ESP M-II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ESP M-II | |
|---|---|
| Image:Esp-MII-BLK.jpg | |
| Manufacturer | ESP |
| Period | unknown |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Neck-thru or Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Alder |
| Neck | 3-piece Maple |
| Fretboard | Ebony, Rosewood or Maple |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Floyd Rose Original Bridge |
| Pickup(s) | 2 EMG 81 or Seymour Duncan JB (bridge) and '59 (neck) |
| Colors available | |
| Black, Urban Camo | |
ESP M-II is a guitar model distributed by ESP. It falls under category known informally by guitarists as a "Super Strat," which refers to any guitar (regardless of brand or model) with a Fender Stratocaster shape and equipped with humbucker pickups rather than the single coils the Fender standard model is known for. The vast majority of "Super Strats" are equipped with Floyd Rose type locking-vibrato systems, although some guitars (such as some Charvels) are considered Super Strats and do not have a vibrato at all.
The ESP M-II is produced in Japan and is currently available in three configurations:
- A Bolt-On neck joint, a maple fingerboard and a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge position and a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck position.
- A Bolt-On neck joint, rosewood fingerboard and two EMG 81 active pickups.
- A neck-through body neck joint, rosewood fingerboard and two EMG 81 active pickups.
Although it had not been available in America for a while, there is an "M-1" model, which has only one pickup and a tune-o-matic Gibson style bridge. The only color available Stateside for the M-II is Gloss Black, although in the past and overseas, a wider selection is available.
The most famous user of the M-II is probably Metallica's Kirk Hammett, who has used an M-II from the '80s era of Metallica to this day, including his custom KH models which are identical to standard M-IIs other than his signature inlays, art, separate volume controls and a tone control. Hammett's two most well known guitars are M-IIs known as "the Mummy" and the "Ouija" guitars due to their vivid distinctive graphics. Hammett actually owns the art to the Mummy M-II guitar and it cannot be legally reproduced.
