The ESP Guitar Company

Are you fellow ESP freaks ready for a 100% honest story I have to tell? Here we go:

So about three years ago, I had just had my world come crashing down after the original rock band that I had been playing in for four years ended abruptly. I'm from upstate NY, and I moved out to Billings Montana in the spring of 2013 to join the band The Farthest Edge. After working day in and day out..practicing Monday through Thursday 8:00pm to 12 midnight..and then gigging Friday, Saturday, Sunday..and hitting the road with national touring acts..my singers wife called him on our way back to Billings Montana from Las Vegas to give him the ultimatum that it was his daughter and her, or the band. Long story short, Pat quit the band..and the working/fresh deal we had just signed with Universal was tossed out the window. Depressed, from the worst fucking dream crusher I had ever experienced at the time..I started drinking extremely heavily..until I intuitively decided to get the fuck out of Montana, and go be with family for a while in Wilmington NC. Family was my only saving Grace at the time. I didn't touch a guitar for damn near eight months, associating my anger/negativity with it..they collected dust while I was repairing myself mentally. There was a little kava bar that the guys that I worked with would meet up at to carpool in the morning, and then in the afternoon wed go back to shoot the shit, and head home. This guy Matt who was a fellow contractor..had asked for a ride to the gas station after working one day, and Fade to Black by Metallica was on my radio..and when he started singing I was like "YES!" because I'm a gigantic fan of the band, in fact that's the reason I picked the guitar up at 12. Over the coming months I became very very good friends with Matt, and at almost a year in to knowing him, he was quiet in my truck one night..and I could feel something bothering him..so I asked what was up. He told me his roommate had went MIA for two months, and left him with all of the rent and bills. He didn't know if he was dead, in jail, missing..just vanished. Matt casually asked if I was looking to buy a guitar because he was drowning in debt..and of course I said yes. Matt didn't know anything about guitars, and told me to come in when we got to his condo.. I trailed behind him about ten feet..and when we got in to a bedroom his exact words were "You ever hear of ESP?' And I about fucking fainted. Id been playing at this point about 17 years, and because I became a metal head, and Metallica super fan..I had always played LTD (because I never had 4 grand for a new ESP haha) so I with a shaky voice said yes. He opened an old case and there it was. I swear on hand to God, my dream guitar had always been a late 80's black ESP like Kirk played in the early days of his ESP ventures so I had always yearned just to play one. In the case was a black 989-90 ESP Custom Shop Mirage with an original Floyd rose. I sat on the carpet in the room out of anxiety, and disbelief. I could not fucking believe what was happening. I tried to play it cool and act not outrageously excited and said yeah I want it. Matt said "How about 100 bucks" and I legit held tears back. At first I felt guilty until I realized it wasn't matts guitar, the roommate completely fucked him over...and that night I took my dream guitar home that I wanted since I was a kid. This guitar is very special to me, I get teary eyed even typing this because less than six months later my now (by this time best) friend Matt died unexpectedly at 37 after he'd moved to Florida, and we've never known why or how. This guitar is the most beautiful piece of art I have ever played. It shreds, the contour of the neck and body are pure craftsmanship. This guitar is an extension of my soul, and I swear to God..that crazy story is 100% accurate. yeah crazy, I know. I would do anything for a new ESP Custom shop, and perhaps someday one will fall out of the sky again. I will never understand how, or why, or what I did that lead to that random sequence of events..but I will cherish this thing for the rest of my life. Thank you so much for reading, cheers -Johnny Angus