ESP KH-2 Kirk Hammett Signature

This guitar is awesome. it has all the awesome features. Floyd Rose Tremomlo, 2 volume knobs and1 tone. The inlys are a little scary though. It has 2 EMG 81s that can put out some kick butt tones. I play through a Peavy Rage 158, that sounds like poo poo, but my trusty KH2 still delivers radical tone. Im giving this a 9 because those skull inlays give me the heebie geebies.

I play mostly hard stuff like 3rd eye blind, SR71, and vertical horizon. This really suits my playing style. It is never noisy. I have even gotten into some 80s stuff like Boy George, Prince, Cars, etc. this guitar suits all of my playing styles.

This guitar is set up beatifully. Everything is solid as arock. But i wish i could have dot inlays and a majestic blue finish. for lack of color options ime giving it a 9.

I am a proud owner of this guitar,, but would always take my Peavy as a backup at a gigy. you never know when youre going to have one of those silly string breaks. My new partner Josh is now going to get one because he always comments on how hard it is.

I caled ESP to comend them on this stupendous guitar.

I have been playing for 3 years and would never trade this baby in. Only thing i want is some more color options and do away with these creepy inlays. I it were stolen I would get the guitar back and spank them with it. I am also a bass player ,but am going to quit so i can play this hip guitar. Later Dude!

I don't have one but I did get to play one in a music store. This guitar is a badass. Just strumming a power chord made me wanna shit myself. The emg's make it sound really good. They have a good low end crunch and are especially good for harmonics and soloing. The tremolo had a lot of action so you could really bend the hell out of the stirngs and make the notes scream like a little whore. The skull inlays were pimp as a shitass too. The black finish looked like a mirror. This guitar definately has the look for some death, murder, kill music. Haha

It has emg's, need I say more. These pickups really saound ten times better than the duncan invader I play through right now. I would suggest this guitar if you're in to bands like Earth Crisis, Slayer, Biohazard, Vision Of Disorder, Pantera, Hatebreed, Truth Through Treason, etc.

Everybody has their opinion for action but I mean damn. This thing almost plays itself. You could breath on the strings and play a note. Just by resting a finger on the string it would play, and the best part about it was that it didn't "buzz" at all. Everything was perfect on it right down to the mirror black finish.

Why not. Hardware seemed damn durable my honky ass. Solid a as ron Jeremy's Kielbasa.

Never talked to them. I dont think I would have to either. ESP makes some bad ass axes. Thet are THE ONLY real guitar company.

Buy this. You wont regret it. It'll make you saturate your dungarees.

This guitar was made in summer 2000 in Japan. It has the same features as all the other KH-2's listed below. Came with case, allen wrenches, tremolo bar, truss rod adjuster, certificate of authenticity, and various guitar catalogs thanks to drumcityguitarland.com. I give the features a 10, because as a guitar player in a Death/Hardcore Metal band, it has everything I want: real Floyd Rose, EMGs, and 24 frets (plus really sweet inlays. The Skull and Crossbones scream metal). Others may not give it a ten because they may not be happy with some of the features, but in my opinion, it is a 10.

This guitar sounds great, through any amp. I use a Mesa Dual Rectifier with a Rectifier 4x12 standard cab, which it sounds especially great through. I have played it through other various crappy practice amps, and it even sounds great through them. It is especially full sounding acoustically, something I've never really found in a bolt neck guitar. It has a very 'metal' sound to it, the lows being tight, and the highs being clearly defined. This is a product of both EMG pickups and a quality amplifier.

The guitar came from the factory in great condition, no flaws physically, or in wiring as I investigated. The frets were perfect, and action was dead on. Finish was a mirror like black with no in perfections.

This guitar can withstand live playing, but being that it does have a Floyd Rose, I would definately gig with a backup (if you break a string, you're screwed). The strap buttons seemed solid, however, I switched them right away with DiMarzio cliplocks, which makes switching guitars with a wireless system easier. Can absolutely depend on this guitar!

I've never dealt with ESP personally, however the guitar did arrive 3 months late (whether this was ESP, as the dealer claims, I don't know).

