LTD F-10 Pack Review

The ESP LTD F-10 Guitar is pure rock, from its distinctive angled shape through to its deep black finish. The special edition ESP amp, included in this impressive package, is excellent for practice, instruction, or jamming along with your favorite CDs.

Features:	10
Sound:	9
Action:	9
Reliability:	10
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	9.4
Users rating:	8
Comments:	20

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: Shredlet, on june 22, 2006

Features: This guitar was made in China (like it says on top of the head), it has 24 frets the size of them is extra-jumbo. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. It's got a solid black top. It's got a lovely black finish for that gothic looks but it does show up finger prints which can be quite annoying but nothing Mr. Sheen can't fix. The body stlye is F (hence the name F-10). The bridge is Tune-O-Matic with a string-thru body. It's got volume and tone controls aswell as 2 humbucking pickups and a 3-way toggle to switch between the pickups. I bought it as an ESP F-10 Pack for $550 AU which came with a bag, picks, tuner, amp, strap and a cable which is a pretty good price. The amplifier is pretty good it's got distortion which sounds pretty good nice and dirty I'd give it a 10! // 10

Sound: I play mostly rock and punk rock and it suits me pretty well. I'm using it with the ESP 10 amp which is pretty crappy but I'm happy with it and its better than it looks. This guitar can get quite noisy I'm being constantly yelled at by my parents for being to loud. I dont explore much sounds with it but I'd say it kinda hits around from rock to the darker areas of music but you can get a pretty nice sound out of it. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was a bit low and I got some buzzing on the frets and I just mucked around with the action and got rid of it, it used to cut into the amp the buzzing and now it doesnt (I do get some buzzing when I'm not plugged into the amp but I can live with it). I don't know much on pickups but they seem fine to me I havent had a problem with them. The only annoying thing with it was the buzzing which does get quite annoying but just muck about with the action and it'll be fine. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I'd definately use it for a gig, I'm always bumping it and it still sounds the same. The strap buttons are solid for me to jump up and down when my parents arent at home. The finish is very nice, it has a few scratches but that was from me bumping it into stuff. // 10

Impression: I play mostly rock and it's quite a good match and I love it! I've been playing for like 4 years but only started getting into it this year (the other 3 years I hated guitar and never practiced so you could say I kinda started over again with a little bit of technique). I would of definately asked about the buzzing but I didnt know anything about guitars back then. If it were stolen I would buy a later model like F-100 or 200 because its a very early model it doesnt have all of the features like the older ones do. I love the look of it and feel it feels so natural and looks incredibly awesome. Nothing much to hate about it just the buzzing is the only problem but that can be easily fixed. I do which it had some more pickups and another knob for it but I'm still happy with it. This guitar is great for Beginners to medium level players, but for say higher than medium and advanced players you may want a real ESP this is very good to muck with but it is a very early model. // 9

Comments

[555666]

i like that guitar. It's got that black metal look....all evil and shit. Das wicked.

[Shredlet]

Yeah its a pretty sweet guitar!

[Punk_Ninja]

Yeah that looks like it would tame 100 metallers, but its sound is not that good, you can get one of those for £250-£350 (just the guitar) when you could get one with better woods and pick-ups for about £400 which i'm geussing is how much this is with the amp, i suggest get a good version of this guitar and get a good amp seperate, it'll work out best for you

[Shredlet]

yeah i agree but the guitar when i saw it singly was $750 and tha pack was like $200 cheaper and u get more so it was logically a better deal.

[Orgy-Malt]

I have this guitar. It sounds quite good even on the pathetic 10-watt amp. I figure it will have an excellent sound hooked up to a 100-watt amp and a DigiTech Death Metal distortion pedal. I also have some problems with the buzzing...I'd like to know how to get rid of that. I bought the pack for only 250 euros from an online German store through Ebay

[louwen]

I bought this guitar package for AUD$530. It came in a slightly different box and had no picks. Also, instead of 2 humbuckers, mine has a single coil in neck and a humbucker in bridge(which I prefer).

Stuff I don't like about it:
The amp sucks (worst I have ever played) Clean is OK but overdrive sucks balls. It sounds to... messy/dirty/rough? dont know how to describe but it is bad, don't like the tone.
Strap broke quite fast
same buzzing that everyone else says they have (I think raising the action a little would fix this)
buzzing from cable/amp (not sure which)

I like the look and the feel of the guitar and if I had more money would have got an ESP F-(something else). The package is OK overall and I would give 7 or 8 out of 10. Better than a squire or epiphone pack. Good for a first guitar for rock/metal player. I don't know if the bad sound is from the amp as I haven't yet tried it through a different amp and if anyone has managed to fix the buzzing let me know.

