The ESP Guitar Company

Custom Shop Alexi 27 FM- "Byakko"

This is my custom. Its model was listed as an Alexi FM-27. Build time took about a year and a half, but I understand that’s pretty normal. It has notable similarities to the Caparison Orbit since that’s one of my favorite guitars, but I opted for an alder body rather than mahogany in keeping with Alexi’s personal builds. Alder bodies were also featured on the Chushin Gakki-built Jackson RR24s and RR24Ms of the late 2000s, some of my other favorites. The body also features countersunk strap lock contact points, and a deep dish plug in the interior of the guitar’s upper wing.

I prefer white V guitars since they make the shape stand out more and have a rich tradition of legendary players who used them. Plus, with black chrome hardware, it looks extra icy.

The neck is a through-neck 7 piece maple/walnut/paduak. The fretboard is ebony with scallops on frets 21-27, and the frets are jumbo stainless steel. For the neck carve I selected the “Thin D” option, which notably diverges from Alexi’s choice for a heftier, baseball bat sort of feel. The finish on the back of the neck is satin.

The pickups are Fishmans with a push-pull on the volume knob to access their passive voicings-no coil tap, since I knew the single in the neck would quack all I wanted.

The kanji painted on the rear of the headstock means “white tiger” based off of the heavenly beast Byakko, hence why it also has the flamed maple top (the stripes) and the black pearloid sawtooth inlays (the claws). I decided that painting literal tiger stripes would be a little too “Siegfried & Roy”, so I opted for a more subtle/ornate approach to the theme. I referred to the paint job as “White Tiger Flame” on the initial spec sheet, although Gibson came out with a Victory model painted in a similar fashion that people were calling a moonburst.

I don’t consider myself much of a shredder these days, but I prefer to have the tools available to me on the guitars that I use. My expectations for this instrument were high, and ESP’s custom shop consistently met the mark. Overall, the instrument feels as through every component was ergonomically designed to ease the playing process. It feels solid in a way that’s similar to a premium sports car, and consistent in its performance and operability (decidedly unlike many premium sports cars). I am incredibly pleased with the end result, and forever grateful to both Matt from Drop Dee Guitars, as well as ESP’s custom shop in Japan (Happy 50th btw!). I think my guitar acquisition syndrome is finally cured. Although, another custom job with 7 strings based on Seiryu the azure dragon might be cool, too…

Byakko is currently set up to Drop C tuning with Elixir .10-52s. It is featured prominently on my song release “Dangerous to Know” being played through the 80s Arch Lead setting on the Tim Henson Archetype VST, and will also be featured heavily on “Russian Cursive”, my newest song; that time it is played through my Engl Savage profile on my Kemper Stage. My album, tentatively titled Personal Effects, will be dropping later this year and explores my interests in the grungier side of modern hard rock, as well as my affinity for darkwave, goth rock, psychedelic atmospheres, and bass-heavy electronic productions.