ESP JH-2

If you are reading this then I will not bore yo uwith all the specs, but here is a quick version.
Diamond Plate Explorer #79. 22 Jumbo Frets. Metallica Ninja star and the first fret and diamond inlays for the rest. Gloss black on the neck and back. Has the ESP cusotm shop stamp on the back of the headstock. EMG60/EMG81 Volume knob for each pickup. Tunomatuc bridge with sperzal locking tuners. Came with the ESP black case, Warrenty card,Certificate and wrench which I am not sure what it is for.

I love the clean tone of this one. I put a EMG 60 in a Gibson FLying V and it does not sound as good as when placed in this one. It really gets that Metallica live fade to black clean tone like on all the Load/Reload tour shows. Very nice overdrive sound. Similar to a Gibson 500T Bridge pickup. Nice harmonics and bright sound.

First thng I did was take the stings off and put Regular slinky .10 strings on it. Guess what the. 46 gauge E string would not fit through the sperzel tuner. Go figure. I bought a set of regular slink .9 with a 42 E string and it fit fine. I perosnally do not like strings this small but what can I do. I bought it more for a collection piece.The action is very nice for fast soloing. The neck feels a little wider than a Gibson Explorer. I kind of liek the Gibson explorer neck width better. One thing I am shocked is that it came with a Bolt-on neck. I am sure the all mighty hEtfield does not play with bolt-on neck explorers. Probably EPS did itto cutting cost's. I do not think it really makes a difference in the sustain, btu I think it looks kind of cheesey. Most cheap Epipphne and LTD guitars haev bolt-on necks.

Seems durable, but I plan to never use this on stage. I use it only for home use and as a collection piece.

Never had to deal with them.

Great guitar for a Metallica fan. It looks amazing and sounds a like. But who would ever want to play live with this and not look like a metallica wannabe. Next time ESP should go for the neck-thru. But I doubt the'll ever make a explorer this shape due to gibson's lawsuit.

I have an normal Explorer, too, so I like the shape anyway. EMG 60 & 81 Humbuckers, tune-o-matic bridge, sperzel locking tuners, black finish with a black diamondplate mounted on. Gives it the heavy look.
Metallica Ninjastar on the 1st fret, diamondshaped fretmarkers. There is a little story about this guitar. The actuall signature modell was made 200 times and each modell have a number stamped on the bottom of the neck. After i bought it I talked to the guy at the ESP distribution in Berlin. This guitar is one of four that were made extra out of the 200 by the japanese. They hade some parts left, so they made some. I know it is a not a JH-2 of the original 200, but I know also, that it has the exact same specifications and look. It is even more rare, there were only four made I guess.

Heavy Sound allover!!! The diamondplate makes the mahogany even sound thicker!

Perfectly adjusted and finished. ESP!

Well this guitar is heavy, and I mean "HEAVY". The diamondplate makes it even more heavy to play it live.

Perfect support. After I found out, that it was not one of the 200 original built, the guy gave me an extra good deal on one of the last Explorers.

I'm playing for a couple of years now. I just like Metallica and there sound. These guitars give me that sound.

ESP JH-2 made in 1998 by ESP in their USA Custom Shop-THE ultimate for any true Metallica fan! This is one of the baddest explorer shaped guitars you'll ever be lucky to see (or play). Only 100 of these jewels will ever be produced. It has 22 extra jumbo frets with the Metallica ninga-star logo at the first fret and diamond inlays at every other fret (2 at 12th). The finish is outstanding as it is gloss black, so shiny you could easily use it as a mirror. The top of the guitar has a black diamond metal plate in satin black which makes this guitar look like evil incarnate. The body is made of mahogany with a rosewood fingerboad. It also comes with a bolt on quartersawn neck. Sperzel locking tuners keep your guitar perfectly in tune. Now the pickups! The pickups are, of course, Hetfield specials better known as a combination of an EMG-81 at the bridge and an EMG-60 at the neck. Even through a small amp these pickups give you that bite & growl that has made Metallica famous. Both pickups are active humbuckers which means there is a extra preamp signal inside the pickup itself for even greater distortion. A Tune-o-Matic with a stopbar tailpiece make up the bridge. All hardware is in Chrome Black, except for the tuners (satin). The electronics are simple but quite effective for the ultimate metal experience. It features a 3 way toggle switch-the lower position is for the 81 only whereas the top position is for the 60 only. The middle position combines both 81 and 60. The action on the neck is very fast as you might expect. Finally, the guitar came with a very nice custom hardshell case with the ESP logo on the outside. Also came with one little tool but I haven't figured out what it's for yet. This is only my second guitar (only had it for about 3 months now) since I've been playing but it could also be my last-NO and I do mean NO guitar could even come close to comparing for metal playing (my fav!!). I may buy others later as my musical tastes change (Fender,Gibson,Another ESP...) Visit www.espguitars to get all the details on all of ESP's line!

