ESP E-II rant.

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Knockout

Knockout

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The ESP is keep saying that E-II is not LTD Elite but the old ESP Standard. All LTDs are made outside of Japan, and E-IIs are Japanese made, I think that is the only link with Standard line, because...

I have touched couple of E-II at the store, and they felt like shit, sounded like shit, and the logo looks like shit. I think the LTD-600s are made better, play better, sound better (even LTD shit logo looks better than some teenage ninja mutant abbreviation)
You can feel, see, and hear imperfections on E-II, not big ones (like some cheaper LTDs) but the ones you would never get on Standard line ('cept for the Camo M-II, notorious 14/15 fret buzz). The back cover on one was crooked as shit, the 10th fret seemed to stick out a bit further than 9 and 11 on Horizon I tried. The knobs on Eclipse wobbled for no fucking reason, I could almost swear the tuners looked unevenly lined up.

The E-II feels almost less attractive than LTD elites...That line change is a big disappointment, if you ask me.
Who will endorse the fucking things? Miley Sirus or some shit? ESP logo will always be associated with the biggest bands in the world.
What would Jeff Hanneman say….
 

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Jeff would not care he only played full on customs anyway.

As far as i am concerned if i want an esp i will just buy an old one.
 
Page outta Ibanez with their premium line. Same concept.
 
crwnedblasphemy":32vqmj39 said:
Page outta Ibanez with their premium line. Same concept.
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Yeh, but Ibanez didn't change the name on the headstock, didn't they? It is not like they went, -"Shit, we are goint to call "Ibanez" only the highest end guitars. The rest we will call 'Lickadick, and 'Chuckapoo".
What was the problem with having "Custom shop" on the high ends and not having it on regulars? Why reenwent the name on the headstock.
 
Knockout":2ujbpwcs said:
crwnedblasphemy":2ujbpwcs said:
Page outta Ibanez with their premium line. Same concept.
Click to expand...

Yeh, but Ibanez didn't change the name on the headstock, didn't they? It is not like they went, -"Shit, we are goint to call "Ibanez" only the highest end guitars. The rest we will call 'Lickadick, and 'Chuckapoo".
What was the problem with having "Custom shop" on the high ends and not having it on regulars? Why reenwent the name on the headstock.
Click to expand...

Sorry man, I know English is not your language, but I got a good fucking LOL out of that one. Reinvent :lol: :LOL:
 
So are u saying if the E-II said ESP they would be better made guitars??

PS I totally agree that the should have left the ESP Standard Series
 
I'd be interested in playing an EII. My understanding was that they are the new standard line, which would be equivalent to Ibanez Prestige I guess. Id be looking for second hand or old stock standard series ESP guitars personally. Its annoying that the two main Japanese guitar builders have made their product line unnavigable. Its as though people have associated Korea with budget guitars and Japan with premium guitars and they've started knocking out assembly guitars from Japan just to confuse things.
 
messenger":3i7ybilb said:
So are u saying if the E-II said ESP they would be better made guitars??

PS I totally agree that the should have left the ESP Standard Series
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Absolutely, that is partially the reason why they started this shit. They know what ESP letters on the headstock mean, so they did the best they could, sometimes probably more they they should have...because they were stamping ESP on it. The quality control had to be high to protect the name.
Now they have room to fuck up, make shortcuts if you will. I felt it, I saw it already. I absolutely agree that they made some kick ass E-IIs and probably majority of them...after all they couldn't fuck their initial run too bad. However, if I felt it on two out of five axes in the store (granted they probably were still in the store because they were fucked up, and no one bought them), that means there more axes with imperfections. I have never felt any shit on standards (again, 'cept for Mii urban camo), and I had a shiton of standards going through my hands through the years.
 
Since we're ranting here, ESP's product line branding is a mess. The E-II replaced the LTD Elites which replaced the Standard Series. They wanted only custom shop made guitars to say "ESP", but ESP doesn't have the branding to command $4k+, since most people's experience with ESP guitars tends to mostly be with the Standard and Signature Series. Usually if you introduce a differentiating brand, it's to enhance your premium stuff (such as Ibanez J-Custom, or Lexus and Acura) rather than to lower everything but. It doesn't help that the font used for the new logo looks cheap and tacky.
 
