The ESP Guitar Company

Dude.....chose XL when uploading pictures of the guitar. Can't see shit.

That sucks on what happened and sorry dude.

I put $1000 down on a Viper purple quilt top custom order and then quickly wanted to change it to a White Iron Cross and ESP were total dicks about it. Would not cancel it. So no either my dealer is going to try to refund me the $1000 or give me a store credit.

Also they claim these are "custom" guitars...so I asked for a maple neck.....nope. They would not do it. I am like...what the fuck. It's a custom guitar....put on a maple neck. Nope.

Either way... not cool of ESP.

Nothing custom about them other than the price

The color on mine is way off

I have many custom

guitars from other companies and did not have these issues 

in fact most all

sent me build progress pics for approval

i seriously say don’t buy one if there is a problem

they will

not take care of you 

ESP does not want me saying this ,they deleted my first post about this and will surely delete this one  

I paid all up front

the arrogant attitude from them is what made me mad

i would have only had to say I was not happy and they should have set the wheels in motion to make it right 

Wait 6 months for them to fix their mistake not acceptable 

It’s not purple sunburst al all

they didn’t do the finish correctly 

As I  said before never another penny of my money will ESP ever get 

ahh there we go. Thanks for making the pictures better.

Sucks what happened. Like I said... they were not cool at all when I wanted to roll my $1000 deposit over to an Iron Cross (white ESP version) shortly after I ordered mine). But my store is pretty good and I have a good relationship so they are either going to refund me it or give me a store credit.

Either way, it left a bad taste in my mouth with ESP USA. 

Another thing too with those ESP USA's, is that you always take a bath if you try to resell it. Even in mint condition you will lose at least a grand or two on Reverb or even brand new ones from dealers can't sell on Reverb for some reason.

I get what ESP is doing, but man... should be a true custom guitar and the build process they should have included you.

this is disheartening as I was getting ready to order a ESP USA based on the final looks of the configurator!!!! And no service/attitude part-- no thanks!

thanks for your post. i configured my M-II and was seriously considering getting one (white pear , gloss), sent 2 inquiry emails to 2 dealers listed on their website. 

first of all they have never as far  as i can tell  marketed these as "custom" guitars.

they have always said the japan custom shop is the only ESP "custom" shop...period this is not a custom guitar so don't refer to it as one .

you have a few select options to chose from on the ESP USA web site. 

the ESP USA shop select certain grades of wood to stock their shelves with both machined blank parts and un-machined woods to build their product.

so any body, top, or neck they pull from their rack/shelve/inventory  has been pre selected for the USA line. 

now you say it plays great thats  awesome you have a good guitar.

but you're disappointed with the finish the only thing i can say on this is ....

1st.  that online configurator is a rendering it layers colour over an image its basically CGI if you select a TE-11 then quilted top no mater what colour you chose the quilted top does not change they are rendering CGI colour over a guitar body..it's pretty dam obvious 

2.   every top will come out a bit different its the nature of the wood plus human hands have gone over this thing sanding, application of the stain((iv seen a Instagram post where the main painter said he was writing up procedures for the painting/staining)) so one could assume the staining/painting  formulas  and processes  of using it are followed for every selected colour way.

if you picked a stain off that configurator and expected it to look identical to the one on the configurator  then hate to tell you but its not the real thing.  it's best to look at the real guitars on Instagram or the dealers web sites to see how the finishes can look 

for instance i seen a picture of the very first lime burst eclipse on the painters Instagram page so i asked for that even though it was not on the site at that stage it didn't come to me exactly the same mine has more flame(dark stripes) to the top making the green not pop as much as the first but i knew it would not be an exact replica....I still love it still has the same green around the edges.

the picture you put up of your one looks like a matt semi gloss finish ??

Dude, that looks like you received the correct guitar. 

Of course there will be some variation in the color and the figuring. The configurator is just a tool to help you generally visualize the options you're picking through a computer monitor, it's not like you're picking the actual timber they'll make your guitar out of.

