NGD: LTD EC-1000 BB Demo/Review (2021 Model)

The Raven

Inspired



While technically I've had the guitar for a week or so, I just finished my demo/review so I figured I'd share it with you all. The tune this time is more for the heavy crowd, even though that's not been the main thing I've been trying to write these days.

It's a pretty solid guitar with a cool vibe. Not perfect, but there's nothing that hurts playability so I can live with it. And this thing is a player! I'd never owned an ESP or LTD before this one, and if I can help it, it won't be the last one I own.

Same story as my last video. Really no mixing on the guitars (mostly because I have no idea how), Axe FX 3 and @York Audio IRs on all guitar tones.

Anybody else get one the new LTDs or looking to pick one up?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Seth

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Dude... that was amazing, and your mix sounds great! What IR and amp model did you use for that tone?
Wow... Thank you so much! For the rhythm guitars, its the 6160+ Lead and the IR is just your MES 412 OS v2 57m-CE 1. Leads are same cab, but used 57v-CE 2 and 160-CNT IRs and the 6160 Block boosted with the T808 just to give it a different enough character to stand out, but still in the same neighborhood tonally.

In sum, the stereotypical Peavey head + Mesa 4x12 combo that was a staple for so many years. Funnily enough I ended up just making the rig I desperately wanted back in the day, but back then i was stuck with trying to emulate it with a Line 6 spider 3. This is a definite improvement lol.
 
Really no mixing on the guitars (mostly because I have no idea how), Axe FX 3 and @York Audio IRs on all guitar tones.
You probably have no idea how because you set up your initial tones so well you never need to mix them! :D Sounds amazing, you definitely know how to mix (maybe you just don't like doing it post tracking).

I've always wanted a fun LTD as a players guitar. Thing is, I already have the PRS Holcomb SE (with the Alpha Omegas) and I was a bit worried a LTD would sound too similar, but I get the impression from your video that the LTD might be a little less 'dark' sounding than the PRS.
 
Wow... Thank you so much! For the rhythm guitars, its the 6160+ Lead and the IR is just your MES 412 OS v2 57m-CE 1. Leads are same cab, but used 57v-CE 2 and 160-CNT IRs and the 6160 Block boosted with the T808 just to give it a different enough character to stand out, but still in the same neighborhood tonally.

In sum, the stereotypical Peavey head + Mesa 4x12 combo that was a staple for so many years. Funnily enough I ended up just making the rig I desperately wanted back in the day, but back then i was stuck with trying to emulate it with a Line 6 spider 3. This is a definite improvement lol.
Well you’re killin’ it! It really does sound amazing and I’m looking forward to hearing (and watching) more from you.


You probably have no idea how because you set up your initial tones so well you never need to mix them! :D Sounds amazing, you definitely know how to mix (maybe you just don't like doing it post tracking).

I've always wanted a fun LTD as a players guitar. Thing is, I already have the PRS Holcomb SE (with the Alpha Omegas) and I was a bit worried a LTD would sound too similar, but I get the impression from your video that the LTD might be a little less 'dark' sounding than the PRS.
I’ve got a PRS Custom 22 and the Mark Holcomb SVN both loaded with the Alpha/Omega set. The factory setup has the pickups raised to high in my opinion. They’re really hot, so lowering them will clean them up and give you more clarity. Mark told me yesterday that he lowers his pickups as well for the same reason.
 
Nice axe, it sounds great! Looks very nice also.

I've found the 1000 series LTDs do everything I need out of a guitar without having to spend an arm and a leg. I used to be a Jackson/Charvel/Hamer guy (I still am, but I used to be too) and I feel like you get more guitar for the money from ESP/LTD. They make more ERGs also which tips it a little more for me.

My only issue is the frets aren't stainless so will probably need replaced sooner.

How do you like the evertune?
 
I’ve got a PRS Custom 22 and the Mark Holcomb SVN both loaded with the Alpha/Omega set. The factory setup has the pickups raised to high in my opinion. They’re really hot, so lowering them will clean them up and give you more clarity. Mark told me yesterday that he lowers his pickups as well for the same reason.

