ESP Horizon
ESP is very well known
today for its extraordinarily
high quality and affordable
LTD line, but the company’s
origins lie in high-end, hand-
built custom instruments.
For a time, it was also an
OEM builder of bodies
and necks for companies
like Kramer, Schecter, and
Dimarzio. Ronnie Wood was
a prominent user of early
Japan-built ESP guitars, but
the company really started
stacking up endorsements
when it opened up a
custom shop in New York
City around 1984. Soon,
players like Page Hamilton
of Helmet and Vernon
Reid of Living Colour were
added to the roster. The
company’s quintessential
superstrat model was (and
still is) the Horizon, a sleek
design featuring a strikingly
contoured body, often with
an arched maple top, a
Floyd Rose vibrato system,
and a 24-fret maple neck
with ESP’s classic U-shape,
which is noticeably more
substantial
and well-
balanced than a lot
of shredder oriented necks.
Horizon models could be
either bolt-on or neck-
through, and featured a
variety of stunning finishes.
The most well known
Horizon player is probably
Page Hamilton, who has had
various signature versions
of this guitar over the
years, including a relicked
model that replicated every
scrape and ding of his long
suffering main axe.
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