ESP Horizon II NT

2007 Japanese,24 jumbo Fret, Quilted Mapel Top, Seymour Duncan JB,'59 humbucking config, Push/push coil-tap,Neck Through Maple neck, Mahogany sides, Strat shape, Mine came with Sperzel locking tuners(don't think it was supposed to. Earvana nut and Tone Pros bridge would have been a plus.

Play clean guitar rock, blues, guitar rock, Metal, Death metal,well just about everything. Very Versitle. Hits the blues stuff great and pickups distort well for metal. Coil tap pickups have pretty good single coil sound. Use it with early 80's marshall 800. Pretty bright sound. Sustain is just unbelievable!!! You can go and have a bite......

Factory action was maybe a little high for some, felt good to me. lowers easily. everything was perfect from the factory to me.
The best guitar finish wise i've ever seen. Quilted top is hot. Easily the best craftsmanship and quality I've ever seen in a "standard" guitar. Added strap locks.

I've had it two months now. No problems, seems real solid. Played just about every day. Band practice doesn't bother it. No one should gig without a back up. Don't know why they just asked me that stupid question. I can depend on it so far

Limited life time warranty.
Never needed cusomter support
9 for warranty

been playing for 21 years. 21 years, holy sh*t I'm getting old. Own les pauls, strats, MM axis, explorer.
love the playability of the guitar,if you own this guitar, you can't blame the mistakes on the instrument anymore. Sustain is a selling point. Finish is great. If lost or stolen, I would get another. And kill the f-er that stole it.
Had to order this. Only took a month to get. Recomend over Les Paul.

had this guitar for about a year now. You all know the specs on this one. Mine is the standard Japanese version but I had the ESP guys put in an EMG 81 in the bridge position and an EMG 85 at the neck. There is no bells and whistles with his thing, just plain craftmanship and quality components. No flappy Floyd Rose bridge, no annoying string locks etc. Mahogany body, ebony fretboard, pearl inlays and neck-thru.

I give it a five just beacause it's so basic... And I love it.

It's absouletly perfect for mye style of playing which is progressive metal. We do a lot of chuging riffs (old metallica style)and some faster stuff that require a godd fast neck, and this guitar does everything I ask of it. It sounds amazing. Not as chunky as the EX etc. but very warm, thight and aggressive. due to my EMG's there is no noise, and I get endless sustain should I need it. I've had a bunch of other guitars (Ibanez RG's, Music Man Petrucci etc.) but this guitar just feels so right and sounds absolutely amazing. With my EMG's it kind of blows for dynamic old-school clean stuff, but that's not what I bought this guitar for. For modern more scooped cleans it's great with the EMG 85. The original set-up with the Seymours sounds absolutly amazing with more traditional cleans too.

I use FAT strings, and this guitar can play really fat strings and still keep a very low action so your fingers fly over the frets. for those super low chug riffs, this guitar feels great, but it feels equally great for solo stuff, so it's basically a Jack of all trades when it comes to playing styles within the metal genre. Great finish with high quality woods, metals and electronics. I can't see how anything on this guitar should go wrong with normal use and care.

As I said above; I can't see how anything could go wrong or break on this guitar with normal use and care. It's absolutely built as though as they come.

I dealt with the official ESP store in Sapporo ("Big Boss"), japan, where I bought this guitar, and they were so great. they answered all my questions, tuned the guitars that I was going to try etc. They let me try all kinds of ESPs and I tried different versions of this Horizon also. The NT II was the one that I liked the best, but a lot of the other ones were amazing as well. When I asked if they could put in some EMGs (I tried some other ones with EMGs and loved it) they did so right a way. great service. I never had to contact costumer care, and I suspect I never will: )

Reading these reviews does not do this great guitar justice. you simply have to try it, and if you are a metal/hard rock guy you will fall in love.

Japanese made, Neck-thru, String-thru, Sperzel locking tuners, 24 frets, tune-o-matic bridge, mahogany body, quilted maple top, ebony fretboard, JB/59 Duncans, 3-way toggle switch, push-pull coil tap (allowing you to turn your humbuckers into single-coils)

Everything is very functional, well made and looks sexy.

