ESP LTD FX 260 Review

[aivopark]

That guitar look like a bad joke. It sounds as boring... as metal ?!

[noogai100]

i'd love to that guitar with a maple fret board

[MrCORN1BREAD]

theyre not emg pickups, theyre esp lh 301, the fx 401 has emgs. come on paul

[gaby966]

@MrCORN1BREAD actually there are emg hz h4

[MrCORN1BREAD]

@gaby966 i checked the esp website and other websites, and they both said esp lh 301 pickups.

[tommyparadiso1122351]

@MrCORN1BREAD 260's have esp pickups but they don't even make those any more. the 360's have emg 81/60s

[MrCORN1BREAD]

@tommyparadiso1122351 thats true

[robibm2003]

Paul diialed in some ace tones here. I've been thinking about getting this guitar for quite a while. Think I'm going to have to finally pull the trigger on it.

[GansitosMarinela]

i Got this guitar its sexyy

[SethTheViking]

@GansitosMarinela I have it too isn't it just ?

[lordderak]

wow paul can really wail...awesome

[GuitarBoyJJT96]

I have the FX-360 and the clean sound is a lot better but that might just be because it has active EMG pickups

[HurricaneTBag]

I hate just one volume knob, I also don't like the 24.75 inch scale.

[59Hellfire]

i own one of those bad boys

[Hellraiseriman]

@59Hellfire Me too, ESP/Ltd = Can't be worse than the best.

[JWOwen95]

@fisttofaceband ESP used to make a guitar that was an exact replica of a Gibson. But the EX and FX are slightly different bodies than the explorer. ESP still makes this model.

[polishskaterdude32]

my fukin ex has a fucking fret buzz on the low e! how do i get a nice low action so there is no freet buzzing! i subscribe if some one gives me good answer whitch will help!!!!!!!!!

[jbulger666]

@polishskaterdude32 listen man just iger the action a little on the low e it will still have great action

[MrPoundNote]

@polishskaterdude32 You'll probably need to get the neck looked at. Maybe the frets will need filing a tad and the neck straightened out a bit. But I'm not a tech.

[UACDOOM]

i hate that ESP replaced the old style for this. For those who are new to guitarworld the old style is the one you see james using on old metallica videos like nothing else matters. I love that style way the heck more. this looks like a joke.

[fisttofaceband]

@UACDOOM that is a gibson shape and gibson sued esp, so esp is only allowed to make that shape through a custom shop order

[UACDOOM]

@fisttofaceband wow dude, I didnt know that....what a bunch of aholes gibson are then. dam, thats too bad cause I loved that one more.

[fisttofaceband]

@UACDOOM yea, you can check some local used stores, craigslist, on ebay if any are being sold. i found a white esp explorer, but had no cash

[StephenFiorentini]

Then again, this or the bc rich gunslinger? any suggestions

[MAIDEN2]

@StephenFiorentini I think this one is better, The gunslinger has a rockfield mafia pickup..... it's good, but no compares with the emg pickups. If you want a guitar for hard rock maybe you look at jackson dk2m.

[StephenFiorentini]

@MAIDEN2 I was thinking jackson, but I actually played this today and I find it to have more of a tonal range, and more versatile than the jackson, which I admit is a very good guitar. Its strange you mention the mafia pickup because in any case I think I would have switched it for something else. I dont actually have any EMG's but I do love their low end, balsy kind of sound. What guitar you playing?

[StephenFiorentini]

this is in my local music shops window, so tempting

[MrUnseenBucket]

And if you forget what guitar this is like im about to forget my line, check the 12th fret.

[wisesatyr72]

EMG doesnt sound good at clean setting, I know its made for metal but come on when you buy a pickup you expect to have best of both world..The EMG single coil sounded good though

[polishskaterdude32]

does any one know how i can tell when i should change my batery in my esp?

[JaredFury]

@polishskaterdude32 When The Damn Pickups Either Quit Working or Sound Like Shit.

[Blizzstyle4321]

@polishskaterdude32 when you dont hear any sound ( you can unse a battery 1600 hours)

[gigaves]

The clean channel is called clean for a reason... Those EMGs sound awful on the clean channel.

