Neck-thru-body construction; 25.5" scale; agathis body w/flamed maple top; 3-piece maple neck; rosewood fingerboard; arrowhead inlays w/model name at 12th fret; EMG-HZ H-4 pickups; volume control, tone control w/push-pull coil tap & 3-way slotted switch; black hardware; Floyd Rose licensed bridge; white binding on neck & headstock; 24 XJ frets.
Featured review by:
VXD, on may 30, 2005 5 of 6 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 521.4
Purchased from: Steve's Montrel
Features: Very nice super Strat body shape, its made of agathis, witch seems to have a rather bad reputation, neck-thru body which is a plus. No mistakes in the finish, all is perfect. Action was too high when bought but that was an easy fix. You get a volume and tone control (all you really need IMO) with a coil tap that lets you use one or both the EMG's in single coil mode. Perfect for playing "Little wing". The tuners and all other little gizmos were all excellent. // 10
Sound: The EMG's are quiet and are fit for metal, plain and simple. Very percussive but no nuance, it's no good for blues or classical, but come on, I mean look at it it has a reversed headstock and it's badass. No wonder it's for metal. Actually, for rhythm guitar these are the pickups, but for lead playing. Let's say they cut it but they don't go over and above. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: One thing that bothered me was the fact that I got no allen's wrench to unlock the nuts and mess with the bridge. That was easy to find though, the hardware store next door had some. Pickups are also kinda close to the strings, since they aren't relly fixed they tend to tilt on an axis and touch the strings. But really, that was an esy fix that any idiot off the street could apply to their guitar. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Everything here is fine. Very well put together and the finish is outstanding so far. Very solid axe. // 10
Impression: Well I basically need an upgrade from my Epiphone Gothic SG, to a 24-fret thin neck shredding guitar. I went to music store and tried all their 24-fret guitars in the price range and this I just kept on trying again and again. I've been playing for 3 years and my style is definetely metal. I'm going to replce the pickups with Bill Lawrence L500's, and to the pawn shops go the EMG's. I own a Marshall Valvestate 100w amp, a bunch of pedals such as a Crybaby Wah, Boss Digital Delay and Harmonizer, etc. the list is long and boring. I also own a Jackson DKMG. // 8
Reviewed by:
SOUPerman432321, on march 10, 2007 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Music123.com
Features: This is the best guitar with the most features I could find with a budget of $400-$600. I got this guitar a little less than a year ago and I'm still amazed by it. It was the only mid-priced guitar I could find with neck through body construction and binding. It has 24 frets with arrow-head inlays. it's is 25.5" scale. it's is an agathis body with a flame maple top. The fret board is rosewood and the neck is 3 piece maple. The body is Strat shaped. I got it in see-thru black. It has a floyd rose bridge which does stay in tune unlike my friend's. It has 2 EMG pickups, they are passive but if you were to listen to it you would swear they were active. There is a volume knob, a 3-way switch, and a tone knob with push/pull coil split. The tuners are just ESP LTD tuners which doesn't matter much because of the floyd rose. The guitar came with the alan wrenches to undo the floyd rose and a couple of extra counter-balance springs. // 10
Sound: I play in a Metalcore band so the sound of the EMG's fit that style. I use a Fender FM212R amp (which I bought off my friend) which has a suprisingly heavy distortion setting for a Fender amp. Pinch Harmonics are so easy on this guitar. The reason I gave it a 7 in sound is that it sounds amazing in distortion but if you want to go clean the EMG's aren't very good. The clean sound is all muddy and doesn't come out as clear as I would like. // 7
Action, Fit & Finish: When I got the guitar the intonation was perfect and the guitar was perfectly in tune. I didn't need to touch anything. It was the most amazing factory set-up I have ever played on. The only thing was the nut on the input jack was stripped but that was easy to fix. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This guitar will withstand Live playing definatly. None of the tuners or anything are coming loose so I think it will last a long time. I replaced the strap buttons for a locking strap so I won't drop my guitar so I don't know about the strap buttons. I would use it at a gig without a back-up even though it is foolish because other things can go wrong like if I'm changing tuning and the tuner breaks. The finish is durable. I've had it for almost a year and I don't have a scratch yet (that's a first for me). // 10
