Description
Few guitar players of the world merit as much respect as Alex Skolnick. Originally gaining fame as the teenage phenomenon holding down guitar duties for Bay Area thrashers Testament, Alex has gone on to tackle multiple musical genres, including sophisticated jazz playing in his Alex Skolnick Trio. His original ESP Signature Series guitar, the ESP Alex Skolnick, might be one of the finest single-cutaway guitar ever produced. Created by hand at the ESP Custom Shop in Japan by our world-renowned luthiers, no detail goes overlooked. Its traditional shape belies its contemporary set of tools that include a set-thru, U-shaped three-piece maple neck for smooth access all the way up and down the fingerboard. It comes with Alex’s own Seymour Duncan AS Signature pickups that offer wonderful dynamic response so that you can access a versatile batch of tones with a turn of the volume knob. Its flexible controls include individual volume knobs for each pickup, a tone control with push-pull access to spilt the pickup coils, and a pickup selector toggle. Its high-end components include a bone nut, TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, Dunlop straplok, and Grover tuners. The ESP Alex Skolnick comes in an amazing-looking Lemon Burst translucent finish over its figured flamed maple top, and is also available in an affordable LTD version with the AS-1.
ALEX SKOLNICK SIGNATURE SET:
During his tenure in Testament, Alex Skolnick helped pioneer the Bay Area Thrash sound – and he has continuously expanded his repertoire of styles following his departure. Whether playing solo, with his jazz trio, or in the re-united Testament, his playing and tone continues to inspire us.
Designed in conjunction with Alex, this humbucker set is tweaked to perfectly recreate his tone, from expressive melodies to aggressive palm muting. The neck is a vintage output, PAF style humbucker with an Alnico V magnet; the tone is rich and articulate. The bridge is wound hot, with a voicing that emphasizes punchy midrange, and rich harmonics.
ABOUT ESP:
ESP Company, Limited is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Tokyo, Japan and Los Angeles, California, United States, with two distinct product lines for each respective market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under several names, including “ESP Standard”, “ESP Custom Shop”, “LTD Guitars and Basses”, “Navigator”, “Edwards Guitar and Basses”, and “Grassroots”. www.espguitars.com