[thedamned38]

i know the video is about the guitar but they should atleast say what amp and pedals they're playing through

[deadwolf322]

i like it

[kingsnake241]

i think the clean sounds awesome, especially if you play it through a line 6 spider4 amp with a digitech RP1000. although i think the guitar could be better with 24 frets and a longer scale...and without the coil tap.

[FreshFighter1219]

I have this guitar. I am swapping the pickups for some Duncans. My dad insists that we have to re wire the whole electronics system to wire it into the coil tap. I think we only need to re wire it, as the first time we wired it wrong, put some wires in the wrong spots. Can someone please help me figure out this problem?

[wslx0195]

man i really like that spot maple finish. Natural beauty right there haha

[RAPizBad]

@schim242 ok thanks... how does a fender stratocaster hss stack up against the ESP?

[EmteC2000]

@RAPizBad you cant really compare those two guitars.... Strat is a singlecoil guitar which is good for clean sounds or light level of distortion... but those EMG pickups are build for HIGH-Gain... and about quality: LTD/ESP are top... really hard top this without a customshop guitar.... standart Strats aren't bad dont get me wrong but way behind LTD/EMG

[RAPizBad]

SOmebody HELp?!?!?!? I'm getting a new guitar and right now it's between an ESP ltd mh-350NT and an ibanez RGA72QM what's better ... I play metal and som rock and they both cost the same

[schim242]

@RAPizBad Get the esp it has a lower action which helps a lot with playing metal and playing fast and ESPs pickups work better with rock/ metal

[mitchell797979]

@RAPizBad ESPESPESPESPESPESP. its a great deal for what you pay for. nothing on this guitar is low quality other than maybe the tuners but thats it. you cant go wrong with this guitar

[poplepo3]

@RAPizBad the ltd dude there way better quality in ibanez and the stuff that comes with them blows the equally priced ibanezes out of the water the only thing that ibanez can offer is that wizard neck that people seem to love i think it feels like a piece of paper and is to weak but somne people like them anyways i vote ltd over ibanez

[CemetaryGatesML]

i got a LTD ex-260 , its essentialy the same as this fx. exept mine has the coil tap feature that i dont see anybody talk about when they talk features about this guitar, i also got locking tuners ( that say esp on them ) and my pickups are ESP licenced pickups, not the EMG-HZ's that are in the feature list for an ex-260.

does anyone else have these features, or is it unique?

[helldx07]

wont say much, but the sustain is pretty much kick-ass!!

[MrUnseenBucket]

Do you think it'd be possible to change the bridge to fit a whammy bar?

[CemetaryGatesML]

@MrUnseenBucket it is posible their are some tremolos that are made for stop bar tail pices. but you gotta look them up, better to just by the ltd that comes with a foyd :P

[Tharonja265]

Can any confirm the metallica-ness on this guitar?

[kbfenderstrat]

@Tharonja265 Metallica-ness of this guitar is as close as you can get in sound without having James or Kirk's fingers and specific amp. Have no vids for ya but pop into ur local Sam Ash or Guitar Center and play one, you'll see.

[todor15]

@Tharonja265 confirmed 

[phoenixforce22]

This guy does really good reveiws. they picked a good dude to reveiw axes.

[TheJossooo]

whats the price of that guitar?

[CiviC092]

@TheJossooo

About $400

but at guitarcenter, theres a $100 off sale

[CiviC092]

the best part i love about this guitar is that theres coil splitting

[PimpinEskimo]

Does this guitar have a layer of clear coat on top?

I messed with a guitar with that once, didnt end well.

[GetchaPullRebel]

It has a satin finish over the maple top.

[Megadedly]

Does this guitar have a balls?

[Imptheshrimp]

It has roughly 12 a balls

[jorghad6]

clean sounds good, distorted sounds great i might pick one of these up for my next guitar. color me impressed

[ecoo911]

Thats Kool!.......

[Flood636]

I don't know about this 260, but the FX 360 has an EMG 81 bridge and a 60 in the neck.

[AHMADF93]

This is reasonable priced guitar for having an EMG p/u.

[seetherfan31]

i notice he sed EMGs... but i dont see the slot for the 9V battery on the back?... so im guessin maybe he made the mistake of saying emg's when the thing reads ESPs...... hmmmm anyone else with me?

[azndude1277]

yea.... they dont sound too similar to the actual things

[hindusanta123]

i see it. its on the bottom left hand side on the back.

