why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

[Jeremy]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Nope but the paycheck is...

[Jim Shine]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Kirk never stopped using his Rhoads.

[randyvanmalmsteen]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Originally posted by Jeremy:
Nope but the paycheck is...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">are you serious? [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] dave dumped JACKSON just for that reason? [img]graemlins/bs.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Randy, here's another possible reason:

http://www.jcfonline.com/ubb/noncgi/...530;p=2#000047

[Metalcop]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Simple economics. ESP will not only give you hand built one-off custom guitars, but they will pay $$ you to play them!! Jackson will not do this. All you get from Jackson is/are free guitars. I think that FMIC dropping Mustaine to 1 guitar is perfectly justified. He is a has-been and his band had just broken up. How many f'ng Jackson did that wh0re have stockpiled, anyway?! 20? 30?? Ridiculous, at any rate. Any member on this board would be thrilled to be able to get 1 Custom Shop Jackson a year - free! Guitar companies like Jackson and Gibson will never compete with the endorsement wars, because they won't pay people to play them like ESP and Ibeenhad will.

[Black Mariah]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

The only ESP endorsers that are paid are the ones that have signature models, and they only earn royalties from sales. Ibanez is the only company that pays its endorser up front money, and even then only once you've had a couple of platinum albums. You guys are greatly overestimating the dollar value of an endorsement deal. Unless you're putting out platinum albums, you make NOTHING from an endorsement deal except for cheap/free guitars. So just to reiterate, there is no FEASIBLE FINANCIAL REASON for changing from one company to another.

Jackson dropped Mustaine to 1 guitar a year because that is standard FMIC endorsement policy. Eric Friggin' Clapton pays for all but one of his guitars a year too. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[k65h]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

I just don't get this whole
Jackson is better than Esp, is better than Carvin, is better than Schecter, is better than Ibanez, is better than Jackson

Revolving circle you see.

all these companies make some nice top notch guitars. Most of thier imports come from the same factories. To me it just boils down to personal preference in features and feel between makers.
Quality of construction is pretty much on par when
comparing models of the same caliber.

And who cares what the big shots are playing.
Play a guitar because you like it and it inspires you to advance in skill and be creative in your ideas.

Kent

[Newc]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Well, for starters, you go with what your guitar idol plays because you are given the mistaken idea that you will sound like that particular player (noting Mustaine's D'Adarrio ad where he's quoted as saying "You want my tone, get my strings"). This is of course a total marketing line of bullshit, as you eventually learn that just because you have the same guitar, pickups, strings, picks, amp, cabinet, speakers, cables, and whatever else like your hero, you still can't capture that sound off the CD, because none of the ads mention that you also need the mixing console, studio engineer, picking/phrasing techique, and thought processes that said artist used to record whatever disc you're trying to mimic.

Admitting this is careericide, of course, especially if you've got a sig model out there.
Does anyone really believe they'll sound just like EVH if they get a Wolfgang and a 5150? Apparently so, as those are two of the highest-selling items around.

Does any Megadeth fan think he'll sound like Mustaine if he buys a DV8? Did anyone expect to get his tone by buying a KV-1? Most likely.
Will they achieve it? Not in a million years.

So yeah, if ESP promises a paycheck and a free endorsement and a sig model, and they take it, that's fine. I'm sure Eddie Ojeda's still working in that factory he was working in when he inked the ESP deal a couple of years ago.
I'm sure George Lynch is still working somewhere doing something to pay the bills that doesn't involve heavy touring.
And I'm sure Mustaine will have to start doing paid speaking engagements at drug rehabs to make a living, because part of ESP and Ibanez' endorsement contracts undoubtedly state that they are exclusive contracts which carry heavy fines/penalty fees if said artist goes with someone else for the duration of the deal.
Many aging rockers who still cling to the old days would sign such a deal - same deal they signed back in the 80's for a record company - just because they fell for the same promise they fell for the first time.

