July 29: ocV!BE Guitar Festival (Anaheim, CA)

July 29: ocV!BE Guitar Festival (Anaheim, CA)

If you're in the Southern California area and like guitars, here's a hot tip for you. On Saturday, July 29 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, the inaugural ocV!BE Guitar Festival is kicking off with ESP as a sponsor! And to...
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WInner's Circle: "Renew Your Rig" Sweepstakes

WInner's Circle: "Renew Your Rig" Sweepstakes

The "Renew Your Rig" sweepstakes ended up being the most popular giveaway in ESP history, and it's easy to see why. The prize package was astounding... an ESP E-II Eclipse Full Thickness EverTune, an ENGL Ironball Combo E600,...
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Gary Holt (Exodus) ESP Clinic Tour Summer 2023

Gary Holt (Exodus) ESP Clinic Tour Summer 2023

Hey West Coast ESP friends... it's time to start taking the rock back out on the road with the return of ESP dealer clinics, and who better to kick things off than the mighty Gary Holt (Exodus/Slayer)? In July 2023, Gary is...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: Modern Rock Preamp E530

ENGL Amp Spotlight: Modern Rock Preamp E530

To better understand what a preamp can do for you, it's probably a good idea to learn more about amplifiers in general. Typical guitar amps have at least two stages of amplification: a preamplifer and a power amplifier. The...
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Hellfest 2023: Stories and Pics

Hellfest 2023: Stories and Pics

Held from June 15-18, 2023 in Clisson, France, this year’s Hellfest show surpassed everyone’s expectations as one of the biggest heavy music festivals that the world has to offer. ESP once again had the pleasure of being the...
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All Access Spotlight: ESP Collector Jim Schwilk



All Access Spotlight: ESP Collector Jim Schwilk



All photos courtesy of Jim Schwilk We met Jim in the aisles of the 2023 NAMM Show, held in mid-April of this year. Jim, a member of the ESP All Access community as well as several other ESP-focused online groups, had stopped...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: 40th Anniversary Fireball Series

ENGL Amp Spotlight: 40th Anniversary Fireball Series

Before we tell you more about ENGL's amazing special edition Fireball series amps, we need to tell you more about why they're here. It was back in 1983, in Bavaria, Germany, that founder Edmund Engl and Senior Designer Horst...
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ESP Guitars Welcomes Mick Thomson (Slipknot) to Artist Roster

ESP Guitars Welcomes Mick Thomson (Slipknot) to Artist Roster

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA (MAY 16, 2023) – ESP Guitars has announced that acclaimed guitarist Mick Thomson of iconic American metal band Slipknot has joined the ESP artist roster. The company also confirmed that a new ESP/LTD...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: ENGL Custom Shop

ENGL Amp Spotlight: ENGL Custom Shop

At ESP, we know a thing or two about customization. Building personalized guitars has been part of our core for over 45 years. So when ENGL -- whose products ESP distribute in the USA and Canada -- told us that they wanted to...
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May 2-11, 2023: ESP School of Metal Guitar Coming to the UK

May 2-11, 2023: ESP School of Metal Guitar Coming to the UK

UK-based rockers, clear your calendars. Starting next week, ESP ambassadors Pat Heath and Jamie Hunt are taking their show on the road for a series of special clinics in the UK. You've seen a lot of guitar tutorial videos to...
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12 New Artist Signature Series Models from ESP Guitars at NAMM 2023

12 New Artist Signature Series Models from ESP Guitars at NAMM 2023

ESP Guitars had heads turning at their NAMM booth with the introduction of 12 new Signature Series guitars. In addition to three new Kirk Hammett (Metallica) LTD KH-V models and a new Olympic White finish for the James...
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ESP Guitars Debuts 12 New Additions to Japan-Built E-II Series

ESP Guitars Debuts 12 New Additions to Japan-Built E-II Series

ESP Guitars has debuted 12 new guitars under their ESP E-II brand at the 2023 NAMM Show. The guitars, built at the ESP-owned factory in Tokyo, Japan, will be available at ESP dealers in the US and international distributors...
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Strong 16: Celebrating Female ESP Players on International Women’s Day 2023

Strong 16: Celebrating Female ESP Players on International Women’s Day 2023

March 8 is International Women's Day, a global holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. While thousands of women around the world play ESP every day, here...
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Winner's Circle: New Year, New Gear Sweepstakes

Winner's Circle: New Year, New Gear Sweepstakes

Let's all send our congratulations to Stacy Mueller of Wauwatosa, WI. Tens of thousands of your entered, but Stacy is the randomly-chosen winner of our recent "New Year, New Gear", and they get quite a nice prize package as a...
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Metallica’s Kirk Hammett on the KH-V

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett on the KH-V

ESP president and CEO Matt Masciandaro chatted with Metallica guitarist and longtime ESP player Kirk Hammett. Kirk had recently taken delivery of three ESP V-II guitars that were built to his specification by the ESP USA...
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Fri March 3: Michael Paget (Bullet For My Valentine) Signing at guitarguitar Newcastle

