The ESP Guitar Company

Yes, I can play the guitar without any problems, the displacement of the strings ​​is practically insignificant. Maybe at some point I'll buy to a higher quality tremolo because
the guitar strings easily pop out, unless the screws are tightened very hard. This is very annoying.
Thank you so much for your effort, Pushead, I greatly appreciate your knowledge!

Doubts unfortunately still not leave me alone, what a rabbit hole! In short:I measured the values ​​of the pick-ups with a multimeter and it seems that the emg-81 microphones in the ltd do not have an internal protection diode against the wrong polarity. This suggests that they are not genuine. I have emg 81 and 85 I acquired earlier in 1999 to my Ibanez, which give the relevant values.

Before I start sending wiring diagrams and other pictures here,maybe is it better choice create a new thread for this pick-up case,named like "The Fake EMG Thread"?

So pick-ups propably get damaged, if the battery is accidentally connected wrong way.

Values are measured directly from the battery connector:

Resistance  (meter selector resistance range):

Ibanez:EMG81/85 

+9V -> Gnd : about MegaOhm (value is correct because diode is series with 2x178 kOhms resistors)

Gnd -> +9V: open-circuit (because the diode).

ESP LTD EMG81/81

+9V -> Gnd : 178kOhm (meter "see" now the pure 178kOhm because there is no serial diode)

Gnd -> +9V: same as above.

Diode Test (meter selector "Diode" position)

Ibanez: 

+9V -> Gnd: OL (OL means same as open circuit)

Gnd -> +9V: OL

ESP LTD

+9V - Gnd OL

Gnd -> +9V: 0.6 V , looks like the diode short-circuits in this direction!! So battery is short-circuited if it is tried to connect a wrong way. 

I think the internal structure of the (fake?) preamplifier IC causes that short-circuit. In older 81/85 mics the preamplifier is probably the LM4250, which is SERIES with protection diode.

It would be very interesting to see what values ​​others get measured. The measurement is very easy to do: the resistance and diode threshold are measured from the battery connector with a multimeter. The original or at least older models should not have that "short circuit" or crowbar diode. 

Two (hopefully) clarifying pictures of what i mean:

I'd suggest taking the pickups out and directly testing the connectors on the pickup. Leave the wiring and potential losses from the potentiometers out of the circuit.

Based on the above information, it can be concluded that:
1)Either the EMG has made changes to the internal protection as shown in the measurements, or 2)The pickups are fakes, and the counterfeiter has not understood the internal esd protection of the operational amplifier, which causes a short circuit when power is connected in the wrong direction. This would be confirmed by simply opening the device, but it destroys the pickup.

I found one video,where a youtuber broke up a chinese copy and it really doesn't seem to have a protection diode at all. But this copy also differs externally from the original EMG (location of the connector, no gold-plated connectors, and no dent in one corner of the epoxy casting (which caused by the hole in the corner of the circuit board) which can be seen in the originals. But, maybe chinese counterfeiters are evolved, and now it is impossible to distinguish genuine from counterfeiting other than by electronic measurements?

Hi guys, I've been offered this guitar as a vintage 1986 ESP, what do you think about it? Thanks 

It's hard to confirm that it's an actual ESP. I'd play it, if possible, to get a feel of if it's a quality guitar and worth what the asking price is.

I measured the outputs with an oscilloscope and the signal strengths were of the same order of magnitude on both guitars. So apparently the mics are okay. For frequency response measurements I thought at some point to build a coil and a constant current amplifier as long as there is extra time

Hello!

New here, looking to buy an ESP and found this offer, is it OK, what would be a correct price for it?

Thanks!

It's a legit 2005 ESP Horizon FR-1. No idea what the price would be, it would depend on where in the world you are.

Hi!

I'm about to buy a Vintage Plus strat and I believe it looks like the real deal. However, I'm curious about the model since it's not exactly like the ones I can find in the 2008 catalog. It's not distressed and it has Sperzel locking tuners and not the Gotoh Magnum Lock. It should be a 2008 according to the serial number. Did ESP make Vintage Plus in non-distressed finish with Sperzel tuners in 2008?

Best,

Peter Ledin

Sorry to bother you again! But the owner of the Horizon did not answer my offer yet and in the meantime I found another guitar (which I like better actually), does it look ok?

Peter, it is a legit 2008 Vintage Plus. The 2008 catalog shows it as an aged model, but all of the specs will be the same. I wouldn't worry that the catalog only shows aged models for the year. 2008 Catalog

Bogdan, it's a legit 2011 Eclipse II in see through black. I have one that's similar from 06, I think.