ESP’s 2020 Guitar & Bass Line-up Sees the Return of Some Old Favourites

ESP have been drip feeding their 2020 guitar and bass line-up for a number of weeks now, with more still to come. In a move that will surprise no one, there’s a range of totally wild new finishes like the Purple Blast on the new Snapper variant, the SN-1000HT. But there’s also some old favourites returning to the catalogue, perhaps most notably, the Phoenix 1000 in an active or passive pickup model. Here’s a few highlights from what’s been released so far.

ESP’s Phoenix shape is returning to the LTD series as the Phoenix-1000. It will be available in See Thru Black Cherry  with a pair of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker active pickups, and also in Vintage White with a Seymour  Duncan Phat Cat single coil in the neck and a Seymour Duncan Custom in the bridge.  Both models feature a mahogany body, mahogany neck, TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, locking tuners, a macasser ebony fingerboard and luxurious gold hardware.

As mentioned earlier, the new SN-1000 models gain a pretty crazy sand-blasted finish – unique in the ESP line-up. Available in a purple and black (purple blast) SN-1000HT version or black on black (black blast) SN-1000FR version with Floyd Rose and a humbucker/single coil/single coil pickup configuration.

The D series bass range gets a new burled poplar top in Black Natural Burst Satin finish and will come in 4, 5 or 6 string models. All three models are neck-thru-body designs with a 7-piece maple/jatoba neck and mahogany body, and come with ESP Designed SB-4, SB-4, or SB-6 pickups with 3-band active EQ.

The Viper shape will return to the more premium 1000 Series in 2020, with the Viper-1000 available in See Thru Purple Sunburst and Tiger Eye Sunburst finishes. They feature Seymour Duncan Sentient and Pegasus passive pickups, splittable by a push-pull control. Other components include a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and locking tuners.

The popular Black Metal series continues to expand with 2 new models; the M-HT Black Metal and a monstrous 7-string baritone version, the M-7-HT Baritone Black Metal. They both feature the special edition Seymour Duncan Blackened Black Winter passive pickup for heavy tones with dynamic range. The bad-ass looking satin-black minimal design theme continues – the macassar ebony fingerboard features no inlays, but subtle glow in the dark side-dots to help out on stage.

The budget friendly 200 Series also gets some new additions, most notably the angular F-200 with Floyd Rose in Black Satin — bringing the wild body shape to a price point that will no doubt be friendlier to younger shredders. Also added is the H-200 in See Through Purple with a flamed maple top.

Wanna get the full rundown or everything announce so far?

Head to ESP’s first announcement here ,and second announcement here