ESP M-II Deluxe, natural satin, made in Japan 1992. This, friends, rules. ESP was making some major waves in the the guitar community in 1992, having popped up in the hands of metal luminaries like James Hetfield and George Lynch a few years previously. The M-II Deluxe is a Superstrat-style model, but it leaves many other guitars in the genre for dead in terms of feel and sound. The neck: oh boy. It's a slim D style shape with a pretty flat radius, carved from some gorgeous super tightly grained maple, finished in satin and played in to perfection, so it just about plays itself. The alder body is lightweight, with an easy access neck join and comfy contours, so you can get all the way up and down the neck with ease. The natural finish and maple board are an unusual look too, it's certainly got some visual panache and makes a nice change from the standard black-on-black look. The bridge as a Floyd Rose Original model, proper high end stuff, and has just had a once-over with some blocks and shims etc replaced by our excellent house tech, so that's all in perfect order ready to go. The stock neck pickup is great: clear and full, no noise, offering glassy rounded cleans or syrupy growling dirty sounds. The bridge pickup is a Dimarzio Fred, a slightly overwound PAF style model made famous by Joe Satriani, and it sounds terrific: clear, snappy and chiming on top, with a wide but pronounced midrange and plenty of heft on the lows. Often shred style guitars can lack tonal personality, but this has a snarly, eloquent voice that brings a vibrance, detail and charm to your furious flying fingers. I would wager this is a pretty safe investment, both from a player's perspective owing to it's outstanding feel and a value perspective as an increasingly rare piece of early 90s metal history. Extremely good.

Model: ESP M-II Deluxe
Made: Japan, 1992 approx (serial 61690)
Finish: natural, satin poly
Body: alder
Neck: maple, maple board, slim U-shape, jumbo frets, 25.5" scale, 1575" radius
Weight: 3.250kg
Mods: some bridge blocks and shims replaced, bridge pickup replaced
Pickups: ESP Powerrail rails-style humbucker (neck), DImarzio FRED humbucker (bridge)
Accessories: basic ESP gig bag, trem arm included

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has a decent chip on the point on the end, some dimples on the top and bottom edges and some scuffs on the front around the tuner posts. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples and some rub wear on the back only. The back has dimples along the back edge, bottom corner and elbow area, as well as scuffs on the belly carve and bottom horn. The sides have minor dimples and scuffs on the top horn, elbow area and near the jack. The front has scuffs along the back edge, rub wear and dimples in  the elbow area, a dent between the pickups and some play wear on the horns. Overall: very good condition (7.5/10).

Playing condition notes: action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good. All electronics tested and working properly. The frets are looking good, 8/10 for fret life left. Wearing fresh 9-42 strings, tuned to standard.