ESP Guitars
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The ESP Guitar Company (Electric Sound Products), located in North Hollywood, California, is a prominent manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.
Founding
The company was created by Hisatake Shibuya in 1975 as a chain of music retail stores in Japan. In 1983, ESP started making replacement parts and started making hand-made custom guitars in 1985.
Manufacturing operations
In 1986, ESP opened an office in New York City to make custom guitars for American players. In 1996, ESP started a new brand, the 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.
Popularity
ESP found fame by providing guitars for guitarists who went on to become leading exponents of thrash metal music in the 1980s, most famously to Metallica. 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, signature guitars from other artists such as Ron Wood (guitarist in The Rolling Stones).
Models
- ESP M Series
- ESP EC Series
- ESP B Series
- ESP Horizon
- ESP Viper
- ESP Explorer
- ESP Eclipse
- ESP Mirage
- ESP Forest
- ESP MH (a Horizon body with a Mirage headstock)
- ESP Signature series
- ESP 2005 30th Anniversary Models (now discontinued because the year, 2005, has passed)
- ESP Hybrid Series
- ESP Xtone Series
- ESP AX Series
- ESP Custom shop
- ESP Navigator
- ESP Edwards
- ESP Grass Roots
- ESP Lakland
- ESP Italia Guitars
Artists
A number of popular musicians play ESP guitars, mostly from the genres of rock and heavy metal including:- James Hetfield of Metallica
- Kirk Hammett of Metallica
- Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
- Michael Amott of Arch Enemy and Spiritual Beggars
- George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob
- Jules Hodgson of KMFDM and PIG
- Khalid Ilahi of Beyond Shadows
- Buckethead
- Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones
- Glen Drover of Megadeth
- Max Cavalera of Soulfly
- Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones
- Steve DiGiorgio of Sadus, Death and Testament
- Page Hamilton of Helmet
- Jeff Hanneman of Slayer
- Tom Araya of Slayer
- Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom
- Henkka Blacksmith of Children of Bodom
- Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom
- Chino Moreno of the Deftones
- Josh Partington of Something Corporate
- Martin Powell of Cradle of Filth
- Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails
- Richard Z. Kruspe of Rammstein
- Michael Romeo of Symphony X
- André Olbrich of Blind Guardian
- Marcus Siepen of Blind Guardian
- Bjorn Gellote of In Flames
- Jesper Strömblad of In Flames
- Benjamin Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Tetsuya Ogawa of L'Arc~en~Ciel
- Kaoru of Dir en grey
- Die of Dir en grey
- Toshiya of Dir en grey
- Alexander Kuoppala formerly of Children of Bodom
- Balsac the Jaws of Death of GWAR
- Flattus Maximus of GWAR
- Beefcake the Mighty of GWAR
- Ahrue Luster of Ill Nino
- Emppu Vuorinen of Nightwish
- Dan Jacobs of Atreyu
- Travis Miguel of Atreyu
- Captain Sensible of The Damned
- Kelly Hayes of Cold / Allele
- Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy
- Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius
- Miyavi of Dué Le Quartz
- Baba Ikuzo of Dragon Ash
- Justin Sane of Anti-Flag
- Masaru Sakurai of The Alfee
- Kōnosuke Sakazaki of The Alfee
- Toshihiko Takamizawa of The Alfee
- Sugizo ex-Luna Sea
- J ex-Luna Sea
- INORAN ex-Luna Sea
- Anchang(Koji Ando) of Sex Machineguns
- Circuit.V.Panther(Yoshikazu Yahiro) of Sex Machineguns
- Samurai.W.Kenjilaw(Kenjiro Murai) of Sex Machineguns and ex-Cali≠Gari
- Noisy of Dustar-3 and ex-Sex Machineguns
- Yuki of Dustar-3
- Mana of Moi Dix Mois and ex-Malice Mizer
- Akira Takasaki of Loudness
- Aiji of Pierrot
- Jun of Pierrot
- Kohta of Pierrot
- TORU xxx of Undown and guitarist for The Mad Capsule Markets
- Wednesday 13 of Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Murderdolls and Wednesday 13
- Jun Senoue of Crush 40
- kazu of Kagerou
- Paul Landers of Rammstein
- The Demonstealer of Demonic Resurrection
External links
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