New Kirk Hammett LTD Purple Sparkle Ouija

Updated
New Kirk Hammett LTD Purple Sparkle Ouija

Just saw this over in reddit. Seems like someone over at Guitar Centre got ahead of themselves.

Finally something from  LTD line appears visually more alike with the ESP versions (I.e. Unpainted neck, no model number on 24th fret)

https://www.reddit.com/r/espguitars/comments/cu5moe/guitar_center_accidentally_leaked_ltd_hammetts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

Philippe S.

We are all puppets and shame on the master...

This pricing is really sad for the fans...

I am happy for all the lucky ones that we’re able to purchase them.  But like said before, the lucky ones will always be the same...

Fordman65

Meh. ESP can charge whatever they want imo. They're taking advantage of what the previously released signature Metallica guitars go for on the  used market. 

I'm a huge fan of the band. Saw them at S&M2, tattoo'd the M star on my shoulder over 20 years ago, spent thousands on videos, merchand traveling around the US to see them. Could I have spent the $15,500 usd and bought both from the axe palace? Certainly. Did I? No way. Not worth it to me. As I'm sure is the case for 95% of people. Those that think the guitars are worth it; I say good on them and I hope they enjoy them.

Henrik S.

Has anyone seen some of the pictures of the  purple and red sparkle ltd's that is on Instagram? To me there is not much sparkle in those guitars, they seems very thin in the sparkle if you compare to those guitars that is on Esp's website, mabye it is just the light that makes the difference??

 

Henrik S.

ESP 348

There might be slightly less colour (sparkle paint) on the LTDs yes, which might explain part of the $10K difference in these guitars.

Alamodome

You are correct sir. I had an LTD  PS that I bought when they came out then picked up the ESP PS last November and the amount of sparkle is bit different on the applications that they apply. 

Henrik S.

I mean there is also a difference on the LTD's from the website to those who is out on the market now.

bennyvh

I was going to get both ltd's, but owning a real esp '98 ouija allrdy i finally decided not to for numerous reasons..

does seem sparkly on their video about the ltd's https://www.espguitars.com/videos/2037498

Raf

Good choice Benny ;-)

The old black one is THE Ouija in my opinion !

Dmc83

I have the Deeper Purple Sparkle Lars Ulrich Tama drum kit who inspired Kirk to have sparkle Ouija and the paint on the drum kit is awsommmmmm

 

Sparkle Paint on the drum kit is exact as the 12K USD ESP Ouija version .... or exact as the esp Purple Sparkle KH2 version

 

the whole drum kit was 4000$ USD

the purple sparkle kh2 version was also around 4000$ usd i think..

 

so the over price of those 12K ouija is only to make Kirk sign a paper (c.o.a)

and maybe a very little $ go to hasbro for the rights to used the ouija design...

 

Esp should make less LTD and sell them little bit higher with a correct paint job ,adding the graphics and paint on pickups

And make the LTD really collectable guitars

 

Finaly Esp should make more esp version (like 100 or close...) and sell them at a lower price, i mean an Honest price...

 

its only my opinion...lol 

Alamodome

I would agree with this as well. $12,000 msrp is a bit much even though I paid less than that. 

ESP 348

I think before we get too excited about the price, we don't actually know how much money goes to Hasbro.

I have a gut feeling it's a little more than what most people think which is why these guitars are so expensive.

They made 50 black and 50 white Ouijas in 2009 and from memory, I think they were US $10K retail each. 

8 years after those 100 Ouijas were made, they release 25 natural Ouijas with a US $12K retail each.

And 2-3 years down the road again they release 60 of these sparkle Ouijas with a US $12K retail each also.

Going back to 2009, if they were US $10K retail each back then, then this makes me believe it costs a bit of money to convince Hasbro to let ESP use the Ouija board on these guitars.

Just sharing my thoughts on it all, I could be wrong of course but I reckon I am right on the money.  

Alamodome

A very good point. 

 

Philippe S.

It seems that the 2009 ESP Ouija were around 6k.

I do not know why they are so expensive when we all know that a premium hand made guitar is around 4k and 8k from a private luthier like Kenneth Lawrence.

I still do not understand why the business model had changed for the worst... Sky rocket price and LTD that are completely out of tunes...

Sad for the fans.  I do hope that Kirk could do something for the future to please his fans.

Philippe S.

My best guess I that the wait time for Kenneth Lawrence is now about 2 years.

I think that we all agree that the LTD sparkles Ouija are not collectible guitars.  I do hope that they will have hard time to sell them and that ESP will stop this this downgrading on purpose.

ESP are premium handmade guitar built by Japanese luthier and LTD should be the same one built by Korean machine.

When purchasing an LTD vs an ESP is always related to budget and I found unethical to sell some huge gap.  On the other hand, I do agree that ESP should have more than handmade, but not more that the LTD does not feel collectible.

I had to pass on the ESP because it is too expensive and I will pass on the LTD because they are to ugly.  I feel that I have been rip off twice.

I am sorry to come back again with my position, but I really really disappointed.

