James started using this guitar around the release of the “Load” album in 1996 and continued using it as one of his main guitars well into the 2000s. Very likely, the guitar was also used in the studio, although to which extent is unfortunately unknown at this point.
The guitar was built by ESP and painted by Dino Muradian to feature an elk skull surrounded by barbed wire. Dino used a technique called pyrography – a process of burning a design on the surface with a heated metallic point. The barbed wire extended on the fretboard as well, serving as inlay, which was done in silver by Rob Thorn.
Another very fulfilling meeting, was the occasion when I met Metallica’s James Hetfield (the one I worked that custom ESP-Explorer with a stag scull on it for), and with Kirk Hemet, also in Seattle, also in 1995. These two guys, really heavy metal animals on stage, real gods for so/too many younsters, made me feel like … Michelangelo, backstage, just before their concert in The Sonics Arena. Clean, very nicely mannered, even shy, they both impressed me a lot then, so now I’m kind of a fan of theirs.
Dino Muradian – original source needed
Aside from this, the guitar was just a regular MX250 made to James’ specs. It had a mahogany body, a maple neck with an ebony fretboard, EMG 81/60 pickups, and a stop tailpiece with a tune-o-matic bridge.
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