What better way to start the week than a new guitar showing up on a Monday morning? 🎸
The fact that this one was built in Japan by my favourite guitar manufacturer (ESP) only makes it more exciting! 🤤
Don't be fooled by the LTD logo, this 2013 Eclipse was actually built in the same Tokyo factory (and to the same quality standards) than the ESP "Standard Series" and E-II instruments, only cheaper, even despite its rarity...
(1/4)
Now here's the interesting part of the story: LTD Elite was meant to be an "affordable high-end" product line, with slightly lower-quality hardware (bridge, tuners...) than the soon-to-be-launched E-II brand (effectively a rebranding of the ESP Standards Series line).
However, ESP quickly realized their customers weren't interested in premium LTD guitars, no matter how good they were: musicians have a brand fetish, and once they've been educated a certain way, there's no turning back...
(2/4)
In this case, the LTD brand had been deeply associated with budget and mid-range instruments manufactured in South Korea, China or Indonesia, while ESP remained the flagship brand synonymous of high-quality guitars.
For this reason, the LTD Elite line ended up being a massive commercial failure, and those models were then integrated to the E-II line-up from 2014 onwards, with no change other than the name appearing on the headstock. 🤦
(3/4)
Even today, LTD Elite guitars sell for much cheaper than their ESP and E-II counterparts despite being pretty much identical; actually, Reverb currently has an E-II guitar of the very same model (and year!) listed in the EU, with the asking price being twice the amount I paid for mine! 😮
Alright, that's enough guitar history for today, off to annoying the neighbors now 😈🤘🎸
(4/4)
@eyesquash Thanks! That's indeed ESP's modern take on the Les Paul (with 3 knobs, 2 volumes + 1 master tone), a bit more agressive and also thinner, which also makes it fairly lightweight (this one is only 3.5 kgs).
The strings being wrapped around the tailpiece isn't the normal setup though, just a personal "preference" (as in, less string breakages that way) I apply to all my LP-like guitars.
A-wai 
Ryan Hyde 🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🇵🇸
Scott the F is implicit Baxter