| Type | private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | musical instruments |
| Genre | All |
| Founded | Tokyo, Japan, 1975 |
| Founder(s) | Hisatake Shibuya |
| Headquarters | 10903 Vanowen Street Burbank, California 91605 United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Makoto Suzuki president |
| Products | Custom Electric guitars Electric guitars Bass guitars |
| Owner(s) | Hisatake Shibuya |
| Subsidiaries | LTD Guitars Grassroots Guitars Edwards Guitars Xtone Guitars ESP Navigator |
| Website | www.espguitars.com |
ESP Company, Limited (株式会社イーエスピー Kabushiki Gaisha Ī Esu Pī), located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.
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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 (Helmet), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Vinnie Vincent & Bruce Kulick (KISS), and Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones). At this time, ESP also introduced the 400 Series as the first production line distributed in the US.
During this same period of time, ESP began making the bodies and necks for Kramer Guitars. Other manufacturers using ESP as an OEM were Robin Guitars, Schecter Guitar Research and DiMarzio. Many traits of the Kramer line are still visible including neck construction and body bevels. ESP tooled up for Tom Anderson's shaved bolt on neck heel on the Schecter bodies, and has since become a feature of their house brand.
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.
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. There are about 41 signature series guitars.
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 1995, LTD was created to produce ESP's high-quality products in a more affordable line of production. Soon after the introduction of the Korean and Indonesian-made LTD lines, ESP discontinued selling the majority of its Japanese-made flagship instruments in the United States due to the prices involved in exporting to the Americas. The lone exception was ESP's artist signature lines, which remained ESP (rather than LTD) models. In the early 2000s, ESP resumed shipping the standard Japanese-manufactured lines to the United States (where they are very popular among metal and hard rock players), albeit at greatly increased prices compared to the early 90s.
Similarly to Ibanez, ESP's chief competitor in Japan, ESP was initially known for making high quality and customized replicas of famous American guitars, including hot rodded Fender Strats and Teles, as well as Gibson Explorers. The latter model (known as the EXP/MX) shot to fame when avid ESP user James Hetfield's band Metallica became extremely popular in the late 80s/early 90s. Models similar to Hetfield's black ESP even today sell for hundreds of dollars beyond the original retail price. However, just like Ibanez, when the Gibson company realized the extent to which ESP was denting into the sales of its own guitars, it filed a suit to prevent the sales of these guitars in the Americas and ESP redesigned its lines to be less similar to the American models.
In 2002, ESP was ranked among the music industry's fastest growing companies. This is largely due to the Fender buyout of Jackson Guitars, with whom ESP had struggled to compete throughout the 1980s and 1990s. After the buyout, many Jackson endorsers switched over to ESP (this has ignited a feud between players, with Jackson players pointing out that ESP became known for copying popular instruments - including Jackson's Soloist and Gibson's Explorer models famously used by James Hetfield - while ESP players cite the Fender buyout as casting a shadow on Jackson's metal image and hail ESP as the new king). Some of these artists who left Jackson for ESP included Dave Mustaine (Megadeth, now of Dean Guitars, who at one point had expressed interest in buying out Jackson himself), Adam Darski (Behemoth), Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala (Children of Bodom), Galder and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir).
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 Winter 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.
In 1996, ESP started a new brand, LTD. The LTD guitars are similar to the lower-end ESP guitars, but are more affordable and cater mainly for markets outside of Japan. The 1000 series LTDs are made on an assembly line in Korea whereas the 401 series and below are made in Indonesia. The LTD series are made out of cheaper materials and generally use cheaper hardware than the more upscale ESP models. The Custom Shop and Original Series ESPs are handcrafted in Japan while the Standard Series ESPs are made in the ESP factory in Japan.
Additionally, ESP has two separate Japan-only lines of guitars: the Grassroots (lower end), and Edwards (Mid-range). The Grassroots guitars are manufactured in Korea and are equivalent or better than Sub-400 series LTDs and can be considered a budget line. The Edwards guitars on the other hand are manufactured in Japan, and boast similar hardware and appointments as their higher-end ESP counterparts, but are not handcrafted. In terms of quality in contrast to the USA lines (i.e. ESP Standard & LTD), Edwards guitars generally lie in between the more upmarket LTDs and ESP Standards.
ESP's guitars overall cater for a wide range of players. There are a variety of models including superstrat-styled guitars, Les Paul-styled guitars, Flying V-styled, Star-styled, and others. As ESP technically has two lines, one for USA and Japan, there are slight differences: the ESP USA Line lacks guitars such as the Strat-like Snapper, Forest GT, and as well as some of the Japanese rock artist models. Their custom line however, has been known to produce some of the most unusual designs such as a Gundam Beam-rifle replica guitar, as well as the "ESP Machinegun" used, by the Japanese band Alfee.
ESP does not only manufacture guitars, but they also manufacture parts such as ESP Labs Pickups, the ESP Flicker tremolo, sustainers, equalizers, et cetera however, these are mainly for OEM use and not available to the consumer.
ESP found fame by providing guitars for guitarists who went on to become leading exponents of thrash metal music in the 1980s, along with Jackson Guitars and Dean Guitars, including Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. As a result of these endorsements, ESP has become one of the most popular suppliers of guitars for heavy metal music. ESP instruments are endorsed by musicians numbering in the hundreds. A complete list of them can be found on the Artists section of ESP Guitars' website.
Dependent of target market (i.e. Asia, US, Europe) and brand (ESP, LTD or Xtone), various models are organized in marketing series.
The ESP Original series moreover has three other lines of Guitars, Edwards, Grassroots and Navigator and are mostly based on these models as well as some ESP Standard series Models. ESP Edwards Series produces mid-to-high range guitars, at a quality near the ESP Standard series, whilst ESP Grass Roots Series cater towards a more value-oriented segment of the market and are more akin to the 200s series of LTDs, however this varies. The ESP Navigator Series on the other hand is a line which produces replicas of Gibson and Fender guitars and basses.
ESP USA produces the ESP Standard line, as well as the lower end LTD, and Xtone series, and the latter two lines of guitars are roughly based on these models. ESP USA's standard series generally caters more towards to metal players, with characteristics such as active pickups common.
ESP also cater for custom guitar and bass orders, made to the specifications of the customer, and the quality of such custom guitars exceed that of the Original series. Such guitars may be ordered from ESP USA, but they are manufactured in Japan. Generally speaking custom order guitars cost as much, or even more than Navigators depending on the choices of the consumer and are considered to cater for the top-end segment. There is flexibility with the orders, as the guitars produced do not have to be based on existing lines of guitars and basses.
The ESP Artist, or Signature series guitars are basically mass produced versions endorsing artist's personal guitars and basses. The quality of the ESP Artist/Signature models lie between Navigator/Custom Shop, and the ESP Original series.
Also, there exists the Edwards, Grassroots and LTD artist models, and such artist models lie in the higher-end segments of the respective lines of guitars and basses.