This guitar was exclusively played for the live performance of "Fade To Black".
The supposed end of its days:
Jaymz get burned with that guitar during a gig in Montreal on the 8th August '92 when
the pyros to the song "Fade To Black" set in. It happened because the pyro-tech didn't
inform the band that new pyro would be going along with the old pyro which only ignited
along the wings of the stage. James assumed that the new pyro canceled out the previous
pyro, so he stood on a point where a 12 foot flame from the old pyro ignited.
He also used exact the same double-necked ESP EXP model later on Woodstock'94. So this
guitar either has been restored or rebuild for this show.
James' ESP Explorers in general:
They are all based upon the standard ESP EXP serie and were built or overseen by Matt
Masciandaro. Meanwhile the EXP serie has been replaced by the ESP EX standard serie which
has a sharp shape for its ends and headstock instead of the old EXP serie which was
comparable to the rounded shape of the Gibson Explorers.
The difference between the EXP model and James' Explorers:
In difference between James' Explorers and the standard ESP EXP serie, James guitars
have set-necks (glued joint) instead of bolt-on necks. Besides the "Black Album" guitars'
fingerboards consist of ebony instead of rosewood.
Identic to the EXP model:
The body consists of mahogany, the neck of maple and the fingerboard (with its 22XJ
[XJ=extra jumbo] frets) of rosewood. All hardware (the tune-o-matic bridge, the stop piece
and tuners) is black. It has one volume control for each pickup.