While it doesn't have the depth of a Les Paul, this ESP has a quicker attack, and brighter tone while still being much warmer than any Fender or Ibanez I've ever played. The sustain is beyond belief on this guitar - a note will last for days because of the neck-thru and string thru design. I'm the only guitarist in a hardrock/alternative band, and this guitar is a definite keeper. The chords sound rich and full while the leads cut right through the mix, regardless of the amp I'm using - Randall solid state, Marshall JCM2000, or Peavey 5150. When in the single-coil mode, you can get really crystal clear cleans, very reminicent of a strat or an acoustic guitar.

It came with 10 - 46 gauge strings, but I'm currently having it set up with 11 - 52 as I tend to do more chord work and really need that fatness and tone. As for the 10-46 set up, the action is insane and any shredders out there should seriously consider this axe before settling for a Jackson or Ibanez.

The finish is absolutely ridicilous, easily comparable to the top of the line PRS quilts. They even quilted the headstock and the whole guitar is just a feast for the eyes. The binding is also a nice touch as well as the painted neck (and no its not "sticky" or slow to play")

All in all, it looks great and feels just as good playing. Its right at home shredding or cranking out thunderous chords and riffs.

The guitar feels very solid in my hands, a feeling I used to only get with Les Pauls. The neckthru makes it very stable and all the hardware seems professionally built. I'm sure eventually I'll replace the knobs just because I tend to be very aggressive with them - maybe I should consider a volume pedal :) Aside from that, there isn't really much that can go wrong with this guitar. Thats what I love. Its so simple, yet so functional.

I've never dealt with ESP, and their warranty is non-transferrable. So because I bought this guitar privately - even though it was only 4 weeks old - the warranty doesn't extend to me. I'm not sure about the other guitar companies' policies, but I know Mesa offers lifetime warranty on all their products regardless of owner. Another issue is that ESP is not that popular yet, and authorized dealers are scarce, even in a big city like Toronto, so it's hard to get professional (warranty covered) help.

I've been playing for about 12 years and have fallen in love with the "Hyper-strat" design and this is the best one yet. I intend to get a Les Paul soon because no guitar can replicate that rich tone but this ESP is not going anywhere. I wish it would have had a rosewood fingerboard as opposed to ebony, I think it would've given it more depth, but no big deal. I just love how sexy it looks, how smooth it plays and how nice it sounds. Not too muddy, not too bright... Just right.

If it were stolen, considering the waiting list for a new one is usually one year, I would have to severely hurt the thief.

This guitars was made in Japan, features 24 frets, volume/tone(coil-tapped) controls, Seymour Duncan SH-1 and SH-4 humbuckers(passive), Maple centre body with mahogany sides, maple neck w/ Ebony fretboard, brown sunburst finish, tune-O-matic bridge, sperzel locking tuners. It came with a hard case and a fret guard, which was a nice touch.

This guitar is perfect for me, I did put gage 10 strings on, for ym style of playing, didn't need setting up for thicker strings, brilliant. It is great for metal, but I also think this is one of ESP's less "metal" guitars, this would fit in with any style of music. This guitar sounds pretty great, I'm sure it would sound incredible through other amps, but I only have a crappy Marshall 100MGDFX which sounds bad. I use this guitar through a Boss M-2 metal zone pedal, because the distortion on ym current amp sucks so much.

The action on this guitar is perfect, best action I've ever felt. The pickups were positioned great. The finish on this guitar is stunning, with the quilted maple top, the brown sunburst finish almost looks 3d. This guitar just screams out "quality!" it has been built VERY well, everything is perfect from the factory and all I had to change was the string gage, because that's what I like. The neck is great, not too thin, yet not too fat, easy access to higher frets.

I haven't gigged with this guitar, but it seems very durable. Just to play it safe, I stuck some Schaller strap-locks on, as I wouldn't to risk an expensive guitar. This guitar is very dependable and the finish is solid. The hardware is chrome and doesn't look it will wear or anything. I would definitly use this guitar for a gig, especially without a backup, who cares if you snap a string? With the sperzel tuners, you can restring in literally seconds, they're amazing. This guitar is rock solid.

