Review: Esp Ltd MH-1007 ET with video sample

Hello and welcome to this week's article!
Today we are reviewing the Ltd MH-1007 ET, which is a more premium version of a guitar I used to own for about 6 years and loved: the Ltd MH-417.

During these last 6 years the MH-417 has been my main 7 strings guitar, I have gotten acquainted to its neck (which is slightly thicker than an Ibanez but thinner than a Gibson or Fender) and I have used it to play live and record in studio, even if I had to change the pickups with others which would enhance the top end, because the overall tone with the Emg-707 was a bit dark, probably also because of the wood and the coating.

During these years as I said I have learned to love this guitar shape and playability, but then recently I wanted to try an Evertune bridge (Click here for a dedicated article), therefore after having tried other brands, I have decided to stay with this model and buy the 1007 ET version.

The Ltd MH-1007 is a made in Korea set through guitar, meaning that the neck is glued to the body but somewhere in the middle, making it a halfway between a set neck and a neck through body; the wood is mahogany with maple cap (therefore a bit brighter than a mahogany-only body), and it features an ebony fingerboard (Macassar Ebony, which is the Indonesian variety).

Size and shape are the same of the other versions of the MH line, so 25.5 inches scale, same radius, nut width etc, but the tuners here are Grover, there are Emg 81-7H and 85-7H pickups, 24 extra Jumbo frets, and binding both in the body and in the fretboard.

About the Evertune, it is really magical: it takes some time to set it up properly, let's say if to make a complete setup of fixed bridge guitar takes around 30 minutes, with the Evertune bridge it takes about twice as much if you want to fine tune perfectly the intonation, but once it's done it's really done, and it doesn't need any mantainance, even if you change the strings (as long as they are the same gauge, obviously).
The Evertune gives its best in studio, when also a note that is slightly flat or sharp by few decimals of tone can have a big impact in the final song, and even if I admit that it makes the guitar a bit heavier and has an impact on the bendings (after all there is always a spring pulling against your strenght), the upside in terms of tuning precision and stability outshines any minor setback, so I really suggest anyone to give it a chance.

In terms of tone it is very balanced, the 2 Emg 81 and 85 -7H (H stands for Hum Cap, which is the classic, not-soapbar shape) are basically the same of the regular 81 and 85, although the eq on paper is slightly different:

81-7

Resonant Frequency (KHz) 1.45
Output Voltage (String) 2.00
Output Voltage (Strum) 4.50
Output Noise (60 Hz) -106

81-7H

Resonant Frequency (KHz) 1.63
Output Voltage (String) 3.00
Output Voltage (Strum) 4.50
Output Noise (60 Hz) -100

The tone is very aggressive and classically metal, the Emg 81 doesn't really need introductions, but in general this is a full featured professional guitar, one of the best I have ever owned, and I suggest anyone to check it out.

Thumbs up!


Specs taken from the website:


- CONSTRUCTION: Set-Thru

- SCALE: 25.5"

- BODY: Mahogany w/ Maple Cap

- NECK: 3Pc Maple

- FINGERBOARD: Macassar Ebony

- FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 350mm

- FINISH: BLACK

- NUT WIDTH: 48mm

- NUT TYPE: Molded

- NECK CONTOUR_ Thin U

- FRETS/TYPE: 24 XJ

- HARDWARE COLOR: Black

- STRAP BUTTON: Standard

- TUNERS: Grover

- BRIDGE: Evertune (F model)

- NECK PU: EMG 85-7H

- BRIDGE PU: EMG 81-7H

- ELECTRONICS: Active

- ELECTRONICS LAYOUT: Vol/Tone/3-Way Switch

- STRINGS: D'Addario XL110-7 (.010/.013/.017/.026/.036/.046/.059)


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