ESP Guitars

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ESP Company, Limited (株式会社イーエスピー, Kabushiki Gaisha Ī Esu Pī^?), located in North Hollywood, California, is a prominent manufacturer of electric guitars and basses, originally from Japan.

1 History
2 Manufacturing operations
3 Popularity
4 Models
- 4.1 Number structure
- 4.2 Series
5 Artists
6 External links

[edit] History

In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products (ESP) in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation as a provider of high-quality replacement parts. At this time, ESP also began crafting guitars under the ESP and Navigator brand in the Japanese market.

ESP replacement parts were first introduced into the US in 1983. ESP began crafting custom instruments for local New York artists between 1984 and 1985. Among these artists were Page Hamilton of Helmet, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, Bruce Kulick of KISS, and Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones. At this time, ESP also introduced the 400 Series as the first production line distributed in the US.

ESP Pointed Headstock.

In 1986, George Lynch discovered ESP while on tour in Tokyo. Lynch walked into an ESP shop looking for a replacement neck and learned that ESP also built custom guitars. As a result, his famous ESP Kamikaze was made. ESP soon introduced the M1 Standard, MI Custom, Horizon Custom, and the Surveyor bass into the market.

ESP 30th Anniversary "Truckster" Promo.

In 1987, Kirk Hammett of Metallica discovered ESP and made his ESP KH-2 which was later released as a signature model in 1989. At this time, ESP released George Lynch's Kamikaze as its first signature model. ESP based its headquarters in a loft in downtown New York City on 19th Street. In 1989, the headquarters were moved to 48th Street near the famous music stores.

Between 1990 and 1992, ESP expanded its Signature Series as well as its standard product line. The US replacement parts business was discontinued in order to switch focus solely on the guitar and bass line as well as the custom shop.

In 1993, ESP moved its headquarters again but this time it was relocated to Los Angeles. There, ESP opened an office on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. In 1996, LTD was created to produce ESP's high-quality products in a more affordable line of production. LTD grew in popularity and became a noteworthy brand among many artists throughout the years following its creation.

In 2002, ESP was ranked among the music industry's fastest growing companies. ESP introduced its Xtone line, beginning with the semi-hollow Paramount Series. In 2005, ESP celebrated its 30th Anniversary and released James Hetfield's "Truckster" into its Signature Series. In 2006, ESP showcased 22 of its newest Signature Series and Standard Series models at Winder NAMM 2006. The Standard Series models included such famous models as the ESP LTD EC-500 and the ESP LTD B-500. Among the signature artists showcasing their newest ESP models and signing autographs at the ESP booth were Dave Mustaine, George Lynch, Stephen Carpenter, Michael Wilton, and Page Hamilton.

[edit] Manufacturing operations

In 1996, ESP started a new brand, LTD. The LTD guitars are similar to ESP guitars and more affordable. The 300 series LTDs are made on an assembly line in Korea whereas the series below 300 are made in Indonesia. LTDs are made out of cheaper materials than ESPs and ESPs use better quality hardware. The custom ESPs are handcrafted in Japan while the standard ESPs are made in factories in Japan.

[edit] Popularity

ESP found fame by providing guitars for guitarists who went on to become leading exponents of thrash metal music in the 1980s, including Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth. As a result of these endorsements, ESP has gone to become one of the most popular suppliers of guitars for use in (usually) heavy metal music. They have, however, introduced signature guitars from other artists such as Ron Wood (guitarist in The Rolling Stones). LTD tends to make cheaper more affordable versions of artists signature guitars.

[edit] Models

[edit] Number structure

Structure of ESP's model numbering is somewhat complicated, mostly because the scheme changed throughout time. It can be summarized as following.

LTD	F	-	400	FM	STBLK
(1)	(2)		(3)	(4)	(5)

ESP	ECLIPSE	-	II	VB
(1)	(2)		(3)	(5)

ESP	KH	-	2	BLK
(1)	(2)		(3)	(5)

Xtone	PC	-	2	V	STR
(1)	(2)		(3)	(4)	(5)

LTD	B	-	405	ASB
(1)	(2)		(3)	(5)

(1) brand
(2) model name
(3) additional index
(4) special features
(5) finish color

All guitars have either ESP, LTD or Xtone brand (1) (LTD is sometimes spelled as ESP LTD to remind of ESP participation). Generally, ESP guitars are built in Japan using premium woods and hardware and considered to be of higher quality than LTD and Xtone guitars, manufactured on assembly lines in Korea and Indonesia[1]. Note that as of 2006, no ESP guitars are manufactured in US[2].

Next, the model gets its basic naming from the shape of the body (2), such as EC, EX, EXP, F, H, etc, except for some rare custom shop cases. Some body shapes have evolved over several revisions, designated by additional index, such as ECLIPSE-II in region (3). Basic body shapes used by ESP are the following. Note some shapes have both short name and long name, longer name being used by top ESP instruments, while shorter name used by cheaper LTD instruments.

Name		Similar body shapes by other vendors
Short	Long	Similar body shapes by other vendors
AP	N/A	MusicMan Stingray
AX	N/A	B.C. Rich Warlock, B.C. Rich Virgo
EC	Eclipse	Gibson Les Paul
EX / EXP	Explorer	Gibson Explorer
F	Forest	B.C. Rich Virgin, superstrats
H	Horizon	Carved superstrats
N/A	Amaze	Fender Jazz Bass
M	Mirage	Ibanez RG, flat superstrats
N/A	Potbelly	PRS Guitars, carved superstrats
RD	Reindeer	Similar to F series
N/A	Snapper	Fender Stratocaster
SV	N/A	Jackson Randy Rhoads
N/A	Throbber	Fender Telecaster
V	N/A	Gibson Flying V
VP	Viper	Gibson SG

Most signature models have some sort of unique name, such as TRUCKSTER or STEF CARPENTER in this position. However, most signature models are usually just slightly modified original ESP body shapes: for example, TRUCKSTER is a modified EC, STEF CARPENTER is a modified MH.

LTD models include some sort of 2- or 3-digit number in region (3) that roughly estimates quality / price of the guitar. Lowest quality / most budget LTD models have 50 (LTD EC-50), higher price / quality models have this index up to 1000 (LTD EC-1000VHB).

Few other signature models are named in a different manner, for example, KH (Kirk Hammet) models. Model name (2) alone doesn't determine body shape, additional index (3) is used. For example - KH-2 and KH-3 - these are two completely different guitars: KH-2 is modified M body shape, KH-3 is modified EC body shape, but these indexes (2 and 3) are important. Usually, these ESP models have LTD-branded copies that have last digit matching model index from original ESP model. For example, ESP KH-2 — LTD KH-602, ESP KH-3 — LTD KH-603.

Xtone models also seem to use both (2) and (3) to designate a body shape, i.e. PC-1 and PC-2 have different body shapes.

LTD bass guitars sometimes use last digit of region (3) to show a number of strings, i.e. LTD B-405 is a 5-string bass, LTD B-404 is a 4-string bass, LTD B-208 is an 8-string (4×2 string) bass.

Normal ESP guitar models usually do not include such index.

Some models include various "special features" designators (4), for example:

FM — flamed maple body top.
QM - quilted maple body top.
VB - vintage black color.
NT - No Tremelo system fitted. This designation is only used on models where the option of a tremelo is possible.
V - licensed Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.
BARITONE — longer scale, heavier strings, lower sounding baritone guitar.
Rosewood - rosewood fingerboard.
Maple - maple fingerboard.
w/EMGs - guitar is equipped with EMG pickups.
w/Seymour Duncans or w/Duncans - guitar is equipped with Seymour Duncan pickups.