ESP LTD M-17 Review – Quality 7-String Axe on a Budget

Body And Neck:
Electronics:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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If you’re looking for a solid 7-string guitar with a limited budget, fear not – ESP LTD comes to the rescue (as usual…). Their M-17 is currently one of the most affordable 7-string electric guitars on the market, and impressed us enough to include in our chart of the best 7-string guitars. Let’s see what’s in store for beginners and those on a budget…

Body & Neck

For players familiar with the world of electric guitar, the design of the M-17 won’t surprise you – it’s classic ESP LTD, and exudes plenty of metal attitude. There’s a double-cutaway basswood body, enrobed in glossy black paintwork, that’s relatively lightweight and comfortable. It offers good access to the highest frets of the bolt-on maple neck.

The slim U-shaped neck is hugely playable – perfect for fast metal power-chords and solid shredding, with a rosewood fretboard and 22 extra-jumbo frets for easy string bending. Finishing off this M-17 is the distinctive ESP reverse headstock, with a 7-in-line tuner configuration. For one of the more affordable 7-string guitars, the craftsmanship on display is applaudable. It’s not flawless, with a few little paint defects and a set-up needed to get it playing perfectly, but nothing worth getting excited over.

Hardware

The affordable nature of this guitar shows in its hardware, which is pretty much all stock – but this is no bad thing, especially for the price. You get two ESP-designed passive LH-100 humbuckers at the neck and the bridge, which are controlled by a single volume and tone control knob, as well as a three-way pickup selector switch. The bridge is fixed, with the classic tune-o-matic design and a string-through body tailpiece. At the other end, the headstock is fitted with decent chrome tuners – nothing fantastic, but they do the job, even if the low B slipped a little now and again.

Sound

One of the first things you will notice is that, for such a dark, metal-geared axe, the M-17 offers surprisingly good clean tones, which are clear and bright. With distortion it’s aggressive and full-bodied, and the low-end rocks – deep and meaty. For rhythm players it’s excellent, although it’s slightly less impressive in the higher registers as it loses a little clarity with lots of distortion. But, for a budget model, it’s hard to complain about the tone on offer with the M-17.

Conclusion

LTD really know how to make a solid guitar that doesn’t break the bank – and their most affordable 7-string is a joy to play. It’s not perfect in its sound, but it’s pretty close. For beginners it’s an excellent model to consider, although experienced players wanting a sensibly-priced 7-string will also find plenty of use with the M-17.

For more info about the ESP LTD M-17, click here.
For more 7 String Electric Guitar you might like, click here.