ESP Horizon FR-27

This model has actually been available over in Europe for a bit now, but it's finally arrived on US shores. The guitar is like a standard Horizon, but you have a few extra frets. If you've ever seen the Kiko sig, or a Caparison Horus, you'll know exactly what this guitar is like. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck-thru design with an ebony fretboard, dot inlays with an ESP logo at the 12th fret, scalloped frets from 12 to 27, binding, an original floyd rose bridge, jumbo fretwire, HS configuration with one volume, one tone and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The craftsmanship on these ESP Standard series is pretty awesome for what you're getting. The frets were perfectly level. I was able to get some super sick action, even on the 12'' radius that this thing has. The ends were also beveled nicely so they don't slice your hand every time you play it. Access to the higher frets is a breeze thanks to the neck-thru design. You might have to think a little bit when trying to get to the higher frets as the extra ones might throw you off for a second, but with practice, it should become natural when it comes to reaching that 24th fret.

SOUNDS

The guitar has a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the neck. The Custom 5 is a great pickup. It has a nice bottom end, which is needed for this guitar, but it also has some aggression. However, don't think this is just a metal pickup. It can do cleans and midgain tones with ease. That's one of the benefits of the Alnico V magnet that they installed in this. The Duncan Hotrails is a pretty thick and powerful sounding pickup, but since it's moved back slightly, it's a bit cleaner sounding than what people are used to. That's something to keep in mind. The volume difference is also greater, so that's something else to keep in mind. Great pickups, overall.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been waiting for a guitar like this to hit the production market for quite awhile. While there are other brands out there that offer 27 frets, they're not exactly what I'm looking for. This has everything I'm looking for and without the crazy expensive price tag that some of the other 27 fret guitars have. If you happen to want to expand your range, take a look at this.