ESP LTD EC-256FM Electric Guitar, Dark Brown Sunburst

Just received my new guitar today. Bottom line? I should have bought the LTD to begin with. I fell for the Youtube hype of some of the sub $300 chinese made LP clones being well made, sound great etc...and a bargain. I tried two different brands, and sent both back for bad fret work, one at my expense. I have another LTD, a H400 I bought new back in 2006 and it is a great guitar. I am glad I came to my senses and went back to LTD. My EC256FM is perfect out of the box. Action is low, just how I like it. Intonation was SPOT ON. The bridge pick up was a little close to the strings but an easy fix. Tuned it up, plugged it straight into my tube amp and it sounds great for OEM pick ups. Not as awesome as my H400 with Seymour Duncans, but quite acceptable for a $429 guitar. The finish is beautiful. No defects at all. Fret work is very good. No buzz or dead notes. Very well finished fret ends and fret tops are good too, but when I change strings I will polish them a bit more with very fine steel wool. Tuners seem to be OK but I cannot comment on how well it holds tune yet. The coil split is a nice feature, it will give you a thinner sound...but it doesn't sound Strat like to my ears. My H400 in positions 2 and 4 sounds better than my MIJ squire strat, but it has a 59/JB pup combo. All in all, the EC256 is simply a fantastic guitar. Well worth the money.Just a FYI for those wondering...my guitar was made in Indonesia. Also, the back, sides and neck of my guitar are almost black. I cannot see any wood grain the stain is so dark. So the pic of the back and neck on Amazon is not accurate in my case. I have also added hipshot 3 x 3 locking tuners for faster string changes. Super easy and useful upgrade for $60.

First off, just because this thing looks kind of like a Les Paul, doesn't make it a Les Paul clone. The ESP branded humbuckers (the neck p/u splits) have a more mellow tone on the low end but can produce with overdrive some fairly aggressive tones. The neck is a little chunky and has a very inviting fret board. Easy to move around on. If you are looking for a clone, I suggest Epiphone. If you want a versatile guitar more suited to power chords and soloing, this is a good entry level axe. I have been playing mine for about 3 years now and I find myself coming back to it often for aggressive style playing when I've had my fill of my Tele or my Gretsch. It's fun and reliable. Fit and finish is excellent. Frets are set well and the ends are very nice. Intonation is perfect. Sounds great with 8's and holds a tune.

I needed a guitar with humbucking pickups capable of a producing a "heavy metal" sound for recording in order to compliment my other primary guitar which is a Strat, American Standard. I've always wanted a genuine Gibson Les Paul for the job but the prices for those are absurdly high and a result more of their legendary status than any actual qualitative differences from other less expensive Les Paul -style clones. After watching, listening to, and reading numerous reviews and recommendations from a variety of well-respected sources, this particular model of ESP was highly recommended and at the top of numerous "Best Guitars for Metal Under $500" Lists. When I saw this one listed for only $276 as an Amazon Warehouse Deal (which means someone returned it), I became very interested.Because I only intended to use it for recording, I didn't really care what it looked like, if it had a couple of dents or scratches, or whatever ... couldn't care less. My only concern was how it played and how it sounded. At that price, (and with my Amazon Prime free shipping), I figured it was definitely worth taking the risk. THE GUITAR IS FLAWLESS AND BEAUTIFUL! The box it came in was all beat up, but it was well packed and protected and there isn't a thing wrong with it. The fit and finish is impeccable, the frets are well-seated, the action is low and the intonation is incredibly accurate. The neck is straight as a razor. It's as if it's been expertly set up, right out of the box. It plays great and the tone is exactly what I was looking for. Even the stock pickups are better than I had any right to expect. When ordering it, I figured I might have to throw some Seymour Duncan pickups on it or something to get the sound I was after but, after recording with it a bit, I don't think I'll need to (although I still might want to, just to see if it could be even better). But I've played a number of "real" Les Pauls in my time and this guitar absolutely can hold its own against them. I couldn't be happier with this purchase.

Love this guitar. I've only had it one day, but can't put it down. It plays well and looks stunning. Now the negatives: the tuners are cheap, those will have to be upgraded, so hence minus one star.The action is great, with the possible exception of the G string, which is slightly high - it demands a very light touch. No big deal, very common issue with factory setups, even with expensive guitars. (My Gibson LC 335 was much worse) The intonation is perfect from the factory which really surprised me.Unlike some, I think the pickups are fine, especially the neck. I will eventually upgrade the pickups to SD Jb's probably, but stock pickups are perfectly usable for now. In my opinion, this guitar is a great value. With those 2 upgrades you will have a $1000+ guitar.I expected a much cruder instrument for $400. I'm happy with it.

Guitar arrived in great shape and plays beautifully. Got it on sale and was totally worth the buy!

Beautiful looking guitar with lots of electrical problems - had issues twice from guitar center and once from amz with this same guitar - I gave up after 3 lemons - look elsewhere