Impression: This is an amazing guitar. I would recomend it for someone Who isn't going to be playing clean. I've been playing for 6 years and I think it matches my skill level. I have this guitar and an acoustic (I had to sell 2 of my old guitars to get this one) but I want to get something that will play clean better than the ESP. When I was planning to buy a guitar I compared this to a couple of Ibanezes, but when I went to the guitar center I found out that Ibanezes play like crap compared to an ESP so I bought this. // 9
Reviewed by:
will-loves-zep, on october 20, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 732
Purchased from: Fairdeal
Features: Agathis super-Strat body with flamed maple top, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, arrowhead inlays, neck thru-body construction, 24 jumbo frets, white binding, licensed Floyd Rose tremolo system, 2 passive ESP emg's, volume, tone (with coil tap) and 3 way selector controls, available in see thru black and see thru red. Case not included. I must add that the playablility and speed of the neck is fantastic. // 10
Sound: I play mainly classic rock (Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy) and modern hard rock (the answer, datsuns) and I play in a grungy-rock band www.myspace.com/whitebeak. I love wailing solos that make you wanna orgasm. This guitars sound is excellent. The emg's give a really really rich, hard grunt but don't go as heavy as the active ones do. I plug into a Laney tf-200 with the heavier distortion channel. I set the gain to about 7 when I'm jamming in the bedroom where there is no noise and to about 5 or 6 at band practice (when I have more volume) and there is a bit of feedback but that is down to mics and small practice rooms mainly. I have a usa Telecaster which makes a lot more buzz than this. This guitar can do most styles: (punk, rock, metal, heavier blues solos) but would struggle for Indie and poppy songs. They sound best with a bit distortion/overdrive and don't have a particually great clean sound, that's not what I want though, I rarely use clean sounds. I also have a DigiTech Bad Monkey which I use for solos and it souns great. I boost the treble full and have about half-way gain and it sounds sweet! It really screams. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar had been left out in the shop so it was pretty bad when I got it at first. The strings wouldn't keep their tune, I couldn't use the vibrato, the strings were worn. After having it set up and serviced by a local hero it couldn't have been better, after beaating the shit out of it at band practice and suitably abusing the vibrato it has stayed in perfect tune. I haven't braved the string change yet but will in the future. There was (and still isn't) any rust, wood prblems, noise or anything like that. The volume and tone cotrols did need a bit of adjusting but that's common. // 8
Reliability & Durability: As I said I have suitably abused this guitars vibrato and the rest of this beast and many a band practice and it has survived every one, whilst staying in tune. One string (the top e) has broken whilst jamming in my room but shit happens. I have had strap locks put on this as I have done with my tele to protect it so I cannot tell about the strap buttons. I would take my tele as a back up to a gig as you never know hat could happen..I certainly can rely on it though. There is a bit of oxidisation on the floyd from where my hand has been resting but nothing bad. // 10
Impression: My style is very much any hard hitting bluesy rock and a bit of metal and this guitar suits me great. I have been playing for 4-5 years and I love this guitar, I would definatley buy it again if it were lost or stolen. I love the pickups, the neck, the look of the joint of the neck (it's sexual) and the body of this machine. I don; t 'hate' anything baout it, the clean sound could be better though. I went to fairdeal to buy a jackosn DKMG and came home with this. Its neck is much nicer as is the joint (you can play relly high up the neck). The Jackson did have one thing better, rather than the coil tap on the tone control it had a booster which was a great idea. I have a 3 channel amp and a overdrive pedal though so it wasn't priority. All in all a great axe. Definatley cosider it. // 10
Reviewed by:
etherealprince, on august 31, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Ebay
Features: This particular model is made in Indonesia. The workmanship and construction is very good quality for being an Indo-made guitar. I give it an 8 for features, the wood quality of the body could be better. // 8
Sound: Straight out of the box, this guitar can handle most styles of music. The pickups are slightly lacking, many guitarists would opt to replace them with Seymour Duncan or an Active EMG set. Personally, I swapped the passive EMG HZs out for a 81/60 Active EMG set. I run this guitar straight into my Peavey 5150 combo with my Boss GT6 in the FX Loop. The guitar itself is very quiet. I mainly dabble with melodic metal, however I do enjoy branching out and playing various styles. The distorted tone of this guitar is alright, with upgraded pickups it can rip! It also has a very good clean tone, the push/pull coil tap also helps with adding some variety to your sound. I give it a 7 for sound because the stock pickups were slightly lacking. // 7
