History Of The ESP Guitar
May 14, 2008
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History Of The ESP Guitar
By Johnny Stall
The first ESP Guitar was made in Japan in 1976. The ESP Company (Electric Sound Products) actually started up a year earlier but only provided guitar replacement parts at that time. ESP guitars and replacement parts continued to be sold exclusively in Japan for nearly a decade before moving into the U.S. market. In 1983 their replacement parts were made available in the U.S and in 1984 their guitars made their American appearance.
In 1984/85 ESP guitars were attracting some attention from great guitarists such as Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones), Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and Bruce Kulick (Kiss).
The next big name to discover ESP guitars was George Lynch (Dokken) while shopping for guitar parts when he was touring in Japan. When George found out that ESP made custom guitars, the model "Kamikaze" was made for him. The Kamikaze was the first signature model to be made.
More musicians began to take notice of ESP and started playing their guitars in the late 80’s. Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield of Metallica were two of the bigger names.
Speaking of James Hetfield, an ESP guitar that he used when Metallica first started to become popular, got the ESP Company into some legal trouble. The guitar he used, known as the EXP, was a replica of the Gibson Explorer. Even though companies have been selling replicas of their guitars for years, Gibson decided to sue ESP. The quality of the EXP was so good that people were buying them up and this was allegedly cutting into the sales of Gibson’s own guitars. ESP lost the lawsuit and changed their design.
In 2002, ESP sales started to grow at a rapid rate making them one of the fastest growing companies at that time. This increase in sales was directly connected to Fender buying out Jackson Guitars. Jackson was the company that ESP had competed with in the 80’s and 90’s.
With the buyout of Jackson, many of the high profile guitarists jumped ship and went over to ESP. Guitarists like Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), found it natural to move over to ESP products because of the high quality and similar designs.
The ESP guitar is still very popular today. At the 2008 Winter NAMM show, ESP introduced over 50 new guitar and bass models. They also have a great selection of high profile guitar players on their roster including James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), Wayne Static (Static-X), Will Adler (Lamb of God), George Lynch, Ron Wood and newest member Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi). With the great quality of guitars ESP produces, they sure look like they are going to be around for many years to come.
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Eagle To Release All-New Elton John Documentary DVD On September 28
August 14, 2007
EAGLE TO RELEASE ALL-NEW ELTON JOHN DOCUMENTARY ON SEPTEMBER 18, SOMEONE LIKE ME
“The greatest thing about rock’n’roll is that someone like me can be a star”—Elton John
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