ESP LTD Deluxe EC-1000 Duncan Vintage Black

2025 Update:

I've owned three Gibson Les Pauls, and two Epiphone LP's ones...

And I can honestly say this is the best LP I've owned. It doesn't have the mass of a Gibson, but what it does have is amazing playability, great tones and much better QC.

It plays more like an Ibanez. The neck isn't super thin, but it's thinner than you're likely to find on a Gibson/Epi.

If you really need a thick, heavy slab of a guitar, or want a thick neck, this isn't it. It weights and feels more like an Epi LP100 (Epi's entry level guitar with a thin mahogany body). Personally, I like the lighter, thinner body and neck. A 'real' LP always felt a bit much to me.

The styling is very slightly different to a Gibson - three knobs instead of two, different headstock shape, slightly different body outline, etc, but I like the fact ESP have make their own take, not produced a clone.

It's a great looking guitar, that somehow manages to 'fit' with just about any style of rock/metal. It wouldn't look out of place going anything from Aerosmith to GnR to Metallica to Machine Head.

The JB's are more versatile (both in looks and tone) than the EMGs. If you just want to play very high-gain modern metal then that might be a better option, but for me, they are a great all-round pickup that can do anything I need.

I'm down to one electric now as I don't play enough to justify owning a stable, and out of everything I had, this is the one that survived. It was actually the cheapest out of the lot, but it was the best "one guitar that can do everything" out of the lot.

Fantastic playing and sounding guitar.

The nut fell off the first time I changed the strings, which was a bit of a surprise, but as I was thinking about changing it for a bone one anyway, that wasn't an issue for me. There were also a few high frets that needed tapping down. I've bought 3 LTDs recently and they have all been in need of significant setup work. If you're not confident with all that, plan on adding the cost of a professional setup to the cost of the guitar.