Action, Fit & Finish: I bought mine from a guy off of eBay. The guitar was in 100% brand new condition, only played twice with zero wear and still setup to the factory specs. The Licensed Floyd Rose trem was setup well, with butter-smooth action, and good routing work. The pickups were set a little low, but raising them is no big deal. It had a very smooth finish with no noticeable flaws to speak of, and the flamed maple top looks beautiful! Very well constructed and setup for a budget axe! // 8
Reliability & Durability: The guitar is a little bit heavy, after a few hours of jamming it can give you a sore shoulder but having a comfortable padded strap can solve the issue. The tuning keys are very solid and still are after 2 years, and the Licensed Floyd Rose Trem was surprisingly well built. The stock strap buttons were pretty solid, but I replaced mine with Dunlop strap-locks for extra safety. It also has a lasting finish, still zero scratches after 2 years of plenty of use and I would give it a thumbs up for gigging. 8 For reliability and Durability, it's weight keeps it from earning a 10. // 8
Impression: Overall, this is a very good guitar, and I have no regrets. If it were stolen/lost, I would buy another, however it would give me an excuse to buy that ESP EC-1000 I've been eying up. I would recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade from a lower-end cheapo axe, it lacks the features and quality of the high-end beauties but is a perfect step up into the mid-range lines. // 8
Reviewed by:
julianklazinga, on march 27, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 410.7921
Purchased from: axemusic.ca
Features: // 8
Sound: The sound of this guitar is unbeleivable. It is very versitile. I can get the hardcore sound of metal all the way to the great tone of a Strat. I'm using a 65 watt Crate amp and a DigiTech GNX1 processing pedal and can pretty much get any tone or sound I want. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: The action is almost perfect. Although when it was shipped to my house it was a bit higher at 12th than the 24th for some reason. Although a simple adjustment to neck corrected this. The pickups were set up perfectly when I got it, although hopefully one day I can put EMG 81s and 85s in it so it'll scream unrelentlessly. The finish is way better than the picture. I got the see-thru black and the woodgrain is just beautiful. In a flourescent light it looks almost like a dark olive green which is also pretty cool. I'm told that the cherry red finish looks almost like blood in real life as opposed to the picture. This guitar contains no flaws. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This guitar is extremely durable. The finish and the hardware will never fade and or have to be replaced. I would never need to bring a backup guitar guitar to a gig b/c it would never be used.The reliability and durabilty match guitars price twice as much as this one. // 10
Impression: I have recently bought ESP's M 200fm electric guitar from an online dealer based out of Vancouver. One thing which persuaded me to buy off of this site was that it was the only dealer around my city, Sarnia, Ontario Canada, that would deliver to my house, online as well as local dealers. I recived my guitar before it was expected to arrive (1-2 weeks), I got it in 5 buisness days and it arrived in tune! Much thanks to the floyd rose. For the price it can't be beat. Recommended for the intermidiate to professional guitarist, as soon as I recieved this guitar my abilities really blossomed it's such a joy to play you just can't put it down. I personally play a heavier style of music (Metallica, Lamb of God, Trivium, etc.) but when I play music with a cruchier sound (Van Halen, Steve Vai) It performs on the same level. Basically any tone can come out of this guitar because it is versitile enough that when I play Zeppelin or anything with a rich sound it comes out shining. This may not be my last guitar but in the future it'll always be an ESP! // 10
Reviewed by:
GuitarDesperado, on june 27, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Musicians Friend
Features: The guitar features dual EMG HZ-H4 pickups, agathis wood, reverse headstock, 24 frets, stunning arrow head inlays, black hardware, a neck-through design, a floyd rose licensed tremolo, flamed maple top, and comes in see-through black cherry and see-through black finish. It also sports a single-coil tap feature on the tone knob that works pretty well on a clean channel. // 9
Sound: I bought an old modeled Jackson RR3 Rhoads which costed a bit more, and this thing sounds better! The EMGs are passive, and give off a bit of a brighter tone, and also the wood, which is agathis, will give more of a brighter tone as well, but with my Marshall, I can get a little Metallica-esque tone with it. Not to mention the neck-through design adds some great sustain. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: The action from the shop was a little too low, and caused a bit of fret buzzing, so I had to adjust that a little. The volume knob was also way too loose, but another easy fix there. The finish and all was great, and besides those two defects that was all that was wrong with it. // 8
