Why is ESP more popular than Jackson?

[chrisolson]

I think one other thing they did was keep "ESP" their high brand, and differentiate it with the value line "LTD". Jackson kept the Jackson name and logo across the board and only differentiated it with the Concept, Performer, and Professional logos, which means nothing to the majority of the people out there. They only see Jackson.

With that said, LTD is DAMN NEAR on par with ESP Japanese-made stuff, and as mentioned before, goes the extra mile with GOOD (superior?) hardware. Things always ebb and flow though - we'll see. Charvel made a comeback to a certain degree - albeit somewhat weak.

[Bengal]

I don't think ESP is more popular than Jackson. Heres why...

ESP will give an indorsment deal to anyone. Hell, they will give one to my cat if he was signed. I mean, come on! They gave sig models to the 2 guys from Lacuna Coil! Nothing against them but how many units are they pushing? Not many. So you turn on Mtv or whatever and you SEE alot of ESP/LTD's and get the assumption that they are more popular. Not so. They are just easier to get free stuff from, so guys go with them...

On the other hand, Jackson seems to offer that out much less than ESP. Sure they have some weak sig models, COW and that dude from Superjoint, they don't move many units either. But they won't jump at just anyone like ESP will...

So in summary, ESP is more whore-ish so they seem more popular. Just like in High School...

[S.O.A.F]

I think one other thing they did was keep "ESP" their high brand, and differentiate it with the value line "LTD". Jackson kept the Jackson name and logo across the board and only differentiated it with the Concept, Performer, and Professional logos, which means nothing to the majority of the people out there. They only see Jackson.

With that said, LTD is DAMN NEAR on par with ESP Japanese-made stuff, and as mentioned before, goes the extra mile with GOOD (superior?) hardware. Things always ebb and flow though - we'll see. Charvel made a comeback to a certain degree - albeit somewhat weak.

I agree that!

[Mikernaut2]

I agree with everyones comments so far. They really do have alot more market presence with all their endorsers. In general I just love quality guitars myself , also some variety. In my collection I have- Jackson,ESP,Ibanez and BC Rich.

Now I used to loath BC Rich because I just couldnt get into most of the pointy shapes and my initial impressions were that of all their low end gear that they flood the market with. So I always was extremley turned off . well fast forward years later and I got my hands on a customshop and was blown away. Its craftmanship, sound ,playability was on par with my USA Jacksons.
BC Riches arent very popular currently and you can get some great made in the USA models for good prices because of this. That is why I have 4 now in my collection. The quality and price are hard to beat and I have grown to appreciate a few of the shapes.

It is weird how people can really latch on to one company and be narrow minded thinking they are the be all end all. Theres lots of quality stuff out there but is it deemed "cool" by society/ your peers. Just like how alot of people think Ibanez is the only real seven strings you can get. hah yeah theres lots of brand loyality/snobbery going on.

[Frigo89]

the import line.

and i think calling ESP a "whore company" is kinda unfair, how is what they are doing any worse than Dean, or hell, even Jackson, riding on Dime and Rhoads?

anyways, all people give a shit about noeadays is the "Almighty Dollar", so what ever they can do to make money in the long run, they will do

[Bengal]

the import line.

and i think calling ESP a "whore company" is kinda unfair, how is what they are doing any worse than Dean, or hell, even Jackson, riding on Dime and Rhoads?

anyways, all people give a shit about noeadays is the "Almighty Dollar", so what ever they can do to make money in the long run, they will do

I don't find it unfair at all. To me, that's what they are doing. They give anyone an indorsement deal. Just look at one of their catalogues. Everyone and their Mom is in there...

Dean is almost as bad as ESP. I don't agree with what they are doing with Dime. But I have no problem with Jackson riding the RR...

Is what ESP is doing smart? I don't know. I think they will suffer from market saturation just like PRS did a few years ago. Remeber that? It was the coolest thing for everyone to play a PRS. Now you really have to look for someone playing them. Same thing will probably happen here. Cool one minute, uncool the next...

Until someone in the "know" can come here and post total units sold, it's all speculation...

[Erez]

Why is ESP more popular then Jackson?

THE KIDS ARE BEING BRAINWASHED BY THE MEDIA

"If metallica plays ESP so it must be a great guitar right? I mean.. metallica has a great sound!"... people just forgot that metallica recorded their albums with gibsons and jacksons and even fenders. NOT ESP.

