Review: The George Lynch ESP Skulls and Snakes

George Lynch is by far my favorite guitar player and greatly influenced my playing. In addition to being a great guitarist, George Lynch has always been known for guitars with exotic graphics and high quality features. Since the middle of the 1980s he has used guitars made by ESP of Japan. He actually was their fist well known endorser.

Many of the guitars that ESP produces also come in a cheaper line known as LTD. They began producing them in the 1990s. In the case of the George Lynch Skulls and Snakes there is not less expensive LTD version. If you want this guitar you have to buy the ESP version. An LTD version was produced for about three years in the late 1990's though and can be found used.

The ESP Lynch Skulls and Snakes is made in Japan by hand. It is essentially a black guitar with a custom graphic finish and reverse headstock. The graphics on the guitar have been around for sometime. He actually used a prototype of the graphics in 1985 and then redesigned it into the current Skulls and Snakes model. A previous version also had a traditional fender style headstock before deciding on the reverse headstock version currently in production.

The specs on the Skulls and Snakes are as follows. As mentioned it is black with custom graphics and a reverse headstock with black hardware. It has a bolt on neck and is madein the Stratocaster style and scale. The body is made from alder and the neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard with 22 extra jumbo frets. The neck is not a ultra thin neck but is very comfortable to play. It comes with a locking Floyd Rose Tremolo and Gotoh tuners. For superior sound a Screamin' Demon pickup is in the bridge and a ESP SH-100 pickup in the neck position. The pickups are selected by a push/pull control that also controls the volume. A case is included with this guitar. The list price is $3,699.

I personally own an older George Lynch LTD guitar in the GL-500T made in Korea, and Japanese ESP M-1. I have also played most models that they produce. This is one of the better guitars that they make. It is also my favorite ESP signature model in production currently. I personally would not buy one of these as they are really expensive. If you buy it from an online music store be prepared to spend over $2,700. You can find one in used condition for $1,000 and up depending on the condition of the guitar. The LTD versions are a bit rare. If you find an LTD Skulls and Snakes version the price is usually between $400-550. the materials are essentially the same. The only difference is the LTD version is produced in Korea and the ESP version is made in Japan.

The only real negative to this guitar is the price. If money is not an object it is one of the best hard rock guitars out there. The problem is that you could buy two or three quality guitars for the price you would pay for the George Lynch Skulls and Snakes. You could easily buy two Korean LTD guitars for what you would pay for the ESP Lynch model. I would say it is a great bargain for under $1,000 if you are a George Lynch fan though. I really don't think I could justify the price for anyone who is not a huge fan of George Lynch.

Sources

www.GeorgeLynch.com

www.ESPguitars.com

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ESPSKULLSNAKE