ESP Introduces New James Hetfield LTD Snakebyte SE Baritone Guitar
The limited-edition model offers extended lower range and an eye-popping Purple Sunburst finish.

ESP has announced the LTD Snakebyte SE Baritone, a collaboration with Metallica frontman James Hetfield. The limited-edition model—500 examples in total—is a replica of the guitar Hetfield is using on Metallica’s current WorldWired Tour.
The guitar boasts set-neck construction with a 27-inch scale, and is tuned B E A D F# B, allowing for an extended lower range than a standard-scale model. A mahogany body is paired with a highly-figured, and quite striking, quilted maple top and See Thru Purple Sunburst finish.
Other features include a thin, U-shaped 3-piece mahogany neck with Macassar ebony fingerboard; LTD locking tuners; TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece; and James Hetfield’s signature EMG JH "Het" Set active pickups.
The Snakebyte SE Baritone is being offered for $1,399 and comes with a hardshell ESP case and a Certificate of Authenticity.
For more information, visit ESPguitars.com.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.