This is golden information for me! Thank you Justin!! Nothing better than getting a tip like this coming from the likes of yourself and the guy with his name on my guitar too! I'm going to give this a try tonight! :D
 
You probably have no idea how because you set up your initial tones so well you never need to mix them! :D Sounds amazing, you definitely know how to mix (maybe you just don't like doing it post tracking).

I've always wanted a fun LTD as a players guitar. Thing is, I already have the PRS Holcomb SE (with the Alpha Omegas) and I was a bit worried a LTD would sound too similar, but I get the impression from your video that the LTD might be a little less 'dark' sounding than the PRS.
I appreciate your optimistic take on the situation lol. I’m glad you enjoyed it too. I definitely need to work on mixing. Right now it’s literally just level balancing and then some “mastering” where all I do is use a limiter to bring it up to wherever it needs to be for streaming and maybe do some light global eq.

In response to your second statement, even though you already have a solution, I actually own the USA Holcomb and I lowered the pickups myself, but the ones in mine are the custom shop version so I’m not sure how different the production versions are since i’ve never tried them. I can say that I almost always prefer passive pickups to the EMG 81/85 or 81/60 sets. Never tried Fishman humbuckers though, and those come in some of the new 2021 models. If you wanted, I could try and record a quick comparison between the guitars. Not going to be a total 1:1, but I’ve got nothing better to do today lol.

Well you’re killin’ it! It really does sound amazing and I’m looking forward to hearing (and watching) more from you.
Again thank you so much! You have no idea how much hearing that means especially at this stage. The new DV-77 pack slays btw. Only got a few minutes with it yesterday, but I’m looking forward to diving in more.

Smelling some Killswitch Engage vibes in the intro :p Nice review!
Lol 100% the vibe I was going for so I’m glad it came across. Even more glad you enjoyed the review!
Nice axe, it sounds great! Looks very nice also.

I've found the 1000 series LTDs do everything I need out of a guitar without having to spend an arm and a leg. I used to be a Jackson/Charvel/Hamer guy (I still am, but I used to be too) and I feel like you get more guitar for the money from ESP/LTD. They make more ERGs also which tips it a little more for me.

My only issue is the frets aren't stainless so will probably need replaced sooner.

How do you like the evertune?
Yeah this guitar is pretty great for the money, especially with this spec. I’ve leaned more towards the higher end guitars in recent years, but now that I tried this, it has me thinking, “Why buy 1 when for the same money you can buy 2?” :)

Stainless frets are a godsend honestly. It takes a lot for me to get a guitar without them these days.

Aside from the high E-string saddle buzz I mentioned, the evertune has been pretty solid, especially when i was recording. I literally tuned it once when I started recording, and never had to again, and if I’m being honest, this took a lot of takes so that was quite a long time. Feel-wise, its just a good, flatter hardtail bridge. If i had to compare that side of it to something, i’d say its a touch closer to Floyd than Hipshot on the right palm, but different enough from both.

I noticed the tuning has drifted a little bit last night/today, but that could just be because of whatever strings Evertune installed being worn already (I have pretty acidic sweat). I’ll hold full judgement until i do a restring and slap some NYXLs on it since thats what I’m used to and they take longer to wear.
 
In response to your second statement, even though you already have a solution, I actually own the USA Holcomb and I lowered the pickups myself, but the ones in mine are the custom shop version so I’m not sure how different the production versions are since i’ve never tried them.
I think the SE probably won't touch the USA for tone/feel, but given that the pickups are the same (I think) it seems I need to heed the advice and make some adjustments to mine.

I could try and record a quick comparison between the guitars. Not going to be a total 1:1, but I’ve got nothing better to do today lol.
Haha! I miss those days when I had nothing better to do...! :D If you get around to a basic video I would definitely enjoy that, thanks! But concentrate on your wider audience first please! I have subscribed to your YT channel so will keep an eye out for one, but don't stress if you don't get to it.
 
@The Raven I'm sure if I nutted up and paid for an E-II, USA ESP, Suhr, Mayones or something it would be better, but I'm not sure if it would be better enough for me to justify (or that I'm good enough it would matter!) the significant increase in price.

Sounds about what I expected for the evertune.. Do you feel like there's really any actual advantage over a traditional hardtail? With a good setup and locking tuners I never have tuning stability issues (hipshot, ibanez, tune o matic).
 
