ESP USA M-II FR Guitar, Ebony Fretboard, Duncan Alnico II Pros, Black Open Grain

Player's Perspective

It's always a treat to get a beautiful USA-made ESP into the shop. Built in ESP's USA factory right here in California, these instruments are top-of-the-line instruments on par with their renowned, artisan-made Japanese Custom Shop guitars. This killer M-II FR is a great example of both ESP USA's quality as well as ESP's legendary design ethos! This one has an awesome murdered-out Black Open Grain finish that emphasizes the natural beauty of the swamp ash body while looking fearsome.

This style of guitar is what ESP has come to be known for - the Superstrat capable of tearing heads off with both its tone and its looks. The M-II is an aggressive and modern design that takes no prisoners in playability or tone. From the top down, the guitar is built impeccably. The fretwork allows for nice low action, and the Floyd Rose locking bridge and nut lets you dive-bomb the night away without worrying about your strings going out of tune.

This guitar features Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups. Taking the "PAF"-style humbucker a step further, these have a very vocal quality to them and absolutely sing both clean and distorted. They'll clean up nicely with a nice top-end shimmer, but can also handle gain very well, from blues, jazz, and R&B all the way up to the heaviest modern rock, something vintage humbuckers sometimes struggle to do. You may have heard them at work on Guns N' Roses records - legendary axeman Slash has been the #1 user of these pickups. We think these 'pups sound pretty good there! The swamp ash body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard combine for a tone that is nice and bright, which helps retain articulation as you add more and more gain.

When high-end electronics meet superb construction and high-quality tonewoods, the result is something that's going to feel great, look great, and sound even better. That's ESP USA.

Details

Crafted at our ESP USA facility in Southern California, the USA M-II FR offers a high-end take on one of the world’s most beloved shred guitars. It offers a mahogany body with bolt-on construction to its extra thin U-shaped quarter-sawn maple neck with natural satin finish for the smoothest and fastest playing experience. Optional premier-quality figured-wood tops are available on the USA M-II FR including flamed maple, quilted maple, lacewood, zebrawood, and koa, with a variety of amazing translucent gloss and satin finishes to choose from, as well as both maple and ebony fingerboards with clean abalone dot inlays.

The parts and components on the USA M-II FR are second to none, and include 24 extra-jumbo Jescar stainless steel frets, an Original Floyd Rose floating tremolo, Sperzel standard tuners, Dunlop strap locks, and a variety of high-end Seymour Duncan or EMG pickups, with a push-pull coil split control on the tone knob for passive pickup models. The USA M-II FR includes a high-quality ESP USA form-fitting hard shell case.

Graphite Neck Reinforcement Bars

Get maximum strength and stability from your guitar’s neck, with higher long-term reliability. All ESP USA models are made with two high-strength bars of carbon fiber.

Deep Dish Jack

In addition to looking sleek, the Deep Dish jack installed on ESP USA models has the added benefit of providing the depth and angle of the cable to be easily looped around the player’s strap to better protect the cable from crimps or other damage.