ESP is another guitar company that originally hails from Japan, but they now have significant operations in the USA.
ESP really shot to fame in the 1980’s when they secured endorsements from thrash and metal bands, including the likes of Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer. Although they do make many ‘normal’ guitars such as their Eclispe and USA Horizon series, they haven’t forgotten their heavy metal roots – case in point, the ESP LTD F-10.
Specifications
- Body: Basswood
- Finish: Black
- Bridge: TOM
- Pickups: Bridge- ESP Designed LH-100B, Neck- ESP Designed LSH-100N
- Neck: Maple
- Scale Length: 25.5″
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 350 mm
- Number of Frets: 24
- Nut Width: 42 mm
- Controls: 1-Volume, 1-Tone
- Pickup Selector: Toggle Switch
Pros
This guitar was consistently praised in customer reviews for its quality and its tone. There were even a number of experienced guitarists who said they found this very playable making well suited to play the kinds of fast runs associate with melodic metal.
Cons
There aren’t many consistent complaints other that a few people reporting some issues with fret buzz – but I also read many reviews which said it had no fret buzz.
Overall
This is a good starter guitar for hard rock and heavy metal enthusiasts.
This video has a good demonstration of the various tones the HS pickup configuration of the ESP LTD F-10 provides::