Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? I have 2 american made fender strats and the feel of the neck and body of this ltd compares and at a third the price. frets where dressed nicely, worn finish looks great in person. well crafted guitar. Reliability How has it stood up over time? solid as a rock baby! General Your general opinion of this product. for the price everyone should buy this guitar even if you just use it as a back up. but it could easily be your only axe. for my taste i will probably upgrade the bridge and pickups but they are better then most straight out the box. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? neck feels like my 90 usa strat but with jumbo frets which is rad! and theres a beveled neck joint which add to upper access Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? neck pickup sounds fantastic deep lovely tone then bridge the classic hot strat tone Finish How did the stain or paint job look? distressed finish looks great, i put a black pickguard on mine and it looks even better! i did notice one screw from the back plate goes thru the control cavity wall but nobody will notice that but me so who cares. Action How was the action out of the box? too high! and cheap strings but hey its so cheap just buy some strings and set it up its a strat style so its not hard to adjust things

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Very nice quality,looks and feels vintage, I know I had one of those 1957 Fender Strat. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Probably pretty good. General Your general opinion of this product. Nice guitar for someone who knows guitars. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? I love the feel of this guitar.I prefer it over my G&L S500. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? To me the pickups sound great, better than Fender Mex-Tex. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? I like this finish!!! Action How was the action out of the box? Can be improved, but is very acceptable.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? First off, I have to say I like the idea of the alder body with the maple neck. This is a nice, heavy guitar, not a lightweight at all. The only real issue I have with this guitar was the nut. It was cut too low at the factory and was buzzing even with the bridge set high. Not good. The nut looked pretty ragged. I have it at the local luthier having a new graphite nut made. I have no doubts it will play like a million bucks after I get it back. Another issue, that is not so bad, is that the bridge dosen't have a full size trem block. I had an import Fender bridge lying around and I changed the block out along with putting on graphtech saddles. The input jack was loose, so I tightened that up and put on an extra nut to keep things from coming loose again. Reliability How has it stood up over time? I haven't had it too long to tell, but it seems like a well build instrument that will hold up with normal use. General Your general opinion of this product. It is a decent guitar for the money, just check out the nut before purchase. The other issues can be fixed relatively easy. (like a new trem block) I do like relic'ed guitars and this one pulls off the look in a fairly convincing manner. Most don't have 2k lying around, so this is a decent option. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? I like the neck but I am more used to jumbo frets. This has xtra jumbos and they feel that way. It makes bending pretty easy and have an almost scalloped feel. I like the flat neck radius which is great for hard rock. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? The tone is average. I am not going to replace the pickups just yet. I can get a decent amount of tones using the onboard eq and my amps settings. The tone seems suited for hard rock and blues. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? It has the worn finish with a satin coat over all the relic'ed areas. I'd prefer the worn areas bare wood, but you get what you pay for. Action How was the action out of the box? As stated, the nut was bad, and I mean bad. No matter what I did with the truss rod and bridge, the bass side buzzed like crazy. The nut was just cut too low. Like I said, it is at my local luthier (master builder) and I'm sure it will be my fav guiat when I get it back. It's just too bad that I have to fork out 100 bucks extra for a new guitar that should be almost ready to play out of the box. ESP LTD's usually have a higher standard of quality control so I figure this must be a Friday, late afternoon, model.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Overall is is a well made guitar = Nice body, great feel to the neck, harware good, tone and volume knobs feel kind of cheap but do the job Reliability How has it stood up over time? Just got it today - Time will tell!!! Feels solid and I should not have a problem with it. General Your general opinion of this product. I own a MIM strat but like the feel of this neck better. I am truly suprised with the quality of this guitar Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Very fast neck, tone and control knobs set-up like a fender strat and are placed well. Changed the strings as soon as I got it and the tuners are smooth and work well. Best feature (neck) Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Typical strat sound. I play the blues and this sound works well for me. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Distressed finish is not my favorite, but ESP suceeded with trying to make a new guitar look old. If it came in a finish that wa not distressed I would buy it Action How was the action out of the box? Put on a new set of strings and had no problems. Comes with a very light gauge set of strings but I prefer a heavier gauge. Once I put on new strings the action is good and limited fret buzz.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Real nice quality for the price. Does not feel like a cheap guitar at all. The neck is very straight. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Only had it about a week, but it seems like a solid guitar. General Your general opinion of this product. ESP makes some great affordable guitars, and this is right up there. The neck really does feel like an old guitar thats been played for youears. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Pretty light alder body. Neck is kinda thin but the huge frets make it feel chunky... Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Pickups are not great, but not bad either. Neck sounds real smooth. Bridge could be a touch hotter, but again, this is not supposed to be a metal monster. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Relicing looks very good. Nice matte finish. Action How was the action out of the box? Took some time to set-it up to my specs, but I got the action to about 1/16" with minimal buzz and it intonates fine. Nice tight neckpocket. Everything was aligned.