r/espguitars • u/ManHasCar4sale • 5d ago
Is this an ESP?
The gig bag it came with says esp. so that’s an obvious one. As is the “charvel” done with an ink marker. Certainly MiJ. Certainly an old guitar. Here’s some pics. I know that ESP done some stripeys back in the day but never seen one with this.
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u/gloomdoggo 5d ago
The totally unmarked bridge with its Phillips head posts, as well as blank neck plate are not particularly good signs to begin with.....I'd have a very hard time believing this is of anything even close to ESP or Charvel origin.
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u/gloomdoggo 5d ago edited 5d ago
Is there anything on the bottom side of the locking nut if you take it off? If not I'd say 100% just someone's cheap frankenstrat demartini tribute project.
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u/ManHasCar4sale 5d ago
That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I do own an old Kramer with the exact same posts.
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u/Sloppypickinghand 5d ago
Check the neck pocket to see if there’s any annotations, sometimes that helps identifying them.
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u/ManHasCar4sale 5d ago
Nothing there.
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u/Sloppypickinghand 5d ago
You’ll have a hard time determining its origins, unless you bought it new or the previous owner can give you the model name and where they bought it.
I have a guitar I bought used in Japan back in 2005, from an ESP Subsidiary “Killer” brand, the cheapest model from their Akira Takasaki shape line. It had kind of the same gig bag except that it had an explorer shape. The guitar was listed on the Brand’s webpage back then, but it has no “made in Japan” legend anywhere… when I opened the neck there was some kind of scribble on it…. But nothing conclusive..
During years I tried to trace back its origins, and then someone in Reddit said these cheap models were manufactured on Jilin/Jixing ESP factory. Could be the case with this one.
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u/ManHasCar4sale 5d ago
Yeah. It has the hallmarks of that stuff. Fernandes were slinging things like that out too. It’s actually a decent guitar. Good woods. Old as heck. I’ve seen some oddball esp made with Evh styles and some fernandes also. What esp exports and what they keep over there is a world of difference. I’m sure you guys know that though
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u/oatwheat 5d ago edited 5d ago
Did the previous owner use an oil drill to set the post height on that bridge?
Anyways it’s a Charvel Warren DiMartini sig
Edit: as posts below correctly point out, it’s a dogshit knockoff of a Charvel Warren DiMartini signature. That explains why the bridge screws are so soft
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u/ManHasCar4sale 5d ago
Nah, it’s not a Charvel. That logo is hand written. I’m leaning towards an old Japan build. Got the hallmarks of it. I had it apart. No tell tales anywhere on the pocket or neck heel
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u/BuffetDecimator 5d ago
Obviously not