LTD MH-230QM - opinions?

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this guitar (or similar ones in the LTD family)?

It has the right kind of visual aesthetic for me, and I’ve watched a few review/demo videos which all seemed fairly positive. The only thing that gives me pause is the volume knob sitting right up close to the strings so I might end up bumping into it. One reviewer called that out as a problem. I currently have a similar issue with the selector switch on my Squier bullet strat.

Still a bit confused about why there’s a MH-230QM and also a MH-203QM, seems like they are the same thing but maybe for different regional markets?

I will try to get out to my local music shop and see if I can test drive one.

Great idea. And test drive it for as long as possible before you decide. I learned this the hard way. Make no assumptions about the guitar.

Sounds like you’ve got a story to tell there, Tony. Did you have a particular guitar shopping experience that didn’t go well? I would like to hear more details.

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I bought a guitar and when I tried it I noticed the tone wasn’t what I expected yet I convinced myself I just needed to play it a bit more and it would come good. It never did. Part of my comments relate to the psychology of buying something and how we try to convince ourselves of things that aren’t true to justify the purchase. The problem with this guitar was that it just didn’t have the projection (volume) I needed. It was an acoustic guitar and I play mostly fingerstyle so volume is definitely needed

It’s a lot easier to buy an instrument than it typically is to sell one.

In the case of the guitar I’m talking about it was very much to my benefit that I bought it 2nd hand and I was able to sell it some time later without losing much money.

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psychology of buying something and how we try to convince ourselves of things that aren’t true to justify the purchase

For sure, “choice-supportive bias” is a well-documented and fascinating effect. And the more we spend, the more powerfully that bias kicks in. It’s a tricky one to mitigate.

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I had an ESP hollow body nylon electric. I think they make quality instruments, but mine was soooo different than what you are looking at I can’t compare.

Interesting when I look the 230 and 203 up, the MH-230QM says “internaonly”. The 203 does not. I am in the US.

Also, looking just at the picture on the ESP website they are very different. One has two humbuckers and the other one with two singles. Switching is different too.

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One thing that I would point out is that both have Floyd rose licensed trems, the genuine ones are a so and so to set up especially when it comes to string changing time! The licensed ones are a bit of a mixed bag some are good, some are not!
As regards the pickups, the HSS one would be more versatile than the HH one; the HH one is a Rock/Metal machine whereas the HSS could do those plus Blues and othe genres as well. You can of course set the trem up locked down so it won’t move in which case you won’t have any tuning stability issues.

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Thanks Darrell. All of this technical gear stuff is still very new to me. I only learned about Floyd Rose for the first time yesterday while reading up on ESP. I have never even installed the whammy bar in my Squier strat. Haven’t yet learned to appreciate the differences in the styles of pickup. May be a sign that I’m getting ahead of myself in thinking about buying a fancy guitar at this stage! But it looks so cool …

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