Wizard of Ozz
Well-known member
Porn first:
Big Het & Metallica fan in general and former ESP Custom owner. Mainly only play Gibson Custom Shop Historic Reissue Les Pauls... so I thought it time for some more metal oriented axes. Hence, these two fine specimens. Sorry no outdoor pics as it has been raining a lot... and I don't have a proper stand to hold these sorta shapes anyway. Accident waiting to happen.
These are the Japan Custom Shop models and they both feel and play like it. The quality is apparent as soon as you get them in your hands. Fretwork is amazeballs. All fret ends are rounded, smooth, polished. Checked all the frets on both with my fret rocker... zero issues... perfect. Score. Both intonate dead-nuts on with no real tweaking needed. The satin finish is the big winner here... it makes the necks feel great, fast, and effortless. It will get shiny from use over time... but it looks killer and the feel is amazing.
The necks are a little thinner than I thought they'd be with Het being a big guy... but they are indeed as advertised the "thin U" shape. The 12 fret inlays on both look killer in-person. Much better than any pics I've seen. They are indeed mother of pearl, not plastic inlays. The cherry on the sundae is the ebony boards on both. Raw, unfinished, uncoated, unlaquered jet black smooth tight grained ebony. I'm stickler about ebony boards. Many past CS ESP I've seen with coated, lacquered ebony boards (not just high polished)... but these are right up to my definition of perfect. All uniformly jet black, no streaks, no fish eyes, zero imperfections. They don't looked dyed either which only further impresses.
Both guitars are pretty near identical spec-wise apart from the shapes and inlays. The Vulture has Gotoh locking tuners and Schaller locking tuners on the Snake. Not sure why the change. Both are pretty lightweight too... both are under 8.5 pounds.
Anywho... Yes... there are lots of choices for $4K each... but if you're a Hetfield fan, and you like the specs, I'd suggest checking one or both out. Also, worth mentioning as a big former Jackson Custom Shop user, these are head-n-shoulders above anything I've played recently in the last few years from Jackson. Better woods, fit and finish, no cosmetic issues, no uneven frets or dead spots way up the neck near the heel.
Big Het & Metallica fan in general and former ESP Custom owner. Mainly only play Gibson Custom Shop Historic Reissue Les Pauls... so I thought it time for some more metal oriented axes. Hence, these two fine specimens. Sorry no outdoor pics as it has been raining a lot... and I don't have a proper stand to hold these sorta shapes anyway. Accident waiting to happen.
These are the Japan Custom Shop models and they both feel and play like it. The quality is apparent as soon as you get them in your hands. Fretwork is amazeballs. All fret ends are rounded, smooth, polished. Checked all the frets on both with my fret rocker... zero issues... perfect. Score. Both intonate dead-nuts on with no real tweaking needed. The satin finish is the big winner here... it makes the necks feel great, fast, and effortless. It will get shiny from use over time... but it looks killer and the feel is amazing.
The necks are a little thinner than I thought they'd be with Het being a big guy... but they are indeed as advertised the "thin U" shape. The 12 fret inlays on both look killer in-person. Much better than any pics I've seen. They are indeed mother of pearl, not plastic inlays. The cherry on the sundae is the ebony boards on both. Raw, unfinished, uncoated, unlaquered jet black smooth tight grained ebony. I'm stickler about ebony boards. Many past CS ESP I've seen with coated, lacquered ebony boards (not just high polished)... but these are right up to my definition of perfect. All uniformly jet black, no streaks, no fish eyes, zero imperfections. They don't looked dyed either which only further impresses.
Both guitars are pretty near identical spec-wise apart from the shapes and inlays. The Vulture has Gotoh locking tuners and Schaller locking tuners on the Snake. Not sure why the change. Both are pretty lightweight too... both are under 8.5 pounds.
Anywho... Yes... there are lots of choices for $4K each... but if you're a Hetfield fan, and you like the specs, I'd suggest checking one or both out. Also, worth mentioning as a big former Jackson Custom Shop user, these are head-n-shoulders above anything I've played recently in the last few years from Jackson. Better woods, fit and finish, no cosmetic issues, no uneven frets or dead spots way up the neck near the heel.
I just wished they stayed white, I should play mine more but man that nasty tooth yellow it turned to just doesn't do it for me.
I've got more than a few wired up that way, too. 