The Fake ESP Thread
The Fake ESP Thread
Pushead and I are here to help verify ESP and LTD guitars. If you have, or are looking to buy a guitar that you're unsure of, post pictures and questions in this thread. Please post clear pictures of the front and back of the headstock, the fretboard, and the front and back of the body. Preferably before you buy anything.
Anyone else is free to offer suggestions on authenticity. If you answer a post, please tell us why you think it's real or fake.
Hi again guys, I don't mean to potentially badmouth a reseller but;
https://reverb.com/item/14789093-esp-sv-bmf-bloodbath-red
Legit? Why would ESP make a guitar just for a store in Australia, or is this something that happens all the time but because I'm from the backwater north of England I just don't realise?!
The guitar is completely legit. ESP used to (and still occasionally does) runs of guitars with special finishes or options for their dealers. bMusic is (was?) the biggest ESP dealer in AUS for like 10 years in a row. It's still a Standard Series guitar, but they were able to do a small run of guitars with those options. They also did runs of purple SVs, gloss black FT Eclipses and silverburst FT Eclipses for bMusic.
I wonder if I was sold a pup last year;
this is the guitar I bought, that I'm trying to sell;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESP-Standard-Series-EX-Explorer-Electric-Guitar/323852838536
Is it legit? I've since cancelled the auction because I don't want to sell a fake, but I paid £1600 for this just over a year ago and the original seller, a business by the name of essexrecordingstudios has since offered to buy it back, under a different name, for £500, and wants to know why it doesn't have ESP at the 12th fret.
(I bought it because I was giddy, had just sold my house, had an eclipse, KH2 and SV and wanted to complete the shapes! - so I bought it unseen)
The ebay listing I bought it from has long since ended, but this is a picture showing the same curl in the 'Made In Japan' sticker on the headstock.
The guitar itself is fine, the reason for selling is that it just doesn't hang right for me, but that alone got me thinking that it might not be legit - it's so top heavy and really light and if I let go whilst playing the headstock divebombs. No other LTD or ESP has ever done that in the 20 years I've owned them, and I had a EX400 I think it was with the black diamond plate(?)....which didn't seem to have the same divebomb issues.
Anyway, all thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Pushead wrote:Everything looks ok to me. Those guys from Essex recording studios are a bit slimy. They have all this gear listed on Reverb at ridiculous prices. (IMO, ymmv). But to hear others tell it, they lowball people in order to get their stock.
I agree. The Grynch they have for £2500 was on ebay for a couple of months with a buy it now of around £1100, so I guess they got it for around half that.
Whilst I've got your attention tho.....any thought as to the top heaviness? You're like the ESP expert, so were all EX's like that? I have a SV the same age and I know they aren't the same shape, but the SV is heavier and sits properly, and I thought the EX, being bigger bodied, would sit perfectly. The weight of it and how it hangs are my biggest doubts about it's legitimacy.
There's no photo of the back of the headstock, which I like to see, but everything else looks good. I'd lean toward it being perfectly legit.
I agree. The Grynch they have for £2500 was on ebay for a couple of months with a buy it now of around £1100, so I guess they got it for around half that.
Whilst I've got your attention tho.....any thought as to the top heaviness? You're like the ESP expert, so were all EX's like that? I have a SV the same age and I know they aren't the same shape, but the SV is heavier and sits properly, and I thought the EX, being bigger bodied, would sit perfectly. The weight of it and how it hangs are my biggest doubts about it's legitimacy.
I bought my Grynch (with no COA) for $900 about two years ago. The era of the $2000USD Grynch is long over.
I've never owned an EX, but my bandmate has had two. I don't remember either of them being neck heavy. I looked at the eBay auction again, and there's nothing in either the body shape or the markings that would lead me to question if it was legit.
Hi,
I would appreciate any input on this ESP E-II. It looks legit, but the one thing that really bugs me is the battery compartment. The cover doesn't have the 'Push or ESP' logo engraved in it? I've looked everywhere and can't find one without the engraving. Also, the neck pickup looks slightly crooked?
Thanks in advance
Hi
is this LTD Truckster real? It’s about to be sold to somebody else but I Really, REALLY want it, if it’s real...
I don’t have any pictures from the back of the guitar.
The dummy pickup selector switch is missing...
the reason I think it might be fake though is because of the font ‘truckster’ is written in on the truss rod cover, so far I’ve only seen 1 maybe 2 like it.
thanks,
Dirk
The E-II Horizon is legit. Nothing looks out of place.
The LTD Truckster looks pretty good, except for the truss rod cover (as you mention.) Did the seller give a partial serial number? The letter and first two digits would be enough. I'm wondering what year it might be. Since it's missing the dummy switch, a previous owner may have lost the TRC as well.
Also legit from 2005.