Liked said before, congratulations for all the lucky ones that could purchase the ESP. I hope that you will enjoy them.

James H.

The photos shown of the purple ouija look off to me. When I picked up my ESP purple we compared the finish on the LTD version. It was different, darker with less flake. I hope they did not cheap down the finish again. Also the Ouija decal on that does not look goldish. The camera could be messing with the finishes. Regardless, I will be happy with what I can afford at this time. I believe they will have some future value, the natural appears to be holding it's value at this point.

Pinian

For those complaining about the price - it's simply business. If you think about these instruments, and what they represent in the ecosystem it becomes more clear. I've been working on consumer goods manufacturing for a while, and spent even more of my career in retail.

These usually only show up at ESPs top dealers, and for good reason. They are likely making a sizable margin on them as a dealer, probably 40% if I were a betting man (I don't actually know what they are making, but seems to reason based on other consumer goods experience). They only get a limited amount (few guitars), and they are probably icing on the cake for being a top dealer. The dealer invests tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in ESP and Ltd inventory each year, and often if you look, sits on these guitars for 2-3 years well after they had to pay ESP for them. So as a reward, ESP gives them something like this. It helps the relationship between ESP and dealer.

At a 40 margin, that means ESP is bringing in sales of $7,200 each (for those doing the math, yes that's $4,800 for the dealer each guitar... thank you for being a great dealer). After paying a Hasbro royalty, and Kirk licensing fees, and making the guitar in Japan (probably costing $2500-$3000 including freight), ESP isn't raking in bank on them by only selling 60 of em. 

I wish I could buy them. I seriously thought about writing the $24k check for a pair, but at the end of the day I have grad school to payoff, as well as a mortgage and retirement to think about. I really do wish I could own one or two, but that's life.

Thank you to those buying them. You're keeping the business going, and supporting the dealers who consistently have inventory of ESP and Ltd products on hand for the rest of us to purchase. You also make sure there are plenty of KH ESPs around that kick just as much ass.

Philippe S.

Thank you very much Pinan for this detailed analysis from the dealer side, it helps us to have a better understanding of the situation.  It is true that in the world of free capitalism, the corporations are "Master of Puppets" and that customers have no soul and therefore the corporations are free to define the price.

I would like to take the opportunity to make a benchmark analysis of premium handmade guitar from Fender and Gibson.  A Fender Jimi Hendrix custom shop is 4.5k USD and the Limited Edition one is 7.0k USD.  From 6.0 to 8.0k USD, you can order a custom masterbuild Fender having the same luthier of your guitar hero.  A Gibson 60th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard is 6.5k USD and a exact replica (Finish and tone) of Kirk Hammett Les Paul 1959 Greeny was 12.0k USD.  Signed Slash limited edition are from 5.0 to 7.5k USD.  A custom order by the Axe Palace of James Hetfield ESP Snakebyte Baritone See Thru Purple was 7.0k USD.  A custom order to private luthier Kenneth Lawrence who had build five guitars for James Hetfield is around 7.5k USD.

Does Kirk Hammett is more epic then Jimi Hendrix? Do ESP KH-2 Sparkle Ouija are more epic then the “Greeny”? Does ESP is more epic then Gibson?  Only the fans can answer those questions to benchmark his dream guitar price.

The fist genuine guitar manufactured was fender and had taken the rock market.  Then came Gibson for hard rock and followed 20 years later ESP for metal.  At that time, it was impossible for ESP to conquer Fender and Gibson markets and through Metallica they have become the metal guitar manufacturing leader.

I think it is well understood that premium guitars are a niche market and that a factory cannot survive on his own.  Fender have Squier, Gisbson have Epiphone and ESP have LTD.  The business model is simple, we need a rock star to showcase a premium guitar to sell the cheapest ones.  In our special case, we have the LTD KH-202 (0.5k USD), LTD KH-602 (1.0 kUSD), the LTD KH-WZ (1.25 kUSD) and ESP KH-2 PSP (4.0k USD).  The branding and the marketing are then using the deflection technique, since I cannot afford the ESP and I cannot purchase the cheapest one, I will purchase LTD KH-602 or the LTD KH-WZ were ESP have an higher margin in percentage.  In conclusion, without LTD it would be impossible to purchase ESP and the dealers could not survived without Squier, Epiphone and LTD.

The icing on the cake for the limited ones should be for the fan and not for the dealer.  Those are the fans that follow weekly ESP for any limited releases.  Without fans, no dealer, no LTD and no ESP...

My feeling is that ESP is not respecting is fans for the ESP KH-2 Ouija sky rocket price and the LTD ones that are not collectables.  I am really sad…

ESP 348
Pinian wrote:

I wish I could buy them. I seriously thought about writing the $24k check for a pair, but at the end of the day I have grad school to payoff, as well as a mortgage and retirement to think about. I really do wish I could own one or two, but that's life.

 

You only live once brother! Buy them both and enjoy.

In 50 years time when you're on your death bed I am pretty sure your not going to look back and regret buying a pair of awesome guitars.

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