[seetherfan31]

dude!!!! at 0:45 or so... u see the back.... therreesss no 9v battery slot... the big black thing u see on the upper left is the cavity where the electricals are housed! i see nooo slots

[hindusanta123]

ohh..... my bad....

[skate4faith]

Well my freind has emg 81's on his gibson les paul n it doesnt have a 9v slot

[seetherfan31]

well he must have the slot inside the faraday cage or sumn. coz all Active EMG's come with the 9V battery slot becuase as ACTIVE pickups, they NEED the external battery source.

[LTDusersince99]

Probably the EMG HZ series

[seetherfan31]

eeeeeehhhh dont think so... well im not too sure about this but do dey com black outs like the active eMGS's? coz i know i seen some HZ's with like the regular look like those seymour duncans... with the 12 magnets on top... i dont recal seeing one black out like it... and if u look closely... the wording on the pickups dont look like they say EMG the words look different... idk i cud be rong

[LTDusersince99]

I got the answer for you, it's simply a partnership between ESP and EMG

The pickups are called

EMG-ESP LH-300 passive pickups with split coil capabilities.

[seetherfan31]

i googled em and that could be the most reasonable explantion for the pickups on this ESP guitar! thanks for clarifying that LTDuser

[scotty688]

whats the greyish thingo under the tone knob?

[Bradtheguitarfreak]

@scotty688 the guitars come straight from the manufacturer to GW and then gw sends them to esp again and then esp sends that guitar to be sold. all that grey thing is is a tag pointing out the coil split feature for when the guitar goes to market.

[scotty688]

@Bradtheguitarfreak oh ok thanks, I was looking on a website and the guitar didn't have the greyish thing under it and I started to worry if it was like a added feature and that the grey thing was like a button lol. But now knowing it isn't made me happy : )

[Bradtheguitarfreak]

np dude

[metallicaluke]

came sooo closee to getting thisss

[SpyderKM]

what pickups does it have? this guy says EMGS but the website says ESP LH

[metallicaluke]

ESP LH 301's are ESP EMG's

[SpyderKM]

are they ESP's EMGS, or are they EMGS?

[metallicaluke]

ESP's EMG's

[HeadbangerHimself]

yeah im also confused, if some1 finds out plz tell me :D

[EddyIbanezConnected]

great guitar man!

[bungmasterteddybear]

badass solo lick at the end there

~Bungee

[lancemanchap]

@ sadbutsandman91

you know its true

he's one them fags that never give butt (and i emphasize butt) always recive

if you know wat i mean

[lancemanchap]

i know right

[lancemanchap]

this guy is good but it sounds like hes taken it up the ass before

sweet guitar

no offense

[sadbutsandman91]

@lancemanchap hahahahahah

[ktuluhunter151]

this guy plays good

but his voice is so homosexual

[bloddyslayer]

man the clean sounds really really bad, but no 1 is going to use this beast for blues.

[scotty688]

@bloddyslayer through the amp he is using they sound shit, but when you are in the same room or wherev. it sounds great with clean channel.

[jhushx]

@bloddyslayer

I had the next tier model, an '07/'08 LTD FX-400, and I'll tell you, this thing is a thrash or chugging MACHINE; if you're willing to hold the extra wood weight (then again due to this it has damn good sustain and solid sound), it's quite the little monster =D.

In terms of the cleans, I noticed that the LTD 400 and the actual ESP FX sound brighter. And, like most guitars, it really depends on what amp you plug into. If you do the 18v battery mod, both clean and dirty rock

[JaredFury]

@bloddyslayer I Might.

[rgjmce666]

@bloddyslayer thats down to personal opinion, you obviously don't like emgs

[Woodsaras]

@bloddyslayer It sounded great to me ... Realy

[greekerthebetter89]

@bloddyslayer cleans sound good on emgs. you just have to turn the gain ALL the way down, roll the volume knob a bit, and there you have it.

[sadbutsandman91]

@bloddyslayer i do

[KevinGuitarMan]

Dude my friend has a LTD,

FREAKIN AMAZING.

but it was 800 bucks lol.

Now I need to save up fer one :]

[MegaMetallicarocks]

hey crusadermlb, how do theese pickups compae to regular emgs?

