Where to buy ESP guitars?

Hydra19

I have been after an ESP M2 or Kh2 as I wanted to try that before getting a Jackson but all of a sudden I can't find any ESP's.
I have been looking on Yahoo Japan and there is a lot of Grassroots guitars, and some Edwards, even LTD's are hard to come by, no main ESP models. How come? I thought the market was saturated with these, especially in Japan.

tabano

You might want to have a look at the EII range,
they are pretty much the same ESP made in Japan export range that we had for years until they change the logo to EII,

tekbow

tabano said:

You might want to have a look at the EII range,
they are pretty much the same ESP made in Japan export range that we had for years until they change the logo to EII,

I'm not sure where this has come from.

AFAIK the standard series was sold everywhere.

hassleham

Have you checked ishibashi?

Stevepage

I think most places have little to no stock of many things at the moment. I was looking at new Ibanez guitars and no one had any of them in stock. 

Hydra19

Yes, Buyee checks most of the sites, not many E-II's around either, I think there's 1-2 eclipses but that's it. No kirk hammet models, no M-II's, no old mirages, nothing really, wonder where they all are. As I've read ESP stopped making kH-2 because there were so many available to buy used, that no one was shelling out for new ones anymore...
I got some money on there, trying to get a refund but there's really nothing of interest for now. Will keep looking

hassleham

There are a few good Facebook groups for buying ESP's, and also a guy in one of them called Yu Ryu is very good at sourcing specific guitars from Japan.

Bennyboy-UK

Digimart is my first port of call - it aggregates stuff for sale from lots of stores:

https://www.digimart.net/search?keywordAnd=ESP+Hammett 

https://www.digimart.net/search?keywordAnd=M-ii

skunkwerx

Don’t think I’ve ever seen any proper Esp’s this side of the pond in stock through main dealers, new ones that is. 

See some Esp Usa stuff going to the Usa stores. 

Andertons etc reckon they can order in but the lead times are probably the best part of a year if at all these days. 

Hydra19

 I've given up on USA ESP's, maybe in several years, when there are some used ones, but I can't see myself paying £5k for a guitar.
Are Grassroots guitars any good? I've heard of them, but there are so many available on Buyee, it's pretty much all you get when you search for ESP, and they have all the models, LP's, Strats, Superstrats, Teles. Metallica Explorers....All Grassroots, all I know is that they're the cheapest ESP line and am not sure what wood it's made of...
What I might do is just buy a Navigator if I can find one, those are made by ESPs, and are amazing guitars, then I can trade that for an ESP (as I already have a Navigator Strat )

brooom

I sold an ESP Horizon CTM NT not so long ago. I got it from digimart.

timmypix

It depends how much the virus impacted the ESP Japan factory and subsequent shipping, but there is no ESP Standard anymore - the only things badged "ESP" are ESP USA or the custom shop. What was the ESP Standard range is now E-II, as others have mentioned.

I suspect now is just a shitty time to be after more unusual guitars. Contact a couple of dealers and see if they can give you an ETA or an idea of the situation with ESP, and failing that keep an eye out for used ones.

tabano

tekbow said:

tabano said:

You might want to have a look at the EII range,
they are pretty much the same ESP made in Japan export range that we had for years until they change the logo to EII,

I'm not sure where this has come from.

AFAIK the standard series was sold everywhere.

Selection UK,
they were the UK distributor when the EII branding took place,
according to them the factory responsible for the ESP export line is the one
that now produces the EII,
but if things have changed from around 2016 I don’t know,..
personally I have no reason to doubt them..

Hydra19

On the marketplaces on buyee, there are hardly any E-ii's either, just grassroots and edwards from the Esp line can be found. It also seems they are worried about mahogany and ebony wood, they might not be able to send it. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a tele to trade.
Anybody have good experience through buyee? Been a total hassle for me so far 

Bungle1

Their page appears to be down for now but I got an LTD from bax-shop a few months ago and they had a decent selection in stock.

Troglodyte

Peach have a few of the Japanese E-II range in stock as do GAK. Stocks look low generally though.

bassbora

There was an ‘86 M-1 for sale here last year. No affiliation. Have you seen that or is that not of interest? 

tekbow

tabano said:

tekbow said:

tabano said:

You might want to have a look at the EII range,
they are pretty much the same ESP made in Japan export range that we had for years until they change the logo to EII,

I'm not sure where this has come from.

AFAIK the standard series was sold everywhere.

Selection UK,
they were the UK distributor when the EII branding took place,
according to them the factory responsible for the ESP export line is the one
that now produces the EII,
but if things have changed from around 2016 I don’t know,..
personally I have no reason to doubt them..

Not what I mean. Calling them an export range is what I'm referring to. The standard series was sold in Japan as well.

Hydra19

bassbora said:

There was an ‘86 M-1 for sale here last year. No affiliation. Have you seen that or is that not of interest? 

was not of interest, being a standard strat shape with 1 hum. I'm looking for a Kirk Hammet model

bassbora

Hydra19 said:

bassbora said:

There was an ‘86 M-1 for sale here last year. No affiliation. Have you seen that or is that not of interest? 

was not of interest, being a standard strat shape with 1 hum. I'm looking for a Kirk Hammet model

I kind of thought that.  It was just in case you had not seen it.  The M-2 and KH2 are great looking guitars.  

sbarker1978

Hydra19 said:

I have been after an ESP M2 or Kh2 as I wanted to try that before getting a Jackson but all of a sudden I can't find any ESP's.
I have been looking on Yahoo Japan and there is a lot of Grassroots guitars, and some Edwards, even LTD's are hard to come by, no main ESP models. How come? I thought the market was saturated with these, especially in Japan.

Essex Recording Studios has got to be the largest ESP dealer in the UK, probably Europe. You can go on their site or their reverb and probably find a few Kirk signatures