ESP? LTD? what's the difference?

ESP Guitars, many guitarist would of heard of this guitar company and many even may own a guitar or two from this company. But many however have never heard of the other lines of guitars from ESP such as the Grassroot models and Edwards model, both are exclusive to Japan.

So in this post I shall discuss the difference between all the different lines of guitars by ESP and hopefully you can see which one is for you.

ESP 

ESP Guitars is the main original line of guitars by ESP. If you see a guitar sporting the ESP logo on its headstock you will know its the real deal. The ESP logo however may differ in appearance to  on different models. These guitars are considered the best in quality in ESP line of guitars and will cost you more than £1000 to own one of these guitars. There are differences in quality in the ESP line of guitars too and can be broken down into 3 groups.

The ESP Standard series is considered the worst of the three but that doesn't mean that the guitars are bad, in fact far from it, these Standard series are on par with many top guitars from other guitar companys such as Gibson and Ibanez.

Next up is the ESP Custom series and the Signature series in the US. These guitars are exceptional well built and a bit superior to the ESP Standard series.

And finally the ESP Original series and Signature series from Japan are the best in quality from ESP guitars. These Guitars are all hand built with care and produced in very small bulks in ESP custom shops in Japan and follow strict quality control checks.


ESP LTD

ESP LTD guitars are a line guitars from ESP aimed to be affordable to many and providing excellent quality at the same time. And like the ESP guitars the LTD logo may differ in appearance on the different guitars. Within the LTD line up of guitars it can be split up into 3 different groups. The prices of these guitars range from £150 to £1000+

LTD Standard Series is the lowest quality in the LTD line up. These guitars are very affordable and is suited for beginners buying their first guitars to experienced players.

LTD Deluxe Series also known as the 1000 series is the best in quality in the LTD line up. They are quality guitar prised by many and also used by many professional guitarist and the prices of these guitars wont require you to sell your house to get one.

The LTD Xtone Series is a line of semi-hollow guitars introduced in 2005. Many people seem to recognize ESP guitars as only for the heavy metal guitarist, however this is definitely not what ESP is about and the Xtone Series clearly shows this.

ESP Edwards

ESP Edwards is line of guitars from ESP which is exclusive to Japan. These are often misconceived as being low in quality but in fact these guitars are on par with the ESP Standard series in the US. There are also Artist signature Edward guitars and the quality of them are considered a bit better than the normal Edward line up.


ESP Grassroot

ESP Grassroot guitars are another line of guitars by ESP that is exclusive to Japan. These are catered to the affordable market and the quality of these guitars are arguably similar to the 200s series of LTD although this is debatable on some models. The Grassroot too has a line of signature guitars.

ESP Navigator

ESP Navigator is a line of guitars by ESP and it produces replicas of Gibson guitars and Fender guitar. The quality of these guitars are are also very good. Again like the Edward guitars people has misconceptions about these guitars too, but in fact they well made instruments.

So which line of guitars from ESP is the best, below I have complied a simple list from the best in quality to the worst. As always its may not be 100% correct but I think it is pretty accurate. However I'm very very interested on your thoughts about it.

• ESP Artist Series (Japan)
• ESP Original Series (Japan)
• ESP Signature Series (USA)
• ESP Custom Series (USA)
• ESP Standard Series(USA)
• ESP Edwards Artist Series (Japan)
• ESP Navigator (Japan)
• ESP Edwards Series (Japan)
• ESP LTD Signature Series (USA)
• ESP LTD Deluxe (USA)
• ESP Xtone Series(USA)
• ESP LTD 200+ Series (USA)
• ESP Grassroot Artist Series(Japan)
• ESP Grassroot Series (Japan)
• ESP LTD below 200 Series (USA)

Phew, this was a rather long post, but I hope I helped discern some of questions you may have previously raised and you perhaps learnt something new about ESP guitars.

Rock on! V^^V

Kev