NAMM 2020: ESP keeps the LTD party going with new SN, Xtone, M and 200 Series guitars
Sandblasted and sparkle finishes, scalloped fretboards, Seymour Duncan pickups and much more headline Phase II of the company’s 2020 rollout
NAMM 2020: Last month ESP rolled out the LTD-heavy first round of its new 2020 line of electric guitars and basses.
Now, as promised, the company has unveiled Phase II of its new releases, which boasts even more LTDs in the SN, Xtone, M and 200 Series lines.
New to the SN Series are two sandblasted finished models, the SN-1000HT in Purple Blast and the SN-1000FR in Black Blast. Both guitars feature a swamp ash body and a roasted maple neck and fingerboard that is scalloped above the 17th fret and boasts stainless steel frets.
The SN-1000HT also features a Seymour Duncan Sentient/Pegasus pickup set that is splittable with a push-pull control and a Hipshot fixed bridge.
The SN-1000FR, meanwhile, comes in an H/S/S pickup configuration, with two Seymour Duncan Hot Strat single coils and a Pegasus in the bridge, as well as a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws.
New to the Xtone Series are the PS-1000 Blue Sparkle and PS-1000 Vintage Black semi-hollow models. Features include a set-thru three-piece maple neck with a macassar ebony fingerboard, Seymour Duncan Phat Cat single-coils and a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece.
The “shredder’s dream” M-1000 in Purple Natural Burst boasts a neck-thru-body design with an alder body and a burled poplar top, an extra-thin U-shaped three-piece maple neck and a macassar ebony fingerboard.
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Other features include a natural satin finish on the back of the neck, and an EMG 57TW/66TW pickup set with push-pull controls on volume and tone to split each pickup discretely.
ESP has also added several new models to its budget-friendly LTD 200 Series.
First up is the LTD EC-256 Vintage Natural, a set-neck model with a mahogany body and flamed maple top, as well as a mahogany neck and roasted jatoba fingerboard.
Pickups in the guitar are a set of ESP designed LH-150 humbuckers that can be split with a push-pull control.
There’s also a new Black Satin-finished version of the angular, bolt-on LTD F-200. Features on the guitar include a mahogany body, three-piece maple neck, roasted jatoba fingerboard, FR by Floyd Rose tremolo and a set of ESP Designed LH-301 pickups with a push-pull control for coil splitting.
Finally, new to the H Series is the string-thru-body, set-neck LTD H-200 in a see-thru Purple finish. Features include a mahogany body, flamed maple top, ESP Designed LH-150 humbuckers that can be split via a push-pull control and an LTD fixed bridge.
For more information on all of these models, as well as news on the upcoming Phase III and IV releases, head to ESP Guitars.
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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.
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