The ESP Guitar Company

Hi,

The ESP S-1 Brilliant Mixedmedia has quite some "landmarks".

- It has a set neck (no bolt on)
- The case it should come with (it is a hard case with a metal sheet saying "LUNA SEA SUGIZO SIGNATURE MODEL NO. xxx) should have a Number stamped on it. Each one has an individual number which is on the back of the headstock and on the case.
- Some people take a black ESP S-1 and make the Brilliant Mixedmedia top by themselves. You will see if this is the case by checking the back of the body. The Mixedmedia has NO Floyd Rose cover, so there are no drilled holes for it either. The black ESP S-1 has one and has holes (I haven't seen one without). Also, the ESP Logo on the headstock is often poorly made.
- The guitar should come with a certificate saying it is what it should be (!?)
- The Floyd Rose cavity (on the front of the body) should be painted white.

If you post pictures of it, it should not be hard to identify if it is real. The Mixedmedia top made by craftsmen of ESP is really precise! Selfmade are often not and it's easy to tell if it is real or not just by looking at it.

Also, duplicating the guitar is quite a challenge for sure. Mostly you can tell if it is a copy by looking at the neck heel, the binding at the headstock or the headstock shape.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

did you get it used from GC?
If so it's not an ESP....it's an Edwwards or grass-roots or smthn like that.

if you are looking at the one at GC, it has been in and out of GC about 4 or 5 times in the last year, I looked at it carefully, because the price was real low, and even though I wouldn't normaly opt for a guitar covered in melted foil, If it was real, the price was just to low to pass it up. To me it looks like a grassroots that someone applied mixed media to. Also If it was the real deal someone would have kept it by now or some flipper would have bought marked it up 4x and put it on ebay.

The real ones have a different shaped headstock than esp or ltd and very unique pickup / bridge configurations, i think edwards and grassroots make very close models with the same headstock, that one can apply foil to and an new headstock decal. The real ones also come with a heavy duty metal bound road case if I am correct, and if its real it should definitely have a authenticity paper. All that said, I don't think I would enjoy a eclipse style guitar with single coils anyway.