On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

JH-2 Custom Explorer, Chrome Diamond Plate

ESP Guitar Company
James Hetfield

Not on view

James Hetfield’s second signature model, the JH-2, is an Explorer-style guitar outfitted for heavy metal performances. This one-of-a-kind version features a chrome-diamond-plate top that Metallica provided to the ESP Custom Shop. Hetfield began playing the guitar on tour supporting Metallica’s albums Load (1996) and Reload (1997). It has become one of his most recognizable instruments and remains in use today.

Technical Description:
Mahogany body and neck, maple top, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; black finish with chrome diamond plate top; set neck with mother-of-pearl ninja star and diamond inlays; headstock with chrome diamond plate facing, black ESP stencil logo; EMG 60 and 81 active humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, volume and tone controls; black TonePros tune-o-matic style bridge and Sperzel locking tuners, chrome-plated knobs

JH-2 Custom Explorer, Chrome Diamond Plate, ESP Guitar Company, Mahogany, maple, rosewood, plastic, chrome, metal

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.