[theaxelofrose]

these are regular emgs, if you talking about the coil tap its the same, but it gives more variety of tone cause it makes it sound like a single coil rather than a humbucker.

[bobjoemoe8]

very good for the price. My friend has this guitar and my les paul has a emg 81 and th etone is very similar

[CrusaderMLB]

fuck the clean setting play some 'tallica. i only got this guitar cuz it sounds good and is played by my fav. guitarist

[rgjmce666]

yeah he could get sued for playing tallica

[alexcaporizzo12]

wot a gr8 guitr player

[Megdidar]

Wish this thing had 24 frets. I'd be all over it.

[xzibit2313]

@Megdidar

with 24 frets you are only getting 2 extra notes you couldn't play with a 22 fret guitar

don't choose based upon that it is 2 notes how often do you use them?

You probably couldn't fit your fingers in those last two frets anyways.

[Megdidar]

@xzibit2313 I have 21, 22 and 24 fret guitars and I really have little to no trouble using the last two frets on the 24's. The only time it becomes an issue is with a guitar where the cutaway inhibits you're ability to comfortably reach. That said, having only 22 frets really isn't a problem since I spent some time improving my bends and it adds more character to your playing anyway.

[CemetaryGatesML]

@xzibit2313 i prefer 24 frets, simply because most solo's dont go past 22. so having 24 makes the 22 fret so much easyer to hit. for that same reason is why i want a 27 fret guitar

[poplepo3]

@xzibit2313 yeah makes sense man i have a schecter with 24 frets and i hardly ever have to go past 20 the 22nd to the 24th arent hardly ever used and they usually sound weak and are hard to fret especially if you dont have jumbo frets

[TheMetalHeaD256]

@xzibit2313 actually it does help, man. play a 24 fret guitar for an hour and i guarantee you'll eventually find a use for it lol. and you can do a lot with those extra 2 frets. more to tap on, an extra box of your scales is added, and you can go from bending an E at the 22nd fret to being able to bend a G on the high string with 24 frets.

it's kinda something that if you play with 22 frets a lot, you don't need it. but if you play with 24 all the time and lose those 2, you really miss it.

[manancikkt]

@TheMetalHeaD256 the reason i need a 24 fret guitar is for easier access to the 22 fret...the bend on that D is so sweet,and i think that's why most of the people get a 24 fret guitar.

[Crazymofoinamajikbox]

@xzibit2313 You don't always use the 2 extra frets obviously but when you play music that requires those 2 extra notes and you get up to the top and they're gone, It's extremely frustrating, at least for me it is

[xXMUurTXx]

@Megdidar one serious question, how many times do you play at 23. or 24. frets?

[TrippyTheShroom]

@xXMUurTXx i do quite a bit, especially if im doing blues or something of that nature, you can go up really high up on the fretboard without it getting clustered....i have a Les Paul right now and the next guitar i get will DEFINITELY have 24 frets....i like the feel of them alot better....BUT most the time you cant do bends very well due to the neck scale

[CiviC092]

lol at GC its $419

[panteradeth]

im so buying this. i was on the fence about it, but now im sold

[calreaper]

Damn I love that clean tone. =D

[Lethallergy]

Oh yeah? And what do you play?

[AngelsRevolver]

bc rich and not a fucking copy!!!

[Lethallergy]

BC Rich? Oh right, that guitar make for posers who think they're 'metal' when they're 13 years old.

[AngelsRevolver]

i am 13

[Lethallergy]

Haha, brilliant!

[guitaraddict22donny]

hey buddy is this guitar good with really low tunnings like drop B and C?????

[WIMartha]

Yeah dude I had this thing for a long time but i sold it like an idiot. It's great for every tuning it's incredible.

[Lethallergy]

Not really to be honest. Generally, longer scale= better tuning stability, and this is only a 24.75". If you use heavy-ish strings, you could get away with drop C, but I think B might be a push.