I have been playing for 6 years. As I said, I have a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier solo head with a Rectifier Standard cab. I also own two Ibanez RG-470's equipped with EMG-81s, but the Ibanez's are no competition to the ESP. I play metal similar to Metallica, In Flames, Slayer, Pantera, Soil Work, Machine Head, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Iron Maiden, and Earth Crisis, and this guitar is perfect for that stuff.

Great guitar. Features two high output (active)EMG 81 humbuckers with a volume for each one, a tone knob and a 3 way strat style switch. It has an original Floyd Rose tremelo and all black hardware. Handcrafted skull and crossbones inlays and reverse headstock give it a mean look. 24 (extra jumbo) fret Rosewood fingerboard and solid maple neck, bolt on style contruction. Black finish.

I personally love this instrument. The EMGs have an exellent sound unmatched by other pickups for my metal style of playing, and have a surprisingly good clean tone as well. Has a nice soloing sound rich and full. I am uning it with a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and Mesa 4 x 12 cabs, with carious other rack gear. This guitar is never noisy and has a wide variaty of sounds, although it is made for metal.

The fit and finish, and the action on this guitar are unbelievable. The action is extremely low and the Oringinal Floyd Rose can be setup any way you like. THe EMGs were setup perfectly and all the controls fit perfectly as well. Great fitting on the nut and tuners too. I love the maple neck and it is obvious the quality of the wood is very good.

The only mod to this guitar is strap locks. This guitar is well made in the USA and can withstand anything from studio playing to Kirk Hammets himself and MetallicA's outrageous live playing night after night.

I Have never delt with ESP.

I have played the guitar for the last 6 years and I love this guitar. I would definatly reccomend it. It is perfect in every way. great action and playability, and nice work on the skull and crossbones inlays etc. Overall great guitar.

Made in Japan, 99' 2 volume, one tone, 2 Humbuckers, All Mahogany, 3-way selectors, active electronics,Superstrat, Floyd Rose tremolo, Skull & Crossbone inlays, Thin and wide neck(SUPER FAST). ESP have created a MASTERPIECE OF A MONSTER, wow. . . this is one HELL of a guitar. Everything anyone could want with a guitar. All the features I need.

I play mostly Heavy Metal and Hardcore, but when I'm not practicing or performing with my band I like classical and Blues stuff. It suits my styles perfectly. I use a fender frontman for practice and a 500 watt Marshal stack when performing with my band Dark Nation. You can get virtualy any sound with this guitar if you know how, I've even simulated banjo and Violin sounds on this. It's great. I love everything about this guitars sound, It's incredible. Off course my favorite band is METALLICA and Hammet is my favorite guitarist, Now I see why, this guitar is a beast.

Perfect out of the factory. wonderfuly low action, and the finish is beautiful. Now flaws. ESP really lived up to it's name ( in the metal world atleast.)

Off-course it'll withstand live playing, it's withstood tons of live playing, even at those dark, stingy clubs were your sure something will go wrong. The hardware and finish will definatley last. the strap buttons are great, but I still use a lock just in case. It feels like you could thow this out of a fourth story window and it'll still stay fine and in tune. I can trust this guitar with my life, but I will always have my trusty Ibanez RG-550 and ESP M-300 ready for action simply because of the fact that breaking a string in the middle of a song with no backup really sucks.

Never dealt with them, but the lifetime warranty is good enough for me.

I've been playing for six years now, so I've seen my fare share of guitars. I own a coulpe of Strats, an Epi Les Paul, The before mentioned Ibanez and ESP M-300 ( wonderful guitars also ), and a Jackson Dinky Reverse Pro. If this were stolen, I'de hunt down the motherfucker and slowly burn all his fingers to the bone one by one, then I'de perform chinese nipple torture on him until he agreed to become my lifetime servant. Then I'de definatley buy another one because my first ones dignity would be ruined for being in the hands of such a fuckin' bastard. There was no comparison, I did try the Jackson soloist, but It was much more money and it didn't feel as comfy, to me at least. Let me just tell you, I've not had to tune this thing since the first ime I did THREE months ago, DAMN GOOD GUITAR. If you like metal and hardore, this is the best possible thing.... A GODSEND of a guitar. What a Fuckin' BEAST. Save up and buy it as soon as you can. This is the best guitar there is..........
Well, ....what are you waiting for, GO GET IT !!!!!!!!!!