ESP guitars are only popular with KIDS.. they are popular with nobody else.

And for the bottom line.. if all those bands that got their deals with ESP didnt get all that cash and free guitars.. would ESP be their brand of choice? I believe not.

[pott]

There are way less RRs than Dime models... and they're called RRs, not Rhoads. They're not actually signature model, just a shape. The guitar was co designed by Grover Jackson after all...It's a tribute I guess. Though again, same could be said of Dime...

[Thor Von Clemson]

I had a dream about playing an ESP last night... oddly enough

I would be willing to bet that a lot of the people buying ESP's nowadays are in the age group of 14-24 or something like that. They see a lot of bands playing ESP's and think that they have to get one as well. It seems like marketing has done ESP a lot of good. These are people who are not necessarily buying the instrument because it has a AAAAA flamed koa top or an official floyd rose or whatever. LTD's are affordable and pretty much can be played by anyone given the specs and neck profile. Once they start to learn about guitar and what makes it a good instrument, people start to realize that there are more guitar brands out there than just ESP. Not to say that ESP's are not nice instruments. Personally, I would rather spend $1500 on a nice Jackson or Parker than on an ESP, however back when I was 14 I thought ESP was the only company that ever existed.... you can thank Metallica for that.

I saw the dude from Becoming the Archetype playing an LTD H-1000 then they played live. He ALSO plays guitar for Aletheian. BTA has an endorsement deal with ESP and he openly said he would not be playing his ESP when he played for Aletheian. He ALWAYS uses a heavily customized Steinberger for his Aletheian stuff, and if you look at going from a high end Steinberger to an LTD, I started to realize that ESP/LTD's are guitars that most people can easily play.... a "starter guitar" if you will. Again, I am not trying to say they are bad instruments.

[Axewielder]

FMIC isn't really helping matters by messing with the Jackson custom shop. That whole "Masterbuilt" concept is ghey. ESP is currently a lot more flexible and reasonable with their custom order process.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Is that not also an ESP cloud model?

I believe Princes Cloud guitar is actually a USA Schecter.

[JerEvil]

I don't think ESP's are more popular. LTD's are. Let's call it like it is, there are NOT thousands of kids playing actual ESP's. They are all playing Viper 400's, MH400 and the like. For a while they seemed like the only company in the world that built guitars. They also set a standard for cheaply priced imports. Why pay 600 or 700 for an import Jackson with a licensed trem and bolt on neck when you could get a neck through LTD with EMG's and an ebony fretboard. LTD gave more bang for the buck. However they feel really cheaply made to me. I have owned an MII, a Viper Standard (not LTD) and the actual Mustaine DV8, all exceptional guitars, but their LTD counterparts are junk.

[pott]

ESP have better distribution around the world, better endorsements and advertisement and it seems that they want to cater to people's needs before figuring out whether there's this or that product missing. Especially the LTD line.

[sonicsamurai]

One of the things i'm not sure anyone has mentioned is that ESP will give an artist lots of guitars and anything they want for next to nothing and give it some priority, while jackson won't do it unless the artist still pays them and they have to wait like everyne else...i seem to rememebr something along that lines being the reason alexi's jacksons are now re - produced by ESP...Bodom are popular with the kids, so guess what? they all want ESPs.

However, i do think that some of them are overpriced for what they are but then i think they have to make up the money they lose from throwing free guitars all over the place to artists, and with all those copied designs there must surely be copyright to play.

Jackson needs to entice more big artists like Dean have been trying to do at the moment, and hell they may be whoring themselves out...but its getting them recognised isn't it? They should be making more of a big deal about having guys like mark Morton playing them and need people with more of a guitar hero status and more than 2 good albums back in the early 90s when they were a bassist.

they should also make a bigger deal about all the heritage. Yes, we know Randy was good...But what about Jake E Lee, Chris Holmes, Dan Spitz, Marty and Dave, Robin Crosby and others. I look on deans website and they have everyone who's famous who played a dean at one point on there....Jackson doesn't give them a mention. Why?

[Jeff Albertson]

Cheaper with good consistent quality. I buy USA partly because I'm more comfortable spending big money in my own hood (country) but if I didn't have the cash, it would be import city for me. Granted not every ESP guitar carries a lower price tag. They rid the endorsement wave just like other companies. From what I have seen and played...the lower priced stuff can hang with the best of them.