Guitar Stuff » march-metal-madness

ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Guitar

Matt — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 13:20:38 +0000

When Fender bought out Jackson Guitars Alexi was told it would take 1 year for them to build him a new signature guitar. When ESP told him it would only take them 3 months it was a no-brainer for him to switch. The Alexi Laiho signature is basically a Jackson RR Custom clone with some added visual flair.

The design of the guitar plays on the black pinstripe on white look that the Jackson RR1 Rhoads has, but with a more stylized look. The shark fin points on the body are straighter and slightly curved as opposed to the true edges on the RR.

Like the more expensive Jackson RR models the Alexi ESP is designed with neck-through-body construction for maximum sustain. The body is made of alder and the neck is made with maple with an ebony fingerboard. The 24 XJ frets are decorated with custom saw tooth inlays.

For a $4000 suggested retail guitar I am a little shocked by this: the guitar only has one EMG HZ-4 Pickup in the bridge position and one volume control. For the minimalists it may be great but to me that just seems like a rip. Alexi being another avid tremolo user his guitar has an original Floyd Rose tremolo bridge.

Feature Summary

Alder Body/Maple Neck/Ebony Fingerboard
Neck-thru-body construction
4 XJ Frets/Saw blade Pearl Inlays
1 EMG-HZ H-4 Pickup in the Bridge
Original Floyd Rose Tremolo

This is probably the least impressive guitar I have looked at this week. It is basically a Jackson RR1 with one less pickup. Besides its rad paint job it doesn’t have much going for it.

That raps up my 7 day look at metal guitars. You can check out all of the previous posts here:

Dean USA Razorback Tribute Dimebag Darrell Signature Guitar

Matt — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 02:41:02 +0000

Dimebag had always been a Dean player in his youth. His first Dean was a cherry sunburst ML bought for him by his father and his second a Dean that he won in a playing competition. The guitar he won later became his most popular guitar, the custom lighting bolt painted Cowboy from Hell.

When Dean went out of business in the mid 80’s Dimebag became a Washburn promoter. In 2004, not long before Dime’s death the Dean company was reopened by Dean Zelinsky and Dimebag was brought back on as an endorser. The Razorback Tribute has been released along with a range of reissued ML guitars in Dimebag’s name.

The Razorback Tribute guitar is similar to the ML in many ways but has been updated with a modern body design. The points of the ML have been made jagged to simulate a razor’s edge and the body has been finished with a hand airbrushed rusted metal finish. To top it off the headstock is decorated with a tribute Dimebag Darrell crest.

Although Dime used Dean and Bill Lawrence pickups in his personal guitars, the Razorback has a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker Signature pickup in the bridge position and a MiMarzio rhythm pickup at the neck. Don’t worry though; the Seymour’s were still approved by the man himself. Dimebag is a pioneer when it comes to metal and the use of a tremolo bridge. Only a Floyd Rose Tremolo was good enough for the Razorback.

Mahogany was used to build both the body and the set neck which has a rosewood fingerboard. The fingerboard is inlayed with pearl wings and a razorblade on 10th fret. Dimebag choose Grover tuners and black hardware to finish the look of this guitar. If you ask me the guitar is a little over the top price wise at $3699 from Musicians Friend. But there may be a big enough market in Dean and Dimebag fans to sell the guitar. Musicians Friend will get their next shipment on June 2nd 2006, so place your orders now.

Feature Summary

Mahogany body/Set Mahogany Neck/Rosewood Fingerboard
Seymour Duncan Dimebucker bridge pickup
DiMarzio neck pickup
Floyd Rose tremolo bridge
Grover tuners/Black hardware/Dimebag Tribute crest on the headstock
Comes with certificate of authenticity and Dimebag tribute photo

The guitar is definitely too expensive for my taste, but if you ask me it screams Dean and Dimebag. It would be a great performance guitar.

