The ESP Guitar Company

Ask most musicians in the USA what the biggest event for the musical instrument industry is, and he or she will likely say that it’s the NAMM Show. That is certainly true within the confines of the United States, but the more accurate answer on a global scale is the Musikmesse, held each spring in Frankfurt, Germany. When we say Musikmesse is huge, we’re not kidding. Though it hasn't been around as long as NAMM, over the past 25 years Musikmesse has grown by leaps and bounds, and just about every single maker of musical instruments, live sound gear, pro audio/recording equipment, lighting, and anything else to do with creating and performing music is there. It fills multiple halls of the huge convention center in Frankfurt. Just getting from one end of the show to another is an arduous experience!

ESP has been an exhibitor at Musikmesse from the very beginning, and the 2015 show may have been our best one ever. Take a look through our photos and see for yourself.

ESP's booth at Musikmesse is pretty much a dream come true for any guitar or bass player. Imagine walking into a music store where every ESP, ESP E-II, and LTD you ever wanted was right there in front of you. Yeah, it's like that.

Now the booth is done and we're ready to receive our visitors.

UK-based guitar wizard Andy James got things rolling, doing the first series of performances at ESP's Musikmesse booth.

Andy has a mean guitar face. He's actually a super nice guy, and really isn't at all thinking about beating you to death with his LTD Signature Series AJ-7. Really, he's not. 

Speaking of nice guys, here's Marco Mendoza. Currently playing bass with the Dead Daisies, Marco's career has seen him play and sing with bands an artists such as Blue Murder, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, and George Lynch. Marco's performances and clinics are always special, because he complements his outstanding bass playing with great stories from his career in rock.

Marco draws a crowd during one of his stellar performances at Musikmesse.

Musikmesse also gives us a chance to showcase some of our Europe-based ESP artists. Here is well-known German rocker Alex Scholpp completely slaying the crowd.

Musikmesse is different from NAMM in one key aspect: it has two days that are open for the public to attend, while NAMM remains a trade-only event. Therefore, on Friday and Saturday at the show, we got to meet and talk to hundreds of ESP fans who came to the show to check out our latest guitar and bass offerings.

Things got a little bit insane on Saturday. One of the Musikmesse security people told us (not entirely happily) that the ESP booth was the busiest booth at the show, and the crowds during our Saturday signing sessions with such artists as Alexi Laiho, Zoli Farkas, and the guys from Dimmu Borgir, had the largest crowds of any event at the huge show. We believe him.

Zoltan Farkas (Ektomorf) and Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) showcase the international nature of the Musikmesse show. Zoli is from Hungary, Alexi is from Finland, and we're a Japanese guitar company known around the world, writing this article on a German trade show from a computer in Southern California. True story.

Did we mention it was kinda of crowded on Saturday? Yeah.

It may look like there are thousands of people waiting to come by the ESP booth at Musikmesse, but... oh wait, there really are thousands of people. Alexi Laiho and Zoli Farkas both got a workout just from signging their names roughly 10,000,000 times.