Never had to deal with them, though I did email the ESP dealer "b-music" to find out about one of their guitars and I got a friends snappy reply, if that counts, seeing as they are a main dealer.

I have been playing 3 and a half years and I own a Jackson Rhodes guitars apart from this. I also have access to my dad's Gibson Lespaul Custom and Rickenbacker guitars. I have to say this ESP beats my dad's les paul by quite a long way. If this guitar were stolen, I would hunt down the person who stole it, to the very end, or sell most of my posessions to buy a new one. I love everything about this guitar, it's probably the best I've ever played, I love how well this guitar is set up. When getting this guitar, I played an IBanez Steve Vai signature guitar(unsure which one), a PRS, Line6 Variax a couple of Jacksons and in the end, the shop didn't have the Horizon in stock, so I ordered this guitar, purely on how good I thought the ESP Viper standard was, which they had in stock and I tried out, to get a feel for ESP guitars. And I'd like to add, if you live near Cambridge, get down to Arena Music, these guys are great, they even knocked 100 pounds off this guitar and they let you play for as long as you like, on whatever amp you want, they have some good laney and mesa stuff in there. OVerall this guitar is perfect and I'm so glad I got it, it was worth the money, completely, if you're thinking about getting one of these, just go ahead. Thankyou ESP for making such amazing guitars!

First of all, I would like to say ?Thank you? big time the guys who wrote the pervious reviews.
You guys really help me to make the decision in buying this guitar. You know, I decided to buy this guitar without seeing or playing this guitar first. I just contacted the ESP dealer in Thailand and ordered it right away. I?m glad I really did!!!

This guitar is built in 05, this year. The serial number is: SS0523503.
It?s made in Japan, just like other ESP guitars.
FEATURES: neck-thru-body construction; 25.5? scale; mahogany body w/quilted maple top; 3-piece maple neck; ebony fingerboard; offset block inlays w/ESP at 12th fret; Seymour Duncan JB/59 pickups; volume & tone (w/push-pull coil tap) controls w/3-way toggle; chrome hardware; Sperzel locking tuners; Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge w/string-thru-body; white binding on body, neck & headstock; 24 XJ frets
FINISHES: Dark Brown Sunburst (DBSB)
The frets are in such a great shape and very well polished. So the playing is very smooth and very nice anytime you bend the note! The neck is fat and tick at the bottom connected to the body. I have never found something like this before or if I have found one I could not notice it until I have this guitar.
It came to me with the nice hard case.

I play metal and I like shredding a lot. This guitar sounds fat and has a great tone.
This guitar is just like a dream. I?m very surprise with the play ability and sound.
I have Hughes and Kettner tour reverb. I don?t have any effect and don?t really need one neither.
JB and 59 pick-ups is a very good pair. 59 is sweet and JB sounds beefy and fat.
I don?t understand why Metal head like EMGs. I have put a pair of 81 in my pervious guitar for a while and I decided to leave them alone. I turned to a passive pick up. It has a better tone and natural.

Wow, the action is great right out the case. It?s low and the intonation is well set.
I just pull it up and tune it then plug to the amp.

The finish is really cool, very glossy.

I do not gig out so I don?t know if I should say anything about this.
I have been playing guitar more than 8 years. I know what is a good guitar. ?This guitar is very well built. It is solid and ready to rock!? That?s all I can say

The ESP dealer in Thailand rocks!
I contacted them for the Horizon NT II but it?s sad they don?t hold this model in their stock.
They have other models such ass Eclipse II and Viper. They are nice to me. They showed me those models to check out the quality of the ESPs. I like them all but I can say that the Horizon NT II I have can beat them up!

I don?t really care about the warranty. I?m sure I?ll run to the local guitar repairers if there is anything goes wrong in my guitar. I?m not going to send the guitar to Japan to fix the problem.