Reliability & Durability: This guitar will last you a long while, but since I wrench, tug, and yank on the Floyd Rose, I tend to uncoil a string or two a couple weeks at a time, so it would be wise to take a backup if you're like me with a Floyd Rose. // 8
Impression: I am a metal head by nature, and this guitar appealed to me with it's EMG pickups, reverse headstock, and tremolo. If the guitar got broken, stolen, or anything of the sort, I wouldn't necessarily buy the exact same model, but definately another ESP. ESPs give great hardware and features even for low end modeled guitars, so I recomend ESP to anyone that wants a good guitar for a low price. // 9
Reviewed by:
Warheart1188, on october 05, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 400
Purchased from: Musicians friend
Features: The ESP LTD M-200 FM features an agathis body with a flamed maple top, which for my style (shred, speed metal) didn't provide such a great tone. The great thing about this guitar is that it features a neck-through design which allows players to reach the upper register very easily. The neck features 24 XJ frets on a bound rosewood fingerboard. The neck feels too thick in your palm and too thin from side to side though. The passive EMG-HZ are decent but an upgrade to active is much better. The Floyd Rose is nice but the cheaper licensed floyd that this guitar has causes lots of tuning problems. Another good feature is the push-pull coil tap on the tone knob which is a nice feature for single coil tones. // 7
Sound: The sound is decent. You get a dark tone but this guitar. I played this guitar through a Fender 100 watt combo and a Marshall half stack and got similar tones, not very good ones. Through a tube amp, this guitar sounds decent but it's made for more metal tones, not very versatile. // 6
Action, Fit & Finish: When I got this guitar, the action was very, very low and quick adjustments fixed it. The strings were tuned to standard as usual and there weren't any defects at all (good job MF). The finish is Bullet proof but the downside is that the finish is also on the neck. // 9
Reliability & Durability: The only real credit I can give this guitar is the durability of this guitar. From falls and spills and drops, this guitar is still alive. I've played in metal bands with this guitar and and it's really reliable. The finish is Bullet-proof, though ESP decided to put the same finish on the neck as well, annoying! The strap buttons cause me lots of problems and the Floyd Rose never stays in tune. // 8
Impression: I play speed/power metal and neoclassical shred and for awhile, this guitar was fine. But as I've matured in my guitar playing, this guitar is like a pair of jeans that you grow out of, after like 2 years, it's time to upgrade. I wouldn't buy another one of these if anything happened to this I'll tell you that. I just wish it had a better floyd rose, like an Ibanez ZR or Edge Pro and I wish it had better pickups and a slimmer neck. If it did, then it'd be great. But for the price, this a decent mid-range intermediate guitar. // 7
new faith godz
: this is the sickest metal guitar i own and im proud to shag it at night POSTED: 07/07/2006 - 08:53 am / quote|
ESPM200
: This guitar is awsome the only bad thing is it dont have active emgs but for the price you cant beat it. POSTED: 07/12/2006 - 12:56 am / quote|
pierce34celtic
: agathis, licensed floyd rose, and EMG HZ's for 420.00, versus a used RG 5xx, edge pro, basswood, wizard neck, HSH for $300-400. I think that definitely beats it. POSTED: 09/17/2006 - 04:07 pm / quote|
agathis, licensed floyd rose, and EMG HZ's for 420.00, versus a used RG 5xx, edge pro, basswood, wizard neck, HSH for $300-400. I think that definitely beats it.
Ehh, the Ibanez that are the 5xx series are $500+, and more for shredding, they have a different tone and better tremolo. Depends on what floats your boat, I prefer Ibanez, but I'd take an MH-400 any day : ) POSTED: 10/05/2006 - 04:11 pm / quote|
dertjoe
: get an old m200, way better POSTED: 10/05/2006 - 04:26 pm / quote|
agathis, licensed floyd rose, and EMG HZ's for 420.00, versus a used RG 5xx, edge pro, basswood, wizard neck, HSH for $300-400. I think that definitely beats it.
Ehh, the Ibanez that are the 5xx series are $500+, and more for shredding, they have a different tone and better tremolo. Depends on what floats your boat, I prefer Ibanez, but I'd take an MH-400 any day : )
Yep, you should save up and get an mh400 with active electronics. POSTED: 10/06/2006 - 01:13 am / quote|
american-psycho
: that first guy said they're EMG pickups, thats what the catalogue says too but when i saw one in the shop it had ESP pickups that sorta look like EMG's and are licenced but they're nothing special they're pretty *****y next to real emg's POSTED: 10/06/2006 - 03:05 am / quote|
nirvanarox
: Hey...if u were 14 and had no income...and has been playing guitar for 2 years...and wants a M-200 or 400...what one..would u pick?
