As the frontman of the world’s most popular metal band and a rhythm guitarist whose influence goes far beyond any other player in the metal realm, James Hetfield has had a massive impact on the world of guitar performance, and the Vulture is the most recent of his ESP and LTD Signature Series guitars. It offers a distinctive V-shaped mahogany body with hooks and bevels that are reminiscent of the famed Metallica logo. Built with set-neck construction at 24.75” scale, the LTD Vulture 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. Other pro features of the LTD Vulture include discrete volume knobs for each pickup, LTD locking tuners and a TonePros bridge and tailpiece. An ESP deluxe hardshell case is also included.