The ESP Guitar Company

Thousands and thousands of you entered for a chance to win your choice of two amazing guitars from the ESP players of Metallica -- James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett -- but only one of you was lucky enough to be randomly selected, and that person is Darwin Delossantos of Brooklyn, NY. His choice between the LTD James Hetfield Vulture in Olympic White finish or the LTD Kirk Hammett KH-V in Black Sparkle?

Darwin couldn't go wrong between these two guitars -- there's no wrong answer here -- but he picked the KH-V. The latest addition to the Kirk Hammett Signature Series, the KH-V is available in three different versions: Black Sparkle with black hardware and black pickguard; Red Sparkle with gold hardware and gold pickguard; and Metallic Gold with gold hardware and cream pickguard. The KH-V offers neck-thru-body construction, with an extra-thin U-shaped three-piece maple neck and korina body at 25.5” scale. Its Macassar ebony fingerboard features pearloid wave inlays and 24 extra-jumbo frets. The sound of the KH-V is powered by a set of Kirk’s signature EMG Bone Breaker pickups, with the BB-B ceramic bridge and the BB-N alnico 5 neck pickups for crisp, crushing leads or smooth, rounded rhythm tones at the flip of a switch.

Had Darwin chosen the LTD Vulture in Olympic White, he'd be getting the most recent James Hetfield signature model. Also available in Black Satin finish, the LTD Vulture is built with set-neck construction at 24.75” scale. It features a three-piece mahogany neck and a Macassar ebony fingerboard with 22 extra-jumbo frets, dot inlays, and a custom vulture inlay at the 12th fret. The LTD Vulture comes with a set of James’s signature EMG JH Het Set active pickups. Designed to capture the clarity and punch of a passive pickup and still retain the legendary active tone that molded a generation, the JH-N (neck) has individual ceramic poles and bobbins that feature a larger core and are taller than the EMG 60 for more attack, higher output, and fuller low end in the neck position. The JH-B (bridge) uses the same type of core but has steel pole pieces, unlike the EMG 81 that uses bar magnets. This produces the familiar tight attack with less inductance for a cleaner low end.

Again, please help us congratulate Darwin on his sweet victory, and we're already getting his KH-V set up to deliver to him. Hope he enjoys it! For the rest of you, don't despair... we'll have more opportunities to win coming soon from our friends at ESP!