This is the 2011 James Hetfield Signature model by ESP LTD. James has played various Snakebyte guitars, including some prototypes back in 2010—a year before the model officially hit the market. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll lump them all together here.
Yeah, the Snakebite. Love, love this guitar. It’s thinner than your traditional Explorer shape, and yeah, I designed this just out of drawings and then on Photoshop. I wanted a shape that was different enough to still feel good and balanced on my body but look more interesting. So obviously, the Metallica kind of barb has shown up here in a couple of spots, and the little contours here give it some depth. And it’s a lot lighter. It’s just awesome.
James for EMGtv
Specs
The LTD Snakebyte sports a body shape that’s reminiscent of the classic Explorer, but modernized and tweaked to dodge any legal issues with Gibson. It’s got a mahogany body with set-neck construction and comes in finishes like Black Satin, Kuiu Camo Satin, and Snow White.
It runs on a 24.75″ scale with an ebony fretboard, featuring a 12″ radius, 22 frets, and a 1.65″ nut width. For pickups, the guitar is loaded with dual EMGs. Originally, it came with the 81/60 set, but more recent versions feature the EMG “Het” set, which is James’s signature configuration. It also includes a Tonepros locking TOM bridge and stop-bar tailpiece.
James’ Snakebytes
As mentioned earlier, James Hetfield has played a wide variety of Snakebyte guitars over the years. The first two appeared in 2010—one in white and the other in black—both finished in gloss. Around 2011/12, he introduced a matte black version, along with another finished in chrome.
From there, James expanded his collection to include a Snakebyte with a snakeskin pattern on the front, another with a military camo finish, and a few other standard versions in black and white.
All of these guitars were identical in terms of specs, with the only real differences being the finishes.
The only Snakebyte that stood out was one James began using around 2018. This guitar had a dark purple finish, on a flame maple top, but the most significant difference was that it featured a baritone scale neck, setting it apart from the rest of his collection.
On the M72 tour James started using a snakebyte with a new finish. This Cthulhu finish was pyrographed by Dino Muradian
Forgot to mention that it’s used only for Orion or The Call of Ktulu