Soon you’ll be a metal god and free ESPs will be delivered to your hotel suite with silk bows tied around the necks. Until then, you could do worse than consider the entry-level options from LTD.

Unless you actually are Kirk Hammett, and routinely find £499 down the back of your sofa, you’ll want justifcation for the MH-250’s price. You might find the hinges of your wallet loosen up after a perusal of the with an agathis body and quilted maple top carved into a tasty doublecut, a luxurious maple thru neck, and ESP’s coil-tappable ’buckers and vibrato.

We had our socks blown off by the budget LTD MH-103QM, and while we’ve raised the bar to reflect the price hike, this model still impresses. The thru neck plays fast and loose, its profile excelling at everything from position-shifting shred to emotive blues box solos.

Just wait until you seize the whammy; you’ll coax out a level of soul you never knew you had.

Verdict

If you’ve still got psychological hang-ups about playing LTD, they should evaporate when you crank those ESP humbuckers. Surprisingly smooth and distinguished when clean, they’re as mental as we hoped under gain, delivering a brick-wall Hetfield-style rhythm crunch and a white-hot lead tone that will even slice through that crap PA at the Dog & Bollock.

5 Stars

Pros: tone, thru neck, playability.
Cons: It’s the priciest contender.

Buy: LTD MH-250 is currently available from PMT Online.

Next: LAG Arkane A200ST