ESP versus LTD guitars?

Question:I've noticed that most of the guitars that ESP has available in the $800 - $1300 price range are LTD's, which I believe is ESP's "budget" brand, just like "Squire" (Fender) and "Epiphone" (Gibson).

I currently play Jackson guitars, and they have three general tiers of quality, however they all bear the Jackson name. The artist models, soloists, and ??1 models are highest quality, followed by the "Pro" series, and the JS series as the lowest.

What I want to know is where in the "quality spectrum" is the line between ESP's and LTD's, compared to where other manufacturers draw their separation? Judging by the price, I'd assume that ESP seems to offer more of their products as LTD's, reserving the ESP name for the highest quality instruments - just as if, for example, Ibanez only put their name on the prestige series guitars.

Is this about right? Is ESP just more picky about how high quality an instrument should be before it's labelled ESP?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've noticed that most of the guitars that ESP has available in the $800 - $1300 price range are LTD's, which I believe is ESP's "budget" brand, just like "Squire" (Fender) and "Epiphone" (Gibson).

I currently play Jackson guitars, and they have three general tiers of quality, however they all bear the Jackson name. The artist models, soloists, and ??1 models are highest quality, followed by the "Pro" series, and the JS series as the lowest.

What I want to know is where in the "quality spectrum" is the line between ESP's and LTD's, compared to where other manufacturers draw their separation? Judging by the price, I'd assume that ESP seems to offer more of their products as LTD's, reserving the ESP name for the highest quality instruments - just as if, for example, Ibanez only put their name on the prestige series guitars.

Is this about right? Is ESP just more picky about how high quality an instrument should be before it's labelled ESP?

I guess that's about right, although I'm only making an assumption the same as you.

Some of the artist models on the ESP website are actually LTD, which makes me think that they kind of overlap a bit.

I've actually got an LTD EC-1000 which I won in a competition and it's hands down the best guitar I own, far nicer than both of my Jacksons - there is an ESP version of it too, but where mine was about ￡800 the ESP model is about ￡1800. I'd love to actually play one and see what the difference is. My guitar is made with a mahogany body, ebony fretboard and EMG pickups so there's no difference in the quality of materials, I guess it's just where they're made.

...actually, I've not been a lot of help, have I?

I, too, actually own a Jackson.... a Dinky Professional.

I bought an LTD recently as my backup guitar, except it's the EC-50... basically the cheapest version of the EC-1000. I was surprised at how good of a guitar I got for the money (less than 300 US$ if I remember correctly). It sounded very good right out of the box, but I'm experimenting with different pickups to see if I can get "that" tone that I'm looking for.

Right now I've got a JB in the bridge and an onboard buffer circuit custom-made by my local music store. It doesn't boost the signal or change the gain structure, it just makes the output low impedance. Really brings out the treble and keeps tone from suffering from the tender mercies of long cable runs and multiple pedals. I can't help but wonder why these aren't more common... I'd like to try some Pearly Gates in the neck, or maybe something on the exotic side...

I think there is a certain amount of overlap in quality - LTDs aren't crap, certainly compared to other brands' less expensive offerings. I actually play through my LTD more than my Jackson now... it seems to just fit my hands better....

Saul