This guitar obviously is set up for metal but I have found that it does quite well in the blues (EMG60) and rock category as well. Currently I own only 1 main amp: a Fender Stage 112 SE which pumps out 160w into a 12" speaker (quite loud)! I blew the speaker with my other guitar a Fender Squirer Strat but the ESP still roars through. I'm probably going to replace it with an EVM 12L so it will be able to handle the watts. Fender may not be the best choice for this guitar or style but the amp will hold its own. I'm saving up for Marshall halfstack or maybe even a MESA Triple-Recto. I use a bunch of basic Boss effects with the amp, but with this guitar you won't need or want many. The EMG-81 Sounds awesome! It has a very bright attack with good mids and lows. Scoop the mids out and you've got a pretty thick distortion. Sound is hard to describe but go pick up ANY Metallica record and you'll know what my ESP sounds like! The EMG-60 is used for clean rhythm sections where there is lots of midrange and highs. You can also get really good blues tones out of it. The 81 is a little more thin on the clean channel so the 60 provides good depth to the sound. The only thing I have found so far that irritates me is that when the position switch is in the middle position and I try to switch to either thr 60 or 81 you hear some static or fuzzy popping. It could be due to faulty wiring, I really don't know. This only occurs when I'm on the clean channel. It's much less audible using distortion I guess since the sound is so loud and thick. That's why I gave the category a 9 instead of 10. Other than that The EMG's are perfect, NO other pickup gets the job done.

The action is set pretty low to the pickups. This makes the guitar very fast. The 60 is flush with the rest of the guitar but man the 81 sets up probably an inch off the top of the guitar-very close to the Ernie Ball strings. I haven't really found any flaws not that I'm looking for any! If you hold the back of the guitar up to the light I can see a weird line running north to south on the guitar. I don't know if this is natural or not but it just looks like a break in the painting process or something? Other than this the guitar is tight as a button as it should be!

This guitar could withstand much more than live playing maybe a war, nuclear attack, etc... The only thing is that the guitar is REALLY heavy. It will wear groves into your shoulders with the strap when you play for a while. Like I said earlier the finish is perfect and I assume it will last a pretty good while, I mean no black paint has rubbed onto my hands or anything. I don't gig but if I did I'm sure I wouldn't need another guitar just another shoulder! The strap buttons are very solid but since the thing is so heavy my strap sometimes comes off the top button. I know strap locks would solve this but I don't won't to modify the guitar in any way. Anyway I wouldn't be surprised if this guitar outlived me!

I've dealt with ESP on a couple of questions about the quitar when I first got it, and they were very friendly and helpful. They made sure I was satisfied and comfortable before they're through not just shewing me away like a fly! I haven't had any repairs made yet but the guitar comes wih a full lifetime warranty on parts and labor. I hope ESP continues to build fine peices of musical equip.

I have been playing guitar about 6 or 7 years now. The only other gear I have is my trusty Fender amp, my not so trusty Fender Squirer Strat, and several Boss pedals and a wah. I wish I had asked he dealer what the little tool was that came with it, I had no idea it was even in the case until I got home with it. If it is EVER stolen, the thief had better watch out because I'll hunt you down! I probably wouldn't be able to buy another one for two reasons: first, I couldn't afford it and second they only made 100 of these guitars so I probably couldn't get a new one. I knew when I started looking for another guitar that I wanted an ESP, so I didn't really look at other brands. OK, I looked at a Gibson Explorer and maybe a Washburn, but is there really any comparison?! What's not to love about the guitar is a better question because I have to say less? I bought the guitar for two reasons:I consider it an investment in real asstes because hopefully the guitars value will significantly over the years and lastly I LOVE my Metallica!! Thank YOU ESP for making these fine guitars and Thank YOU Metalica for-----BEING METALLICA!!!!!!

It was made in 1997 in USA custom shop; It has 22 frets and it has 2 tone,1 volume controls, The pickups are EMG-81 at the bridge and 60 at the neck position. All active, fulfilled with power, excellent pickups, love the EMG-81 but 89 in the place of 60 is a better choice I think. It was made of a mahogany body, quartersawn neck and a rosewood keyboard. It has a strange finish (a metal plate; the guitar is very very heavy, not recommened to play at a live show). the body style, is the glorious E,X,Plorer. Locking sperzel tuners; jumbo frets and a case comes with it. [The features are not glorious, only two humbuckers and three control knobs, but the shape is a EXCELLENT 10]

My style differs a lot.But I do not play blues and thrash with the same guitar !! I use this for the thrash rhythm parts; for solos I recommend a guitar with a floyd rose. It is almost not noisy at all !! It has a full, distorted, heavy tone, in distortion: and the EMG-60 wors out the clean parts. You must NOT play clean parts with the bridge pickup, it sounds funny. Not much variety but you can create a brilliant metal tone and also suitable for all kinds of rock...

It was set up fine, the pickups were mid-high [for me, I usually make the pickups high that, they sometimes touch the strings]. I didn't work with the settings. I love the action of this guitar; I could only compare this with a jackson kelly. Everything nearly perfect. Nope, no flaws...

It is as durable as a steel plate and it is !! [just a joke]. For me the hardware will come with me to the grave ! but if you are turning the volume down by hitting the knob (Ain't wanna lose time man, ehhe.) it would not last for a looong time I can surely depend on it, these guitars are excellent production.

I am playing this for only two months, it is a new guitar.. If it was stolen I would definitely buy one again if I could find another!! I love the action, I love the EMG's [for pickup adjusters: these are the best metal pickups all over the earth...]I have chosen that 'cause it seemed very interesting to me [the finish]. I like to share that, I recommend a basic ESP EXP to the buyers, I only recommend this for collectors and people like that...