ESP Iron Cross vs Gibson ES-350T

The ESP Iron Cross and the Gibson ES-350T are both electric guitars sharing mid-forward, transparent, warm. The ESP Iron Cross leans tight and sustaining.

Similarity
citedBlended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.

55% moderately similar

Shared genres
citedGenres both listings are associated with.
  • Blues
  • Jazz
Shared tone character
citedDerived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.
  • mid-forward
  • transparent
  • warm
  • dynamic

ESP Iron Cross

Esp · electric guitar

Gibson ES-350T

Gibson · electric guitar

Citation fame
citedCitation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.
0%
0%
Price

$1418.53via Reverb

Description

The ESP Iron Cross is a James Hetfield signature guitar based on his personal custom design, a Les Paul-style single-cutaway with a set mahogany body and maple cap, three-piece mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and an iron cross inlay at the twelfth fret. It is loaded with his EMG JH Het Set active humbuckers and a TonePros locking bridge. The pickups deliver the brutal, tight, high-output EMG metal voice Hetfield is known for, with crisp highs, tight bass and a pronounced midrange, but add an old-school clarity from their passive-style visible pole pieces. Reviewers note it handles clean, blues and even jazz tones better than most metal guitars. It is tied to heavy metal and thrash.

The Gibson ES-350T is a thinline semi-hollow archtop introduced in the mid-1950s, with a large seventeen-inch body, shallow 2.5-inch depth, short scale and, in its later humbucker-equipped form, dual PAF pickups. The thin body reduces bass feedback and gives a slightly hi-fi voice, pairing semi-hollow warmth with a sharp, punchy attack and bright, energetic character. It became a defining early rock and roll instrument in the hands of Chuck Berry, who used it on most of his late-1950s hits, and it also excels at blues, R&B, rockabilly and western swing. Expressive and touch-responsive, it keeps riffs clear and punchy without turning muddy.

Genres
citedGenres this gear is documented as being used in.
  • Heavy Metal
  • Metal
  • Rock
  • Rockabilly
  • Swing
Tonal lean
  • tight
  • sustaining

Related searches

ESP Iron Cross vs Gibson ES-350T — Shared Character & Differences — NodeTone