I have been playing guitars for more than 8 years.
I have a custom made Manne from Italy and I used to own Carvin, Epiphone and I used to play Gibson, PRS guitars that I borrowed from a friends for a while.
I can say that ESP is a very good one compare to other.
There is the interesting thing about it. The price is cheap compare to the quality and the components they put in the guitar. If you go to Warmoth and order the guitar kit with the same specifications of this guitar I?m sure it cost you more than the price I paid. You would never be able to get the neck thru construction from Warmoth anyway.

If it?s stolen I?m sure I?ll run to the ESP dealer to buy it again.
In fact I?m thinking about buying the Eclipse II right now.

Made in Japan , 24 Fret , Beautiful quilted Maple top , Volume and tone control plus Coil Tap , Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and 59 in the beck , Ebony fretboard , Neck Thru construction , Sperzel Tuners

The tone on this guitar is amazing and very versatile. I play alot of technical metal along the lines of Lamb of God , The Red Chord , ... and its the perfect guitar for the job. The duncans that come stock scream perfectly and are never muddy. I am debating switching the 59 to a Jazz but thats just a preference thing.

The action came very good. I am a fan of really low action and thats how it came. I have to say that I cant see any problems with this guitar yet. Its amazing.

All the hardware is spot on with this guitar. The Sperzel locking tuners are a must. I have them on my Les Paul as well and they are perfect. I installed Schaller strap locks like I do on all my guitars and I think that they are a must no matter how good the standard pegs are. They are only 15 dollars or so , so they are worth it.

The guitar seems very dependable , but you should never gig without a backup.

The warranty is lifetime which is very good, although their coverage seems a little limited.

Ive been playing for a little while now and this is the best guitar Ive had. I traded in my Clapton Strat towards buying this guitar because I just didnt play it enough. Interestingly enough , the clean tone on this guitar is much better than the Clapton. You can match a nice strat tone with the coil tap.

I compared this guitar to a deluxe LTD MH-1000 which was alot cheaper and also very good but I felt that the ESP was just built better and just screamed better. Im also not a huge fan of the EMG's that the LTDs come with. The passive Duncans are more natural sounding to me.

If I lost this guitar Id have to hope to fall into more money so that I could buy another one!

The Horizon II NT is new for 2004 and made in Japan. The guitar is 24 fret, ebony fretboard (320mm radius), 25.5" scale neck-thru Strat body arch type. It has a mahogany body with a quilt top laminate in a dark brown sunburst color w/ neck same color as the body. The head and neck are bound (white) with the back color a reddish brown. It looks as good as the picture on the ESP website, and the back is truly beautiful. The bridge is a tunomatic with body string thru. Other features include Sperzel locking tuners, JB (bridge) and 59 (neck) Seymour Duncan pickups. Controls are 3-way switch, volume and tone with the tone acting as a coil split. The coil split is really well done as you only have to tap it.

This guitar sounds fantastic. I play primarily classic rock, hard rock and some metal. The JB is a great for all of these, but hard core metal fans may want EMGs. The pickups and coil split provides a huge range of sound. I don't play jazz or blues, but I think this guitar could be used for both. With the coil split, you can't exactly duplicate a Strat, but for me it's close enough. Probably the most impressive thing is it's sustain. You can hold a note for days. I can't imagine more sustain w/o going to active pickups.
I use a Digitech 2120 tube processor into a MesaBoogie 50/50 power amp and a Marshall cab.

Again very impressed with the quality and playability of this guitar. The neck feels very natural to play and it's fast. The guitar arrived still sealed in the factory box and the finish was flawless -- even the fret board had been polished. I've owned a USA Jackson Custom Soloist, PRS 24 Custom, Ibanez RG Prestige, and currently own a Les Paul Custom. The quality of this guitar is as good as the Les Paul and PRS. It's a better then the Jackson or Ibanez. The action is very good (about 1/32" at 12 fret), but not quite as low as an Ibanez or custom Jackson. HOWEVER, when I inspected the guitar, I noted that the action was set extremely high and the neck seemed a little warp. The rating is based upon how the guitar played after set up. I'm not going to blame ESP since the guitar was shipped across country and subjected to a wide range of temperatures. Everytime I buy a guitar, I assume it's going to need setup.