Read the other posts in this series:

Jackson RR1 Randy Rhoads Signature Guitar

Matt — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 13:12:08 +0000

Randy Rhoads designed this guitar and approved its prototype before he passed. It’s a shame he didn’t live to see this wonderful guitar come to production. Randy will forever be known as one of metal’s most talented and influential guitarists. So many of today’s guitar players were influenced by the man who made Ozzy and the Jackson RR1 Rhoads Signature screams just like Randy would have wanted.

The RR1 is Jackson’s most popular signature guitar, and not only for its name. The alder body and maple neck are built together in a neck-thru design. Neck-thru gives the guitar much more sustain than the cheaper bolt-on neck option.

The ebony fingerboard is decorated with the classic Jackson shark fin mother-of-pearl inlays. The headstock mounts die-cast tuners and Jackson logo inlay. In the bridge position there is a Seymour Duncan JB TB4 Humbucking pickup and in the neck there is a Seymour Duncan Jazz SH2N. For switching the RR1 Rhoads has a 3-way toggle switch. Since Randy incorporates tremolo into so much of his music the guitar has an original Floyd Rose Double Locking 2-Point Tremolo.

The unique body shape of this guitar is very popular among metal guitarists. This was Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom’s guitar of choice before he signed with ESP to create a signature of his own. The guitar is available in over 25 different finishes.

Feature Summary

Alder body with maple top/Maple neck/Ebony Fingerboard
22 jumbo frets with shark fin inlays
Seymour Duncan JB TB4 in the bridge/Jazz SH2N in the neck
3-way pickup switch
2 tone/1 volume control
Floyd Rose Original double locking 2-point tremolo
25+ different finish styles

I have been eyeing up the RR1 Rhoads Signature guitar for a few months now. My current electric guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul standard. While it does get the job done, I would really like something with a neck-thru design and a tremolo bridge. Maybe once I pay my car loan off I will be able to afford it.

Read the other posts in this series:

ESP Ninja 600 Michael Amott Signature Guitar Review

Matt — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:15:30 +0000

As we all know ESP is pretty much the guitar when it comes to metal. The company has 17 different signature models and most of them are for metal guitarists. The first thing that catches my eye about the Ninja is it has this classic flying-v look with an edge. The guitar was introduced like many others at 2006’s NAMM show. It comes in black and has chrome hardware and chrome pick guard.

Some of the features of the guitar include a set neck, 2 volume controls, a 3-way pickup switch, and Seymour Duncan pickups with a JB at the bridge and a 59 at the neck. For the shredder in us all the headstock sports Sperzel locking tuners and 22 XJ frets. To add that extra signature look the rosewood fingerboard has X shaped ninja star inlays.

In addition to the standard version there is also a lower end LTD model. From the specs on the ESP website the LTD only looses the Schaller Straplocks and the Gotoh tune-o-matic is replaced with a generic tune-o-matic bridge. However, there must be more to have a $2600 USD price difference.

To sum up the features of the ESP Ninja 600 Michael Amott Signature

Set-neck construction
24.75” scale
Mahogany body
3-piece mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard
22 XJ frets with custom “x” inlays
Seymour duncan JB (b) / 59 (n) pickups
2 volume, controls w/3-way toggle
Chrome hardware
Sperzel locking tuners
Bone nut
Schaller straplocks
Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge w/stop tailpiece

Check out the ESP Ninja Michael Amott Signature at the ESP website.

Read the other posts in this series:

Guitar Reviews: March Metal Madness

Matt — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 13:30:47 +0000

Unless you haven’t picked up on it yet, I’m a pretty big metal fan. I was thinking about doing a series of review posts on some guitars commonly used by metal guitarists.

To finish off the month of March, over the next 7 days we will look at 7 different signature metal guitars. Each of the signature guitars is from one of my favorite guitarists.

The guitars I plan on reviewing are as follows:

So, check back tomorrow for first on the list, the Yngwie Malmsteen Fender Strat.