ESP Mirage Custom - Help with when and where it was made.
ESP Mirage Custom - Help with when and where it was made.

I bought this Pearl Gold ESP Mirage Custom second hand in 2013. This was the second ESP Mirage Custom I bought. The only identification on it is a serial number stamped into the last fret of the fretboard, Serial# 1431 (see pic). There are no markings on the back of headstock or under the pickups or anywhere else on the guitar. This is the only Mirage Custom I have seen with a two dual humbucker pickup configuration. It came with an original Floyd Rose that is not recessed (don’t know if it had a Sinclair that was replaced). Can anyone identify when a where it was made with this information? Thanks
It was made in Japan, though I can't be more specific than that. It was a late 80s guitar, possibly as new as 90, but by 91 they had switched away from the "Jackson style" head stock to the current version of the "knife stock" they use today. I believe they also switched to a reverse head stock on The Mirage Custom guitars. Mine is a 91 with the reverse, knife stock. Mine also had a recessed sinclair trem. When I had it refinished, I also replaced it with an OFR and deepened the route.
Thanks. Nice guitar you have there. So did the OFR set up correctly as a direct replacement for the Sinclair you had? I tried to replace a Sinclair on my other Mirage Custom, but the pivot studs were too far from the nut and the high E string couldn’t be intonated correctly. So I just have the Sinclair on it.
Oof, that's bad. It could be fixed, but it would require a refinish (on the body, at least.) I'm surprised you had trouble getting the Floyd to intonate, it looks like the studs are right up to the pickup.
This one is older. As it got into the mid and late 80s, the points on the headstock were a bit rounder, not sharp like they eventually became.
I can't help with any information, but I love these guitars! Take care and enjoy mate.