2013 ESP Guitar Line Up Preview - New Models here w/ Prices

[JerEvil]

I see the tactic; make the cheaper LTDs worse (bolt-on Vipers, REALLY?) so you push up the prices of the rest of the range while keeping quality low.

Yeah... out!

Dude ... you are SUCH an American!!!

LMAO

I really don't understand the comment. It's not totally unreasonable to come to the conclusions I have. And I can't see how it's "good business" to just say "Ah you're just being an American" when clearly the market that ESP want to market to are calling foul!

If they want to keep the ESP brand for high-end instruments, then great. The current ESP Standards ARE high-end instruments. Renaming them LTDs, coming with the BS of "it's the same guitar" is just crap! I spent money on my guitar - £1799 is not a small amount to spend on a guitar. And now you're branding it a cheap LTD? Nope, sorry, foul! I'm paying ESP money, I want an ESP logo. Nobody's going to scratch the logo off a Porsche 911 because they're fine with sticking a Nissan badge on there!

If you want to highlight the difference between an ESP Standard and an artist/custom shop ESP and ask people to pay the money for these? No problem, call them "ESP Custom Shop".

Look at Jackson. Their imports have Jackson on the headstock, the USA selects have Jackson and "Made in USA" on the headstock, while the custom shop, astonishingly, has "Jackson Custom Shop" on there.

And don't tell us not to compare guitar brands: we're guitar players, gear whores, whatever you may want to call us. We'll compare apples and oranges to chalk and hookers when it comes to ponying up a year's worth of hard saving!

Believe me bro, I'm with you. Even the Jackson Professional series back in the day (not the early 2000's garbage) were amazing guitars. As nice as the current USA models, they just said "Professional" where "Made in the USA" would have been. Built in Japan to top notch quality and priced reasonably for the US market. Still sought after guitars decades later. There is NO brand confusion with Jackson. They didn't need a low end user name to delineate. If it doesn't say "Made in USA" or "Custom Shop" you know you are getting an import guitar.

 

[Mesa\Kramer]

Just don't get all of these sig guitars with stupid graphics on them (PRS SE Akerfeldt and Catanese included).
Who wants that on the front of thier guitar?

 

[JerEvil]

Just don't get all of these sig guitars with stupid graphics on them (PRS SE Akerfeldt and Catanese included).
Who wants that on the front of thier guitar?

Yeah I don't dig it. I don't know. I have a hard time with sig models. I do like the Alexi's but prefer the Japanese market bodies.

 

[Aztec]

Kinda disappointed so far.

 

[satannica]

Just don't get all of these sig guitars with stupid graphics on them (PRS SE Akerfeldt and Catanese included).
Who wants that on the front of thier guitar?

Lamb of God fans? I guess ESP are trying to appeal to the American market afterall lol!

 

[paulyc]

What kills me about this is that ESP won't make the guitars that made them famous in the first place. The M1 (Strat body single humbucker) , Star Body , MII, and the holy grail of "ESP" guitars, Akira Takisaki's Killer Prime...why aren't these available stateside ? It was bad enough when Jackson/Charvel got sold to IMC in the 80's and we got stuck with Japanese versions of those guitars...then we had Korean versions of Japanese guitars (LTDs)...what is next ? I have a load of ESP guitars from the 400 series strats and teles to Lynch sig stuff, and they all rock. The Vintage Plus strat in Olympic white relic is a thing of beauty...but from the sound of this, I won't be buying anymore ESPs unless it's custom shop...I won't own an LTD out of principle. Bad move in my mind.

 

[projectx102]

Hey Brad do you have any Viper Standards?

 

[djpatb]

Any Vintage Plus's inbound?
I don't see them for sale anywhere online right now.

 

[King Guitar]

Hey Brad do you have any Viper Standards?

PM sent, I am putting together a discontinued ESP model order now.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Any lefties brad?

 

[King Guitar]

Any lefties brad?

I believe I can get lefties for some of the posted models. PM me with what you want and I will find out.

 

[King Guitar]

Discontinued ESP Standard Model Clearance list here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=130067

 

[WildNorth]

Brad:

Shoot me a PM if you have any FR Eclipses you want to unload on the cheap.

I just sold the one I had in stock but I can you another, PM sent.

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for the quote. I couldn't respond in a PM because I'm new and don't have PM posting rights yet.

Good lord, your prices are really good!

Can I safely assume we are talking black (since that's the only color I see the 2012's in)?

 

[King Guitar]

Brad:

Shoot me a PM if you have any FR Eclipses you want to unload on the cheap.

I just sold the one I had in stock but I can you another, PM sent.

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for the quote. I couldn't respond in a PM because I'm new and don't have PM posting rights yet.

Good lord, your prices are really good!

Can I safely assume we are talking black (since that's the only color I see the 2012's in)?

Yes Black! email me at brad@kingguitar.com and I will get you sorted out.

Brad

 

[nwright]

I see the tactic; make the cheaper LTDs worse (bolt-on Vipers, REALLY?) so you push up the prices of the rest of the range while keeping quality low.

Yeah... out!

actually, like most ESP's back in the day (and IMO superior), they were originally bolt ons.

My 90's era bolt on Vipers are the best guitars I've owned to date and rank with the best guitars I've ever played, period.

Solid mahogany bodies, not 2, 3+ pieces, 1 piece necks, killer sustain and tone.

