Review: LTD F-50

Well guys, this is one pretty guitar. But, that just about it. This guitar caught my eye back in 2009 and I was looking it up and stuff. I used to dream about owning this beauty until finally I tested it in a shop. I can assure you the looks are the only thing going here. It had rubbish sustain, muddy pickups and an irritating buzz going on. Well, here's a review from a sad sap who actually bought it. Read it, but keep in mind, stay away from this POS.

Features: Bolt-on construction; 25.5" scale; agathis body; maple neck; rosewood fingerboard; dot inlays w/model name at 12th fret; ESP LH-100 pickups; volume & tone controls w/3-way toggle; black hardware; Tune-O-Matic bridge w/string-thru-body; 24 XJ frets. // 8

Sound: I play metalcore and hardcore. I'm playing through a Crate FXT 120. It's pretty noisy with gain turned up all the way, noisy enough to make me turn it into the clean channel until I'm ready to Jam again. The guitar sounds alright. It's tone isnt good, it sounds full, and metalish, but the pickups just arent good at all. It's good for the price though. The guitar can play clean well, but sounds much better with distortion. The low tones are great with this guitar, awesome for chugging away on breakdowns. // 6

Action, Fit & Finish: It came to me out of tune and with fret buzz. It also doesn't have a lock in the jack, so it spins around and the wires broke off (only costed me $5 to get it fixed). This can be fixed at a store or by yourself if you have good soldering skills, unfortunatly my soldering skills aren't that great. The volume knob also fell off, this is an easy fix, just put it back on and screw the allen key back in. Too bad I dont have allen keys and am too lazy to buy them, it works fine without it. The body itself came in okay condition. I had a few scrathes in the back, but nothing big enough to worry about. There is no oxidation on my pickups. // 5

Reliability & Durability: Once you put a lock in the jack it should be pretty dependable. The hardware hasn't worn out at all, I've had it for about 6 months. I would not use this in a gig without a back up, this would probably be my backup's backup. The finish is weak and wears off quick. // 5

Impression: I play metalcore and hardcore, it works okay. I have a feeling if I ever played a live gig with it, I would probably break it. I wish I had played it more before I bought it. If this guitar was stolen I would not buy a new one, I would probably get an Ibanez of some sort. I love the way it looks, I hate ESP's crappy quality control. The best feature would definatly be the looks. I wish this guitar had better sounds pickups and perhaps better quality control. // 5