Open a Sweetwater Card & Earn BonusBucks

ESP LTD Signature Series James Hetfield Iron Cross Electric Guitar - Snow White

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Mahogany Body, Maple Top, Mahogany Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Snow White with Iron Cross Graphic
Building your custom Guitar Gallery
$1,599.00

Earn $80 back in Bonus Bucks OR pay $67/month with 24 month financing*

In Stock!

(Hurry, limited quantity available)

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?
Sweetwater Gear Exchange

Have one to sell?
Check out Sweetwater's Gear Exchange!
Learn More

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Certified Fit Cases

No more guesswork! These cases are hand-tested and guaranteed to fit your guitar. See how we do it

Certified Fit Cases

ESP LTD Signature Series James Hetfield Iron Cross Electric Guitar - Snow White
In Stock!
$1,599.00
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

James Hetfield Approves of This Axe

You can't deny the sweet looks and epic tone of the ESP LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar! This axe captures the angst of Metallica's legendary frontman with Iron Cross artwork and custom inlays. And it's got the sound to match the looks, featuring a hot pair of EMG JH humbuckers that are ready to make your amplifier roar. We've helped rock guitarists achieve aggressive tones here at Sweetwater for decades, and we can easily say the ESP LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar is primed for impressive performance.

Audacious tonal tenacity from EMG JH signature humbucking pickups

James Hetfield requested a set of sleek-looking active pickups from EMG. He wanted his pickups to have the clarity and punch of passive pickups while still retaining the classic EMG character, and they delivered with the JH Het Set you'll find on the LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar. The neck pickup uses ceramic pole pieces for a fuller attack, higher output, and a beefier low end. The bridge pickup uses steel pole pieces for a tighter attack and cleaner lows. Between the two, you've got a world of tone to explore with the ESP LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar.

Designed for furious fretwork

Whether you're a Metallica fan or not, you'll appreciate the ultra-fast feel of the LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar. The thin "U"-shaped neck profile allows for fast runs up and down the fretboard while the extra-jumbo frets make it easy to hit every note with precision. And with premium components like the TonePros locking TOM bridge and locking LTD tuners, the LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar will keep up with your most demanding performances.

You're ready to rock with ESP LTD

ESP LTD guitars were created to bring a more affordable version of the classic designs and quality of ESP guitars to a new market. The entire ESP LTD line features premium tonewoods, quality pickups, and solid hardware for a lifetime of use. An exacting eye to detail and quality means that every instrument is ready to rock when it leaves the factory. An impressive list of signature guitars by some of today's biggest guitar heroes shows the popularity and respect held by ESP LTD. If you're looking for an ideal rock or metal guitar, then you need to check out the ESP LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature guitar.

ESP LTD James Hetfield Iron Cross SW Signature Solidbody Electric Guitar Features:

  • Single-cutaway electric guitar with James Hetfield's signature Iron Cross artwork
  • Clear, punchy, aggressive tone from dual EMG JH Het Set signature pickups
  • Dependable tuning stability thanks to LTD locking tuners
  • Impressive sustain from the string-through-body design
  • Ultra-fast and precise feel from the thin U-shaped neck and extra-jumbo frets
  • Note: The switch on the upper bout is inactive and only for aesthetic purposes.

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • General
  • Number of Strings 6
  • Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
  • Body
  • Body Type Solidbody
  • Body Shape Iron Cross
  • Body Material Mahogany
  • Top Material Maple
  • Body Finish Gloss
  • Color Snow White with Iron Cross graphic
  • Neck
  • Neck Material Mahogany
  • Neck Shape Thin U
  • Neck Joint Set Neck
  • Radius 13.7"
  • Fingerboard Material Ebony
  • Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Flags
  • Number of Frets 22, Extra Jumbo
  • Scale Length 24.75"
  • Nut Width 1.650"
  • Nut Material Molded
  • Hardware
  • Bridge/Tailpiece TonePros Locking Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Stopbar Tailpiece
  • Tuners LTD Locking
  • Electronics
  • Neck Pickup EMG JH Set Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup EMG JH Set Humbucker
  • Controls 2 x volume, 1 x master tone
  • Switching 3-way
  • Miscellaneous
  • Strings Cleartone, .010-.046
  • Case/Gig Bag Hardshell Case
  • Manufacturer Part Number: LIRONCROSSSW

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

This is definitively the best guitar on planet Earth. Thank you so much ESP LTD

This is absolutely the best guitar ever made. I have played guitar for a decade and now teach guitar construction as my job. I have had many, many guitars that have needed professional work and constant care to maintain them as instruments. This is not one of them! This guitar punches very far above its class. I've owned mine since around 2016 and have played it religiously and almost everyday for hours at a time… I have NEVER, I repeat, NEVER had to do maintenance of any kind to this guitar. EVER. That cannot be stressed enough with that many years of use. I've had to retire guitars I've used as much as this guitar could take in a month with one set of strings. This guitar will take every beating you ever give it.
Since owning this guitar I've grown a distaste for Floyd Rose bridges and other designs that take daily fixes. When you experience a guitar that just will not go out of tune, and the action is perfect and there's nothing to complain about… why settle for anything else?
JH explained that the top switch is non-functional. It looks more like a proper les Paul, but the lower pickup selector is better as a guitar player, blah blah blah. I replaced my non-functional switch with a red arcade killswitch, very much inspired by my favorite guitarist, Buckethead. This was a great idea since the guitar is setup to have hardware there. I've also customized my guitar with a red pickguard which matches the red button and adds some flare apart from the original black-and-white racing stripe look. I love to use this with a Mesa Boogie rectifier and 4x12 or VST plugins for recording since it's such a workhorse in the studio. The battery for the neck humbucker lasts so long that I forget it exists sometimes. This is the best guitar ever made IMO, very seriously. All hail ESP LTD!
Music background: Audio Engineer/Musician
Rated 5/5

GREAT GUITAR.

This guitar sounds amazing! I love it cant beat it for the money for sure. Feels great plays great and is just very nice to look at! And the case is a very tight fit the guiatar stays in place for sure glad I bought it. Thanks Brian and sweetwater for the great communication..
Rated 5/5

Outright Exceptional

ESP usually delivers quality beyond the price point, and they knocked it out of the park with this guitar. The Hetfield signature pickups have amazing tone and after getting to know this beast I'm going to put them in at least one more guitar.

I'm picky as hell and can usually find a couple minor issues on anything, but the build quality on this guitar is flawless and the neck plays fast and smooth even with a gloss finish. I generally play satin finish necks as I don't like feeling like my thumb is dragging, but I have zero issues with this guitar.

I "almost" wouldn't change a thing. The only annoying aspect of this guitar is the dummy switch on the upper bout where most single cut guitars have the pickup selector. The pickup toggle is by the knobs, and the upper switch is dead and for looks only. That kind of thing happens to annoy me, so I'm going to end up doing something with that switch like a phase inverter or kill switch, just to give the thing a purpose. But, do not let that discourage you from picking up one of these guitars. With an OHSC from the factory, the price point on this thing is nuts for what you're getting. This guitar is right at home and holds its own next to E-II guitars.
Music background: Veteran Singer/Songwriter, intermediate-level guitarist, newbie recording engineer
Rated 5/5

Flawless Delivery

Guitar showed up in record time, flawless instrument sounds amazing. Thanks team!
Rated 5/5

Beginner!

Just learning how to play. Huge Metallica fan and I thought this would be a great guitar to learn on. I haven't been disappointed at all! Love this guitar so far. Shout out to Jeff J for being a big help. Great communication and shipping from the company
Music background: Beginner
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!