ESP LTD TE-200 SW

I like to start by saying the guitar plays very well but…you can’t take it out if the box and tune like other brands out there…here we go:

The neck finish. There isn’t really a finish. The neck is quite dry. The binding is not really that good, but it’s only noticeable with the guitar face up. If you’re in too minor details, you’ll find them, maybe not what you’re looking for. But for this price...

If the strings were any higher, I would need to involve air traffic control.

The frets are clean, but not polished. They are not sharp, they just need to be filled a pinch more.

The pickups have little wires sticking a little out on the side (right guitar facing up). I’ve only ever seen that in much cheaper guitars., so that’s disappointing.

The sound - It’s very good, very high output pickups, the neck isn’t sticky, the intonation is very good. This alone is worth the annoyances I described.

For this price, I would have hope it came with a little bit better quality and craftsmanship. So if you want as guitar that you can finish yourself and that it sounds good, this is a good buy.

I've been playing the ESP LTD TE-200 SW since 2020, and it's been my favorite guitar ever since. I was immediately drawn to its modern aesthetic and how naturally it handled metal riffs. Over the years, it's proven itself to be a real workhorse - reliable, comfortable, and inspiring.

The overall build quality is good for its class, although as expected, the black hardware shows some wear over time. The stock LH-150 pickups deliver a solid drive and tight bass at high gain, which is good for heavier styles, although they lack some finesse on clean tones.

Now, five years later, I feel like it's the perfect time to give this guitar a new lease of life: upgrading the pickups and electronics, and maybe even replacing some of the hardware. I am confident that with these improvements it will be ready to deliver even more power in the coming years.