I was waiting for the ESP fanboys to pipe in!  Never said it was going to look just like the configurator 

I said the Color is way off and the top has no life and it’s not a Master Or Super high end top! It’s more pinkish than Purple Burst and unless the light hits it right you can not tell it’s a quilt top. That is not what you expect for a guitar that costs this kind of money! 

and don’t give me no colors can vary crap

its a standard color config for them and they can duplicate it again and again in fact ESPs sister company Schecter has the same color In a Tele shape and they can get it right!

i pre paid all the money up front ,waited as they kept pushing out the date got this Guitar ,was not happy and ESPs customer service was shitty and they sure as hell were taking no steps to see the customer was happy other than a TShirt and Hat! 

Guitars at this price point should deliver a stunning guitar 

it’s a bad deal and experience period 

I own a whole bunch of high end guitars and guitars that cost less and are stunning unlike this one 

Bottom line I paid for high end got A Meh looking guitar and it’s good enough from attitude from ESP!

Now you can buy all the ESP USA guitars you want from them I won’t spend another penny on anything ESP

I had high expectations based on their offerings and displays at 2019 Winter NAMM and how they have marketed the USA line. You have been to NAMM and seen the display right? 
Had nothing to do with buyers remorse

You got a lot to say here how many of these guitars have you bought? 

i'll quote you "nothing Custom or Semi Custom about it"  reading that it implies you were expecting a custom guitar... what else would it imply???????????????????

i'll quote you again " Then I got a 3600.00 guitar that looked nothing like the Pictures on the Configurator" ..........well LOL comparing it to the configurator is exactly what you are doing.

"in ESPs own words it’s a one off guitar and only TE that they have done in this color"................     so what? is that supposed to make it more special?

your story has holes in it............... you say you didn't say something.. yet i can clearly copy and paste what you said................ I'm just calling a spade a spade dude

you're upset with the service you got you're aloud to be. they gave you options ball's in your court 

James D. wrote:

 

its a standard color config for them and they can duplicate it again and again in fact ESPs sister company Schecter has the same color In a Tele shape and they can get it right!

 

schecter and esp are not sister companies.

you come across as very entitled.  I would work on that. you'll probably get better service if you do.

James D.

As suggested by others, you can NOT compare an optimal, fictitious digital image of what something might look like, to the real life product photographed under poor lighting and by an amateur.

I see the configurator image and your picture, and I will agree there is a significant difference in color tone; but I'm not sure if that's because of your lighting and photography skills.

Personally, I think you fell in love with too many of the unrealistic and fine details of what the configurator showed you.  The precise wood grain, the specific hue and tone, etc.  Some might view this as a bit unrealistic, but I would side with you and suggest this might be ESPs fault.

If I were to change one thing about ESP USA, I would have them invest in a professional photographer, to establish a small studio area, everything calculated and optimized and templated, with standard set of shots of different angles and different focus points.  Make all of these professional shots available from the website; searchable via serial number.

And for the configurator, maybe a link to show what the actual finishes and wood figuring have looked like on previous products.  This is something ESP and ESP USA could do, to make expectations a bit more realistic.

Also, due to the fact ESP USA guitars are hard to find in stores, it might increase sales as some can only go by what an online retailer displays on their site.


Aside from all of this, I own an ESP USA Eclipse; and it is in every way, at the same level of high end PRS, Suhr, Keisel and others.  I'm very happy with mine, and fortunately, before I bought mine I asked the vendor for better pictures... and it was because of those pictures I pulled the trigger.  And when I got it, and saw it in person, it was even more extraordinary; it's definitely above my skill level that's for sure.

I bought a PRS DWCE24 Floyd from Sweetwater and the one I received was not as dark as the pic on their site.  At first I was furious since I fell in love with the pic on their site.  I complained and they were like “we are so sorry and we will take it back”.  But I played it a few days thinking “well I went through all of this I’m gonna at least play it a little before sending it back”.  But man did I fall in love with it and glad I kept it.