NEWS: ESP and LTD release James Hetfield Truckster in black

Thanks to Sjusovaren on Twitter for pointing out that the ESP and LTD James Hetfield Truckster is soon to be made available in black. I think this is a great move because as much as I like the Truckster, in my mind it's kinda associated with Metallica's St Anger era, which is... not my favourite. So for me this new colour scheme gives the guitar a new lease on life and links it more with Death Magnetic (which, despite the controversial mastering debacle, is still a far superior record to anything else they've done over the last - gulp - 20 years or so). James has already been using this guitar on tour so it's cool to see it being made available for everyone.

From the ESP website:

AVAILABLE FALL 2009:
The new James Hetfield Truckster... now in black!
You ever notice that anything thatʼs cool is often made even cooler by making it more black? So, it should be no surprise that the James Hetfield Truckster is now for the first time being offered in a finish other than aged primer gray. And what color would that be? Black, of course!

Other than its new, even more menacing look, the new black Truckster offers the same high-performance feel and sound as was specified by James himself. Available in both ESP and LTD versions, the Truckster offers a set-neck design with a single-cutaway body at a comfortable 24.75” scale. The guitar has a mahogany body with maple top, a mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, and a 42mm bone nut on its thin u shaped neck. You get 22 XJ frets, satin chrome hardware, Sperzel locking tuners, Tonepros locking TOM and Tail, and EMG 81 (bridge) and 60 (neck) active pickups. The ESP version of the Truckster also includes Schaller straplocks.

You also get the same distressed finish that gives the guitar a look and feel like itʼs been worked in over years of playing. And, like we may have mentioned earlier, it looks even cooler with a bad-ass black finish. Check out the new black Truckster at your ESP/LTD dealer in Fall 2009!

NAMM 2009: New ESPs including Hetfield Iron Cross

Head on over to the Bmusic website for a killer wrap-up of the new ESP models for 2009.

Among the highlights for me are the two new Metallica models, the James Hetfield Iron Cross (pictured) and the Kirk Hammett Ouija Neck-Thru.

Other releases include new models for Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom (dig the ‘Blacky’), the GL-200MT, which is an LTD version of the George Lynch ESP M-1 Tiger,

and some very cool distressed Page Hamilton 20th Anniversary ESP and LTD models.

There’s a lot more over at the Bmusic site so spend some time over there and if you have any questions, I’m sure they’ll be happy to help. They’re probably the most knowledgable ESP dealers in the world.

NEWS: Metallica confirms Guitar Hero Metallica

Metallica continues their association with the Guitar Hero franchise (remember the reports that the Guitar Hero mix of Death Magnetic sounds way better than the CD version?), with the announcement of Guitar Hero Metallica.

In a statement on the Metallica website, the band says:

Yes, we know, it's the worst kept secret in rock-n-roll but we're here now to finally confirm that there will indeed be an all-Metallica Guitar Hero game released in the first half (!?) of 2009.

Guitar Hero Metallica allows you to play as us in either single instrument or band career game modes in your choice of some famous settings (Tushino Airfield anyone?) or new venues with in the round staging.

Included are 28 Metallica songs along with a few from some of our buddies like as Alice in Chains, the Foo Fighters, Slayer, Machine Head and Queen. There is also an all new Expert+ difficulty setting featuring two bass drum kick pedals (!!!) along with all the gameplay modes from Guitar Hero World Tour.

Over the next few months, we're going to be updating you with track listings, more features, of course how and when you can get the game, and some cool previews of the game right here on the site. As you've heard us say before, keep checking back for more details!

According to Blabbermouth, the track listing will include:

Songs by METALLICA:

* "Enter Sandman"
* "For Whom The Bell Tolls"
* "Fuel"
* "Hit The Lights"
* "King Nothing"
* "Master of Puppets"
* "No Leaf Clover"
* "Nothing Else Matters"
* "Sad But True"
* "The Unforgiven"
* "Where I May Roam"

Songs by other artists:

* "No Excuses" by ALICE IN CHAINS
* "Turn The Page" by BOB SEGER
* "Hell Bent For Leather" by JUDAS PRIEST
* "Demon Cleaner" by KYUSS
* "Tuesdays Gone" by LYNYRD SKYNYRD
* "Blood and Thunder" by MASTODON
* "Armed and Ready" by MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP
* "Mother of Mercy" by SAMHAIN
* "Black River" by THE SWORD
* Additional songs from FOO FIGHTERS, QUEEN and SLAYER

How cool would it be if the game was available with Metallica-inspired guitar controllers including Hetfield's ESP Iron Cross and Kirk Hammett's ouija board ESP KH-II?

So what songs would you like to see included? Hopefully they can make room for other great Metallica songs like 'Creeping Death' and 'Blackened.' And maybe Trivium can release their own game which will be pretty much the same thing as the Metallica one, arf.

NEWS: Stuff you may have missed on I Heart Guitar

I've picked up a bunch of new I Heart Guitar readers over the last few weeks, especially thanks to some links on kickass sites like Guitar Noize, Melodicrock.com, Truth In Shredding, Random Chatter Music Blog, Premier Guitar and Guitarsite.com, so I thought it might be a good time to point to some previous articles, reviews, interviews and lessons. So here ya go!

Interview with Joe Satriani

Interview with Paul Gilbert

Interview with Bryan Beller

Interview with Steve Turner

Review of Paul Gilbert and Freddie Nelson's 'United States' CD

Review of Extreme's 'Saudades De Rock' CD

Review of Def Leppard and Cheap Trick's November 3 concert in Melbourne, Australia

Review of Lloyd Spiegel's Live In Japan DVD

Sweep picking guitar lesson

Digital editing for guitarists

A guide to using pedals

My song 'Travels In Hyperreality'

James Hetfield unveils ESP Iron Cross signature guitar

Paradise Guitars USA Jason Becker signature guitar

NEWS: Hetfield Iron Cross ESP

Word on the street (okay, the UK guitar magazine Total Guitar) is that ESP is working on a new signature model for Metallica’s James Hetfield, based on his customised 1973 ‘Iron Cross’ Gibson Les Paul. It will be officially unveiled at Winter NAMM 2009 in ESP and LTD versions.
No doubt this guitar will be based on ESP’s Eclipse model, because if it was a straight copy of the Les Paul, Gibson’s lawyers would be out for blood.
Earlier this year, there were rumours Hetfield was about to leave ESP in favour of Gibson, which would have been good news for anybody who wanted an authentic late 80s-early 90s-style Hetfield Explorer signature model. I'm not sure if that was all just talk - fans online have speculated that Gibson was unwilling to make a signature model for Hetfield, but that doesn't really sound right to me. If they can make a Kiefer Sutherland model, I'm sure they would appreciate the dollar-spinning potential of an EMG-loaded, white Helftield Explorer.

CLICK HERE to buy Metallica's Death Magnetic


CLICK THE IMAGE to buy the ESP LTD James Hetfield Truckster from Music123.