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tjon901 « The other guy in Slayers' guitar »
Published on 12/21/11 at 08:39This is the ESP Jeff Hanneman signature model. Jeff has been playing ESP guitars for a long time and they have put out quite a few models for him. The biggest difference on them is the paintjob and the choice of inlays. Lower end models also get a more common tremolo system. This guitar is kind of old school in its hardware. The guitar has an alder body with a neck through maple neck. The neck has a super thin u shape. The neck has an ebony fretboard with 24 jumbo frets. The fretboard has H and Dagger inlays. Up top there are Grover tuners and down at the bottom is an old school Kahler floating tremolo with a locking nut. The pickups are active EMG with an 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. The controls are simple with a volume and tone with a 3 way toggle switch. The guitar is topped off with the Urban Camo paintjob that covers the front and back of the guitar.
UTILIZATION
If you are not use to Kahler tremolos you might not like this guitar. They have a quite different feel than the more popular Floyd Rose systems. Back in the 80s you could get both but Kahler went out of business and you could only get Floyds for a long time. Now Kahler is back and you can get them and they are back on some signature model guitars. The Kahler has a more heavy duty build than a Floyd Rose. If you are working your tremolo hard like Slayer does you might want a Kahler. The neck is thin and the fretboard is flat and the frets are big. This lets you get a super low action on the strings. The ebony fretboard feels great under your fingers. This is a made in Japan ESP so the fit and finish is custom shop quality.
SOUNDS
With the alder body and maple neck through neck you get the classic 80s high end sound. This sound can really cut through the mix and the EMG's just amplify that. The natural tone of the guitar is pretty bright and the 81 in the bridge is a bright pickup so this guitar really cuts. The sound is super crisp. The 81 is a classic metal pickup. It has an old school high end sound for when cutting through lots of effects was important. Nowadays the pickups are great for clarity when running a ton of gain and tuning low. When you are playing superfast you need a super clear pickup to get the sound right. The 85 in the neck is like the 81s brother. They can be interchanged and I think the 85 is more versatile. It has a fuller less high endy sound so it has a bit of a smoother tone which is great for leads and better for cleans. If you want both the pickups to sound even better you can do the 18v mod which I think Slayer uses. This is when you run the pickups on 2 batteries instead of 1 and it gives you an even clearer sound but also more organic in nature.
OVERALL OPINION
Normally a signature guitar with a painjob like this would stand out but ESP paints normal non signature guitars like this so it isnt that bad. The inlays dont stand out that much. If you like Kahler tremolos there arent many guitars out on the market for you. This is one of the few models you can buy new with a Kahler on it. If you arent into the Urban Paint job you can get this model in black also which is always in style. If you are looking for an old school shredder with active pickups and the Kahler feel this guitar is one fo the few out there that fills that void.
UTILIZATION
If you are not use to Kahler tremolos you might not like this guitar. They have a quite different feel than the more popular Floyd Rose systems. Back in the 80s you could get both but Kahler went out of business and you could only get Floyds for a long time. Now Kahler is back and you can get them and they are back on some signature model guitars. The Kahler has a more heavy duty build than a Floyd Rose. If you are working your tremolo hard like Slayer does you might want a Kahler. The neck is thin and the fretboard is flat and the frets are big. This lets you get a super low action on the strings. The ebony fretboard feels great under your fingers. This is a made in Japan ESP so the fit and finish is custom shop quality.
SOUNDS
With the alder body and maple neck through neck you get the classic 80s high end sound. This sound can really cut through the mix and the EMG's just amplify that. The natural tone of the guitar is pretty bright and the 81 in the bridge is a bright pickup so this guitar really cuts. The sound is super crisp. The 81 is a classic metal pickup. It has an old school high end sound for when cutting through lots of effects was important. Nowadays the pickups are great for clarity when running a ton of gain and tuning low. When you are playing superfast you need a super clear pickup to get the sound right. The 85 in the neck is like the 81s brother. They can be interchanged and I think the 85 is more versatile. It has a fuller less high endy sound so it has a bit of a smoother tone which is great for leads and better for cleans. If you want both the pickups to sound even better you can do the 18v mod which I think Slayer uses. This is when you run the pickups on 2 batteries instead of 1 and it gives you an even clearer sound but also more organic in nature.
OVERALL OPINION
Normally a signature guitar with a painjob like this would stand out but ESP paints normal non signature guitars like this so it isnt that bad. The inlays dont stand out that much. If you like Kahler tremolos there arent many guitars out on the market for you. This is one of the few models you can buy new with a Kahler on it. If you arent into the Urban Paint job you can get this model in black also which is always in style. If you are looking for an old school shredder with active pickups and the Kahler feel this guitar is one fo the few out there that fills that void.