My Misconceptions on ESP Guitars.. that I now think are a good idea...

Hi www

Just want this out of my head.. its just ideas and not facts .. of what I think *should* happen.. based on my misunderstanding of what *did* happen..

My thoughts..

Edwards Artists - Japan only - Building for Artists only, small elite shop, 3 to 5 people.
Edwards Professional - Japan only - Bespoke custom shop, Handmade to the customer's specs.
Edwards Engineering - Japan and US only - Limited Special Runs.
ESP - Japan, Canada, US and Mexico only - Standard models. (Explorer, Strat & Tele seem popular)
LTD - anywhere - copies of the ESP guitars and original designs.


Edwards Artists           = Fender Masterbuilt Custom Shop
Edwards Professional = No equivalent, Fender has no made-to-measure service.
Edwards Engineering  = Fender Custom Shop
ESP                             = Fender
LTD                             = Squier

suggested price points:

Edwards Artists           = £5000-£???????
Edwards Professional = £3000-4999
Edwards Engineering  = £1000-2999
ESP                             = £400-999
LTD                             = £100-399 

ESP Tele's for £400

ESP Strats for £600

ESP Explorers for £800

ESP LP's for £999

Dava

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UPDATE: 11/Oct/2020

So I see Gibson are providing a 'made to measure' service.. while I commend them for such efforts, the actual service badly falls short of the £5000+ price tag.

From what I gathered this service allows the orderer to choose pickups, wood and neck shape.. that last one is important, and again yes I do commend them.. buuut for £5000, this is far too little for the money..

What if.. I want a RD Artist, but I want the R7 neck to crown the body like an SG? What if I have special requirement for the electrics? Such as push-push blower and/or series/parallel..A slightly thinner body?

Or what if I have a body shape of my own? Of course it cannot be by a rival company.. but off the top of my head.. back half of a Moderne with the front half and neck of an SG.. for £5000 I *should* be able to be a mad scientist with garish taste in guitars, should I wish to be hehe.. if I have the money.. the monster created should be down to me..

If I provide a body shape that no one owns.. Gibson should offer to be guarantor copyrighter on my behalf signing a contract of 50/50 ownership, and cannot be used again unless both agree. At the time of signing I decide if it should be shared or unique.. with an option to change my mind at a later date if I pay the admin fees. If I choose share, it gets added to list of unique body shaped by original designers, that other customers can view, inc the finished product. If another person chooses to use that body shape an additional fee is added to their bill which is then passed on to the original designer.. max £200 say..if the body shape is super popular, then Gibson *could* offer to buy out the designer's 50% share. Gibson should always enforce copyright issues, such as having an established Gibson (or Epiphone) headstock shape and headstock logo. Everything else should be fluid so long as it does not conflict with any rival companies copyrights.