ESP USA M-II NTB FR Floyd Rose Guitar, Flamed Maple Top, Seymour Duncan Pickups, Lynch Burst

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 stunning M-II NTB FR in a striking Lynch Burst is a great example of both ESP USA's quality as well as ESP's legendary design ethos!

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 burst finish over the flame top and reverse headstock complement each other well with both beauty and aggressiveness, and the black hardware provides a nice contrast. Unlike a lot of guitars of this type that feature bolt-on construction, the neck-thru body construction really helps to increase sustain and help the guitar just feel more stable overall.

The workmanship is flawless as you've come to expect from ESP USA's North Hollywood workshop, including the beautifully-done stainless steel frets that make fretting and bending feel effortless. The neck shape itself is a nice middle-ground of "modern thin" whilst still having enough volume to wrap your hand around. All kinds of legato can be pulled off with minimal effort and expressive vibrato is always at your fingertips. The Floyd trem is ready to take any type of pitch-bending acrobatics you can think to conjure up!

This guitar features Seymour Duncan Sentient & Pegasus pickups. These pickups are contemporary through and through, and were Seymour's attempt to create a passive pickup that had the articulation and output required for progressive rock & metal. And suffice to say, he succeeded. The Sentient is low output similar to the '59 and Jazz Duncan pickups, and sound fantastically clean but the low-end tightness is optimized for drop tunings and high gain. The Pegasus, being Alnico V, has all the shimmer and sparkle of an alnico pickup but with the clarity for high-gain chug. Both sound great on this guitar!

For the discerning player looking for a world-class guitar that has the quintessential ESP look and is a fully capable hard rock workhorse, the M-II NTB FR is a sublime choice.

Details

Crafted at our ESP USA facility in Southern California, the USA M-II NTB stands for “neck thru body”, and that’s exactly what it is… a shredder’s dream for those who love the stability and sustain of guitars with neck-thru construction. It offers an extra thin U-shaped three-piece maple neck with mahogany body wings. Optional premier-quality figured-wood tops are available on the USA M-II NTB 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 an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl offset block inlays.

The parts and components on the USA M-II NTB FR are second to none, and include 24 extra-jumbo Jescar stainless steel frets, an Original Floyd Rose floating tremolo, Gotoh Magnum locking 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 NTB FR includes a high-quality ESP USA form-fitting hard shell case.