Serial Number Check?
Serial Number Check?
K1249304
Hello all; would someone please let me know if this serial number is legitimate?
Do all signature series have the ESP logo on the back of the headstock? This one does not, and I feel like I got the deal of a lifetime on it.
It feels great, has the certificate of authenticity, came in what appeared to be original packaging, has the logo on the case, and appears to have come from a legitimate dealer. Am I just being paranoid, or am I in good shape?
Thanks to all; Happy Holidays
Pushead wrote:It's a 2007 model. Check ebay or Reverb in your country to see what they're worth.
Thanks for the quick response! I'm looking at the 2007 catalog, and I noticed it just says "Floyd Rose" for the bridge. if I'm understanding correctly, that appears to be when they were still putting the Floyd Rose Original in there as other lower end models in the same catalog say "Floyd Rose Licensed". Does that sound like a fair assumption to you?
http://www.espguitars.com/downloads/90-esp-2007-catalog/download
EDIT: The image came out way smaller and more blurry than I thought it would, sorry.
So if I understand correctly, this guitar was built in China on the 1st day of the 8th week of 2010 and it was the 465th of its line built? Or more likely the 65th built, and the 4 means something different? Because 465 would be a lot of one guitar that early in the year in my opinion, but I suppose it's possible.
In any case, I know for sure it was built in China in 2010 based on the number, but not 100% on the rest of the information. You can find this exact guitar in the 2010 catalog here: https://www.espguitars.com/pages/product-archive
Hello! Does this seem like a fake to anyone else? The guitar is advertised as an M-300 that was supposedly bought new by the poster of the ad in 2012, which would indicate to me that it was built in 2011-2012. Maybe even 2010. However, judging from what I know about ESP's serial numbers, this number would not be on a 2010-2012 guitar, right? Also I don't believe the code is correct for Korea. Not to mention the fact that there's no writing on the back of the headstock beyond just the serial number, and no ESP logo near the bottom of the headstock like there usually is.
Some other issues: The M-300 from the 2010-2012 catalog shows the guitar came equipped with two EMG 81s, a Floyd Rose Special, and black nickel hardware. This guitar is equipped with two EMG-HZs, a licensed Floyd Rose, straight black hardware (instead of black nickel), and the truss-rod cover says ESP on it instead of just being blank like usual. Granted, the owner could have swapped out the hardware for other parts, however, there is no battery cavity that would have been there if it came with the active pickups. The truss rod cover and hardware colors aren't quite as suspicious to me, but the lack of battery cavity, the licensed Floyd Rose, the serial number issues, and lack of other writing on the headstock really stand out.
What do you all think? is this a fake, or am I just being paranoid?
Okay, I believe I figured out what's going on with that last guitar. It's not a "fake" exactly, it seems to be a real M-300 from 2003. Just found a 2002 LTD M-1000 on eBay that appears to be marked the same way on the headstock with just the serial number. Also, while there's no 2003 catalog, the 2000 catalog shows an M-300 with the exact specs as the one pictured above, so it's probably safe to assume 2003 was being built the same. As for the code "E", the 2002 M-1000 I found shows "W" like I would expect for Korea, so I can only assume the "E" on this M-300 refers to a different factory in Korea? So it appears the seller is just a bit confused either about when they actually bought it, or actually being the original owner.
Both the MH-100 and the M-300 are legit. The MH being from 2010 and the M being from (likely) 2000. There was a brief period during the 2000-02 years where the serial number format changed a few times. But those 300 series with the stock EMG-HZ pickups all came from that time. They're nice guitars with weak hardware.
Hard to confirm from just one photo, but there's nothing that seems out of place with the markings on the back of the headstock. Looks to be a 2017 model.