The ESP Guitar Company

Hey folks! Here is video tour of the ESP booth at NAMM 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km2OWwmyeHo

I have been out of the loop for about 6-7 years so bare with me. (And man after not really playing for years my chops really suck and I am trying to get them back  ) 

Anyway, after watching the video above and a video tour of the Gibby booth; wow these companies are really focusing on the non parent company lines (LTD and Epiphone). Especially Gibson. They really changed up the Epiphone line to be way more like Gibson in terms of some aesthetic things (like the headstocks now) as well as many other features. Also looks like many of the Epiphone guitars have Fishmen pickups. Never played any so I can't comment. Not saying it's a bad thing for Gibson, but I am wondering how the quality will be and you probably can just get a standard Gibby low end for not much more. (not sure of the pricing) I am guessing they sell way more Epiphone's than Gibson's.

But that leads me to ESP LTD. Such a huge emphasis on LTD and not ESP and it looks like I barely saw any EMG's. Have I been away that long that EMG's are no longer preferred?  I still love EMG's in all my guitars. I know I have been out of the loop for so long, but what is the deal with E-II? Yeah I get they are just really the ESP standard series we used to buy in the 2000's, but that is huge buzz kill. Pay a decent price for a guitar to not have it say ESP on it. I bet they would sell way more if it simply had the ESP logo on it lol

I am guessing the rational is to really set the bar for the term "ESP". Meaning now when you see an ESP logo you know it's either really expensive, custom ordered, made in Japan or it's an ESP USA custom ordered guitar. I have an all gold ESP USA Viper with gold EMG's being built as speak.

Plus let's face it... I am sure they sell WAY more LTD's than ESP and they are the best bang for the buck. Really good guitars at a good price point. My only issue with LTD's are the fretboards, inlays and fret wire. Same with he bindings. The bindings on some just seem way cheaper made or done than the ESP counterpart. IMO of course

Just want to hear all of your thoughts. I love the brand, but what is up with these fishmen pickups(?) and I think the E-II logo's look kind of silly.

BTW I found a MX-220 at a shop in Japan. It comes with a funny story and also an even funnier story about how ESP Japan really feels about ESP USA. My friend just got back from Japan and I almost had him grab the MX-220 but it needed a full restoration and that price was really high.

Thanks!