Watch It First
Some guitars you buy because they are sensible. The ESP LTD Arrow-200 is not one of those guitars.
It is an Explorer that somebody took to a grinder, painted black, and bolted a Floyd Rose onto. There is no discreet way to own one of these.
I spent a good while with one because a mate kept asking me the same question: is the cheap Arrow actually any good, or is it just a shape you buy for the photos? Short version, it is genuinely good. But it has two or three quirks I want to get into before you hit the button.
The Bit Everyone Misses: It Is Not a Bolt-On
This is the headline for me. The Arrow-200 uses a set-thru maple neck glued deep into a mahogany body.
At this money that is rare. Most pointy metal guitars in the same bracket hand you four bolts and a heel like a doorstop, and then wonder why nobody plays above the 17th fret.
The Arrow-200 does not do that. The heel tapers away to almost nothing, and because the shape already gives you unobstructed access to the top of the neck, the last four frets are basically free real estate.
If you have read my ESP LTD H3-1000FR review, you will know I am a broken record about neck joints on metal guitars. This is the cheap end of that same philosophy, and it works.
Woods and Feel
Mahogany body, roasted jatoba fingerboard, 24 XJ frets. Scale is the standard 25.5 inches, so string tension feels normal rather than floppy.
The radius is 350 mm, roughly 13.8 inches, which is flat enough that low action does not choke bends. The neck profile is ESP thin U, and the nut is a narrow 42 mm.
If you have big hands and hate skinny necks, be warned. This is a shredder profile and it makes no apology for it.
The Floyd Rose Special: Love It or Leave It
The Arrow-200 ships with a Floyd Rose Special, not a genuine Original. That means a cheaper base plate, a zinc block instead of steel, and saddles that will not last forever if you dive-bomb like a lunatic every night.
Does it hold tune? Yes, once it is properly set up and the locking nut is done up. Mine stayed put through a fairly abusive hour.
But here is the honest bit. If you have never owned a Floyd, block out an afternoon. Restringing one is a genuinely annoying ritual and nobody tells you that at the point of sale.
FYI, swapping the block for a steel one later is a cheap upgrade that noticeably fattens up the low end. That is the first thing I would do.
Pickups: Two Humbuckers, One Volume, No Tone Knob
Read that again, because it caught me out too. The Arrow-200 has one volume control and a three-way toggle. That is the entire control layout.
No tone pot. Nothing to roll off. ESP clearly decided that anyone buying an arrow-shaped guitar is not going to be dialling in jazz tones, and honestly, they are not wrong.
The pickups are ESP-designed LH-150 humbuckers, passive, and hotter than you expect for a set of house-brand ceramics. Palm-muted chugs come out tight and aggressive with a slightly scooped, modern voice.
Cleans? Technically, Yes
Neck pickup on a clean amp is perfectly usable for arpeggios and quiet intros. It is not sparkly, and without a tone control you cannot round off the top end, so it can get a bit brittle.
Would I gig a covers set on it? No. Would I play an entire thrash set on it and never miss the tone knob? Absolutely.
If you want more range from the same brand, the pickups in something like the Fishman-loaded ESP LTD MH-1000 are a different world, but so is the price tag.
Where It Sits in the Pointy-Guitar Pile
We have covered a lot of angular guitars on here lately, so let me place this one properly.
- Gibson 70s Explorer — the ancestor, and roughly five times the money. Warmer, blunter, no trem.
- Epiphone Explorer — the cheap classic-rock route. Rounder shape, fixed bridge, far less aggressive.
- Jackson Kelly JS32 — the budget rival with a similar attitude but a bolt-on neck.
- Epiphone Flying V 70s — if you want pointy but with vintage manners.
The Arrow-200 is the one in that list built specifically for modern metal, and the only one at this price with a neck-thru-style joint and a locking trem together.
Living With an Arrow-Shaped Guitar
Strapped on, it balances better than it looks. The long lower wing does the work and the neck does not dive, which is more than I can say for some V shapes.
Sitting down is a different story. You perch it on your right leg in classical position, or you put it back on the stand. There is no third option, lol.
Also budget for a case. Standard gig bags do not fit this thing and you will feel silly discovering that in a car park.
The Niggles
- No tone control at all — a genuine limitation, not a design flourish.
- Floyd Rose Special is fine but not lovely. Steel block upgrade recommended.
- The gloss black finish is a fingerprint magnet of the highest order.
- Factory setup on mine had the action a little high and the trem slightly sharp. Half an hour of fiddling sorted it.
- It will not fit your existing case. Sorry.
Specs at a Glance
- Body: mahogany
- Neck: set-thru maple, thin U profile
- Fingerboard: roasted jatoba, 350 mm radius
- Frets: 24 XJ
- Scale: 648 mm (25.5″)
- Nut width: 42 mm, locking nut
- Pickups: ESP-designed LH-150N neck and LH-150B bridge humbuckers, passive
- Controls: 1 volume, 3-way toggle
- Bridge: Floyd Rose Special tremolo
- Hardware: black
- Finish: Black gloss
Final Verdict
The Arrow-200 punches well above its money, and it does it in the one area that actually matters for playability: the neck joint.
You are getting a set-thru mahogany metal guitar with a locking trem and 24 frets at a price where most rivals are still handing you bolt-ons and a hardtail. That is a genuinely good deal.
The missing tone control is the one thing that would stop me making it my only guitar. Pair it with something more versatile — a LTD EC-256 or anything with a full control set — and you have a very tidy two-guitar rig.
IMO, if you want a first proper metal guitar and the shape does not scare you, this is one of the smartest buys in the LTD range. Just make friends with the Floyd first.
