ESP 2023

[Tisca]

ESPs and Ltd prices followed inflation at least up until covid times, which means the same price. Covid times added higher shipping cost etc.

 

[SalsaWood]

It makes you out of touch with reality.

My mistake. Surely you with apparently zero near history recollection and twice the emotional agenda are the final word on the matter.

I'll just crawl quietly to the grave one grey ball hair at a time while you try to save the world from things that already happened and the people who remember it. Good luck.

 

[mlp187]

ESP OG, USA, E-II, and some LTD guitars are too fucking expensive for me these days, which is great for me if I decide to sell mine.

My point is - I believe some of the increase is inflation, some is supply chain, and some is demand. To what ratio, IDK and IDC because I’m not buying new ESPs anymore.

I will tell you that my last USA cost $3100 (haggled from $3500 in 2021). And you can’t even get my finish/feature combo anymore. But something close today would be $4500 pre-haggling.

I don’t judge anyone who thinks the guitars are still a great value nor anyone who thinks they are a poor value. You do you.

That being said I do love the Kirk Vs. I want all three.

So… I’m just rambling while I wait for a really large file transfer.

 

[somethingsomething]

ESP OG, USA, E-II, and some LTD guitars are too fucking expensive for me these days, which is great for me if I decide to sell mine.

My point is - I believe some of the increase is inflation, some is supply chain, and some is demand. To what ratio, IDK and IDC because I’m not buying new ESPs anymore.

I will tell you that my last USA cost $3100 (haggled from $3500 in 2021). And you can’t even get my finish/feature combo anymore. But something close today would be $4500 pre-haggling.

I don’t judge anyone who thinks the guitars are still a great value nor anyone who thinks they are a poor value. You do you.

That being said I do love the Kirk Vs. I want all three.

So… I’m just rambling while I wait for a really large file transfer.

I agree that the price points have gotten out of control at pretty much every level. I think the only line that's still priced well relative to the competition is ESP Original. Not only are they jaw-droppingly good guitars, but they're pretty much in line with the prices of high-end Suhrs, PRS, Aristides, Tom Anderson, Fender Custom Shop, Gibson Custom Shop, etc. And if you order one from Japan, you can get a much better deal.

To me, the weirdest pricing model is ESP USA. A lot of the builds I see nowadays are more expensive than ESP Originals, which is just...what? Sorry, but the American shop doesn't have the prestige to jack up the prices like that.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I agree that the price points have gotten out of control at pretty much every level. I think the only line that's still priced well relative to the competition is ESP Original. Not only are they jaw-droppingly good guitars, but they're pretty much in line with the prices of high-end Suhrs, PRS, Aristides, Fender Custom Shop, Gibson Custom Shop, etc. And if you order one from Japan, you can get a much better deal.

To me, the weirdest pricing model is ESP USA. A lot of the builds I see nowadays are more expensive than ESP Originals, which is just...what? Sorry, but the American shop doesn't have the prestige to jack up the prices like that.

The ESP USA stuff was supposed to be a more affordable, faster alternative to custom ordered Originals within the North American market for North American dealers.

But they got absolutely hammered with orders and have had to adjust pricing accordingly.

Basically they did too well, and got back logged by dealer stock/runs and the general state of post pandemic supply chain.

Sort of like what happened with Jackson and the Custom Selects.

What is and isn't "real custom shop" or "real ESP" aside, folks love semi-customs.

 

[somethingsomething]

The ESP USA stuff was supposed to be a more affordable, faster alternative to custom ordered Originals within the North American market for North American dealers.

But they got absolutely hammered with orders and have had to adjust pricing accordingly.

Basically they did too well, and got back logged by dealer stock/runs and the general state of post pandemic supply chain.

Sort of like what happened with Jackson and the Custom Selects.

What is and isn't "real custom shop" or "real ESP" aside, folks love semi-customs.

I can't blame them if they're doing well! I dig that they do some different options than the Japanese stuff, like stainless steel frets and a string-thru Horizon (please, for the love of god ESP, replace the stop-tail Original Horizon-II with STRING-THRU). And they are great guitars. I just wouldn't choose one when I can get an Original for the same price or significantly cheaper, even if it's not going to be semi-custom.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I can't blame them if they're doing well! I dig that they do some different options than the Japanese stuff, like stainless steel frets and a string-thru Horizon (please, for the love of god ESP, replace the stop-tail Original Horizon-II with STRING-THRU). And they are great guitars. I just wouldn't choose one when I can get an Original for the same price or significantly cheaper, even if it's not going to be semi-custom.

The lines co-exist just fine.

At the end of the day it's more options for everyone.

 

[drb]

Not sure why people are trying to say the rapid price increases aren't a bit crazy. Sure prices have gone up with inflation, but that inflation has happened so rapidly over the past ~year that most thing I bought new at the start of the pandemic I could sell now for a profit used. It is absolutely rational for people to be shocked at such unusually rapid price increases.

 

[RRD]

ESP OG, USA, E-II, and some LTD guitars are too fucking expensive for me these days, which is great for me if I decide to sell mine.

My point is - I believe some of the increase is inflation, some is supply chain, and some is demand. To what ratio, IDK and IDC because I’m not buying new ESPs anymore.

I will tell you that my last USA cost $3100 (haggled from $3500 in 2021). And you can’t even get my finish/feature combo anymore. But something close today would be $4500 pre-haggling.

I don’t judge anyone who thinks the guitars are still a great value nor anyone who thinks they are a poor value. You do you.