Newc

[j2379]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

having owned & really liked early ESPs an m1 bolt on, M1 custom (with the beveled horn), & a pheonix(firebird copy) they were great guitars, but new they were about $500. i was 15 or so & couldnt afford the Hamer firebird, Jackson Soloist, or charvel strat so the ESPs were a great substitute. now that they are in the same price range with those hamers, jacksons & USAmade higher end guitars i see no reason to even think about an ESP. that being said ive plated a few GL custom shops in the past & i find them to be lacking. they didnt not compare to my early esps or any of the early PRE custom shop GL models i played.
but i have no doubt if i was playing out & esp said jamie we will make you a guitar to your exact specs & pay you for it, im sold. like was said before the guitars these artists get are NOT what you can buy in most cases.

[10secondLX]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

I had a used ESP KH-2 for a few months and thought it was a really nice guitar. Bought a Y2KV and decided to sell the KH-2. The one thing I notice with ESP is how expensive they can be, I mean come on $1600.00 for a bolt on KH-2. It was nice but not worth that much.

[lerxstcat]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Sure they're overpriced, but they sell 'em because of the endorsees. Now most of us are beyond the phase where we buy a guitar just because our hero played it. Still, some of us are still knocking any guitar NOT a Jackson because our childhood idols DIDN'T play it; not too different.

Toe,the main thing that's ugly to me aout the JJ is the logo; also, a Gibson shape with a bolt-neck is cheesy for an expensive USA guitar IMO. I like bolt necks as much as neck-through, but if it's in the Gibson vein, which it is, it should be set-neck, or neck-through since
Jackson does that so well. Just my little quirk. I even have a old bolt-neck Ventura Les Paul copy, all maple with maple board and black inlays, but it's a $175 used guitar (with hsc), not a new model USA Jackson. I have to retract the "ugliest" statement though; I
just remembered the Zoraxe! UGH!!! ACK!!!

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

The Scott Ian JJ2 model is neckthru.

[Jim Shine]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

Getting numbers of free guitars is as good as getting paid money. An artist can play it once or twice on stage, sign it and sell it for far beyond market value. Look at the money Mustaine has made on liquidating his stash. Free guitars=money. 1 free guitar = poor money, 11 free guitars = a princely sum.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

I agree with K65H. Sure every company makes some clunkers, but they make some rad guitars too...in this day and age you can get a good guitar for a very small amount of money. With the ESP debate, the last ESP I played was the LTD Kirk Hammett model with the real EMGs, neckthru, Skull inlays, etc...I thought it was a nice guitar, it just needed a setup. If I can do ok on it being a 19 year old who's been playing for a short 7 years, I'm sure all these heroes who have been playing longer than I've been alive can do alright on it too.

[Metalcop]

Re: why do they go JACKSON USA to ESP?

I have definitely outgrown the gotta have the same guitar as my hero phase. I always wanted a Lynch Bengal Tiger, a Warren DeMartini snakeskin, and a Jake E. Lee burst. Well when I finally got them, I hardly ever played them, and certainly would never play out with them. So down the road they went, even though they were fantastic guitars (Charvels).

I lost a lot of respect for ESP and my all-time favorite player, George Lynch, in the 80's. First off, I had just purchased a Kramer to be like George. Then five minutes later, here comes the Kamikaze prototype in 86. Then ESP pulls really lame moves of putting their logos on other companies guitars, so that GL can still play what he likes, but ESP gets all the free advertising. For example the JFrog guitar, and the original Kramer Baretta Mr. Scary, which now hangs in ESP's offices with one of their sh1tty necks on it!? The icing on the cake is Lynchs #1 Bengal, the Sandoval/Mighty-Mite/Charvel creation that for years sported an ESP sticker over the Sandoval logo, and a piece of electrical tape covering the rest. The piece of tape finally lets go and now she's an 'ESPoval'! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Lynch still spews that the guitar is his 1st ESP that he got like 20 years ago, whatever. [img]graemlins/eyes.gif[/img] Its stunts like this that give that co. a bad reputation, not to mention the entire LTD series.
ESP/Ibeenhad all specify that you can't be photographed with anything but their product, to maintain their endorsement contract. And yes it makes fiscal sense to switch from Jackson to ESP. All of the endorsees we are talking about have a signature series, therefore they are not only getting free guitars, but they are being highly paid to play them.