ESP

ESP Company is a manufacturer of electric guitars and basses, located in North Hollywood, California. In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products (ESP) in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation as a provider of high-quality replacement parts.
ESP replacement parts were first introduced into the US in 1983. ESP began crafting custom instruments for local New York artists between 1984 and 1985. Among these artists were Page Hamilton (Helmet), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Vinnie Vincent & Bruce Kulick (KISS), and Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones). At this time, ESP also introduced the 400 Series as the first production line distributed in the US.

During this same period of time, ESP began making the bodies and necks for Kramer Guitars. Other manufacturers using ESP as an OEM were Robin Guitars, Schecter Guitar Research and DiMarzio. Many traits of the Kramer line are still visible including neck construction and body bevels. ESP tooled up for Tom Anderson's shaved bolt on neck heel on the Schecter bodies, and has since become a feature of their house brand.

in 1996, ESP started a new brand, LTD. The LTD guitars are similar to the higher-end ESP guitars, but are more affordable and cater mainly for markets outside of Japan. The 1000 and 400 series LTDs are made on an assembly line in Korea whereas the series below 400 are made in Indonesia. The LTD series are made out of cheaper materials and generally use cheaper hardware than the more upscale ESP models. The Custom Shop and Original Series ESPs are handcrafted in Japan while the Standard Series ESPs are made in the ESP factory in Japan.

Additionally, ESP has two separate Japan-only lines of guitars: the Grassroots (lower end), and Edwards (Mid-range). The Grassroots guitars are manufactured in Korea and are equivalent or better than Sub-400 series LTDs and can be considered a budget line. The Edwards guitars on the other hand are manufactured in Japan, and boast similar hardware and appointments as their higher-end ESP counterparts, but are not handcrafted. In terms of quality in contrast to the USA lines (i.e. ESP Standard & LTD), Edwards guitars generally lie in between the more upmarket LTDs and ESP Standards.

ESP's guitars overall cater for a wide range of players. There are a variety of models including superstrat-styled guitars, Les Paul-styled guitars, Flying V-styled, Star-styled, and others. As ESP technically has two lines, one for USA and Japan, there are slight differences: the ESP USA Line lacks guitars such as the Strat-like Snapper, Forest GT, and as well as some of the Japanese artist models. Their custom line however, has been known to produce some of the most unusual designs such as a Gundam Beam-rifle replica guitar, as well as the "ESP Machinegun" used, by the Japanese band Alfee.

ESP does not only manufacture guitars, but they also manufacture parts such as ESP Labs Pickups, the ESP Flicker tremolo, sustainers, equalizers, et cetera however, these are mainly for OEM use and not available to the consumer.

The ESP Original series moreover has three other lines of Guitars, Edwards, Grassroots and Navigator and are mostly based on these models as well as some ESP Standard series Models. ESP Edwards Series produces mid-to-high range guitars, at a quality near the ESP Standard series, whilst ESP Grass Roots Series cater towards a more value-oriented segment of the market and are more akin to the 200s series of LTDs, however this varies. The ESPNavigator Series on the other hand is a prestigious line which produces replicas of Gibson and Fender guitars and basses

ESP USA produces the ESP Standard line, as well as the lower end LTD, and Xtone series, and the latter two lines of guitars are roughly based on these models. ESP USA's standard series generally caters more towards to metal players, with characteristics such as active pickups common.

ESP Custom Series
ESP also cater for custom guitar and bass orders, made to the specifications of the customer, and the quality of such custom guitars exceed that of the Original series. Such guitars may be ordered from ESP USA, but they are manufactured in Japan. Generally speaking custom order guitars cost as much, or even more than Navigators depending on the choices of the consumer and are considered to cater for the top-end segment. There is flexibility with the orders, as the guitars produced do not have to be based on existing lines of guitars and basses.

ESP Artist Series
The ESP Artist, or Signature series guitars are basically mass produced versions endorsing artist's personal guitars and bases. The quality of the ESP Artist/Signature models lie between Navigator/Custom Shop, and the ESP Original series.
Also, there exists the Edwards, Grassroots and LTD artist models, and such artist models lie in the higher-end segments of the respective lines of guitars and basses.