I've only ever seen 5 for sale like the ones I have in the last 5-6 years, and I now own 3 of them, lol.

I wish more popped up on the used market.

This isn't to say the 330 series will be anything close to the old ESP's I have now, but IMO the 330 series could *almost* be seen as more original to the heritage of the Japanese Original series for a lot of the models, lol.

But it seems most noobs equate set neck or neck through as the superior joint, so...

Also, I'd completely disagree on calling the current ESP SS "high end", and I"m by no means a corksniffer...I buy my crap used cheap, as I have no moneyz.

 

[WildNorth]

I see the tactic; make the cheaper LTDs worse (bolt-on Vipers, REALLY?) so you push up the prices of the rest of the range while keeping quality low.

Yeah... out!

actually, like most ESP's back in the day (and IMO superior), they were originally bolt ons.

My 90's era bolt on Vipers are the best guitars I've owned to date and rank with the best guitars I've ever played, period.

Solid mahogany bodies, not 2, 3+ pieces, 1 piece necks, killer sustain and tone.

Truth.

My old Eclipse with a bolt on maple neck is ugly as sin, but it is the best playing and sweetest sounding guitar I own.

 

[JerEvil]

I see the tactic; make the cheaper LTDs worse (bolt-on Vipers, REALLY?) so you push up the prices of the rest of the range while keeping quality low.

Yeah... out!

actually, like most ESP's back in the day (and IMO superior), they were originally bolt ons.

My 90's era bolt on Vipers are the best guitars I've owned to date and rank with the best guitars I've ever played, period.

Solid mahogany bodies, not 2, 3+ pieces, 1 piece necks, killer sustain and tone.

I've only ever seen 5 for sale like the ones I have in the last 5-6 years, and I now own 3 of them, lol.

I wish more popped up on the used market.

This isn't to say the 330 series will be anything close to the old ESP's I have now, but IMO the 330 series could *almost* be seen as more original to the heritage of the Japanese Original series for a lot of the models, lol.

But it seems most noobs equate set neck or neck through as the superior joint, so...

Also, I'd completely disagree on calling the current ESP SS "high end", and I"m by no means a corksniffer...I buy my crap used cheap, as I have no moneyz.

I actually wonder why people don't like a 1 piece neck. I liked my MII Custom bolt on very much. Got it when you could actually score good eBay deals. Miss the shit out of that guitar.

 

[nwright]

I see the tactic; make the cheaper LTDs worse (bolt-on Vipers, REALLY?) so you push up the prices of the rest of the range while keeping quality low.

Yeah... out!

actually, like most ESP's back in the day (and IMO superior), they were originally bolt ons.

My 90's era bolt on Vipers are the best guitars I've owned to date and rank with the best guitars I've ever played, period.

Solid mahogany bodies, not 2, 3+ pieces, 1 piece necks, killer sustain and tone.

I've only ever seen 5 for sale like the ones I have in the last 5-6 years, and I now own 3 of them, lol.

I wish more popped up on the used market.

This isn't to say the 330 series will be anything close to the old ESP's I have now, but IMO the 330 series could *almost* be seen as more original to the heritage of the Japanese Original series for a lot of the models, lol.

But it seems most noobs equate set neck or neck through as the superior joint, so...

Also, I'd completely disagree on calling the current ESP SS "high end", and I"m by no means a corksniffer...I buy my crap used cheap, as I have no moneyz.

I actually wonder why people don't like a 1 piece neck. I liked my MII Custom bolt on very much. Got it when you could actually score good eBay deals. Miss the shit out of that guitar.

same here. I got the Vipers for about the used price of a 1000 series LTD. Everything about the guitar works together to create the perfect instrument. There is 1 of the 3 that's a little better than the other, but I atribute to a bit more care in choosing new hardware, but all of them just shit over current production stuff.

ESP necks are the perfect size and shape for me, and the Viper shape fits me well. I got interested in the brand in the early 90's as a kid who was totally into Helmet. Page's magenta Horizon hooked me in.

 

[Les Zombie]

I been playing esp guitars since 1999 and they are one of my favorite companys and alot of guys on the boards know my feelings on their guitars, ive owned around 30 esp guitars and currently own 6 esp.
i have owned a bunch that was built in the K-custom shop and S-custom shop, i have also owned the standard series and sig series and some of my sig series stuff was built in the K-custom shop. i personally can feel a difference in the standard series and non custom shop sig series stuff, its a step above the LTD stuff but honestly its not the same as the custom shop stuff. so i can see why esp would like to separate and make everything labeled esp for the custom shop. anybody who ever played my custom shop eclipse compared to my standard series eclipse could feel and hear the difference. i also had 3 versions of the alexi laiho v and the custom shop was a all-around better guitar than the sig series and ltd. the finish, feel, fretwork and craftsmanship, higher quality materials, made the custom a overall nicer guitar.

theres alot of standard series guitars that i have played that i wasnt impressed with and should have really been labeled LTD, they just didnt deserve the esp logo.
alot of the guys on the esp message board noticed quality changing about 3 ago and its not just me.

im not inlove with the esp pricing these days and lately i havent been buying new esp guitars and been trying to find them used, theres some great deals out there if you look around.

 

[King Guitar]

I want this!!!!!

I'm glad I got my real ESP one before these came out!!!

THANKS BRAD!!!

WHERE THE HELL IS THE CARPENTER 8 STRING???

this...