The guitar is only a month old, so I can't really comment on it's durability. It definitely feels solid and well built. The strap buttons are good, but if you swing your guitar around alot, I'd buy strap locks. If I had to, I would gig on it without a back up, but I always like to have more than one guitar at a gig.

I've heard various stories about ESP support. My experience has been very good. There is an 800 number where you can call the U.S. headquarters in CA. I've talked with tech support a few times about setup, and they were always helpful. Anytime I can talk to a live person, I will give that company a 10.

First, I want to say that I bought this guitar without seeing it, let alone playing it. I swore I would never buy a guitar without playing it, but there is no ESP dealer in my area. The other Horizon NT II reviews on this site were a major factor in deciding to buy the guitar. I'm very glad I did. It's possibly the best guitar I've owned (see above for the others). I realize that this review may seem a little over the top, but I can't think of another guitar that is as good a value. My only complaint is the lack of color choices. I like the dark sunburst brown, but options are always better.
I've been playing for over 10 years and have been in a couple local bands. As stated above, I also own a Les Paul Custom and use a Digitech 2120 processor, MesaBoogie 50/50 power amp and a Marshall 2 speaker cab. Without question I would buy this guitar again if stolen or lost. In fact, my next guitar will be another ESP. Finally, I paid a very low price. If your going to buy an ESP, definitly call around, but make sure you give PowerAlley.Com a call and ask for the owner Mike.

This Horizon II NT is a 2004 model, made in Japan as are all ESP standards, and is basically an arched top soloist style body design. 24 frets over an ebony board, on a 25.5" scale maple neck through mahogany body. The top of the guitar is gorgeous, a beautiful arched quilted maple. The finsh is dark brown sunburst, which looks amazing over the quilt top. The back of the guitar and neck are finished in a subtle red gloss which looks and feels very good. The headstock is the classic ESP pointy. Bridge is a tunomatic without a stop tailpiece, where the strings pass through the body. Features Sperzel locking tuners, which work like a charm. Pickups are the JB (bridge) and 59 (neck) Seymour Duncan models. Controls are 3-way pup selector, volume and tone; the tone control can push in for a coil tap which rocks. This price included the fitted ESP hardshell case, as expected. For the money, this is a serious piece of kit.

I play a wide variety of music, with a focus on hard rock, metal and my own blend of jazz/blues. This guitar does not dissapoint, rather it has surpassed my expectations. Truly versatile, the JB and 59 pickups are capable of a broad range of tones, and when you add the coil tap your sounds can be stretched dramatically. I find I can go from a seriously heavy crunch on the JB to a crystal clear shimmer on the 59 with the coil tap in seconds. I have no dislikes in this category at all, though I can see how a metalhead may want to step up to EMG pickups for the heaviest tones. Me, I'm happy :)

Factory setup was okay, though not the best. The action was higher than normal, and that's saying something as I usually like it slightly higher than most. The pickups were positioned very well though, and the intonation was set very near perfect. The bridge and string-through circlets were in perfect condition, no evidence of screwups there. Fretwork was (and is) top notch. The finish and quilted top are fantastic, without any obvious flaws I can detect ie no runs in the paint and the quilted top is a great piece of wood.

This guitar is solid. I have no doubt that it will withstand live playing. The hardware is top notch gear and should last a very long time. The finish seems thick and should not fade poorly over time; I anticipate a long life for that. The stock strap buttons are fairly large and well built, though I installed Dunlop strap locks the same day the guitar arrived here. On that note, I would always depend on this guitar and know that I can without worry. As for gigging without a backup, I've never done that in the past and won't now. One thing though, changing a broken string can be done extremely fast due to the Sperzels and string through. You'll be back up and running quickly.

