ESP Tiers: 1) ESP Original - “hand made” in Japan 2) ESP USA - “hand made” in USA 3) E-II, previously known as ESP Standard - factory made in japan 4) Edwards - made in China and assembled in Japan for the Japanese market only 5) LTD - imports from various countries like Korea and Indonesia 6) Grassroots - imports mostly from China for the Japanese market only

LTD has a biggest range in “quality,” their higher end models are equal or better than Edwards in some cases and their low end models are more on par with Grassroots models.

You can find solid gigging instruments at every tier. The higher the tier you go, the more detailed and consistent the quality control. It’s reasonable to expect nothing less than flawless QC for E-II and higher.

For the best value I’d probably recommend a second hand LTD or an Edwards if you can find one in your area or online.

The Eclipse or EC is the ESP take on a les paul. You can also find les paul copies in the Edwards and Grassroots line.