 

Depending upon the model number, the lower-end LTD models are made in Indo or China. Don't equate LTD = MIK.

 

 

Well I specified the high end LTD's mainly the 1000 series. I am not talking about the lower end ones, but in my experience every 1000 series LTD I have ever seen has been made in korea.

[Darkstorm]

Simply look thru the pro endorsers list for esp ltd guitars and basses. Theres more touring pros with cd's in stores around the world playing esp ltd, then there are playing esp amer versions. Same holds true for bc rich imports versus the american made ones btw.

[Spike Li]

ESP make amazing stuff. Im pretty sure they own Edwards too. My ESP eclipse is one of the best feeling guitars ive ever played.

 

I dont have any experience with LTDs, but have heard more than a few times that the top end ones are extremely close to ESPs in quality.

[xrleroyx]

I'd love to play a traditional styled ESP

[Bro Blue]

I have owned ESPs and currently own an LTD EC400VF and PB500, both MIK. I had an EC1000 and traded it. I beat myself up over it every day. I will have another. I have owned LTDs from low end to high end. They are, by far, the best production instruments out there when you look at build quality and finished product.

 

I am a die hard Strat man. Always have been. I've played Strats for over 20 years. But If I could only have one guitar for the rest of my life, it would be an LTD EC1000.

[larry50]

They're owned by the same company. It's simply a matter of different flavors. Both brands seem to be very well regarded. Just not my cup of tea.

[MyEmergency]

I'd love to play a traditional styled ESP

 

My current one is a bit more classically designed, doesn't look like a metal guitar like most do. It is my main right now and for a good reason.

 

[diadorastriker]

It goes like this for the esp company, from most expensive/"best" down to the cheapest line:

Navigator

ESP

Edwards

LTD

Grassroots

Esp wont make traditional style guitars as they make navigators as well, I highly recommend the navigators

heres one of mine, ive owned a ltd dave mustaine, and an eclipse ii yet only an LTD m1000 and h-1007 remain.

the rig is long gone

[zer0psi]

Anybody played any of the Vietnamese LTD's like this beauty? I played the George Lynch version...heavily relic'ed HSS Strat style and it was damn good. Thinking about getting one, especially since it comes with a Floyd Rose Special and not a proprietary knockoff.

 

[ArmyGuitar]

Never tried an ESP Eclipse, but my LTD EC-1000 is one smoothg playing guitar. I ran the 18v mod on the EMG's and it sounds amazing. Even though I am curious how a good set of passives would be in it.

[Spike Li]

I have owned ESPs and currently own an LTD EC400VF and PB500, both MIK. I had an EC1000 and traded it. I beat myself up over it every day. I will have another. I have owned LTDs from low end to high end. They are, by far, the best production instruments out there when you look at build quality and finished product. I am a die hard Strat man. Always have been. I've played Strats for over 20 years. But If I could only have one guitar for the rest of my life, it would be an LTD EC1000.

 

Wow thats a pretty bold claim there!

[xrleroyx]

I love the florentine cuts.

[soundcreation]

I own two high end esp products....labeled seymour duncan...basically navigators. The tele I own is as good as ANYTHING I've ever played. And the strat I own is BETTER than anything I've ever played...from anyone anywhere. And yeah..I've played custom shop gibsons and fenders, and 3000 dollar parkers, and suhrs (well OK..one suhr and one parker..lol..).. etc...

 

The LTD's I've seen always look amazing as well but I choose not to purchase guitars that are MIK, MIC, MII etc...as I still think those countries have significant labor issues in their factories and I personally don't want to support that.

 

High end MIJ guitars are second to none in the world in my opinion....

[zenbu]

There are/have been other brands under ESP... they have a hand in the MIJ Schecters, they had a custom shop line called Pro-Ceed, they have the pro Gauge stuff too, they did make the Seymour Duncan line as well, last time I saw one of his catalogs was 2006, I think they`ve been out of production for a while now. They sold some Italian made plastic guitars too...can`t remember the name and don`t feel like going to look through my catalogs. I have a late `90s Navigator LP type, had others as well and a custom made ESP 719 model and in my opinion nothing I see in local shops comes close, others may feel differently but then, guitars are very subjective so there are many different opinions. I have a semi hollow Eclipse too, with a bolt on neck...very nice guitar but not really a LP type...didn`t expect it to be.

