ESP KH-2 Relic

Japan Custom shop I think only 25 made per year sent to the us.
EMG 81's neck and bridge alder wood body Original floyd rose tremolo, 2 volume knobs, 1 tone, extra jumbo frets

Neck is thin u shaped extremely fast!! you could breath on the stings and they would play.

This guitar as you well know is suited for metal it is not very clean even at low volume. I play this thru a Line 6 spider 2x12 and at the pre set #2 this guitar comes alive.
I have 3 other ESP's one KH-3 and JH-2 both with emgs and this one by far sounds better maybe becouse the neck thru but the sustain is endless.

Out of the box everything was perfect,intonation,action note the action is super low from the start. Per esp every relic/vintage is done a little different and that helps the uniqness and you don't have to worry about banging it up becouse it is already done so you do not get upset when you hit something(a major plus).
The neck is natural finish and is very nice thin u shapped and lightning fast my playing increased the second I played it.

No worrys ESP builds a solid guitar

Have not had to use it but I have made phone calls about questions and they are great to deal with.

Been playing off and on for 10 years and have owned many nice guitars but this one is now my go to it is increadable.
If it gever got stolen I would have to buy another!!
The second I put the strap on and played it I knew this was built for me I could not be happier

body is made of Alder,
dual EMG 81s for true metallica...., one at the bridge, one at the neck, Original floyd rose tremolo, 2 volume knobs, 1 tone, extra jumbo frets

this guitar is amazing for metallica, and thrash metal.. like purely amazing. i picked up this guitar and found my speed doubled by at least a half. the sound is mainly the active emg81's i guess, as metallica would say "their heavy!". its a very loud guitar and creates a great "crunch" sound. its amazing for artificial harmonics and such for zakk wylde stuff. of course Kirk hammett's solos are the best to play on thie guitar. YOu can play bluesly stuff pretty well too. I'd rate the sound 10, cos the sound is like.. amazing distorted plus the pickups are so good you can hear every single note almost, and the guitar sounds great even through clean settings!.

The action was set to low for me, so its purely for accruacy and speed. I can't really say much in this area, cos my kh-2 relic was like perfect. everything was in place. I've only had it for a month, but been playing it a lot, and there haven't been any flaws whatsoever... and well.. it was made by esp so it is pure quality.

Hell yeah this guitar would withstand live playing. Kirk has been gigging with this guitar fow what? like.. i dunno.. 10 years or more?. this guitar would last a whole lifetime i guess from what i['ve seen, unless some freak came up to it and trashed it up with liek a chainsaw. This guitar came with a 10 years warranty so thats pretty good.
I've already used this guitar on a number of gigs and haven't used a backup cos i already now that this guitar will definately not fail me.
well the only thing i see which will wear off is the paint work. that'll take quite a while but its imaginable. I'll give it a 9.

meh.. can't comment on this area. haven't gone to esp customer support ever.

I've been playing for only 1 and a half years now or maybe its 2? can't remember, I do play a lot though. Alot of metallica that is, and i managed to learn every single song including its solo. Gets you dam fast buy doing that, and makes you think like every solo is easy. THis guitar isn't just for soloing too, its for heavy riffs. I tried out some st. anger songs on this guitar, and it plays like a dream for riffs. Korn too.. is amazing, although it can't play all of korn's songs cos it ain't got 7 strings. I don't like 7 strings anyway.
lol no there isn't something i wish i had asked before buying htis guitar.. i knew like all about it every since i first started. I said i wasn't gonna get it till i got like really good.
i love the EMG's. I've only owned 2 guitars. the yamaha pacifica 604W and the BC rich Beast NJ series with an emg81 at the bridge and a bc rich BDSM passive pickup at the neck. Compared to them.. this guitar is PURELY.. i mean PURELY HEAVY!! meaning amazing. There could be better guitars out there, but somehow i doubt it.. this is purely perfect for my playing..
hmm i played a gibson black hawk a while, and that was pretty amazing too but not as great for fast playing as the kh-2 relic.the JH-3 which is another les paul shaped guitar is another one i tried. I must admit.. it sounds alot nicer than the kh-2, but only cos of the les paul shape, it has like almost the fretboard, but its heavy....
yup.. i'd definately buy this guitar again, but i doubt i'd be able to get another cos of its limited stock.

everyone knows the features:2 emg81's, original floyd rose,2 volume and 1 tone knob, 24 extra jumbo frets, neck-thru construction, etc.