Fri March 3: Michael Paget (Bullet For My Valentine) Signing at guitarguitar Newcastle

Hey all you people in the Newcastle, UK area! This Friday March 3, you have a chance to meet-and-greet with one of ESP's finest artists. The one and only Michael "Padge" Paget will be appearing at your local guitarguitar...
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March 4-5: See ESP at the Melbourne Guitar Show

March 4-5: See ESP at the Melbourne Guitar Show

Hey rockers from Down Under! Coming up next weekend, the Melbourne Guitar Show is returning, and if you're visiting the show, ESP will be there in a big way. Our friends at ESP Australia have some huge plans in the works, and...
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What’s New with ESP for 2023?

What’s New with ESP for 2023?

Usually when we get to January of a new year, members of the ESP community and guitar fans around the world have already been tipped off on our plans for new ESP, E-II, and LTD guitars and basses. However, the world has gone...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: Savage 120 Mark II E610II

ENGL Amp Spotlight: Savage 120 Mark II E610II

You know the saying, "Go big or go home"? They may have been referring to the ENGL Savage 120 Mark II E610II, an all-tube amplifier head with the power and flexibility that leaves nearly any other amp in the world in the...
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ESP-Donated Guitars Raise Over $57K for Metallica's "All Within My Hands"

ESP-Donated Guitars Raise Over $57K for Metallica's "All Within My Hands"

Friday, December 16, 2022 was a special night for Metallica. Their annual Helping Hands Concert & Auction was held on that night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles with the purpose of raising funds for the band's All...
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Bid on this LTD Signed by All Four Members of Metallica!

Bid on this LTD Signed by All Four Members of Metallica!

Metallica's All Within My Hands Foundation is a charitable organization that was formed by the band to support workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. They're hosting their annual...
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WInner's Circle: Lamb of God JC-4 Bass Sweepstakes

WInner's Circle: Lamb of God JC-4 Bass Sweepstakes

ESP sends our hearty hails and congratulations to Adrian "The Mallet" Ramirez of El Paso, TX. We're not sure why Adrian is called "The Mallet", but we do know he was chosen randomly out of thousands and thousands of entries...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: Ironball E600 Combo

ENGL Amp Spotlight: Ironball E600 Combo

Remember the days where if you wanted to seem cool, you'd show up for a small club gig with your 100-watt half stack (or even a second 4x10 cabinet for a full stack)? And then what happened? Your band hated you for being far...
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Nov/Dec 2022: ESP Clinics Coming to UK & France

Nov/Dec 2022: ESP Clinics Coming to UK & France

It's been a long time since 2019, when we were last able to bring you the fun and excitement of an ESP clinic, but later this month, we're kicking the ESP Clinic Tour back into high gear, and ESP fanatics in the UK and France...
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ESP Signature Artist Reba Meyers Rig Rundown in Premier Guitar

ESP Signature Artist Reba Meyers Rig Rundown in Premier Guitar

This month, Premier Guitar Magazine did one of their famous Rig Rundown articles, and this time the subject was one of our favorite people in the world... Reba Meyers of Pittsburgh, PA-based hardcore band Code Orange. Reba...
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WInner's Circle: Louder Than Life & Aftershock Festivals

WInner's Circle: Louder Than Life & Aftershock Festivals

We're just getting back from two amazing festivals that were held practically back-to-back: Louder Than Life (Sept 22-25 in Louisville, KY) and Aftershock (Oct 6-9 in Sacramento, CA). The shows were amazing, and as is often...
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Congrats to Michael Gleason, LTD Deluxe M-1004 Sweepstakes Winner!

Congrats to Michael Gleason, LTD Deluxe M-1004 Sweepstakes Winner!

All of us at ESP send our hearty congrats to Michael Gleason of Whittier, CA. Out of thousands and thousands of entries, his was the name that got randomly chosen as the winner of our recent LTD Deluxe M-1004 Bass...
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ESP Welcomes Jamba and Davaa of The Hu

ESP Welcomes Jamba and Davaa of The Hu

As musicians, all of us keep our ears open for new sounds that excite and inspire us. It was at a recent festival concert that we saw this precise reaction as hundreds of people jammed themselves in front of the stage when...
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ENGL Amp Spotlight: E412XXL Cabinet

ENGL Amp Spotlight: E412XXL Cabinet

Have you ever heard the saying, "Go big or go home?" Well, maybe it's not always necessary to have a cabinet loaded with four 12" speakers... but sometimes it just is. Not everyone is rocking quietly in a bedroom. Some people...
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ESP Guitars at Hellfest 2022: The Pictures

ESP Guitars at Hellfest 2022: The Pictures

In late June, ESP headed over to Clisson, France where Hellfest, one of the world’s largest heavy music festivals, is held annually. Despite the fact that there was a heat wave gripping Europe, we had a great time and ESP...
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