That being said I do love the Kirk Vs. I want all three.

So… I’m just rambling while I wait for a really large file transfer.

Yeah, ditto. There are two new USAs on Reverb right now:

ESP USA Eclipse Guitar, Ebony Board, Duncan Alnico II Pros, Galaxy Blue Marble | Reverb

PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE It's always a treat to get a beautiful USA-made ESP into the shop. Built in ESP's USA factory right here in California, these instruments are top-of-the-line instruments on par with their renowned, artisan-made Japanese Custom Shop guitars. The beauty of the stunningly uniq...

reverb.com

ESP USA Eclipse Myrtlewood/Black Limba - Vintage Natural | Reverb

Check Out This Gorgeous Myrtlewood Top!.

reverb.com

I bought both new in 2019 from big music stores for 3400 and 3600, respectively. That just feels like an insane price increase in that time frame. I used to view USAs as the better value for a quality ESP but have since gotten mostly Originals because they really weren't much more (and sometimes actually cheaper) than USAs.

Plus, they've gotten rid of a lot of the cool color options on the USAs - most of mine aren't even available anymore.

 

[zw470]

The Hammett Vs are already available, I guess they really did learn their lesson from the '22 releases 🤣

https://reverb.com/item/67075544-es...-sparkle-6-string-electric-guitar-w-case-2023

 

[Vyn]

Email went out to ESP All-Access members yesterday, announcement coming Monday for those who are subscribed, I suspect we'll see something in thr next day or two

 

[Andromalia]

My point is - I believe some of the increase is inflation, some is supply chain, and some is demand. To what ratio, IDK and IDC because I’m not buying new ESPs anymore.

A significant chunk of it is companies using the inflation as an excuse to boost their margins and pretend it's not them being greedy, at least in the EU. Big companies margins are at an all time high.

 

[groverj3]

A significant chunk of it is companies using the inflation as an excuse to boost their margins and pretend it's not them being greedy, at least in the EU. Big companies margins are at an all time high.

Ditto, big time, in the states.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Yeah, ditto. There are two new USAs on Reverb right now:

ESP USA Eclipse Guitar, Ebony Board, Duncan Alnico II Pros, Galaxy Blue Marble | Reverb

PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE It's always a treat to get a beautiful USA-made ESP into the shop. Built in ESP's USA factory right here in California, these instruments are top-of-the-line instruments on par with their renowned, artisan-made Japanese Custom Shop guitars. The beauty of the stunningly uniq...

reverb.com

ESP USA Eclipse Myrtlewood/Black Limba - Vintage Natural | Reverb

Check Out This Gorgeous Myrtlewood Top!.

reverb.com

I bought both new in 2019 from big music stores for 3400 and 3600, respectively. That just feels like an insane price increase in that time frame. I used to view USAs as the better value for a quality ESP but have since gotten mostly Originals because they really weren't much more (and sometimes actually cheaper) than USAs.

Plus, they've gotten rid of a lot of the cool color options on the USAs - most of mine aren't even available anymore.

The blue one is especially stupid considering it’s a solid color top not even a flame or quilt.

 

[somethingsomething]

Dealers have been getting TONS of USA guitars lately. And most of them are wildly expensive. Maybe ESP is finally catching up on the backlog?

I bought a new ESP USA Horizon (with a figured top) for a little over $2K in 2021. The dealer was blowing it out because it had been sitting forever and that was BEFORE the insane price jump. It'll be interesting to see what happens with these guitars.

 

[groverj3]

Dealers have been getting TONS of USA guitars lately. And most of them are wildly expensive. Maybe ESP is finally catching up on the backlog?

I bought a new ESP USA Horizon (with a figured top) for a little over $2K in 2021. The dealer was blowing it out because it had been sitting forever and that was BEFORE the insane price jump. It'll be interesting to see what happens with these guitars.

There are a always a few that big dealers order as "stock" but most are orders made for specific customers. So, seeing a few here and there that haven't been selling isn't really reflective of the overall market. The backlog is driven by stuff that never hits the wall/website of the various dealers.

 

[somethingsomething]

There are a always a few that big dealers order as "stock" but most are orders made for specific customers. So, seeing a few here and there that haven't been selling isn't really reflective of the overall market. The backlog is driven by stuff that never hits the wall/website of the various dealers.

Yeah, ultimately, a lot of the orders are going direct to customers. But my only window into the market is how the guitars ordered by dealers are doing. And dealers can obviously afford to sit on stock for quite a while and must expect that with expensive guitars. But it'll be interesting to see if the market will support the current prices. I'm already wondering about that with the $3K E-II models, which certainly don't seem to be flying off shelves. Either way, I doubt MSRP will ever go down. It might just be that some dealers slash prices to clear stock they want to get rid of.

 

[lattjeful]

Every time I see this thread get updated, I think it's for the Javier Reyes Strat, and then get sad when it isn't.

 

[smck96]

👀 this is better than Christmas I can't wait

 

[gunshow86de]

Email just went out, previews start 4/13. Looky what was in there...

SIGNATURE SERIES
We’ll be debuting new Signature Series models for some of ESP’s most beloved artists, with new guitars and updated finishes for James Hetfield (Metallica), Bill Kelliher (Mastodon), Gary Holt (Exodus), Javier Reyes (Animals As Leaders), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid), Nergal (Behemoth), and Stephen Carpenter (Deftones).

Also spotted camo LTD. Please give me a camo EX or Arrow so I can have a dedicated Bolt Thrower guitar again.