if you know how to tweak your amp to suite this guitar, its the best.i run mine through a mesa TriAxis and strategy 500 power amp , and as far as effects goes, theres a crybaby rack wah, lexicon rack processor, rocktron noise suppresion unit, and a shure rack mounted wireless system. The active pickups provide noiseless , high output notes on extreme distortion settings,and although the neck p/u is a little weak by its self, just flip to neck, add a little chorus and your set.

from factory, everything was perfect:intonation,action,even truss rod.No complaints about the finish, i love that ditressed look. Seems that a guitar has more "character" when it looks like it had the shit beat out of it.No flaws.

only a month and a half out of the box, the saddle on the low e string cracked right in half. i think, that for the amount of money that you pay for this, it should last for a lifetime. I own most all of kirks other signature series guitars, and no complaints there, so i think that it was a problem with the dealer because i had him set it up before i took it home.

ESP is very helpful as far as tech support and sound problems go, the tech's are very friendly.

Been playing for about 2 1/2 years, can play every Metallica solo with ease(exact).no leesons.i own 13 guitars 5 of which are ESP's:4=Kirk Hammett models,1=George Lynch Kamikazi., 1 fen.strat, 1 fen.tele, 1 gibson SG, 1 Jackson RR,1 gibson Les Paul, 1 Gibson flying V,1 classical, 1 fen. acoustic.And amp wise its;a mesa TriAxis and strategy 500 power amp , as far as effects goes, theres a crybaby rack wah, lexicon rack processor, rocktron noise suppresion unit, and a shure rack mounted wireless system.

( i just copy and pasted from above.)

my guitar is a `99 us made relic,the standard 24 frets and the solid top.the pick up config is h\h, emg 81 set.i bought this guitar for its deep responsive action to each note, and for the quality of the overall soung, it reminded me of a gibson guitar on the E string, but at the same time the higher pitched notes reminded me of a fender stratocaster.
the body of the kh2 is specially cut away towards frets 20 thru 24 for easier access when playing solos, this constuction will appeal to anyone buying this model, if you can get your hands on one.

this guitar suits my h metal requirments, with a stack marshall with lots of overdrive, it manages to produce a thick, deep sound thanks to the emg81`s and also a bright, sharp sound with higher pitched notes.

there are no complaints about the finish on this guitar, although the alder body is very soft. the hardware and other pieces are wonderfully fitted and finished with pride.

if its good enough for kirk hammet its good enough for me.

the company did everything to inform me about the guitar, how it was made and asked what config i wanted it in. it has a ten year warrenty, it hasn`t needed any repairs yet.

i love everything about this guitar, and would recommend it to anyone.
i play it with a marshall stack amp. if this guitar was stolen i would find the thieves and castrate them personally.

This baby's loaded. Where should I begin? Well how about the screaming EMG-81 humbucking set. Two volume plus one tone knobs, as well as a 3-way pickup selector(or as I like to call it "mega switch"). Don't you go forgetting the 24 extra jumbo frets, with skull and crossbone inlays (suweeet), and a double locking original FloydRose tremolo. Its a neck-thru guitar, for ultimate sustain, made of pure alder, with a rosewood fingerboard. It's got a reversed pointed ESP headstock, with deluxe black gotoh tuners. (All the hardware is black.) Because this is an exact replica of Kirk Hammets guitar, ESP has given this guitar a neck made to feel like it's been played for years, and all the scratches and dings that Kirk has gotten from years of touring.

I play this bad boy straight into a Line 6 Flextone along with my Morley Bad Horsey on wah duties. I must say it plays like a dream. The 81's sound great, it has butterly low action, and an extremely fast neck. It's is extremely sensitive to your every touch, making those hard to get manuevers sounding ship-shape. You will not be dissapointed by this guitar! That is if you are able to get your hands on one, considering they're only 100 being made in 2001. Be warned however, this is a metal guitar! According to ESP dealers, this guitar may not be used for anything in the rap-metal/Limp Bizkit type of music. If you want to play that, go buy an Ibanez, drink a bottle of vodka, and then drive yourself into a busy intersection at high speeds. Nuff said.

Beautiflly created to look EXACTLY like Kirk's. No complaints. Very nice job replicating even the most suddle details.

I've only had this guitar for a short time, but if it can handle ten years of touring and studio use from Kirk, I can trust it.

All I can say is I love it, I've been playing 2 and a half years and beleive me I can hold my own. But sadly enough if it were stolen I wouldn't buy it again do to the limited production so hurry hurry hurry.