[alexQ1993]

24.75 is fine for drop b. my les paul is in drop A# right now and it stays in tune ok. Drop b stays in tune perfectly

[bobjoemoe8]

yep

[mrcamo88]

whats the difference with the esp ltd ex 260, i meen i see the different headstock and the spalted maple top

[GustavoSampaioLP]

This one has a mahogany body , the EX 260 uses Agathis , which is crap compared to mahogany :/

[GustavoSampaioLP]

Oh , and also the coil tap :)

[bobjoemoe8]

tha is the difference (:

[BlangeMess]

They aint realt EMGs, its the ESP-EMGs

[Rocket1771]

is is just me, or does the clean demonstration sound like Weezer - Say it Aint So

[LeutenantSolidSnake]

haha It totally does! XD

[XxDavidxXPantera]

The only reason i have a line six is because i got it for like half off, but if i had the money i would get a crate or a triple rectifier

[phsicosinclair]

those arnt actually emgs i own this guitar and it comes equiped with esp-emg pups the 401 has got them tho

[MetalMessiah625]

so has anyone played both the fx-260 and the fx 401?

[westiboy123]

what case should I buy for this guitar? no gigbags

[skogenburzum]

Buy a case made for a Gibson Explorer

[jmfkno7]

Nice guitar, but EMGs are annoying. It would sound better with Seymour Duncans or Iommi humbuckers.

[GeetarGuy101]

Or maybe Damarzio.

[pi3istasty]

great guitar but it looks like a coffee table

i hav 1 its rad

[raniavicente]

men how much does it cost?

[MetallicA4658]

cost about $420 or so

[MetalMessiah625]

$419 to be exact lol

[Taclite]

No, it would not.

[skogenburzum]

the only way it'd sound good on a Line 6 is through a Spider Valve. Those are decent amps, but regular line 6 spider shit sucks. I bought one years ago when they were all the rage, and I returned that piece of non-tonal shit the next day.

[puppetmaster532]

yeah ive played there same pickups through a spider 3 and thay kicked total ass

[rocnroll4evr93]

*facepalm

no. nothing sounds good through a spider III.

[liamferg2309]

:facepalm:

haha its not UG dude

[pbfreak24]

that s cool wat hes playing anybody kno wat song it is?

[M4ND1NG0X]

that's my guitar !!!

[CHillproductions08]

This is the guitar for me! Where can you get a good deal on this?

[supertasticasian]

go to guitar center if you live in the US, they have the best service and huge selections. otherwise look online

[ThebOTify]

All I can say is that I have this guitar. £430 in UK , great sound, comfortable, and its so much more beautiful in real life! Only problem is that the strings that come with it are a bit stiff, but that can easily be changed.

[joeroberto95]

where did u get it from

i am in the UK :)

[moal321]

i think the noise when he touches the guitar with his pick is very loud...

but i don't know wether it's a problem of the guitar or the pick...

[Casey4062009]

theres no doubt about it humbuckers are WAY better then single coils.

[Chad11491]

depends on what you want to play.

[9854762130]

do they have whammy bars??

[JoeythePope]

No, it's a TOM with tailpiece, the bridge is stationary.

[Shink5]

its the 301 humbuckers

but their designed by EMG

[liammunky]

is this guitar worth buying ?

[guitarist8688]

it's a collaboration between ESP and EMG. so it's combination of both.... i think haha.

[alepetrucci]

esp lh-301

[suckit69er]

seen as both models are almost identical, sept for the pups, and the esp ones have a coil tab id go for them. there not as mighty as emgs but actully more versitile. and for the extra price of the emg model, u could slap some duncuns or dimarzios in there

:)

[Stashitquick]

passives are more versatile so i personally think they are better. You may get more bite attack and aggression out of actives but a lot of metal bands are coming back to passives. i.e. Trivium has their own customs. Metallica is experiementing. Slash never used actives. Machine Head is coming back...

[LOLPombaer]

Apart from his obnoxious persona and utterly gay voice, there's another thing that annoys me about this guy. Almost any time he does a guitar review and comes to the part where he's supposed to show how the guitar sounds, he oozes the tone with loads of distortion, or even worse, tons of delay or flanger. Who can tell the actual guitar sound that way? Pointless and clearly for the sole purpose of advertising.

[Shink5]

ESP's actually sound like that on clean

[oq189]

who gives a shit what he sounds like he still is a good player

[braddudeguy]

Exactly what I was about to post!

[FingerKilla]

I like the shape but the I just dont like the wood. Id rather it be painted or something

[ellhow]

No Stairway.

[drzip1993]

I hate this man.