I'm not a fan if the change as I previously stated in another thread, and that's because the name "ESP" used to hold a special significance to me. When I was younger, ESP meant "high quality", and where Gibson's held to their roots (or made you think they did), ESPs were about high performance, and making what was great better.

It's a sad day when the product quality slips. Trust me I know it all too well (I play Gibsons), but there will be stellar guitars, you just have to look for them a lot harder.

And about the name change, they had a good reputation, so they SHOULDNT have changed, but Japan is known for some strange stuff...
 
I'm not a fan of the rebranding either but from the guitars I tried, the E-II models were the same as the ESP Standard series, just a different logo.
 
10, 12 years ago I was really into ESP's. ESP Hanneman Signature guitars mainly....they went well with the Slayer tribute band I was in.
I even had a ESP Tokyo Japan Custom Shop Hanneman (S &Key)....
the only other person I ever saw with one of those was Jeff himself! I wished I'd kept it now that Jeff is gone :(


I switched over to SL2H's and never looked back.
I still have an ESP M1 NTB that I play on once in a while. It reminds me how much better Jackson SL2H's feel :lol: :LOL:
 
jsp":36ey1bie said:
Since we're ranting here, ESP's product line branding is a mess. The E-II replaced the LTD Elites which replaced the Standard Series. They wanted only custom shop made guitars to say "ESP", but ESP doesn't have the branding to command $4k+, since most people's experience with ESP guitars tends to mostly be with the Standard and Signature Series. Usually if you introduce a differentiating brand, it's to enhance your premium stuff (such as Ibanez J-Custom, or Lexus and Acura) rather than to lower everything but. It doesn't help that the font used for the new logo looks cheap and tacky.
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Dude you are like a fucking Greek philosophical genius who should not talk, unless historians recording that shit!
You got that shit right! Send a fucking letter to the fucks at ESP and tell them they are moronic retards!
If they would have droped ESP from their Custom Shop and named that shit E-II o A-Ss or any fucking thing else, it would be fine. Matter of fact it would be a genius commercial move. People like us would be talking about this shit like crazy-" Yo dudes, did you hear ESP now has a thing called E-II?! Can't get that shit unless you are going through the Custom Shop, that is how badass those axes are!!"
They would still sell the shit out of their standard ESP logoed guitars, but they would create a "step above", and probably even brought more people to the Custom Shop.
The step above is the only way for a new name, not a step down or step between, that is just a step to mediocrity...
 
I think there was probably a lot of people who were willing to spend a few hundred dollars extra to get the ESP as aposed to the LTD but I don't think as many will spend the extra to get E-II on their headstock. There was more then a few occasions I almost bought an ESP Standard Series (always went with something else for whatever reason) but never really even looked at the LTDs considering the Standard Series wasn't all that much more than say an EC1000 for example.
 
I have what I believe is a 2012 or 2013 RG927 Premium and it's flat out great. I know now that the Prestige line sells at lower prices since 2014 but haven't played any to know if they're actually Premiums that have been relabeled.
 
Why would an old company with the brand recognition of ESP change the name on the guitar? Bad business move!!!
 
DannyM":lraqf89q said:
10, 12 years ago I was really into ESP's. ESP Hanneman Signature guitars mainly....they went well with the Slayer tribute band I was in.
I even had a ESP Tokyo Japan Custom Shop Hanneman (S &Key)....
the only other person I ever saw with one of those was Jeff himself! I wished I'd kept it now that Jeff is gone :(


I switched over to SL2H's and never looked back.
I still have an ESP M1 NTB that I play on once in a while. It reminds me how much better Jackson SL2H's feel :lol: :LOL:
Click to expand...

That is a sweet looking Hanny!
I used to be straight up soloist guy, had about 4 sl2h, and 2 sl1. Than I slowly switched to ESPs,
 
IMO the E-II name change will fail. Especially since it seems a big portion of people feel they are a step below what the ESP Standard Series was. Most feel they are more in line with the Ltd. Elites that were being made before the name change.

Most that have $2000 or so to spend on a ESP want a ESP. They do not want a E-II or a Ltd. Elite(now discontinued). Most will not spend $4K-$6K+ for a Custom ESP which is all that ESP now offers branded ESP. They just do not have the customer base or resale of a Gibson or Fender.
 
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