I already have an electric guitar, it's Epiphone Les Paul Standard. It's great guitar and I like it.
I play in a band and we use Standard D tuning.
But I also wanted to play music in Standard E/Drop D tunings, so I needed another guitar. And my final decision was this beautiful ESP LTD EC-256.
Because it has a split coil, I thought that I will use it for Standard E/Drop D, but my guitar luthier said, that it would be better to set LTD to Standard D and Epiphone to Standard E.
So I accepted it, and now I play on the LTD in my band.
In comparison with the Epiphone, the LTD is 1 kg lighter, 1 cm thinner, so it is more comfortable to play while you stand.
The LTD's neck is thicker.
The LTD is made in Indonesia, my Epiphone is made in China.
As for me, both guitars sound pretty the same. The sound is good, but maybe I'll change pickups (on the Epi too), and my guitar luthier also said this.
Also he said that guitar is good, it has better bridge, but tuners are better on the Epi (it has Grover tuners). And he likes the Epi more, because it sounds more like a Gibson.
As for me, I also like the Epi more, but the LTD is also great.
The LTD has more metal shape:) The Epiphone is more classic.