The ESP Guitar Company

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This is a weird one. It doesn't match any spec I've seen for the guitar, but I don't see anything that makes me think it's completely phony, either.

I think it's probably legit. Based on the serial number, it's from 2015, the L should be a Chinese factory. The logo, inlays, volute and body shape seem fine. No idea why it doesn't have a battery box (by 2015 it would have.)

No idea what exactly it is. I'd try sending these pics to customersupport@espguitars.com and see what they say.

I also find inlays to be very different on this guitar in question:

1) Font on model inlay

2) Thickness of the bones and angle at which they are crossed, as well as shape of the skull.

See comparison of 1st fret 

3) Skulls on high frets have different faces, for example you can barely see nose, while on normal KH-602 noses are as large as the ayes

If you're that concerned, I'd pass on the guitar.

Nothing seems that out of place, to me, to say that this may not have been a guitar made to see if production of this model could be moved to the Chinese factory. ESP has moved production of a bunch of models that were made in Korea to Indonesia and China.

I'm not going to confirm that the guitar is legit, but I've seen KH guitars that are super fake. This isn't one of them.

Here's old discussion on similar looking KH-602:

https://www.espguitars.com/forums/1963220/posts/2162970-verify-if-kh-602

So, what's the conclusion on this version of KH-602? 

Chinese made? Any idea on the years it was made?

That is a very interesting model, I have never seen that particular guitar or anything like it before.

I think it's legit and maybe an "in between" model from ESP when they decided to change factories like Pus made mention of.

When you say "in between" - do you mean before or after they started making Korean KH-602?