ESP EC-1001 FM Electric Guitar Tiger Eye

THIS GUITAR STOLE THE SHOW!!! I'M STILL WANTING MORE!!! THE BEAUTY OF THE FINISH IS TRUELY BREATH TAKING!!! THE PICKUPS HAVE A WARM SOUND WITHOUT DISTORTED OVER TONES EVEN WHEN OVER DRIVEN. THIS GUITAR MADE ME FEEL LIKE AN ABSOLUTE ROCK STAR IT'S A MUST TRY!!! THEN YOU WILL BUY!! HA HA PLATINUM RECOMMENDATION 7 STAR

I purchased this guitar twice because the first one I bought gave me some problems and I returned it. After owning it for only a week and a half, the bridge pickup died on me, and all this happened the day before a gig no less! Shortly after the the middle and neck pickups stopped working as well. At first I thought that perhaps it was a dud battery but after replacing that it became clear the issue was faulty electronics in the guitar. Musician's Friend was great with the return. I really wanted another one of these guitars so I order a different one. The day it arrived I inspected it to make sure everything was good. When I was testing out the split coil option the control knob came right off of the guitar. This wasn't a major issue, but it is quite frustrating to get a new guitar that is already having problems. Other than that, I have not come across any other issues and hopefully it stays that way. Now, on to what the guitar is actually like. The guitar plays great. It needs a minor setup out of the box but it feels good in your hands and is not too heavy. The Fishman pickups sound amazing and provide an array of sounds. The especially shine when playing clean or blues. The matte neck is a pleasure and the stainless steal frets look great. The color and design of the guitar is very appealing and sleek. One negative is the battery compartment. It's a bit of a pain to get off. Other guitar manufacturers put an compartment that simply opens with a tab, which is quite nice for a quite battery change. On this guitar, you have to actually unscrew the back, and the plate is wedged so tight that you have to pry it open, and then the battery is shoddily connected to a couple of wires. Overall, the guitar is pretty great. It looks, feels, and sounds amazing. I love the tonal diversity it offers. But after receiving two of these guitars and having immediate problems with both, it's hard for me to recommend this. It's possible that I just received a lemon in the first instance, but having an issue, albeit minor, with the second tells me that ESP is not doing a very good job with their quality control. I get that LTD is ESP's more affordable brand, but it feels more cheaply made compared to similar ranged guitars from other brands like Schecter and Jackson. I will keep this guitar if there or no problems with it but it will more than likely be my last LTD that I ever purchase. It's a moderately priced guitar, but it still is priced over a grand, and for that amount of money I would expect that the quality be better, especially from a legacy brand like ESP.