North Hollywood, CA (January 17, 2012) -- ESP Guitars has announced the additions to their line for 2012. The company has added a number of new colors to their Eclipse-II and Horizon line. In addition they've expanded the Horizon line, debuted a new design with the HRF, added new signature models for Kirk Hammett, Jeff Hanneman, Rob Caggiano, Frank Bello, Richard Z (Rammstein), and Michael Wilton (Queensryche).
Horizon FR-27 and FR-7
The Horizon FR-27 is a new model that features a 27-fret neck (with scalloped frets from 12-27), and neck-thru construction, Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (bridge) and Hot Rails (neck) pickups, and an original Floyd Rose bridge. Also new is the Horizon FR-7, which, like the name implies, adds a Floyd Rose bridge to this seven-string beast.
ESP HRF
The HRF is a new design from ESP that combines the body styling of the Horizon with the headstock of the F-Series (aka Forest) guitar. Available in Black, the HRF NT offers neck-thru construction, ebony fingerboard, and Seymour Duncan Blackout AHB-1 active pickups. The HRF NT-II adds a great-looking quilted maple top, and comes in See Thru Black Cherry (STBC), Black Aqua (BLKAQ), and Reindeer Blue (RDB).
Kirk Hammett Signature Models
Celebrating his 25th year as an ESP player, MetallicaŹ¼s Kirk Hammett has three new models. The ESP KH-DC and LTD KH-DC are a brand new double-cutaway body style based on the Eclipse/EC, with a set neck design at 24.75ā scale, and an attractive STBC (See Thru Black Cherry) finish on its flamed maple top. Like other EC models, the guitar offers a mahogany body and mahogany neck, with a rosewood fingerboard. The KH-DC features gold hardware, including gold-covered EMG 81 (bridge) and EMG 60 (neck) active pickups, and a Tonepros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece. The ESP version of the new Kirk Hammett model includes Sperzel locking tuners, while the LTD version offers ESP locking tuners.
The limited-edition LTD KH-25 has black distressed finish and graphics designed to emulate KirkŹ¼s famous KH-2 Vintage model. The KH-25 has bolt-on construction at 25.5" scale, with a basswood body, maple neck, and a Floyd Rose Special bridge. The guitar also features ESPŹ¼s new ALH-200 active pickups.
Jeff Hanneman Signature Models and Slayer-2012
Another long-time ESP player, SlayerŹ¼s Jeff Hanneman, is getting new signatures as well. The ESP Jeff Hanneman EC and LTD JH-600EC are customized versions of the Eclipse model, with a traditional thick body, black finish, and custom red upside-down star inlays on the neck. Also, a new limited edition model, the LTD SLAYER-2012, is being offered this year only, with graphics celebrating the 25th anniversary of SlayerŹ¼s āSouth of Heavenā album. ItŹ¼s a must-have for players and collectors alike.
Anthrax Signature Models
Based on his customized ESP Horizon, the ESP Rob Caggiano and LTD RC-600 are being offered in a STP (See Thru Purple) finish. The guitars use a bolt-on construction at 25.5ā scale, and have an ash body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard with custom inlays and glow-in-the-dark side markers. The instruments also feature two DiMarzio humbucking pickups, Tonepros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and Dunlop straplok hardware (the ESP version also includes Sperzel locking tuners, while the LTD version comes with ESP Locking tuners).
Anthrax bassist Frank Bello now also has ESP and LTD Signature Series basses! The ESP Frank Bello and LTD FB-4 are both based on the ESP Vintage-4 model, customized to BelloŹ¼s specifications with a Black Satin finish and black anodized aluminum pickguard, ebony fingerboard with black pearloid block inlays, EMG PJ-X active pickups and a Gotoh bridge. The basses feature bolt-on construction at 34" scale, an alder body, and maple neck with 21 XJ frets.