This guitar was made in 1998 in Korea, it has 24 frets, 2 volume and 1 tone control with a 5-way switch. It has 2 EMG-81 active humbuckers. The neck and body are mahogany with a AAA maple top and a rosewood fretboard. It has a beautiful black finish with skull and crossbone fingerboard inlays. The bridge is an original Floyd Rose, but it is like an Ibanez lo-pro Edge, it's very comfortable to palm mute. It has an M-II style body, basically a super strat, non-locking tuners and a fast neck that is 25 1/2". It came with a very nice ESP hardshell case. This is everything I could ever want in a guitar. Excellent Features!

This is a great metal guitar, and since that's what I play I love this guitar. I use a fender frontman reverb for practiceand a Line 6 Spyder 1x12 for loud sounds, the spyder's the main amp. The pickups are realitively quiet and sound insane on distortion and have pretty good clean sound, the solos I would play on my old strat are absoulutly a work of art on this guitar! The guitar will make just about any sound in the world of music. The bridge will not come out of tune! I would however put an EMG-85 in the neck position for warmer rythym. Wonderful sound!

The guitar's action was so low I could play it by breathing on it, I've never played a solo so fast. The pickups were excelently wired and the height was perfect. The bridge was a pain to get in tune but it hasn't come out of tune since. No visable flaws. This guitar looks wonderful and the skull and crossbone inlays are awesome. This guitar is a beauty!

This guitar could withstand playing live, there's no question about it. This guitar was built to last. It would take a lot of strength to intentionally smash this guitar. I added some strap locks and I was off! I never go giging without a backup so no I wouldn't, but if I were that kind of person I would. This guitar could me dropped thousands of times and still be in tune. This guitar will be in the hands of my great grandchildren!

I've never dealt with ESP, but I've heard good things about them. The lifetime warranty says something. If you were to call with a problem with this guitar some jaws would drop.

This guitar was worth every penny. I've only been playing a while but this guitar rocks! I've played on Ibanez, Jackson, Gibson, Fender and this guitar is the best of them all. This IS a metal guitar so if you play SRV blues or Garth Brooks, don't but this axe. If it were lost I would cry for weeks, and probably become suicidal. I love the bridge and the inlays and the EMGs this axe rules! What I don't like: Not one thing. Fantastic axe!

i have two kh-2 , one with the standard black finish with the skull and cross bone inlays , and one with the ouija graphic on the body with the star and cresent moon inlays , of course it was made in japan but hey , japanese cars are reliable as hell and they make good tv's too

like all of the kh series guitars they have 24 extra jumbo fret on a wide and thin neck , which is in turn bolted to an alder body

both of them are 1998 models

esp was nide enough to supply these guitars with two active emg 81's with a 3-way selector

the floyd rose system on them works like a charm , i have never had any tuning problems with them , which i can't say for my i-ban-had rg series

and if that isn't enough for you , esp also throws in their great hard shell case with the neccesary allen wrenches , and an "authentic" certificate signed by kirk hammett

i pretty much play the new style of metallica as well as their old and using my johnson millenium on the mesa/boogie settings i sure get a the signature 'tallica crunch , i haven't expierienced any unwanted noise with it , the feedback is easily controllable and don't get out of hand even at extreme volumes (and with 250 watts and a 4x12 cab , that's easy to do) , the neck pickup on a clean chorused with delay setting is awesome sounding , the neck position sounds great distorted too , but i pretty much stick with the bridge pickup for the dirty stuff anyway and finally the between selection is capable of just about anything dirty or clean , i can see why hammett chose this setup i love it!!!

