ESP has brought the power of Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher to their LTD brand with the all-new LTD Royal Shiva. The LTD Royal Shiva is based on a guitar made for Kelliher by the ESP Custom Shop that you might’ve seen the man himself sporting on recent tours.
The LTD Royal Shiva offers a double-cutaway Mahogany body featuring an outstanding Silver Sunburst finish and white binding, a 3-piece Mahogany neck, and a Macassar Ebony fretboard with mother-of-pearl block inlays and 22 extra-jumbo frets. The Shiva includes nickel-finished hardware, a TonePros TOM bridge and tailpiece, LTD locking tuners, a bone nut, a multi-ply black pickguard, and a set of Bill’s signature Mojotone Hellbender humbucker pickups.
In an upcoming interview with Guitar World, Kelliher said the original ESP Shiva is actually heavily inspired by his old nine-string (with the three high strings doubled – Kelliher wasn’t djenting around). “They basically made an exact copy of it, and I love it. It’s heavy, thick, and unique. It feels great, and the neck is incredible. And it’s heavy, but that’s okay because the weight of a guitar is very important to me. The thicker, the better.”