Richard Z (Rammstein)
The new Richard Z Kruspe (Rammstein) model is available! The ESP RZK-II Burnt is a true one-of-a-kind guitar with an outstanding distressed/burnt finish. Features include neck-thru-body construction, an alder body, mahogany neck, Gotoh tuners, Floyd Rose original bridge, and EMG 81 active pickups.Ā
Michael Wilton (QueensrĆæche)
QueensrĆæcheŹ¼s guitarist Michael Wilton gets the honor of having the first Signature Series acoustic model from ESP with the LTD MW-DC1E. ItŹ¼s a cutaway dreadnought shape with a spalted maple body top, back & sides, a B-Band T-55 4-band preamp with onboard tuner, diamond abalone inlays and a custom abalone/pearloid inlay at the 12th fret.
Additional Signature Models
In addition, ESP announced new LTD Signature Series models for the members of Whitechapel, LTD Signature Series models for the members of Suicide Silence, an LTD Signature Series model for Unearth guitarist Buz McGrath, and an LTD Signature Series bass for War and PHILM bassist Pancho Tomaseli.
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ESP Guitars
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Tom Bedell in the Relic Music acoustic room, holding a custom Seed to Song Parlor with a stunning ocean sinker redwood top and milagro Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
A born storyteller, Bedell doesnāt keep his passion to himself. On Friday, May 12, at New Jersey boutique guitar outpost Relic Music, Bedell shared some of the stories heās collected during his life and travels as part of a three-city clinic trip. At Relicāand stops at Crossroads Guitar and Art in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, and Chuck Levinās Washington Music Center in Wheaton, Marylandāhe discussed his guitars and what makes them so special, why sustainability is such an important cause, and how heās putting it into practice.
Before his talk, we sat in Relicās cozy, plush acoustic room, surrounded by a host of high-end instruments. We took a look at a few of the storeās house-specād Bedell parlors while we chatted.
āThe story of this guitar is the story of the world,ā Bedell explained to me, holding a Seed to Song Parlor. He painted a picture of a milagro tree growing on a hillside in northeastern Brazil some 500 years ago, deprived of water and growing in stressful conditions during its early life. That tree was eventually harvested, and in the 1950s, it was shipped to Spain by a company that specialized in church ornaments. They recognized this unique specimen and set it aside until it was imported to the U.S. and reached Oregon. Now, it makes the back and sides of this unique guitar.
A Bedell Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides.
As for the ocean sinker redwood top, āIām gonna make up the story,ā Bedell said, as he approximated the life cycle of the tree, which floated in the ocean, soaking up minerals for years and years, and washed ashore on northern Oregonās Manzanita Beach. The two woods were paired and built into a small run of exquisitely outfitted guitars using the Bedell/Breedlove Sound Optimization processāin which the building team fine-tunes each instrumentās voice by hand-shaping individual braces to target resonant frequencies using acoustic analysisāand Bedell and his team fell in love.
Playing it while we spoke, I was smitten by this guitarās warm, responsive tone and even articulation and attack across the fretboard; it strikes a perfect tonal balance between a tight low-end and bright top, with a wide dynamic range that made it sympathetic to anything I offered. And as I swapped guitars, whether picking up a Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides or one with an Adirondack spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, the character and the elements of each instrument changed, but that perfect balance remained. Each of these acousticsāand of any Bedell Iāve had the pleasure to playādelivers their own experiential thumbprint.
Rosette and inlay detail on an Adirondack spruce top.
Ultimately, thatās what brought Bedell out to the East Coast on this short tour. āWe have a totally different philosophy about how we approach guitar-building,ā Bedell effused. āThere are a lot of individuals who build maybe 12 guitars a year, who do some of the things that we do, but thereās nobody on a production level.ā And he wants to spread that gospel.
āWe want to reach people who really want something special,ā he continued, pointing out that for the Bedell line, the company specifically wants to work with shops like Relic and the other stores heās visited, āwho have a clientele that says I want the best guitar I can possibly have, and they carry enough variety that we can give them that.ā
A Fireside Parlor with a Western red cedar top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
