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The saw-tooth inlays speak of its metal pedigree

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Children Of Bodom's Alexi Laiho reckons his ESP signature model "fucking rocks". So it should do for £3,299. But if you don't mind settling for the Korean-built LTD equivalent, you'll shave two-thirds off the price.

Hands on

Laiho admits the offset styling owes a visual debt to Jackson's Randy Rhoads range, but this is more than an expensive copy.

We've also got an alder body, a three-piece maple thru-neck, with a solitary passive EMG humbucker at the bridge and a genuine Floyd Rose. Throw in the saw inlays and all the calling cards of a classic metal axe are in place.

In use

The first thing to strike us is how much ESP spec has made the transition to the LTD version.
We sense that Laiho doesn't want to shaft his younger fans and it's consolidated by the 600's physical performance.

If you've got the chops, this is your playground, with a fast two-octave board that deals in legato, tapping... anything apart from ham-fisted open chords.

You could argue that there should be more sonic options on a £1,099 electric, and the H-4 bridge pickup is pretty cutting, but we'd counter that this natural tendency towards top-end bite is why the Alexi-600 is so good at relaying the speedy and precise techniques you'd want from it.

This is a formidable guitar, great for technicians but perhaps a bit much for beginners.