ESP is doing the best fade guitar finish right now

We've all seen sunburst, but it's not all that often you see a fade.

Above is the ESP LTD M-400 in a finish called Solar Fade Metallic. This is one of the best finishes I've seen offered in a while, epsecially considering the fade is present on both the body and the headstock.

Is this the only fade available? No. You can get two more. A Viper-400 in Pinkberry Fade Metallic, and the MH-400FR in Blue Pearl Fade Metallic.

The Pinkberry finish - and I'm being very truthful here - honestly makes the Viper look like a totally new model. It's the same Viper shape you've seen for years, but that finish makes the guitar look like something straight out of the future.

Is the fade present on the front and the back of the guitar? Depends on the model.

On M-400, fade is on the front and back of the body but only the front for the headstock. On the M-400FR, the back is blue on both body on neck but not faded like the front is.

The Viper however gets the full fade for both the front and back. And it's frickin' gorgeous. That's the show-stopper finish.

As noted a moment ago, Pinkberry Fade Metallic makes the guitar look futuristic. Compared to the old style bursts, flame tops, quilt tops and such, that fade finish... wow.

Are these guitars all show? No. The Viper and M-400 have Seymour Duncan pickups, and the MH-400FR has EMG pickups in it. Better electronics and hardware are both present in all three models, so you're not paying for just a fancy finish.

I'm glad to see this from ESP LTD. They definitely needed something to spruce up the model line, and oh yeah, they nailed it with these models.

Published 2019 Sep 3