Opinions on used ESP M1 Custom from the 80's

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soulsoffire
A friend of mine has an offer for a used ESP M1 Custom which was probably build between 1980 and 1990. Has anybody ever owned or played one of these ESPs? The guitar is equipped with an ESP floyed rose, ESP humbucker with active electronic, etc.. Is it comparable with today Customs in his sound and the build quality (e.g. wood)? What is the value of such a ESP today? Thank you very much in advance for your help and answers!!!
Gazmonster

Hi, I have one and personally think they are better than the new ESPs, Is it the neck through model? I paid around £600 for mine but it was well worth it. I also have a Jackson sl1 and ESP custom shop and its equally as good as them.

Roger Carvalho

What about the neck specs  sl1 vs m1 and custom shop?

soulsoffire

Yes, its a neck through model. How do you like the stock pickup with the active electronic? My friend thinks of switching it to an EMG pickup after deciding to buy the guitar.

Gazmonster

Mine has a EMG 89 in with a micro switch for a coil tap and it sounds amazing. Thats how mine came so cant comment on the stock pup.
:)

soulsoffire

Do you have some pictures of your Custom?

Do you know which woods has been used for the Customs in the 80's? Is there a chance to find it out via the serial number in which year it was build and which specs were used?

Gazmonster

The serial nos cannot be traced as records have been lost. mine is no 1026 stamped in the fretboard. the woods are on mine 3 piece maple neck through with ash wings and ebony fretboard and esp sinclair trem. There are some pics of mine on my profile. Some I think had maple wings and rosewood boards as well.
:)

Gazmonster

Suppose it depends a lot on condition, I saw one go for £700 on ebay uk a couple of years ago, and they are not as common in the uk as the usa. However £800 seems very high for a guitar of this age. I would have thought £600 was nearer as for the £800 you could get newer esp model like the bolt on kh or pick up a Jackson soloist for that price.

soulsoffire

The condition seems quite Ok for this guitar. Nevertheless we have also a good offer for a used M2 Deluxe equipped with EMGs and original floyed, all in very good condition for the same price. And another offer for a used ESP m2 urban camo standard series for about 900 Pounds.

Gazmonster

Can you play them before u buy> If so try them out. I would go for the M1 over the m2 but the urban camo also sounds good. There is a KH2 on ebay uk for £900. Think its down to personal preference really.

1point8t

Let me see... I paid $750(usd) or 800 for the yellow custom in insanely clean shape... and I traded a guitar I paid $500 for the red one. The red one had the finish stripped off the back of the neck and was in overall kinda rough shape.

I think $600-800usd is a fair price to pay for one in good shape. Got any pics of the one you're looking at?

1point8t

Haha, cool man! Those were definitely some of the better guitars I've owned, but I have an unsatiable need for gear so even the good ones get sold off or traded to make way for new stuff. Some day I'll cool it... hopefully!

Justinschut

I know how you feel man, I've cycled through so much gear and still have too many guitars

Tommyo17

Just found this older thread, sweet M-I's...giving me thoughts of keeping and refinishing my old m-i custom

1point8t

I miss them for sure. You should keep yours, it will be hard to find many guitars that have the mojo and quality the older ESP's have.

cecilbag

I have an m1 custom and I love it. Mine came with the stock pickup bit the mini switch wasn't wired in. I now have an emg 85 with 18v and just ordered the emg booster to put on the mini switch. I have several old esp shredders but definately love the look feel and tone of the m1. The cutaway is amazing and mine being all maple is still a good solid weight which I like. I just finished refurbishing a black sinclair for it as in my pics I have a charvel trem since I don't have a bar for the chrome sinclair it came with. I would personally go with the m1 they are much rarer and the shred era esp guitars are the best crafted instruments just my opinion good luck ps I paid 750us shipped for my m1 a year and 2 months ago its what lead me to this forum and all the cool people and great info on all my esp

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1point8t

In my experience, the old ones just seem to feel, well, better... if that makes any sense. The fretwork was impeccable, fretboard woods looked nicer, etc... Funky I know you have some custom shop fiddles so those will get top notch materials anyway, but the standard series just seem weak in comparison to an older 'standard' model. Production numbers were much lower in the 80's which meant stricter/more controlled quality control... and as for the guys at the 48th St. shop... they got shit done right.

1point8t

Oh hey!

cecilbag

sorry about the writing skills i type on a blackberry while running a bulldozer

Tommyo17

Mine's pretty sweet. I haven't tried many other ESPs from the era, but ones I did seemed pretty similar playing-wise to mine at the time. Over the years I haven't found/played a newer ESP/LTD I liked better than my M-I. Though haven't had the pleasure of playing the 2k+ models. Only thing I better bout the new ones is the recessed trems. I've gone back/forth with modding for that. Just been afraid to make any permanant changes to it...till maybe now.

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1point8t

Sounds dangerous! lol

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