[Sweetly AJ]

My Guitar...It's great!!
It's Awesome!!

=]

[MetalheadMosher]

yeah I'm getting this, slightly different more black than red box but same guitar, amp etc.(though with the one humbucker and one single coil which sounds better to me) from the Music Shop in Inverness for £200
I'm just learning, I'm a bassist really but I loves the metal, playing as much as listening
I played the guitar wihout effects in the shop, the overdrive aint upto much but the guitar is nice clean and I hope even nicer through uber metal distortion stomp box also available quite cheap in the same shop
nice guitar can't wait to get it
the amp is ok for practicing I'm guessing but nothing beats a good old Marshall 200W
guitar sounds good for my current level and looks awesome so why not?

[IHaveAnEsp]

I bought this guitar like, um... 2 months ago. yeah it's wicked. It's definantly the F-10 but mine cost me £199, and the second pick up isn't a humbucker. Woulda been kool if it had a whamy bar lol. but either way it's great, comfortable to use - and in the 2 months i've had (with no lessons) i think i've got far, thanks to the guitar.

[MetalheadMosher]

I'v had this guitar since october now n since then its been pretty good
Had a little problem with the strap pins, mangalising the wood after tightening. The solution - uber super glue XD
would a been good with a wammy bar bt its fine
gr8 2 play, n sounds awesome through Digitech Death Metal distortion with some B-tuned "Not even slinky" Ernie Balls
Gr8 for NEthing,,, recently played pink floyd thru it n then changed the strings n played sum Napalm Death...good 4 NEhting U could ask 4

[MetalheadMosher]

also gr8 4 learning on as I'v come a hell of a long wa since October

[rho]

Great GUITAR.. Simply great... Good learning curve n quite comfortable. Amp is okie dokie, The biggest turn-off is the TUNER. Very cheap quality (non-chromatic) one. Not a pro guitar, this, but is an awesome starters dream!

[rho]

Also, if the amp is 2 pin, cut the plug end n make it a 3 pin, that would technically ground the guitar, making it a bit buzz-free.

[MetalheadMosher]

I'v had this guitar for over a year now.
The guitar is standing up to my abuse, and basically still suiting all my needs.
My experience over the pastg year has been:
Pros: Adequate sound, suitable for all metal type techniques (excl. the whammy bar) not too spikey like my others, so I have no stupid chips taken out of it (and is also quite comfortable to have on my knee, unlike the BC Rich Zombie). Overall the guitar is pretty good. The strap has stood up for all this time, unexpectedly. The amp is not bad for a 10W, can't really complain.
Cons: The case has ripped, also not very good and the outer pocket's plastic lining has tattered completely. The strap pins on the guitar mangalised the wood (maybe my fault for over tightening) but I stuck the screws in with Araldite. The tuner is naff (enough said) and the cable died really quick (as with all starter packs). Also when the tone nob is turned to full with the volume up, a light buzzing sound. It seems I short this out (or earth it) by touching the metal part on the pickup selector switch, or any metal part on the pickups. I just use my effects with a noise gate, which pretty much eradicates this problem. (Would like longer term, simple solution for when noise gate is not available.)

[NUMAS]

My first electric guitar. LOVED IT. But now, I already posted a thread in the forums, asking if anyone knew how to add a Whammy Bar. Even tough the amp lacks a lot to ve presented LIVE, I bought a second one, and hooked the guitar trough an AMX 3000G (KORG). Played gigs with that gear, everyone happy. Played Welcome To The Jungle, and Paradise City. Sounds great, obviously not exactly the same, but, hey, Im not complaining

[Phylyn51]

My first Guitar, so far so good. My only problem was that the cable outlet for the sound cable became loose and the cable end would wiggle in place. I open it up and tightend it up, good as new.

Other than that, it has been great. Even looks better than those plain jane strats!

[metalmouth22]

I got an f-10 in a pack and i dint come with 2 humbuckers!
it had one and a single coil

something that always skrews up for me is the input which always loosens and stuff
but it is an awesome looking guitar that looks more expensive than it looks hahaha

[metalmouth22]

I HATE THE OVERDRIVE ON THE AMP
hahaha
had to say that

[41184140]

You bought for 550$ for how long? I bought mine 2 weeks ago for 220€ which is like 235$ and yes for begginigers is amazing, amp is not very well when you hit 3+ strings at the same time but it's very good and I'd recoment to all begginers.

[jezzalinco93]

I've got this guitar as well it's very good for beginners (better than fenders imo) but the amp is SHIT. When I plug it into the 50 watt marshalls and Randall at school it sounds so much better. I've been playing a year now and i'm getting a mg101fx for my bday and hopefully soon a dk2 dinky