Never dealt with ESP before, though Elderly (the retailer of this guitar) are very polite, friendly and knowledgeable. I enjoyed working with them. As for the warranty, it's terrible because you have to mail the registration in within a week of the purchase date. My guitar didn't get here until 10 days after the purchase date, so I basically am left with no option to register for warranty... I think that is incredibly unfair and give them a 3 for it. If I was rating my retailer I'd give them a 10, solid, but ESP's warranty rubs me the wrong way.

I've been playing for over 14 years now, and have owned a total of 9 electric guitars in that time. My current line-up is a Les Paul, Dean Z and this ESP. I have played nothing but the ESP since it got here however, it really is that good. Very lightweight and a joy to play, I just can't put it down. It inspires me to play, and I've been writing more music as a result. If lost or stolen I would buy another, hands down. I'm also looking to replace my Les Paul with an Eclipse II shortly. When I was shopping around I looked at this ESP, the US Jacksons and US Deans. I am 100% confident I made the best choice with this purchase. If you are considering this guitar I highly recommend you take the chance. You can't go wrong with this one, particularly for the price!

2004 ESP Horizon II, Made in Japan, 24 Frets Quilted maple top. ! Volume, 1 Tone/coil split. Duncan JB/59 humbuckers, String through Body, Locking tuners, medium neck. Pearl Fret markers, chrome hardware. I would rather black hardware, but, you can't win em' all.

Nice warm tone, I was thought I was going to have to put new pups in, but after playing it through my HD-147, I realized it sounded great with the stock pups. One thing about the set up is that it has coil splitters, which is nice for clean tones, although I will not use it very often, it is still a great feature. The Tone knob doubles as a push/push coil split. Instead of push/pull, you actually just tap the knob down and it automatically springs up for quick changes. Very cool! This is a great all around sounding guitar that sounds good no matter how you slice it, if you have a good amp, you are set. From grincore/metalcore distortion to crystal clear cleans, and everything else in between. Great stock set up! This guitar is a great studio guitar for session studio musicians.

The set up was actually fine when I got it, but I changed the strings to 49-11's right away, so I didn't really didn't care about how it was set-up from ESP's American shop. Everything was adjusted fine, it is a extremely beautiful peice of work. In fact, it might be the best looking guitar I have ever seen. Then again, I might be partial because I own it. IT IS BEAUTIFUL, no matter how you look at it, front to back and all around. The fret board shines from the finish they put on it too, unlike most guitars where there is no finish on the board. OK, there was one problem though.... The fret wire actually protrudes out of the fretboard just a teeny, tiny bit, just enough to knab the skin on your fingers...I did easly take of the problem though, by dabbing a very, very small amount of super glue to each fret where it was sticking out. This filled in the rough spots, and now it's super smooth...and you can't see any glue either. So, I am giving it a 7 because it really should have been taken care of when they made the thing! Especially for a guitar that cost over $1300!! Other than that though, it really is a fast neck, and it's not super thin, which I like because I have long fingers and my hand cramps if I don't have at least a medium size neck. This ESP is about as thin as I like em.

This guitar is is a workhorse. I own a Ibanez RG570, Gibson Les Paul, Yahmaha Pacifica, and a custom made guitar that I recieved through an endorsment deal. This ESP is the best looking guitar out of all of them, and the best all around guitar I own now. I still love my Les Paul with EMG81 pups in it, actually, I love all my guitars in one way or another, but the ESP has a real "made for speed" feel to it. It's great for triplets. I have been a serious guitarist for 14 years, and this is my favorite guitar that I have ever owned. Which is why I am taking the time to write a review. Lets just say, it ain't gonna break...so don't worry about that!

Well, I never used them...

overall, this is a sweet guitar. It just always says, "play me". Any guitar that can do that is worth writing about. 14 years of playing, and in the past few, it's been my job. Thats all I do, and I make a decent living, so if it's good enough for me, it probably good enough for you too. From Maine to California, Japan, and Europe, this baby will be my main axe. This is my first ESP, and quite possibly, it may be the last guitar company I ever do business with from this point on. Even if you can't afford the ESP, try a high-end LTD...they also play nice, and worth every cent. I am giving this guitar an overall rating of 9, because lets face it, nothing man-made is perfect... This guitar comes pretty close though!