And when some guy said...went out of tune quickly....how often did u have to tune it? POSTED: 11/07/2006 - 02:56 am / quote|
BeastBoy4
: About the pickups, the website says ESP-EMG LH#))'s, which are infact licensed, and I don't htink it sounds half bad. BUT, next to the passiv EMG's they're modeled on, American-Psycho was right, they sound pretty shitty. POSTED: 11/21/2006 - 11:24 pm / quote|
BeastBoy4
: ESP-EMG LH300's... sorry about that POSTED: 11/21/2006 - 11:24 pm / quote|
d_v_a_tor
: I bought the M-200 FM a few months ago. It goes out of tune so much it is incredible. I find myself needing to retune it almost constantly, and I leave whammy bar off most of the time. I have switched into EMG 85-81s and can say that I sometimes think I preferred the passive HZs. One other problem I have with this is that the sustain is pretty poor IMO for a neckthrough. POSTED: 12/05/2006 - 10:41 am / quote|
SOUPerman432321
: everyone says the floyd rose on theirs is cheap and the guitar goes out of tune. I guess I got lucky I haven't tuned mine in like 2 weeks its still perfect. But i guess it could be I use heavier gauge strings. POSTED: 03/11/2007 - 11:28 pm / quote|
About the pickups, the website says ESP-EMG LH#))'s, which are infact licensed, and I don't htink it sounds half bad. BUT, next to the passiv EMG's they're modeled on, American-Psycho was right, they sound pretty shitty.
i hav an old one so they arent LH-300's mine are HZ's which are better the newer model isnt as good POSTED: 03/12/2007 - 04:41 pm / quote|
Matt.Chavie
: He said the EMG's are muddy clean. I have a Jackson with an 81 and 85, and it's really glassy,unless muddy and glassy are the same which IMO would make no sense. POSTED: 03/27/2007 - 02:43 pm / quote|
The_Man_IV
: the durability with this guitar aint all that great
lost the tone knob after a month use no gigging with it and the tuners are very loose (on the head) POSTED: 03/27/2007 - 03:36 pm / quote|
Insane Esp
: Dude the kirk hammet model owns this one, its got the same shape but a lot better and a bit more expensive only like 30 bucks tho
l)ragonForce
: because it goes out of tune is becuase of the tuning nobs not the guitar... POSTED: 03/27/2007 - 07:05 pm / quote|
will-loves-zep
: did anyone have problems with tuning when they first brought this guitar? if so did they clear up? POSTED: 04/03/2007 - 04:50 pm / quote|
will-loves-zep
: also does anyone know that if i wanted to install a floyd rose original rather than the liscensed 1 you get with this guitar would it fit in the hole? POSTED: 04/05/2007 - 10:55 am / quote|
Hanger 17
: Get a string through and install a Kahler :P POSTED: 05/16/2007 - 12:09 pm / quote|
perkristian876
: Any of you dudes know that Kirk Hamett has the same michrophones in some of his guitars?
in some of his LTD signature models there are a set of EMG-ESP LH-300 POSTED: 05/20/2007 - 12:43 pm / quote|
dale-banez
: it looks like an original would fit, idk maybe you would have to chisel a little out I'll check once I get mine POSTED: 05/28/2007 - 08:48 pm / quote|
ldnovelo2
: they are called pickups, not microphones(well thats they're true name, and he uses EMG 81s in neck and bridge POSTED: 06/26/2007 - 12:40 am / quote|
well hopefully im getting this one soon POSTED: 10/06/2007 - 04:48 pm / quote|
will-loves-zep
: sorry, i paid around 400, im sure i put that at first anyway POSTED: 10/21/2007 - 02:47 pm / quote|
espltdplayer93
: I'm getting one of these for sure and putting zakk wylde Emg 81-85s in it and was wondering if u have to replace the stock electronics when u swap passive pickups with actives because of the coil tap POSTED: 01/31/2008 - 02:25 am / quote|
Realturka
: A lot of people say that the hardware (especially the FR)is PAINTED black. Paint. It comes off as you play. Real fast.
Source:
music123.com
musiciansfriend.com POSTED: 03/15/2008 - 11:14 am / quote|
Eddie's'Waitor
: Is this guitar good for doing solos and impro ? How does it compare on all aspects to a Ibanez RG 350 say ? POSTED: 06/04/2008 - 07:43 am / quote|
/ my profile 
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