ESP pays tribute to the late Alexi Laiho with two new signature models

ESP has paid tribute to late Children of Bodom/Bodom After Midnight frontman and guitarist Alexi Laiho with two new signature electric guitars.

The Alexi Laiho Hexed will come in Custom Shop and LTD versions, while the Alexi Laiho Ripped will be available in Custom Shop, LTD and E-II versions. The first new Laiho signature ESPs since 2013, they were worked on by the metal guitar hero in collaboration with ESP in the months prior to his tragic death on December 29, 2020.

Both the Hexed and Ripped – in all five of their combined iterations – are built in the offset V shape of Laiho's other signature guitars, and feature alder body wings, and three-piece U-shaped maple necks boasting ebony fingerboards with 24 extra-jumbo frets (frets 19-24 are scalloped), sawtooth inlays, and glow-in-the-dark side markers.

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Both Alexi Laiho Hexed models boast a single EMG HZ F-H2 passive pickup, with the LTD version boasting only a single volume control, and the Custom Shop version featuring the volume control plus an ESP MM-04 active boost switch with adjustable EQ settings and up to +18dB of boost on tap.

The LTD Hexed ($1,549) boasts Grover tuners and a double-locking Floyd Rose 1000 bridge, while the Custom Shop Hexed ($5,599) is built with Gotoh locking tuners, ESP strap locks and a double-locking Floyd Rose Original bridge. Both guitars come with a deluxe ESP hardshell case, and in a Purple Fade finish with light purple pinstripes with matching back and sides.

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The first Alexi Laiho signature ESP with multiple pickups, the Ripped model features an EMG HZ F-H2 bridge humbucker and an EMG HZ S2 passive stacked single coil in the neck position.

They are controlled, respectively, by an individual volume knob, ESP MM-04 active boost switch and three-way pickup selector on the E-II and Custom Shop models, and an individual volume knob and three-way pickup selector on the LTD.

Elsewhere, the E-II Ripped ($2,499) features Gotoh locking tuners, ESP strap locks, and a double-locking Floyd Rose Original bridge, the LTD Ripped ($1,599) boasts Grover tuners and a double-locking Floyd Rose 1000 bridge, and the Custom Shop Ripped ($5,799) is built with Gotoh locking tuners, ESP strap locks, and a double-locking Floyd Rose Original bridge.

Each ESP Alexi Laiho Ripped model features a Purple Fade Satin finish with painted black satin “ripped” pinstripes.

For more info on each of the new Laiho signature models, stop by ESP.