ESP LTD Slayer 2012 Electric Guitar - South of Heaven

Following on from last years Slayer-2011 model, ESP have released the ESP LTD Slayer-2012 guitar, with production limited to 2012 alone. ESP have worked closely with both Jeff Hanneman and Tom Araya from the band for several years now, releasing signature models regularly so this guitar can surely be trusted to live up to expectations. As is obvious by the finish of the LTD Slayer 2012 guitar, it is made in celebration of the band's fourth album, South of Heaven, released in 1988. The album artwork adorns the front of the body and other visual features such as the 12th fret Slayer inlay make this guitar appealing to players and collectors.

Construction

The ESP LTD Slayer-2012 guitar features a body made of Alder, an especially light and reliable wood with a nice and broad range of tonal response. A bolt-on maple neck provides a strudy and comfortable playing surface, especially important when trying to recreate the fast, unrelenting riffs of a band such as Slayer. The ebony fingerboard suits the looks of the guitar perfectly and also adds sustain and a sharp attack. The lower frets are clad with pentagram inlays, building up to the dramatic Slayer logo at the 12th fret. Classic dot inlays then decorate the upper fretboard, all the way up to the 24th fret. The neck is also a super-thin U shape, allowing for fast playing up and down the fretboard.

The fixed bridge design allows for serious stable tuning throughout the most brutal rhythm playing and the black nickel finish to the ESP hardware adds to the dark and dramatic aesthetic. The tuners are also good quality and sit next to a blood red LTD logo in a Slayer style font, with the album name, South of Heaven, also present.

Electronics

EMG are the masters of metal when it comes to electric guitar pickups. A hugely popular combination is the 81/85 combination and it wouldn't be right to use anything but this set up for the Slayer 2012 guitar. The EMG 81 sits in the bridge, ready to unleash huge rhythm and lead tones that are just perfect when covered in biting distortion. Every note of a shredding solo will jump out of any mix, no matter how dense thanks to the impressive tonal response of this electric guitar pickup. An EMG 85, a surprisingly versatile pickup, is placed in the neck position and is perfect for anything from crunchy blues to hard-hitting distortion. This pickup was one of the first EMG pickups available and has always been a top seller so it's inclusion on the EMG LTD Slayer 2012 guitar is no surprise.