ESP Custom Shop

2003 Japan Custom Axe. 24 EJ frets (1-5/8), Alder Body, Hard Maple neck-thru with rosewood fretboard, Original recessed floyd with locking nut and deluxe gotoh tuners, 2 EMG-81 and black finish... no bindings or any other shit... as simple as that... It was a simple guitar... a KH-2 neck-thru with no skulls&crossbones inlays and NO "KH" on the headstock.
well, I had both the KH-2 and this one that, as i said, should be practically the same, and there was in no way any equal point between them, the KH-2 looked like a Epiphone low-series LesPaul in front of a Gibson Deluxe... I sold my KH-2. Never, never! I had seen a guitar so perfectly build... NEVER!!!

The sound... PERFECT... well, let's say (as everybody has its own preferences) that it was just what I wanted. I chose the woods and the pick-ups to get that full-gain metal sound with hours of sustain and I got it. Though I am recently discovering that it can adapt well to anything you throw on her, like blues and some old-school rock 'n roll...

The guitar was perfect, the action: PER-FECT!!! I didn't even had to tune anything!!! it was just taking it out of the box and start rocking!!!

I think so, though I won't use it as my gig guitar... I have my RR for that (also ESP Custom), this one is reserved to play at home and for recording sessions...

ESP guys were really friendly and quite fast with all my little changes... They lasted 4 months in getting the guitar and everything went great...

I have been playing for 5 years almost and I have had:
Jackson PS-1
Ibanez JEM 555
Fender Strat YJM
ESP KH-2
Jackson Custom
ESP Custom
ESP Custom RR style
Suzuki Acoustic (more than 30 years old!!!)

Now the KH-2 and the First jackson are gone... the rest are still there... I use a Marshall TSL 100 Head with a 1960A 4x12 Cab through the PODpro.

This is a ESP Custom Shop Les Paul Custom with the Zakk Wylde Black/white Bullseye paintjob. Basically a copy of the Gibson Signature model.I ordered it in Summer 01, and received it 3/16/02. It was made in Japan. It has 22 frets, EMG 81/85 (Zakk Wylde setup). Tune O Matic/Stop bar. The body is Mahogany, the neck is Maple(no finish), and the fretboard is Ebony. The maple top for the body jacked to price up about a grand, so I decided I didn't want one that bad! It has locking Spertzel tuners. I told them to put the biggest frets they could find on this baby. It came with an awesome hardshell case with alluminum edges. Also came with 5 sets of strings, one ESP strap, 5 cans of various fretboard sprays, and a certificate from the president of ESP. It says that this is a one of a kind, blah, blah, blah.

The sound kicks ass. Pretty much what you would expect from EMGs! You just can't go wrong if you want a heavy sound.

The setup is perfect. The neck feels like the big end of a baseball bat. I think it feels very comfortable in my hands, though. I was very surprised. The guitar just flat out kicks ass. Easily the best guitar I have. Also the most expensive by far, so I can't say that I'm surprised by it. I have an ESP KH-2 sig(EMG 81s), a CUSTOM ESP Explorer(EMG 81/85), A Gibson Les Paul Custom (EMG 81/85), these are them best that I have. The Bullseye tops them all. I did have to install straplocks, I forgot to add them on thecustom list! ha! No big deal, that was my damn fault. The finish is killer! I had a custom design for the headstock. The writing is in Old English. Where it would say "Gibson", it says "ESP." Where the split diamond inlay would be, it says "SDMF." This guitar looks BAD ASS!!!

To be honest, I've only had it a week. It feels pretty damn solid to me. A little lighter than my Gibson LP Custom, I'm guessing it's the lack of a maple top. I would guess that the finish will get worn down eventually. I'm looking forward to the white paint and binding to age into yellow, though! I think this guitar will outlast me. Or my liver anyway! I plan on making this my main guitar. It just too cool!

I'm going to have to give them the lowest number on here. I have two other ESPs, one was also a custom order, and the service was great. But I've been frustrated as hell about this guitar. I was told it would be finished in December, January if it was late. January rolls around and I get excited. Nothing. My shop calls and the just tell him that the guitar isn't finished yet. i get this same "not finished yet" bullshit every week until mid February. Then they say they are painting it. It will be done in the beginning of March. March 14, I went into the shop and told him to call and find out EXACTLY what the fuck was going on. I was two days away from cancelling the order. It came in on the 16th. They are damn lucky, I was ready to just use my money on a Gibson.