both of them came from the factory setup exactly as i like them low ation , no buzzing , the finishes were like looking into a mirror , there were no frets sticking off the side of the necks to catch on the palms of my hands like there are on ibanez's , and now almost 2 years of having them with a little polishing during string changes they still look new , and i play very hard on them

i haven't gigged with them at all and probably never will , unless i can afford a couple more , 'cause if anything ever happened to them like getting stolen or damaged , that would definitly be grounds for suicide , i use them for recording only and jamming with my bro , and all the tuning keys and other hardware is like it just left the esp factory yesterday , nice and tight and not showing any wear , my hat's off to esp

i've only dealt with esp directly a couple times , and it was concerning custom shop stuff , and everyone i've ever talked to at esp have been very friendly and helpful

i haven't had to do any warrenty repairs on the and knock on wood probably never will if esp keeps putting out guitars this good

i've been playing for 11 years , and have had many guitars pass through my hands , currently i hav the two kh-2 guitars , i have a les paul classic , a lone star strat , a '62 reissue , a stevie ray signature and the forementioned ibanez , which NEVER is played

i play through a johnson millenium 250 watt head and the johnson 4x12 cabinet with celestion vintage 30's loaded in it , i also play through a fender vibrolux reissue with the factory 2-10 inch speakers

my wah is a custom rmc-3 from some guy named geoffrey teese , who makes incredibly killer wah padals , i use a tube screamer with the vibrolux and a boss ( i can't remember the model ) chorus pedal

as i mentioned before if i lost my esp's i probably shoot myself , i told the wife that i could sell all my other guitars and keep my esp's and be perfectly happy , they have that much variety in their tone

what do i love about it? everything! plus the fact kirk hammett plays them , what do i hate about it? absolutly nothing


i just wish kirk would let esp make the mummy guitar , and my life would be complete , by the way if anyone has a jh-2 with the diamond plate top that they want to sell , let me know

This KH-2 was made in 99 in Japan, like all KH models. It has 24 frets, 2 volume, 1 tone, 2 active EMG 81 pickups, 3 way selector, a floyd rose, has x jumbo frets, and came with a bunch of tools, and a case.
I give it a 9 because this is pretty much the best guitar I've played. I tried playing my previous guitar, which was a Lyon Washburn after playing this, and the quality difference was amazing. (Fyi, the lyon is still a good guitar, but just doesn't compare to something like this..fyi, the lyon was about $200) The EMG pickups are great for my style of music, which is obviously metal, and also some jazz and classical.

As I previously said, my style is metal, jazz, and classical-It fits it very well. Even though my amp isn't all that good (Crate gfx), the sound this thing puts out is amazing. It is a little nosiy, but I'm sure it's just because of my amp-everyone else here seems to not have any noise.
I was REALLY surprised by the clean on this one. I put the pickup selector in the middle, turned the bridge pikcup about 55% down, neck about %75 down, and added a bit of chorus and reverb. With this, I can get a sound that is pretty close to nothing else matters.
I'm currently saving up for a line 6 amp, and if this guitar sounds this good with just a $250 amp, one can't imagine how it'd sound with an AX2.

Action was very low, pickups are great, no flaws taht I could see.

I've yet to gig with it live, but I'm sure it could. NEVER gig w/o a backup, though. Hardware seems like it'd last with easy access to the batteries.
Strap buttons are a little small, and my guitar has fallen off two different straps twice (which I luckily caught, both times) so I'll probably change'em to something that locks.
The only reason this is getting an 8 is because of the strap button size.

Never dealt with'em. I don't have my warranty card next to me at the moment, but I think it said lifetime (?)

I've been playing for a number of years, and also own an additional electric, and one acoustic. If it was stolen, I'd cry, then sell a kidney so I could buy another one. (heh)
I love everything but the strap buttons, they're a bit too small. I considered a Jackson, but the feel of this guitar won me over.
If you are considering purchasing this guitar, feel free to email me any questions. (remove no spam from my email)

made in Japan 1998 24 extra jumbo frets solid top volume, volume, tone, 3-way switch H/H EMG-81 humbuckers Active Alder body, Maple Neck finish? M-II style (ESP) Original Floyd Rose Tremolo Sperzel Locking Tuners Rosewood thin-U shaped fingerboard strap was included

I usually play metal or progressive rock ( Metallica, Van Halen, Ayreon, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Thyrfing <-- just some examples) I think this guitar suits my kinda music perfectly. I can always get the sound I want. I also have a fender strat usa, but that one doesn't perform as well. I haven't caught it make noise yet. It even makes nice harmonics (it seems), instead of squeeling and tweeting when you've got your amp on high volumes. Of course, if you want it to be noisy, believe me you can make it noisy. I've been playing VAn Halen and some John Petrucci stuff and they make a lot of different kind of sounds. If I can't make these sounds on my guitar, it is because of me. I like everything about it so far.