Haha! I miss those days when I had nothing better to do...! :D If you get around to a basic video I would definitely enjoy that, thanks! But concentrate on your wider audience first please! I have subscribed to your YT channel so will keep an eye out for one, but don't stress if you don't get to it.
I guess its a blessing in disguise since it gave me time to make some videos and try to do music for real, but in reality, since I'm out of a job I figured its the best time to pursue the dream.

Also, I recorded it anyway. Just something quick son don't feel bad. It goes LTD first, then PRS for each clip. First clips are just the rhythm patch from the video, dry then with the T808. Then its leads on Neck and Bridge, then cleans on Neck, Middle, and Bridge using the Shiver Clean and Mix 01 from the same IR pack.

Thanks for subscribing. Hopefully you're good with a weird mixture of music since I can't stick to a consistent genre lol




@The Raven I'm sure if I nutted up and paid for an E-II, USA ESP, Suhr, Mayones or something it would be better, but I'm not sure if it would be better enough for me to justify (or that I'm good enough it would matter!) the significant increase in price.

Sounds about what I expected for the evertune.. Do you feel like there's really any actual advantage over a traditional hardtail? With a good setup and locking tuners I never have tuning stability issues (hipshot, ibanez, tune o matic).
My drugs of choice have been Music Man and Kiesel just because of the narrower feeling necks. This neck is actually on the narrower side too which is what has me thinking LTD might be my go to import brand going forward.

I like the Evertune so far, but its still too new to really tell how much better it is than just a well setup guitar. Assuming it keeps working as advertised, its definitely worth having at least one. Tuning is going to drift ever so slightly over time on most guitars and, even if its just a few cents, it can screw up a recording. I'm still new to recording, but the peace of mind of not having to constantly be double-checking the tuning between every take was great. I could just focus on playing and getting the takes as clean as I could play them and never had the dreaded moment of "Sweet, I nailed it," only to find out the guitar was just out of tune enough to be distracting.

Now I'm not necessarily in a hurry to Evertune all my guitars or buy exclusively Evertune-equipped in the future, but I'm glad I was able to try it on a relatively affordable guitar. I (obviously) have no experience playing it live, but I could see it being a huge boon there too. Plus, the ability to individually set bend sensitivity per string is cool and I used that to keep the bass strings from going sharp when recording all the down picking. Plus allegedly, it helps keeping intonation consistent across the fretboard when set up properly, which can be helpful with downtuning a 24.75 scale guitar like this one.

Sorry. More long-winded than I intended and definitely more information than you probably wanted.
 
@The Raven definitely all good points. Playing live isn't a concern for me but I could definitely see it being useful there, yeah.

I have a strict rule of 25.5" scale or longer, so intonating is generally a little easier for me. I need to get my hands on an evertune and see how it feels. Thanks for the detailed reply, congrats on your guitar!
 
I guess its a blessing in disguise since it gave me time to make some videos and try to do music for real, but in reality, since I'm out of a job I figured its the best time to pursue the dream.
Ah sorry to hear that! However if you are able to keep pushing out videos like this LTD one then this could be the start of something very good for you!

Also, I recorded it anyway. Just something quick son don't feel bad. It goes LTD first, then PRS for each clip. First clips are just the rhythm patch from the video, dry then with the T808. Then its leads on Neck and Bridge, then cleans on Neck, Middle, and Bridge using the Shiver Clean and Mix 01 from the same IR pack.
This is awesome, thank you for doing it! Immediately I noticed how close the 2 guitars sound to each other. For the rhythm I can hear subtle differences but I would never be able to choose which I prefer, however on the cleans I'm definitely hearing a bit more of a ring/sparkle to the PRS (maybe it's more clarity/definition). That comparison is very useful, I think PRS is the right choice for me as it seems to sound very close to the tones you get with your LTD. I don't think mine will sound as close - but I haven't had the chance to lower my pups yet so that will hopefully make a difference and save me cash on another new guitar.

Thanks for subscribing. Hopefully you're good with a weird mixture of music since I can't stick to a consistent genre lol

Yeah absolutely, you are still starting out and will probably need to find what your "thing" is, even if that is a great variety. I do like the format of your videos even though you have only made a couple, but it is a good start.

Sorry about derailing the thread a little, but the LTD sounds great and it made me think seriously about my PRS for a moment there! :D
 
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