Educate me on the ESP brand

[shobet]

Don't let the older model names confuse you as well The Eclipse is now LP shaped, whereas before it was this shaped


I like mine a lot. Neck like a fucking tree trunk!

[m2pmd70]

I've been keeping my (admittedly cheap) eye out for one of those earlier Eclipseses.

[Robert Burns]

We were impressed at NAMM this year with (of course this is putting their
best foot forward) The Custom ESP's.. As nice as ANYTHING out there imo.

[Robert Burns]

We were impressed at NAMM this year with (of course this is putting their
best foot forward) The Custom ESP's.. As nice as ANYTHING out there imo.

[Frigo89]

A lot of the old kramers necks were made by esp

ESP was pretty much the exclusive manufacturer of Kramer from like 86 onwards, they did build some of the earlier stuff when Kramer was trying to find their way

[skorb]

Robert those two examples are freeking hideous.

[Super_shredder]

+1 they are puke inducing

[pro-fusion]

Anything with the ESP logo on it is probably going to be a pretty cool guitar. Anything with the LTD logo? Not so likely.

I've got a late '80s The Mirage Custom, which is truly amazing, and a '90s MV USA, which is a 24.75" shredder allegedly built in the USA (though whether fabricated or just assembled here, I don't know). Both are fantastic guitars. Around here, we tend to give ESP a lot of crap for closely copying Jackson designs, but the reality is that the 'real' Japanese ESPs are usually great instruments, though very pricey. The quality on the Korean LTDs appears to have gotten better in the last couple of years, but they still feel cheap to me.

[nhspike]

Thanks for the comments so far everyone!
Very enlightening.

[xbolt]

I have an older Mirage that is a great guitar...


As stated, they made some of the Kramers necks and bodies but as early as 81 and all of them from 86 through the early 90s...The strat head Pacer you sold likely had some ESP parts...

They also made mid-era (83-87) Robins...
Like my Raider I

[stevoc]

LTD = not made in Japan
ESP = made in Japan

That's really all I know.

I thought it was the opposite....LTD was made in Japan, ESP in USA.

[GryphonGuitar]

Nope... LTD's are Korean.

[Rich#6]

Nope... LTD's are Korean.

now only 400 models and up are korean the rest are indonesia.

[Spivonious]

I thought it was the opposite....LTD was made in Japan, ESP in USA.

Nope, ESP is a Japanese company.

[surfreak]

Their shop on 48th St is long gone now, however to have a true picture of what ESP is capable of, you must check out their Japan website: www.espguitars.co.jp/

Like it or not, there are many very creative designs there, and the same goes for the Fernandes Japan website, so no, they are not just ripping off other brands.

As much as I love Charvel/Jackson, nobody can deny that they have ripped off Fender more than any of their competitors (at least until they were bought by FMIC...).