I'm giving it a ten on quality. The service sucked ass. I was bordering on going up to the ESP shop in Tokyo and just kicking somebody's ass. If it was stolen or lost? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You wouldn't get very far with it! It's not like there are a bunch of these things out there. The headstock inlay makes it pretty unique. But I would probably just buy a Gibson if it was stolen. I'm not waiting 9 months again, that's bullshit! This guitar is definately the brightest star in my collection. I love it! I have some nice guitars, but this is the best. The only bitch I have is the way ESP blew me off while making the guitar. I have a very strong suspicion that it could have been done MUCH sooner. In fact i heard of an ad on Japanese Yahoo about how to push your guitar through the ESP Custom Shop faster. I bet it sat for weeks at a time. Fuckers. I will never order a Custom Shop ESP again. I have no problem with a used guitar, or a guitar that is already made! ha! But I will NOT wait for those losers to make a new one.

i wanted the KH2 but i cant stand bolt on necks so i custom ordered one. it was almost twice the price but shit it was worth it. Since it was custom ordered, i could get anything i wanted. The KH2 offers rosewood fretboard and i changed mine to ebony, stayed with the skull and crossbone inlays. I got neck thru, floyd, no locking nut cuz i ordered sperzels. Thru in an EMG 85 in the bridge and an 81 in the neck and got the neck oiled. black finish.

Sounds great, i play speed metal like King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Megadeth, Iced Earth and the like. I also study music and teach. Surprisingly this thing is great for classical and jazz too.

low mother fucking action. Fucking amazing setup. Almost as good as my carvin.

got it 2 years ago nothing wrong with it. Its been on a million gigs and is still holdin up.

i used an online orderform and took it to sam ash to order it. i was pissed cuz it took 7 mos and my carvin only took 6 weeks.

couldnt be happier EXCEPT my carvin is just as good if not better (sniff sniff) and it cost me half of what the ESP cost. ive been playing 15 years since i was 10 and play thru a Boss GT-3 and a Mesa Triaxis and carvin cab. i feel if i was playing on a Crate practice amp and a zoom gfx707 this guitar would sound like shit. But i have great gear. if it were stolen, i would track the motherfucker who did it down and shoot him in his genitals then pour H2SO4 (Sulfuric Acid - day job = engineer) on the wound. if it was a woman then i would turn her into the police cuz im not a woman beater. I love the pickups probably the one thing thats better than the carvin. I hate the fact that its not as good as my DC400C and i paid 1300 for that.

made in 98 in usa(yeah baby) 22 frets. solid top. h/h config. emg81 in bridge, and a emg60 in the neck. active humbuckers. mahogany body and neck. black finish. explorer body tune o matic bridge gotoh tuners and a hard shell case

i play metal (ala metallica, godsmack, etc) and it suits the stlye excellently. this guitar kicks ass. if you dont own a esp custom shop guitar, get one. basically a james hetfield copy. with the emg 81 in there, ya know that i get great distortion. and the 60 gets a kickin clean sound. i play thru a mesa boogie dual rectifier 100watt head and marshall jcmc410a(slanted front) cab and marshall jcmc410b(straight front) cab.combined with my mesa boogie triaxis preamp i get THE ultimate metal tone. i am a big hetfield fan and i play rythem guitar like him so i afta hav those emg. overall, just a jh-2 guitar but it still kicks ass.

high action like i like and the guitar is great. my only complaint is that the input jack came loose once but i fixed that. i replaced those tuners with better ones and now its the ultimate guitar and i will never trade or buy a new one

hard as a rock and i would gig without a backup. strap buttons are good but the finish is sorta crappy but ok

5 year warranty but ive not goten a chance to deal with customer support yet

This guitar can be seen at: http://www.penaltykill.com/guitars/ It is an ESP One-of-a-kind guitar that was displayed at the '98 NAMM show. It has a Horizon body with an MII neck. The pickups are an ESP SH-100 (neck) and a Seymour Duncan TB-4 (Jeff Beck). It has a Schaller Floyd Rose, 24 fret neck, Rosewood board and a 3 way selector switch.

Sounds GREAT! The biggest surprise is the ESP single coil (although it is really NOT a single coil, just looks like one). This is a KILLER pickup. I love it to death. It has a super high output that works great with the SD JB in the bridge. I already knew I would love the JB because I have one in another guitar. This guitar is PERFECT for heavy metal music. No dislikes at all relating to sound.

This guitar has a radical (Alien Eye graphic) finish that is second to none. However, the clear coat has some subtle imperfections, a couple little bubbles or something. It is almost impossible to notice but I know it is there. Other than that, everything is perfect. The guitar plays great, was set-up perfectly and is my favorite guitar by far. I am going to dump a couple Jackson Soloist to buy another ESP.

This guitar is super thin. Under 2" in total body thickness. It is a little frail because of that. I had Shaller strap locks installed before I got the guitar. I really like the ESP (Schaller) Floyd Rose. It is smoother than the ones that come on Jacksons or the Ibanez Floyd. The finish should hold up fine.

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I have been playing over 20 years. I have a ton of gear including: a Jackson Soloist, Ibanez RG550 and 520,'84 Charvel and now this ESP. I am 100% satisfied with this guitar. It plays as good as it looks. I run the guitar into a JCM2000 head, two 4X12 cabs and use a TC Electronics G-Force for effects. It is a killer rig. This is the coolest looking guitar on the planet. IT IS EVIL LOOKING!!!! I didn't compare other guitars at all. In fact, I had very little experience with ESP prior. I saw the guitar on the internet and bought it later that day. I AM GLAD I DID BECAUSE IT ROCKS.