New Products from Summer NAMM 2015

Greetings from Nashville, Tennessee! That’s where we are right now from July 9 through July 11, 2015, exhibiting our guitars and basses at the Summer NAMM Show. But just because you’re not here with us in Music City USA doesn’t mean you don’t get to find out what’s new and cool from ESP!

New: LTD SN Series

As many of you know who keep up with the instruments that aren’t offered outside of Japan, the ESP Snapper combines a traditional look with high-performance design features and components. At the Summer NAMM Show, we’re happy to introduce the LTD SN Series, encompassing six new guitars that are based on this popular model. All of the new SN Series guitars are in our LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” range.

The LTD SN-1000FR/FM/Maple comes in Aqua Marine finish, and includes a lightweight and tonal basswood body with a flamed maple top along with a maple fingerboard with 24 extra jumbo frets. It features a Floyd Rose tremolo, and is powered by a set of EMG 85 (bridge) and SA (middle/neck) active pickups. Similarly, the LTD SN-1000FR/FM/Rosewood offers the same feature set with a rosewood fingerboard and a gorgeous Copper Sunburst finish on its flamed maple top. Another Floyd Rose-equipped model, the LTD SN-1000FR/Rosewood, features an alder body and maple neck with 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and includes two Fishman Fluence modern humbuckers (ceramic bridge and alnico neck). It’s available in Charcoal Metallic finish.

For more traditional players and music genres, the SN Series is also being offered with a Wilkinson VSVG vintage tremolo system. The LTD SN-1000W/Maple/PW offers an alder body and maple neck/fingerboard with 22 extra jumbo frets and a set of Seymour Duncan Custom 5/ SSL-3/ SSL-3 pickups, and is finished in Pearl White. The LTD SN-1000W/Rosewood offers the same feature set with a rosewood fingerboard and a great-looking Charcoal Metallic finish with white pickguard. The LTD SN-1000W/Maple/TSB is another traditional alder-bodied model using the Wilkinson tremolo, and includes Fishman Fluence single pickups. It comes in Tobacco Sunburst finish.

Expanded: Bunny Brunel Signature Series Basses

Earlier this year, we proudly announced that jazz fusion bass god Bunny Brunel had joined the ESP artist family, and we introduced new 4-string fretted and 5-string fretless bass models under his LTD signature series. The immediate positive response was enough to tell us that more Bunny Brunel basses should be added, so at Summer NAMM, we’re debuting the LTD BB-1005/QM/Black Aqua and the LTD BB-1005 QM/Burnt Orange.

Both of the new models are fretted 5-string basses with an impressive feature set designed to handle the professional studio and stage considerations of an in-demand player like Bunny Brunel. Available in Black Aqua and Burnt Orange finishes, they incorporate neck-thru-body construction, quilted maple top, ebony fingerboard, and a special Aguilar pickup set with an OBP-3 active preamp, as well as a Hipshot A-style bridge and Hipshot tuners with an extender on the lowest string.

New: Say Aloha To Koa

For a long time, musicians have been into the distinctive look and sound of koa wood on instruments. Koa is native to the Hawaiian Islands, and has a well-deserved reputation for its recognizable grain pattern and natural reddish tint as well as its balanced sound, adding brightness to tone without taking away from a guitar’s warmth. At Summer NAMM, we have two new koa-topped LTD guitars joining our offerings: the EC-1000 KOA and the M-1000 KOA. These new koa models will have limited availability through select ESP dealers and international distributors.

The EC-1000 KOA provides a koa veneer top on a mahogany body, with set-through construction at 24.75” scale. It offers a 5-piece mahogany/bubinga thin U-shaped neck with a 24-fret ebony fingerboard, and black hardware. It includes a set of Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (neck) and Jazz (bridge) pickups. The M-1000 KOA adds a koa veneer top on to its mahogany body, with neck-through-body construction at 25.5” scale. Its 5-piece maple/bubinga neck has an ebony fingerboard with 24 extra jumbo frets, and adds a Floyd Rose tremolo as well as DiMarzio ST-2 custom passive pickups.

Happy Summer from Your ESP Pals

The new guitars and basses that we’re introducing at Summer NAMM will be available later this year at your local authorized ESP dealers and many of our international distributors. Meanwhile, here’s hoping your summer 2015 remains full of good times and great music.