Jivin Posted January 30, 2005 Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hi, I'm looking into getting a guitar with a floyd, and I decided to check out Music123 and I wound up looking at this LTD's: MH-250 - http://www.music123.com/ESP-MH-250-i125835.music MH-400 - http://www.music123.com/ESP-MH-400-i126067.music Keeping in mind I am in Australia, after you factor in the shipping and everything the MH-400 at $600US is at the end of my budget, but both of those look very nice. I'm leaning more towards the MH-400 at the moment, because there is a few things ive seen on the pictures of the MH-250's that irk me, eg: the really pale brown fingerboard and the sorta 'messy' quilt veneer. Obviously the MH-400 wont look as good as it does in that picture (false advertising if you ask me, but I guess they could hide behind the 'not every peice of wood is the same' line which ive been given by a number of music stores already), but I figure seeing as I am ordering it unseen anyway, I give myself a better chance of being happy without breaking the bank by getting the MH-400. According to some helpful people at the ESP forums the MH-301 is really probably what I want since I wouldnt mind changing out the pickups to a Dimebucker/Jazz set, but since they have been discontinued, the cheapest I could find one that could be posted to Australia was $550US! Stuff that! for $45US more I can get the MH400 with the active EMG's. Anyway, once ive sold off a bit of stuff I will probably go for the MH-400 (it says there is a wait until Feb. 15 fo them anyway), but any opinions on these guitars, or this level of LTD in general, or even other suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 30, 2005 Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 i have an f 400 due in any time now,and i will give a review of it.it is the exact same guitar except for the shape and the bridge.(meaning that the woods,the neck thru,the pickups,etc...are all the same) it has been on order for quite a while now from musicians friend.but i am looking forward to getting it. as far as ltds in general go...at the local music store i have seen quite a few,andthe above $700 (list price) ones seem very decent...but the low end guitars are utter crap imo and between those two you show...forget about the 250.you don't want agathis...trust me,that is the most lifeless,one dimensional wood around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivin Posted January 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 Thanks Wes, helpful once again I look forward to your review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nf1d3l Posted January 30, 2005 Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 well, ive never heard anyhting bad about ltd's, especially not the higher end models (250 and 400). ive played the hammet one, and even that sounded damn nice, not sure on the specs of that, but id say if thats the guitar your lookin at, its gotta be pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted January 30, 2005 Report Share Posted January 30, 2005 and between those two you show...forget about the 250.you don't want agathis...trust me,that is the most lifeless,one dimensional wood around. I have to strongly disagree here. I have a B.C. Rich guitar with Agathis body. After replacing the stock pu's it sounds very good. It's all a matter of taste, but I am convinced that Agathis is not nearly as bad as it is made to be. Most Agathis guitars are cheap guitars to begin with and sound bad for many reasons, especially the pickups. It's not the wood that's at fault. Did you ever play an Agathis guitar that was otherwise decent Wes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdowney Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) GuitarMaestro'' I have to strongly disagree here. I have a B.C. Rich guitar with Agathis body. After replacing the stock pu's it sounds very good. It's all a matter of taste, but I am convinced that Agathis is not nearly as bad as it is made to be. Most Agathis guitars are cheap guitars to begin with and sound bad for many reasons, especially the pickups. It's not the wood that's at fault. Did you ever play an Agathis guitar that was otherwise decent Wes? '' did you by any chance replace the stock puckups with EMG actives? Edited January 31, 2005 by mattdowney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 and between those two you show...forget about the 250.you don't want agathis...trust me,that is the most lifeless,one dimensional wood around. I have to strongly disagree here. I have a B.C. Rich guitar with Agathis body. After replacing the stock pu's it sounds very good. It's all a matter of taste, but I am convinced that Agathis is not nearly as bad as it is made to be. Most Agathis guitars are cheap guitars to begin with and sound bad for many reasons, especially the pickups. It's not the wood that's at fault. Did you ever play an Agathis guitar that was otherwise decent Wes? ← given similar pickups,agathis will sound inferior to alder or mahogany in every way. if it was good tone wood,they would use it in something other than second rate instruments.heck...if it is so great,why aren't you building with it? i have 2 guitars of similar build quality...both bolt on with maple necks and both came with similar duncan design pickups...one guitar is agathis,one is mahogany guess which one sounds better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Sorry for my first post. It was very late and now after rereading it I realize that it comes across quite different than what I really think about Agathis. I just was surprised how good my cheap Agathis guitar sounds after installing good pu's. For a guitar that was so cheap and for the bad reputation of Agathis it sounds "very good". However it cannot touch my "real" guitars. I just feel that Agathis is thought to be worse than it really is. Most cheap Agathis guitars are built so bad and have so bad pu's that they would sound like edit with every tonewood. Still people blame the wood. Thats the reason I asked you abou your Agathis guitars Wes, and I bet with really good pu's(which duncan designed are not in my opinion) you would find them to sound ok. I still recommend to avoid Agathis - no question. Why buy a piece of junk and then make it sound ok with expensive upgrades? In context of this thread I would definately advise against it too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 id you by any chance replace the stock puckups with EMG actives? No....passive DiMarzio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Agathis ain't that cheap, maybe when you buy massive quantities like ESP, but on Gilmers site, it is more expensive than alder, ash, and a bit more than mahogany. Tone still lame!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 i have canceled my order for that esp,so you can expect no review of that guitar,other than to say that those retards at esp can kiss my bunghole if they ever expect to sell a guitar to me in the future. i ordered that guitar on 12/9/04...and all i have seen are shipments being pushed further back and an inability to keep up with demand.now the next "due date" is pushed back to 3/1/05 my advice is to avoid them like the plague.customer service is nonexistent.ask any music store that has ever had the displeasure of waiting an a special order from them instead i have ordered and will be reviewing a gibson les paul studio "plus 99" probably a better guitar anyway.and it will give me a chance to compare it to the lame ass agile that some of you are insisting is "just as good for a lot less money. we shall see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 I'm just gonna say that ESP support is great in the UK and in Europe in general. I'm a mod over on the ESP UK forums and the admin is a great bloke who will help you out as best he can. Sorry to hear about your problems Wes, but ESP is a small enough company so keeping up with demand isn't the easiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 a "small" company? i am under the impression that they are one of the largest. i waited six months for a case for an esp f 100(which was ordered at the same time as the guitar) before finally giving up and using the credit for another case.the salesman at my local store just kept calling and calling and all he ever heard was "it's on it's way" or "it's hung up in customs" meanwhile ibanez was shipping guitars all over the u.s. in a much more timely manner.never heard a bad thing about THEIR customer service. but it may be just a u.s. problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 don't get me wrong.i still give esp full credit for being the most innovative mass produced guitar maker.they really do seem to strive to turn the guitar making world on it's collective ear. they just need to do some work in that department i guess. but i have no doubt that should ibanez decide to follow esp's example and start producing more neck thru guitars and equip them with emgs ,and add in ibanez's awesome trems,then ibanez will have no trouble keeping up with demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 I'm not sure of ESP's status in the States. All I know is that in Europe, the UK forum admin is one of the most helpful people I have ever met online. It's annoying to hear about your case problems Wes but I seem to recall ESP were having problems with their case manufacturer in Holywood. I'm sure you can appreciate such set backs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivin Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Never mind wes, I'm not buying one anyway I decided i'm gonna spend a bit of extra cash and assemble a warmoth made guitar. Cheers, - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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