ESP LTD KH-202 Kirk Hammet Signature Model
July 19, 2007 by Jo Minor
Wow. A Kirk Hammett Signature electric guitar for less than $600 retail. Now that sounds like something to look into, doesn’t it? The ESP LTD KH-202 Kirk Hammett Signature model electric guitar has a basswood body, maple neck, real EMG LH-300 pickups, and a Floyd Rose tremolo, among other features. With this reasonably priced axe, you will be cranking out those heavy metal tunes before you know it.
Kirk Hammett, born in 1962, is the lead guitarist for the well known thrash band, Metallica. He was influenced by the music of Jimi Hendrix while he was young, and even was quoted as saying he wanted to grow up to “be Jimi.” In 1983, he was taking lessons from another great guitarist, Joe Satriani. In the year 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him in eleventh place in their opinion of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Hammett most frequently plays ESP guitars. The ESP name stands for “Electric Sound Products,” a company that was started in Tokyo, Japan, in 1975 by Hisatake Shibuya. The company provided good quality parts for guitars, and soon began crafting guitars for the Japanese market as well. These high quality guitars were soon discovered by heavy metal rockers, and the company grew. They were expensive, however, so ESP did what many high priced guitar companies do. They created another company name for a line of similar guitars at a lower price. This new company was called “LTD.”
Actually, while LTD guitar manufacturing is overseen by ESP and the models are very similar, it is a different company. They are often called ESP LTD guitars, but they are actually just LTD.
Like several other companies, when some of ESP’s models looked and acted a little too much like Gibsons, and the sales cut into Gibson territory, Gibson slapped ESP with a law suit. ESP changed details and continued to market good quality electric guitars. To further show how ESP guitars are esteemed by metal guitarists, they offer eighteen different famous name signature models.
Advantages: The EMG humbucker pickups on the ESP LTD KH-202 Kirk Hammett Signature model electric guitar are loud and crunchy. It sounds awesome when played clean and even better with heavy distortion. The Floyd Rose double locking bridge and tremolo system are a feature usually seen on guitars of a higher price range. It allows you to do those whammy dives without putting your guitar out of tune. In fact, it will keep your guitar in great tune for a long time. The guitar also has good harmonics.
The neck of the ESP LTD KH-202 is fast, with the back of the neck flatter than others. This feature can improve playing comfort. The 24 frets are suitable for playing solos in Kirk’s style. If you like that black goth kind of look, you will like the inlays and dark finish. It is really a good guitar for shredding and blows others away in tone and crunch.
Disadvantages: It takes a while to get used to using a Floyd Rose locking tremolo bridge. Tuning and changing strings is troublesome, but once you get used to it, you will probably learn to love it. It needs to be set up by a professional guitar tech. You might have him show you how to use the Floyd Rose while he is at it, if you are not familiar with them. You might want to put different strings on it, like Ernie Ball Super Slinkies, as the stock strings aren’t the greatest.
This guitar is reported to have less sustain than some would like. Like any shiny guitar, the glossy black finish of the ESP LTD KH-202 Kirk Hammett Signature model electric guitar is prone to show fingerprints and dust. Also, some guitarists have found this ESP LTD guitar to be lacking in quality, and have not liked the way it feels to play it. If you possibly can, it is always a good idea to try out a guitar before you buy it. Sometimes you can not, but you can always return it if you do not like it.
Specs:
- Basswood body, in glossy black finish
- Bolt-on maple neck
- Extra thin, flat neck shape
- Rosewood fretboard
- No binding
- 25.5 inch scale length
- 24 extra jumbo frets
- 43 mm. wide at the Floyd Rose locking nut
- Skull and cross bones inlays
- EMG-ESP LH-300 pickup set
- 2 volume control knobs
- 1 tone control knob
- Three-way pickup selector switch
- Black nickel hardware
- ESP LTD tuners
- Floyd Rose licensed double locking tremolo bridge system
Wikipedia has a short bio and discography of Kirk Hammett. Check it out here. Floyd Rose bridge systems cause a lot of guitarists needless grief in the beginning. Here is an article that explains how to use one.
Buy Online: ESP LTD KH-202 Kirk Hammett Signature
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hello…im using a LTD kh-202,and im having a problem to find a floyd rose screw which u can adjust the height of the strings in malaysia. my current screw are rusted badly,i can adjust the thing.so i need to buy a new 1.where can i get the same exact to the one i’m having?