The ESP company really did their best on this guitar. Everything is worked off excellent except for the screws. I had to tighten up some of `em.

I think as Kirk Hammett once said: "ESP does the job. They hold up well on tour because they stay in tune. That's important for me as my right hand picking attack is really hard and agreessive. I grab that whammy bar and pull it, really attack it, and the guitar is still in tune." I think this guitar is very dependable. ( I'm still using my first couple of strings (<--Dean Markley).) The only thing that can be a problem when you play live, is the active pickups. They require a battery (9v.) so you will need to change them If you don't want to take any risk.

I don't think many people will have to use them. I won't any time soon

I've been playing for about 9 years and use the ESP and Fender with a Mesa/Boogie Mk IV, Dunlop Cry-Baby, digitech rp21 and ibanez ts9 turbo. This all put together can for as far as I know create any sound I wish to have. If this guitar were stolen I would probably get suicidal tendencies ( hate that band ). I love the pickups, the bridge, the fingerboard. the knobs, everything. I compared this guitar with several ibanez guitar and jacksons but they just didn't have what I wanted. I chose this one because the pickups and the 2 volumes knobs which is very usefull.

Made in Japan, don't know what year, considering that the battery is still good, it couldn't have been made that long ago. 24 extra jumbo nickel silver frets, solid (quite heavy)alder super strat body, two volumes, one tone, original Floyd Rose double locking tremelo, very wide, thin, maple neck with a nice satin finish, reverse headstock, two EMG-81 humbuckers, came with a hardshell case, allen wrenches, and a certificate of authenticity.

I play metal mostly, but I do play some classical (Bach, Paganini, etc.) and this guitar is a good match. I run it through a Crate GFX1200h head and a Crate 4x12 cab. This is the first guitar I've played that had EMG's in it, and I must say that they live up to the hype, you can get a thick, chugga chugga thrash tone out of this guitar, messing with the volume and tone knobs you can get a variety of sounds. What really surprised me is that you really can get a great clean tone, if you put the switch in the middle position,with a little chorus and reverb, I've come very close to James Hetfield's sound on "Nothing Else Matters". Really a great sounding guitar.

It was set up perfectly from the factory, the action was nice and low, no fret-buzzing whatsoever. Like I said before, the neck is very wide and fairly thin, and it's incredably fast and comfortable. I thought I could play fast on my old Epiphone LP (I was able to play Malmsteen songs on it, but I had to work for the speed, on this guitar it's effortless). BTW, this is my first guitar with a locking trem, so if you're not familar with a locking trem, have someone at the store show you the in and outs, because it's fairly complicated to set up (That's really the only thing I don't like about this guitar). The guitar does stay perfectly in tune, no matter how crazy you go with the whammy bar, in fact, it stays in tune better than my Epiphone LP, and it doesn't even have a tremolo!

I think it would defintaly withstand live playing, the finish is nice and thick, and doesn't seem like it will wear off any time soon. The hardware is nice and tight, nothing's loose, the toggle switch seems very sturdy as do the pots. Well, I'm not in a band right now (can't find anyone to play with), but I'd always use it with a back up, no matter how reliable a guitar is, strings do break.

I've never dealt with ESP, but the guitar comes with a lifetime warranty, I think that speaks for itself.

I've been playing for about four years, but have only been seriously playing for about a year. IF this guitar was stolen, or lost, I would freak out, seriously, I love this guitar and couldn't do without it, so I'd have to find a way to get some cash to buy another one exactly like this one. I don't hate anything about this guitar (Except the minor inconvenience of the Floyd, but it stays in tune so I can't argue with the results) One thing, I do wish that it had either a EMG-89 or 60 in the neck, and I might very well replace the neck pick-up with one of those, it'll void the warranty, but the guitar is solid and I really don't forsee any problems.