I used the MIK LTDs as an example above because those were mentioned...same thing I said applies to other Asian made guitars no matter where they`re made...and I speak from experience up here in Sendai, can`t really say what happens elsewhere since this is where I am. I have been quite surprised by what some students have said to me about other Asian people... and products... they were not very shy about making their feelings known and they were not very nice, which leads me to believe there is still a superiority thing in this country when it comes to neighbors in the hood. Makes me uncomfortable listening to that stuff but they are paying customers in the schools I work in so I keep my opinions to myself there but let it out in threads like this. So as far as I can tell up here, it`s MIA guitars then MIJ stuff...anything else is far less attractive.

[soundcreation]

 

There are/have been other brands under ESP... they have a hand in the MIJ Schecters, they had a custom shop line called Pro-Ceed, they have the pro Gauge stuff too, they did make the Seymour Duncan line as well, last time I saw one of his catalogs was 2006, I think they`ve been out of production for a while now. They sold some Italian made plastic guitars too...can`t remember the name and don`t feel like going to look through my catalogs. I have a late `90s Navigator LP type, had others as well and a custom made ESP 719 model and in my opinion nothing I see in local shops comes close, others may feel differently but then, guitars are very subjective so there are many different opinions. I have a semi hollow Eclipse too, with a bolt on neck...very nice guitar but not really a LP type...didn`t expect it to be. I used the MIK LTDs as an example above because those were mentioned...same thing I said applies to other Asian made guitars no matter where they`re made...and I speak from experience up here in Sendai, can`t really say what happens elsewhere since this is where I am. I have been quite surprised by what some students have said to me about other Asian people... and products... they were not very shy about making their feelings known and they were not very nice, which leads me to believe there is still a superiority thing in this country when it comes to neighbors in the hood. Makes me uncomfortable listening to that stuff but they are paying customers in the schools I work in so I keep my opinions to myself there but let it out in threads like this. So as far as I can tell up here, it`s MIA guitars then MIJ stuff...anything else is far less attractive.

 

 

Yeah but that's not unique to Japan. My friend who taught English in Korea said the same thing about them. When he told them he owned a Japanese car they were flabbergasted that he chose that over a Korean car cause they are obviously "so much better...lol". They think they are the best at everything. Another of my friends mentioned that when he told his students he had a Korean girlfriend they simply refused to believe it because a Korean girl would "never be with a foreigner"...lol....maybe he should have shown them the vids he took of the girls he dated.....I bet that would throw a little cold water on their xenophobia.

 

And I can tell you from first hand experience that many Taiwanese people I've met consider people from poorer parts of asia nothing but dirt, and treat them like it. (although they do seem to look up to the Japanese...not surprising.)

 

 

It's obviously not everyone...but yeah..it can be a bit disgusting at time. But {censored}....westerners are just as racist in their own ways too....I can't count the number of times I've gone to hollywood movies here and been painfully aware of the subtle racism directed at asians in big movies.

[gh0st]

Day in and day out I am very impressed with my Indonesian LTD H401. I think i bought it for $300. This thing stays in tune and the intonation is flawless much more so than the GIBSON LES PAUL that I owned and sold. I could not justify the price I paid for the Gibson compared, hence why I sold it. There was nothing there to make me say "wow, this is really worth the extra $1500" besides how pretty it was.

 

I also had an ESP Eclipse which I really miss and I should have kept it. Very nice guitar.

[Bro Blue]

Wow thats a pretty bold claim there!

 

But true.

[zenbu]

 

Yeah but that's not unique to Japan. My friend who taught English in Korea said the same thing about them. .

 

 

Yeah I didn`t say it was unique to Japan, I did say there is bad blood in the neighborhood...which included other Asian countries around here. There are plenty of bad feelings to go around. I believe theres racism everywhere, sometimes it`s more subtle but it`s around and sometimes you don`t even have to look for it...it finds you.

I`m happy with my ESP products, among the best I own.

[Chad]

 

It goes like this for the esp company, from most expensive/"best" down to the cheapest line: Navigator ESP Edwards LTD Grassroots

 

 

And the ESP label is made in multiple shops in Japan...

 

Kiso

Sado

Takada

Craft House

Technical House

 

with differing levels of quality...

 

Custom Shop

Original Series

Standard Series

 

 

As far as the thread title question, I've owned several ESPs and was a snob toward LTDs for a long time and barely acknowledged their existence. But last year I bought a Made in Indonesia LTD PB-401 and was blown away. Amazing guitar and as nice as any ESP (or any other brand for that matter). I'd say there's a better chance of getting a superior instrument with the ESP brand, but there are turds in every brand/level/model along with the subjective factor with the point being: guitars have to be judged one by one. Buy what you like.